In the first half of the show, Tony, Mike, Justin and Derek discuss the Netflix Original Animated Series, Voltron Legendary Defender, from DreamWorks Animation and World Events Productions.
Then, Mike and Derek take a lengthy break in a 'Fanholes Figure That!' segment to go over some of their most wanted Marvel Legends!
Finally, Mike and Derek wrap up the episode discussing the recently concluded revival of Samurai Jack! Check it out!
30. Bombshell (G1) First Appearance- The Transformers episode # 15- “A Plague of Insecticons” (1984)
Bombshell is my favorite Insecticon and I can remember really wanting
his original toy back when I was much younger. The closest I ever got
for awhile was a trading card of him that featured his toy’s box art,
which you can see above. In the early nineties, I traded an X-Men
action figure to a friend for his G1 Bombshell...but then
near-immediately traded back the next day because the Bombshell was so
rusty and loose that it was basically a marionette. Still, I have
always liked his character design and his distinct gimmick in fiction-
the mind-controlling cerebro-shells.
A couple of my cherished childhood Transformers books both revolved
around Bombshell using his cerebro-shells to wreak havoc on the
Autobots; the painted storybook “Insecticon Attack” and the
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel “Dinobots Strike Back” to be specific.
“Insecticon Attack” in particular featured some creepy visuals and
frightened me a bit as a child. Just look at Grapple’s cold, dead eyes!
THEY FOLLOW YOU EVERYWHERE!!!
Bombshell’s voice actor on the original Sunbow cartoon, Michael Bell,
always nailed it when it came to that character. For many of his other
characters, Bell would often vary in pitch and performance depending on
the episode. Sideswipe and Scrapper immediately come to mind in terms
of this, as sometimes his Sideswipe would sound like his Prowl and
sometimes his Scrapper would sound like Prowl...or even Bombshell
(seriously, listen to Scrapper in “The Core”, Bell is totally doing his
Bombshell voice there!) However, he always remained consistent with
Bombshell himself and the odd effects added to all the Insecticons'
voices were very memorable.
In retrospect, my appreciation for Bombshell seems almost like a
precursor to my attachment to the Beast Wars character Tarantulas, who
is in fact farther up this list. Bombshell and Tarantulas are both mad
scientist bug-guys with creepy voices who sometimes pursue their own
agendas in defiance of their leaders and deal in mind-altering “shells”,
whether they be the cerebro-shells or the “shell program” that converts
Maximals into Predacons. More than once I wondered if Bombshell could
have possibly become Tarantulas in the future...but it’s probably best
that they remain separate characters. Besides, Bombshell already has
enough identity problems with fans alternately thinking he was
transformed by Unicron into Cyclonus, a Sweep, or “Cyclonus’ armada” in
Transformers: The Movie.
Bombshell's most recent Legends Class figure is a pretty good updating
of his original toy, and I wouldn't say no to any other new,
more-complex versions of him. Even a version of his “Fall of Cybertron”
video game design, despite it being tailored as a bulky “bruiser”-type
character, would be cool.
29. Bruticus (G1) First Appearance- The Transformers episode # 62- “Starscream’s Brigade” (1986)
The Combaticons are altogether my favorite combiner team and Bruticus is
my favorite gestalt, so it's nice how that works out! They debuted in a
memorable episode of the original cartoon as a sort of “third faction”
led by Starscream as he attempted a coup against Megatron. The
Combaticons combine into Bruticus towards the end of the episode and
quickly prove their “new character cred” by completely flattening last
year’s model combiner- Devastator. Only a sneak attack by Menasor
defeats Bruticus in the end, and Starscream and the Combaticons are
exiled to deep space. In one of the few non-two-parter stories that
still maintained continuity from the last episode, “The Revenge of
Bruticus” immediately follows up on the group as they attempt to conquer
Cybertron and destroy Earth.
Thanks to so much screen-time and their status as a threat to both the
Autobots and Decepticons, the Combaticons made an impression on many,
myself included. Bruticus himself, while not a deep character by any
means, was a menacing presence in those first two episodes featuring him
and lived up to his status as a gestalt super-warrior. Of course,
after the “new toy smell” had worn off, Bruticus and the Combaticons
fell in line with Megatron and became like any other standard Decepticon
sub-group. Bruticus really has some embarrassing follow-up appearances
on the cartoon, particularly the dreadful episode “B.O.T.”- where he’s
destroyed by a SINGLE SHOT from his Autobot opposite number Defensor.
Still, he had a memorably-rumbly voice- the late great Roger C. Carmel,
known to Star Trek fans as space con-man Harry Mudd.
I've always dug Bruticus’ design, although the Floro Dery character
model kind of fails at emphasizing its coolest design cues in animation
or in the Marvel comics. Bruticus always looks cooler when an artist
hews closer to the original toy’s sharper and more defined angles.
Having many of the individual Combaticons’ alt-mode weapons and
attributes prominently displayed on Bruticus’ body gave him a much more
menacing silhouette than the other Decepticon gestalts of the day to me.
In fact, Onslaught’s backpack cannons and Vortex’s rotor blades were
sometimes utilized by Bruticus as integrated weapons in the combined
form.
Bruticus is also a highlight of the G1-inspired Fall of Cybertron video
game. After playing levels as Vortex and Swindle, the Combaticons
combine into Bruticus and you’re given control of the most powerful
character in the game. You’re virtually unkillable as Bruticus, with
multiple layers of health and shield, and all of his singular attacks
are devastating to the smaller enemies in your path. It’s one of, if
not THE funnest level in the campaign, and it lasts for far too brief a
time. The Combaticons in general come off as pretty cool in that game,
and they’ve even got some play-time in the somewhat-inferior follow-up
game “Rise of the Dark Spark” as well.
The original Combaticons/Bruticus toy molds are known for their
longevity, being repainted, retooled, and re-released many times over
the years. I’ve owned at least two versions of the original Bruticus
mold, but I’m always tempted to pick him up again when he’s reissued,
having a lot of fondness for those toys. The most current Combiner Wars
Combaticons are pretty excellent remakes of the originals...although I
had to spring for the Japanese “Unite Warriors” version of them to get
the as-of-yet unreleased in the USA shuttle-mode Blast Off. There’s
tons of other official and third-party options for this overall concept
too. Basically, you’re never going to want for options when it comes to
Bruticus in toy form and I think that says a lot for his popularity.
One of the original Autobot Headmasters, Chromedome has had some really
disparate portrayals across the various G1 continuities. He was
present, but not very prominent in either the Marvel comics or the
Sunbow cartoon. He was, however, virtually the main character of the
Japanese Headmasters cartoon, and currently has a HUGE presence in the
fandom's collective eyes thanks to IDW’s comics. I’ve always liked
Chromedome’s basic character design, but what initially caught my
interest in regards to him was reading his Marvel Transformers Universe
profile. Chromedome’s given occupation as a computer programmer must
have come at just the right time for me. I think my family had only
recently gotten our first home computer and I was pretty enthralled with
it. Reading that Universe profile in the back of Marvel issue # 48
seemed to confirm for me that maybe this “computer” thing was catching
on! Never mind that I read the issue probably about five years after it
was actually published...
When I finally got to watch bootlegs of the Japanese Headmasters series
years after that, I was kind of disappointed by the fact that Chromedome
just seemed to be your standard young and brash dime-a-dozen anime
protagonist dude who won the day with BURNING SPIRIT and whathaveyou. It was the bizarre “Billy and Sparkle” English dub I watched too, so of
course...I couldn't take it all that seriously at the time. However,
nowadays I can fully appreciate that dub for being a work of comic
genius, and the voice actors’ harried and inept line readings put a
smile on my face every time I watch any given clip of it.
Thankfully in modern times, James Roberts has given Chromedome a
starring role in the IDW comics, and spent a lot of time making him a
rich, complex character. Also, he's given him an occupation that's a
lot more specific and unique than just “computer programmer”. IDW
Chromedome is a “mnemosurgeon”- a specialist in memory retrieval and
alternation, with abilities that have proven to be both a blessing and a
curse for him. His relationship with Rewind, his “Conjunx Endura” (the
Transformer equivalent of a spouse), provided many of the most touching
moments in Roberts’ continuing run of stories.
I’ve never owned Chromedome’s original toy, but the recent “Titans
Return” deluxe figure is a pretty good modern version of it. His body
is based on the G1 figure, but I'm happy that Hasbro went with artist
Alex Milne's version of Chromedome's face, and not the original
toy/Japanese animation model with two optics instead of a visor. The
Titans Return toy IS a bit stout for my liking- Chromedome’s usually
portrayed as a bit lankier. I wouldn’t say no to another new toy
version of him that is based more on Milne’s more jazzed-up body design.
I’m sure Rewind prefers that look for “Domey” too.
27. Brawn (G1) First Appearance- Marvel Transformers US issue # 1 (1984)
Plan “B” stands for “BRAWN”.
The above series of panels from the first issue of Dreamwave’s
Transformers: Generation One ongoing series is the perfect encapsulation
of Brawn as a character. He’s a scrappy little tough guy who is much
stronger than he looks and routinely takes on far superior foes while
delivering some macho quips. In fact, the Fanholes once crowned Brawn
“King of the season 1 cartoon one-liners”. Whether he’s asking if
anyone is interested in a magazine subscription in a room full of
Decepticons or warning them to “prepare for a very large headache”,
Brawn always has some snappy wisecrack to drop just before clobbering
his enemies.
Brawn was usually everyone's buddy (except maybe Perceptor, and even
then Brawn warmed up to him eventually!) and a reliable teammate on the
battlefield. Unlike his fellow Mini-Bots Gears and Huffer, Brawn never
came off as whiny or annoying, or even as abrasive as Cliffjumper. I
was always happy to see him tagging along with any random assortment of
Autobots. Brawn just livened up the scene whenever he showed up on the
original cartoon, and that’s in no small part to the performance of his
voice actor, the talented and versatile Corey Burton.
Brawn's also done a “Fastball Special” with Optimus Prime TWICE, and he played both the pitcher and ball roles!
My primary enjoyment of Brawn is primarily derived from his appearance
on the cartoon, but he’s had some minor significance in the comics too,
being the focus of Simon Furman’s very first written Transformers work.
“The Enemy Within” (Marvel UK # 13-17) is a somewhat-bizarre early
tale, made more so by Brawn being drawn with his awkward toy-accurate
design for the entire arc, rather than his more streamlined and humanoid
Floro Dery character model. Still, it has its charm and it certainly
sells Brawn’s chief attribute- his overwhelming physical strength and
toughness, quite well.
Speaking of toughness, Brawn is the subject of one of the earliest
fandom-wide memes in Transformers. In Transformers: The Movie, Brawn
was seemingly killed by a shot from Megatron that struck him in the
shoulder. Any fan worth their salt would tell you that such a paltry
wound wouldn’t be enough to kill the mighty Brawn, and thus “Brawn
Lives!” became a popular rallying cry for that notion. It would even be
made manifest to a degree in official canon, as Brawn’s later death by
apparent atomization in the Generation 2-era comics would be
retconned-away years after in the Botcon Universe comics. In those
convention-exclusive stories, Brawn is shown to have been teleported
away by Unicron the instant before he was destroyed to participate in
the so-called “Universe War”. This would have led to an exclusive Brawn
figure retooled from Energon Strongarm at the following year’s
convention...but sadly those plans were canceled.
Thankfully, Brawn’s got several good options for toys at present. He’s a
popular choice for third-party companies to make their own versions of,
but Brawn’s most current official “Titans Return” Legends-class figure
is pretty damned perfect. It captures his cartoon self beautifully, and
his roof detaches to become an arm-mounted shield (you know, to protect
that pesky Achilles shoulder!) Brawn’s also been given a smaller
“Titan Master” toy- a miniature version of himself that can even ride
inside the larger Legends figure. Yes; Brawn can drive Brawn, and don’t
worry; HE’LL get the door!
26. Dead End (G1) First Appearance- The Transformers episode # 56- “The Key To Vector Sigma, Part 1” (1985)
What’s the point in telling you about Dead End? He’s my favorite
Stunticon, but that isn’t saying much- they’re all a bunch of crazies
and uncultured thugs. Dead End at least likes to keep himself looking
good, so he “leaves an attractive corpse”. I guess that’s a positive
attribute...to be the prettiest weed among the weeds. Dead End’s voice
actor on the original cartoon, Philip Clarke, did infuse him with a lot
of personality with his subtle and nuanced performance. And now he’s
dead.
I always did prefer Dead End’s Floro Dery head design with the visor and
mouthplate over the regular-faced toy design...because why would anyone
want to look at those perpetually-down-turned features? It’s a good
thing the recent “Combiner Wars” Dead End figure went with that design.
It’s almost like the designers CARED about Dead End’s feelings or
something, but that’s impossible. That toy’s a passable update of the
original Dead End, but once he had a toy in the “Alternators” line that
was just a repainted Sunstreaker. What a cruel joke...Sunstreaker can
actually back up his vanities. Dead End also received a couple of Movie
line homage toys...that both looked more like his fellow Stunticon
Wildrider. Typical.
It’s notable that the only significant time in canon that Dead End was
truly optimistic was BEFORE he actually became a Decepticon…
That’s from his brief cameo in IDW’s Megatron: Origin # 3 and look; that
homage-stealing putz Wildrider is already trying to take the wind out
of his sails. From the very beginning, all of Dead End’s dreams were
stomped on and now he is nothing more than the bleeding wreckage of
their shattered remains.
Would it be insensitive to say that I find Dead End’s attitude kind of
funny? That I can sometimes relate to mopey people with
obsessive-compulsive worries about their physical appearance and when I
liken myself to such a person, I feel better by comparison? It probably
is a little mean, but when you get right down to it...the sun is going
to burn out in a few billion years anyhow.
Just face it; we’re DOOMED.
25. Megatron (Animated) First Appearance- Transformers Animated episode # 1- “Transform and Roll Out, Part 1” (2007)
When you ask most Transformers fans who their favorite incarnation of
Megatron is, about 90% of them will likely say either “G1” or “Beast
Wars”. However, this is MY favorite version of Megatron, and it’s
because I think he merges the best attributes of both the G1 and Beast
Wars versions...and the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts.
Animated Megatron is dangerous, resourceful, articulate, cold yet
charismatic..and he managed to be all that while remaining nothing more
than a damaged, decapitated head for the first third of the series.
Animated Megatron is every bit the smooth talker that BW Megs was,
expertly manipulating the human scientist Issac Sumdac into doing his
bidding and eventually facilitating his restoration to full health.
Whereas most of BW Megatron’s handful of followers are only loyal to him
because of stupidity, brainwashing, or enslavement, Animated Megatron
inspires genuine fealty in an entire army of Decepticons who truly
believe him to be the foremost freedom fighter of their cause. And he
can easily sway those on the fence, like the Constructicons, to his side
by sheer force of personality and some canny charm.
Like his G1 self, Animated Megatron wields a powerful fusion cannon and
can dominate lesser combatants with his overwhelming physical strength.
UN-like G1 Megatron, this Megatron disposed of his treacherous
lieutenant Starscream after the FIRST instance of betrayal. Even though
Starscream managed to miraculously survive this, he remained at odds
with Megatron for the remainder of the series, with the two only working
together when forced by circumstance. When Starscream first returned,
resurrected by a life-giving AllSpark fragment, Megatron immediately
killed him again...and again...and again...in a murderous montage that
is one of the funniest scenes of the entire show.
A very big part of why Animated Megatron is so cool is his prolific
voice actor- Corey Burton, whom I’ve mentioned before in this list and
will mention again. A returning performer from the original cartoon, as
well as numerous other animated projects, Burton gets to show off his
unbelievable range once again in voicing Megatron, Ratchet, and
Shockwave in this series. He lends Megatron a palpable sense of icy
menace, as well as a weathered-but-lasting pride in his Decepticon
heritage and cause. The Decepticons of Animated even have their own
rallying cry to mirror the Autobots' "Transform and roll out!", a
variation that is entirely fitting on multiple levels and which Corey
Burton's Megatron always delivers with due gravitas- "Transform and RISE UP!!!"
This older, almost wearier-sounding Megatron has inspired many fans to
“hear” Corey Burton’s voice in their heads when reading the current
version of G1 Megatron in IDW’s comics. Just listen to this
interpretation of a scene from IDW’s More Than Meets The Eye comic by
talented fan Chris McFeely and hear how perfectly it fits-
Megatron’s had several toys in the Animated toyline, including two of
his original Cybertronian design. They’re okay, but if you can
instantly tell which end of his spaceship mode is supposed to be the
front, you’re a far better judge of alien vehicle modes than I.
Megatron’s also got a beautiful Leader-Class figure that captures his
Earthen form to a tee. It has Corey Burton-voiced sound clips that
activate when you press down on its head and various other cool sound
effects. Megatron’s mouth even moves when you press down on the head,
so you can do impressions of him talking while doing that...not that
I've ever done it...ahem ahurm ahah…
24. Darkwing and Dreadwind First Appearance- Marvel Transformers US # 42 (1988)
There are numerous duo-acts in the Transformers universe...two
characters connected either by toy gimmick, family bond, or some other
reason. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine one character without the other,
and that’s the case here with Darkwing and Dreadwind. They get to
share this spot on my list because these two guys ought to never be
separated.
Both of them have miserable attitudes, but Dreadwind usually turns that
unhappiness on himself, whereas Darkwing wants to share their misery
with others. It seems like the only kicks they get are spreading
sorrow...or wallowing in their own. In the Marvel UK comics, there is
even a short strip of them getting utterly sloshed together at
Maccadam’s Old Oil House as they lament being hunted by the metal-eating
Mecannibals. I happen to like the more cynical and depressing
characters in the Transformers universe (as mentioned in Dead End’s
entry) and this pair of buddies united in their total dedication to the
bleak side of existence have always provided some laughs for me.
I found it kind of offensive to my sensibilities when writer Mike Costa
cavalierly killed Dreadwind off during his run in IDW comics, and even
further- implied that Darkwing had abandoned his partner to die. Never
mind being unfaithful to their portrayals in previous continuities, this
didn’t even seem to jibe with Simon Furman’s earlier work in the IDW
universe. In the mini-series “Transformers: Stormbringer”, Darkwing is
in charge of a Decepticon unit on planet Nebulos that finds itself
facing down the monstrously-powerful Thunderwing. Before deciding to
take Thunderwing on, we get this little character moment for the duo
that nicely showcases their “bromance”.
No matter how it shakes out, Darkwing and Dreadwind are leaving
together. It would be almost touching if they weren’t leaving the rest
of their team to hang. Mike Costa also referred to Darkwing and
Dreadwind as “brothers” in his story, which I think is kind of a misread
of their relationship. I prefer to think of this duo as two dudes who
are only friends because of their shared “glass half-empty” philosophy
and that no one else would tolerate their company.
Darkwing and Dreadwind have fairly solid G1 Powermaster toys, and they
have received more modern figures in recent years...although the last
Darkwing was just a repaint and the last Dreadwind was a Botcon
exclusive that is ridiculously expensive on the aftermarket now. These
last toys were fairly out-of-scale with one another and couldn’t really
“interact” as their old figures did. Darkwing and Dreadwind are way
overdue for some new toys- ones that replicate the combined “superjet”
gimmick of their originals. The Generation 2 Dreadwing stealth bomber
figure was repurposed in the Marvel G2 comics as a new body for
Darkwing, and he even comes with a new partner jet- Smokescreen, to
combine with. Those figures are some of my personal favorite
Transformers toys ever, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want new versions
of the originals.
The current “Titans Return” line is heavily poaching from Darkwing and
Dreadwind’s original era of figures, so you’d think they would be on a
short-list for new versions. However, as of this writing- nothing yet. I guess that’s just Darkwing and Dreadwind’s luck.
23. Ironhide (Movie) First Appearance- Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday novel (2007)
Much like I wrote in my entry for Movie Starscream, this is a case where
the original G1 character never really struck a chord with me. I
actually always kind of found G1 Ironhide to be pretty obnoxious in the
Sunbow cartoon. Too overly-folksy, I guess...and I was always
questioning why Optimus Prime would sometimes listen to Ironhide’s
advice when more-qualified people like Prowl and Jazz were in the room.
However, Movie Ironhide is kind of a blend of several different G1
characters, and that mixture actually makes him more appealing to me.
Movie Ironhide obviously has G1 Ironhide’s name and usual role as
Optimus Prime’s close friend and battlefield second. His mentor/student
relationship with Sideswipe and his general “been there, done that”
attitude has echoes of G1 Kup, and he does turn into a pickup truck.
Finally, his love of guns and heavy artillery makes him a lot like G1
Roadbuster, who is farther up on this very list. I also dig Movie
Ironhide’s character design and black color scheme- he just looks
badass, and he has some of the best action beats in the live action
films.
Like with most Movie-verse characters, the tie-in fiction fleshes
Ironhide out much more than the actual films, as we see in the IDW
mini-series "Defiance". In the pre-war days, when Cybertron was split
among multiple tribes and factions, Ironhide was a “Thetacon”- a mortal
enemy of Sentinel Prime and his followers. Once Sentinel Prime proved
able to recharge the AllSpark and revitalize Cybertron, the Thetacons
formed an alliance with his faction, and Ironhide became their chief
representative. Ironhide became acquainted with Sentinel’s chief
science officer Optimus and was employed by the Cybertronian Defense
Force under Megatron. When Megatron forged the Defense Force into the
Decepticons and began the Great War, Ironhide decided that he had no
interest in conquest and joined the Autobots, now under Optimus’
leadership. It was Ironhide’s experience with soldiering and combat
that helped shaped Optimus’ group of scientists and civilians into a
force that could fight back against the Decepticons.
Ironhide’s Thetacon heritage added an extra layer to his eventual
betrayal and murder at the hands of the revived Sentinel Prime in the
third film. Sentinel had expressed a disdain for the Thetacon tribe
despite them allying with him in the past, and in the IDW comic
adaptation of Dark of the Moon, even coldly adds “I never did like your
kind” as he is dispensing with Ironhide. It was a sad end for the
character, but it was an effective moment in the film at least, and
evocative of G1 Ironhide’s death in Transformers: The Movie.
Like most of the Movie-verse main cast, Ironhide’s had tons of toys
across multiple size-classes. His original Voyager-Class figure is a
bit fidgety, but fairly decent and has been reused and retooled many
times. My favorite version of Movie Ironhide in toy form is the “Recon”
Voyager variant, which comes with an absolute arsenal of spare weapons,
including hunting knives and a massive crossbow. It was actually the
first figure to utilize the “C-joint” connectors that have since become
widespread across several Transformers toylines and allows for multiple
weapons to be attached or swapped among different figures. Ironhide’s
also got solid toys at smaller and larger price-points; although I’ve
never owned the Leader-Class figure, I hear good things. You certainly
have your options with Mr. TopKick here, up to and including the actual
gas-guzzling beast of a pickup truck he transforms into on-screen.
On a final note, Ironhide is infamous for having blown up the planet
Kaiba-5, as mentioned by Optimus Prime in the ‘07 Transformers film
tie-in video game. “That hunk of rock was going to blow up anyway,”
Ironhide assures us. What a rascal.
22. Ratbat (G1) First Appearance- Scramble City: Mobilization (1986)
Ratbat is usually one of Soundwave’s “Mini-Cassettes” or “Recordicons”
or whatever you want to call them. You know; the tape guys that launch
out of Soundwave when he hits the button on his shoulder. He was
significant for being the first new cassette character after the initial
batch in the first year of Transformers. While US audiences were first
introduced to him in Transformers: The Movie, Ratbat actually first
appeared on-screen in the Japanese exclusive animated special “Scramble
City.” In most animated stuff, Ratbat was pretty much the same as
Soundwave’s other flying minions, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw...except they’re
birds and he’s a bat. Those guys were treated as robot animals for the
most part, with zero opportunity for characterization or development.
They went “squawk squawk” or “squeak squeak” and that was the end of it.
However, in the Marvel comics, all those “animals” were fully-realized
characters with actual dialogue and the like. And as any knowledgeable
Transformers fan will tell you...one of the most bizarre things about
the original Marvel comic was that Ratbat was the main Decepticon leader
for a not-inconsiderable stint of time. He even did a pretty good job,
coming close to completely wiping out the Autobots when they were
gathered on the moon to watch Grimlock and Blaster battle for leadership
in Marvel US # 41, one of my personal favorite issues of all time. And
one time he toppled the towering Autobot commander Fortress Maximus
over. Ratbat really likes punching above his weight class!
Ratbat also once uhhh...opened a car wash...but it was OF DOOM! The
carwash scheme was to brainwash humans into stealing fuel for the
Decepticons, and it was kind of foretelling of Ratbat’s future
leadership style. After taking command, Ratbat had his Decepticons open
and staff “Club Con”- an island vacation resort for humans which was
just a front to distract the Autobots from a search in the nearby waters
to locate some ancient- ehhhhhh, y’know...it doesn’t matter. CLUB FREAKIN’ CON.
Ratbat was basically an accountant or high-level business executive
trying to run an army, and despite his successes, he was pretty bad with
people. You just know that under Ratbat, the Decepticons probably had
to deal with relentless memos, efficiency evaluations, and meetings that
involved spreadsheets, pie charts and line graphs. Ratbat promoted the
treacherous Starscream to second-in-command, and Starscream promptly
betrayed him and stole the Underbase, a storehouse of vast cosmic power,
out from under him. An alliance with rival Decepticon leader Scorponok
ended with Scorponok shooting Ratbat in the back and killing him, after
Ratbat was dumb enough to screech his own power-hungry ambitions aloud.
Still, I and many fans retain a sort of fascination with Ratbat’s time
being the leader of the Decepticons. Writer Bob Budiansky has said that
he went in that direction to confound expectations and shake things up,
and the idea must have been effective to some extent, considering
people still talk about it to this day. Indeed, later G1 fiction
usually makes a point of giving Ratbat a humanoid robot mode and a
position of authority at some point in the past before becoming his more
familiar cassette-self. In the Dreamwave comics, he was leader of his
own faction- the “Ultracons” in the past, complete with their very own
Ratbat-like faction symbol. And in the IDW comics, Ratbat was one of
the corrupt members of the Cybertronian Senate that inspired Megatron to
rebel and begin the Great War. The concept of “the honorable Senator
Ratbat” always amused the hell out of me.
“VOTE RATBAT! A name you can...clearly not trust.”
Ratbat's got a surprising history of having good toys. Well, his
original G1 toy is a little fragile, but quite unique among its
Mini-Cassette brethren. He's got two great toy versions of his
pre-cassette humanoid bodies, repainted and retooled from existing molds
but still managing to be excellent representations of his past
Dreamwave and IDW-selves. His Masterpiece toy faithfully captures and
updates his original design with much-improved engineering. And of
course, all of these toys are extremely fuel-efficient...just the way
Ratbat likes it.
21. Sunstreaker (G1) First Appearance- Marvel Transformers US # 1 (1984)
The above image, from the children’s storybook “The Decepticons’ Secret
Weapon”, is the main picture on Sunstreaker’s TFWiki page, and
rightfully so. It perfectly sums up Sunstreaker’s main character
conceit, which is...conceit. Sunstreaker is better-looking,
faster, and can fight better than you and he wants you to know it.
Ironically, about the first time I was ever properly introduced to
Sunstreaker was in Marvel US # 10, as seen below.
Yeah, Sunstreaker was killed...or at least grievously maimed by
Shockwave in Marvel US # 5, and he remained completely off the table in
the Marvel comics all the way until Marvel US # 41...in which he was
damaged AGAIN and put back into stasis. Then he was restored by the
miracle power source Nucleon in Marvel US # 74, survived the massive
battle with Unicron in # 75, and was killed AGAIN in issue # 80. At
least the ancient “Last Autobot” resurrected him almost immediately
after that last one, but man...Sunstreaker had NO luck in the Marvel
comics. He featured a little more across the pond in the UK comics, but
he’s mostly known for having sat a HUGE chunk of Marvel in general out.
Sunstreaker had some better luck in the original cartoon, starring in
several episodes and being voiced by the previously-lauded-on-this-list
Corey Burton, who really played up his vanity. You’d often hear
Sunstreaker complain about something scratching his bodywork or
scorching his “selenium shin-guards.” He and his brother Sideswipe even
invented an aerial martial art called “jet judo” with which to take on
Decepticon fliers.
Appropriately, my eye was usually drawn to Sunstreaker due to his
appearance. He was always “that yellow Autobot who wasn’t Bumblebee” on
the cartoon to me and he had a fairly-unique head design that stood out
among the other Autobots. I also did own that aforementioned
children’s storybook, where Sunstreaker is captured by Devastator,
forcing the Autobots to mount a rescue that involved wheeling a giant
“Trojan Devastator” statue to the Decepticons’ door in order to
infiltrate their base. His scarce appearances in the Marvel comic
probably also somehow added to Sunstreaker’s “mystique” to me.
Sunstreaker’s since had a good career in subsequent Transformers comics,
although writers still do seem to like putting him through the wringer. Simon Furman even made him a Headmaster in the earlier IDW comics,
physically and mentally bonded to Hunter O’Nion- one of the main human
characters at the time. While this situation didn’t last for very long
and was truncated by forces beyond Furman’s control, it was still an
intriguing concept and could have had legs far beyond the time it did
last. The egotistical, disdainful, borderline-sociopath Sunstreaker
forced to share literal head-space with a human teenager? The story
possibilities and opportunities for character development were
limitless! However, follow-up writer Shane McCarthy decided it wasn’t
“GEEWUN” enough, and instead had Sunstreaker betray the Autobots and he
and Hunter both be horribly tortured and killed. Cuz yeah…that sure was
a step-up from Furman’s ideas…
I think the prematurely-aborted Dreamwave comics written by James
McDonough and Adam Patyk had the best take on Sunstreaker. They really
focused in on the “sociopath” part of Sunstreaker’s original character
bio, and portrayed him as cold and guarded. There was a serious sense
of tension in the room with their Sunstreaker present that I enjoyed,
even as fleeting as his appearance was. Dreamwave insiders also claimed
that McDonough and Patyk were writing Sunstreaker from the position
that he was gay. I’m...fairly certain that “narcissistic sociopath”
isn’t the most positive portrayal of a gay character one could manage...
Sunstreaker’s had a lot of toys, and his striking visual design ensured
that most all of them looked pretty neat. I bought his “Alternators”
release and thought it had a really good head sculpt. And his 2008
Universe Deluxe-Class toy is one of my favorite figures in that size
class ever. That mold has some fantastic engineering and was made with
Sideswipe in mind too, featuring a different transformation for each
brother’s respective figure. Just be gentle transforming Sunstreaker,
because if you scratch his paint...there will be hell to pay.
A Brand New Fanholes Podcast Spin-Off Show! Comic Books Mutha@#$%! Do You Read 'Em?!? Tony, Derek and Justin discuss some Musical Comic Books! Up on deck are the NightCat Special, Shadowman #19 and Kiss Psycho Circus #1! Check it out!
40. Rodimus Prime (Animated) First Appearance- Transformers Animated episode # 30- "TransWarped, Part 1" (2009)
I like Rodimus Prime in general, but this is probably my favorite
version of him. Similarly to Atomizer, he uses a bow and arrows as his
primary weapon and even better, his head design appears to be a slight
homage to Marvel Comics’ Hawkeye. So yeah, there’s gonna be some
built-in affection right there from me.
This Rodimus actually didn’t get a lot to do in the cartoon. He showed
up in a speaking role (voiced by Judd Nelson!) once, got hit with some
Cosmic Rust (as mentioned in Oil Slick’s entry on this list) and that
was the end of his involvement with the events of the show. He did get
to star in a short Japanese manga story where his unit- Team Athenia,
took on a Rock Lord and Rodimus delivered the coup de grâce in typical
hot-blooded style.
There is some interesting background material on this version of Rodimus
though, both in and out of universe. Rodimus was originally intended
by the creators of the show to be the “jerk” character who was always
hassling Optimus Prime. However, it was eventually (and rightfully)
decided that some viewers would not appreciate Rodimus being cast in
such a light. The guy DOES have his devoted fans after all and I am one
of them, although not as BIG a fan as my fellow Fanhole Derek! So the
“jerk” role went to Sentinel Prime, and Rodimus was put on a shelf until
they finally decided to use him in Season 3.
Amusingly, his Team
Athenia is mostly composed of other characters that were originally
going to be used in Animated’s core cast (like Hot Shot instead of
Bumblebee and a female Red Alert instead of Ratchet) but were swapped
out later in the production process. Team Athenia; it’s where the
unused ideas go!
The essential guide to Transformers Animated- the Allspark Almanac, had a
fairly intriguing in-universe write-up on Rodimus too. It describes
(as told by Kup) how Rodimus was a prodigy in the Autobot Academy and
his meteoric rise in the ranks led to many labeling him “The Chosen
One.” Kup also expresses concern about the flames painted on Rodimus’
chest, likening them to “the Pit-damned Fallen!” That stuff obviously
made me think of Anakin Skywalker and wondering if, had Animated
continued, would Rodimus have traveled down a dark path too? Maybe not,
but it was this kind of attention to creating a detailed, expansive
universe for Animated outside of what was seen solely on-screen that
gripped the imagination of many a fan.
Rodimus got a decent deluxe-class toy at the very tail-end of Animated's
run, squeaking in as a Toys"R"Us exclusive alongside his teammate
Ironhide as the last two new figures in the line. Weirdly, in Animated
continuity, Ironhide is YOUNGER than Rodimus. I wonder if Rodimus calls
him "lad"...?
39. Obsidian (Beast Machines) First Appearance- Beast Machines episode # 20- “Sparkwar, Part 1: The Strike” (2000)
I wasn’t a big fan of Beast Machines, but there were two elements of the
show that clicked with me. One was Cheetor’s character arc, and the
other was the introduction of Obsidian and Strika. That first batch of
Vehicon generals were kind of...let’s say...cartoon-y, with
on-the-spot defining character traits. Jetstorm was gabby, Thrust
laconic (at least, at first), and Tankor stupid...and most of the first
season was spent teasing the fact that they might be existing characters
we already knew in new bodies. Once that mystery was
somewhat-unsatisfyingly wrapped up and the second season was well
underway, Megatron decided he should get some actual professionals to be
his new generals. Thus, Obsidian and Strika were introduced and they
quickly proved their cred, outfoxing the Maximals and luring them into a
trap by pretending to be as one-note as their predecessors.
I was never totally comfortable with the claims in the show of Obsidian
and Strika being on the winning side of “thousands of wars.” I mean, if
they were so great...how come I had never heard of ‘em??? However, as
their characters grew on me over time, I accepted that notion and later
fiction would retcon them as being one-time Autobots. They had simply
eschewed the spotlight for their various lofty accomplishments, and
preferred to simply fade unnoticed into history.
Obsidian in particular
appealed to me, as he was a cold, calculating military strategist and
tactician, similar to other favorite characters of mine who are much
higher on this list. He also had a cool name, voice and a unique
character design. When he popped up on the show, it took me an episode
or two to realize; hey! Doesn’t this new guy ALREADY have a toy out on
shelves? How did I miss such a cool-looking design in toy form?
Oh right.
Don’t get me wrong; that basic Obsidian toy is a pretty good mold for
that size-class. It’s been repainted a number of times and you can
definitely find it in a better color scheme than that original blinding
green. It just doesn’t reflect the show model as well as it could and I
was also disappointed when I read that a larger, more show-accurate
Obsidian figure had been planned, but canceled just before Beast
Machines ended.
Aside from that original basic toy, Obsidian has had a
Botcon exclusive figure retooled from Movie-verse Highbrow that turns
into a World War II-era plane. That alt-mode seems entirely-appropriate
for an old military general like Obsidian, but it still wasn’t the
definite version of the character that I wanted. There’s also an
upcoming third-party option that looks neat...but doesn’t quite capture
the CG show model exactly either. Maybe one day they’ll finally make
the lean, coiled, spidery-fingered version of Obsidian that I demand in
toy form, but until then...I guess I’ll have to make do with what’s
available.
Obsidian can currently be found as a supporting cast member in
Mairghread Scott’s IDW Transformers comic “Till All Are One”, where he
serves his usual purpose alongside Strika as military generals of a
stern ruler- in this case, Elita One. He’s like...totally the coolest
character in that book, but perhaps I’m just biased...
38. Dinobot II First Appearance- Beast Wars episode # 44- “Feral Scream, Part 1” (1999)
Obviously, fans love the original Dinobot and he had the most complete
and compelling character arc on Beast Wars. Megatron loved Dinobot so
much that he cloned him; twice! The first clone was the subject of a
somewhat-silly episode in season one, appropriately titled “Double
Dinobot.” That episode ended with the real Dinobot eating his clone and
hanging its hide on the wall in his quarters...so...yeah. However,
Dinobot "II" (Hmm, I guess it should be "III", shouldn't it?) had a
starring role for half of the third season.
Undoubtedly cottoning to how popular Dinobot had become, the
powers-that-be decided to bring him back. I am really not sure how much
of that was Hasbro wanting to sell a new Dinobot toy and how much of it
was the writers actually wanting to bring him back, but it happened and
we got Dinobot II. I remember Dinobot II was perhaps the last time
ever that a toy spoiled me on what was going to happen in a Transformers
TV show. I had read rumors that Dinobot would return in the third
season on the Internet but the Transmetal 2 Dinobot figure, gifted to me
by a friend for Christmas, was the first time I had tangible
confirmation of it. I got him before I saw the episodes that introduced
him, and it lent a certain amount of anticipation for them.
While he had an impressive debut, I did feel like the gravity of Dinobot
returning- even as a clone, was somewhat muted in the show. The cast
mostly acknowledged that he was back in some form, quickly got over it,
and thereafter Dinobot II just became another dastardly Predacon to
them. Come to find out, we were denied an episode that would have
focused exclusively on Dinobot II, a script called “Dark Glass” that
dealt with Rattrap trying to restore the original Dinobot in the clone’s
body. Unfortunately, the subject matter was somehow deemed “too mature
and dark” by higher-ups, and the show creators were forced to scrap
Dark Glass and replace it with the worst Beast Wars episode of all; “Go
With The Flow.”
The scrapping of Dark Glass also diluted the finale of
Beast Wars, where Dinobot II would betray Megatron and side with Optimus
Primal once again. We all more or less accepted how things went down
in “Nemesis, Part 2”, but clearly there was a missing part in the
mechanism used to facilitate Dinobot II’s conversion to the “light
side.”
However, I think what appeals to me about Dinobot II is that very sense
of untapped potential and unexplored ground. There was so much that
could have been done with his fractured psyche; one part the original
Dinobot, one part his “half-brother” Rampage, and possibly the genesis
of someone entirely new. Sadly, we were never really given the chance
to fully explore that in the series and presently, most people would
rather just talk about the original Dinobot anyhow. Dinobot II
simply...missed the boat to becoming a more fully-realized character. I
did like that metallic grate they added to performer Scott McNeil’s
voice in post; really helped sell the “artificial” nature of the
character without being too obvious.
That Transmetal 2 deluxe toy is alright...although I feel like it
doesn’t do as much justice as it could to the CG character model.
Dinobot II had some real menacing heft and presence to him on the show,
and the toy doesn’t quite sell that...but I guess that’s really just the
fault of the animators beefing the basic design up on-screen. I really
like the whole “skeletal raptor” thing Dinobot II’s got going on, which
works both visually and thematically. The laser-eye monocle,
hand-claws, and rapid healing factor kind of evoke some kind of badass
Terminator/Predator hybrid-thing. In fact, the episode “Proving
Grounds” where Dinobot II hunts Blackarachnia in a forest setting is
affectionately referred to by one of my close friends as “the Predator
episode of Beast Wars.”
With a Masterpiece toy of the original Dinobot on the way, I seriously
doubt we’ll get a new version of Transmetal 2 Dinobot in the near
future. He did receive a bizarre homage in the Prime: Beast Hunters
line with the Ratchet figure...although I couldn’t tell you what Ratchet
has to do with Dinobot.
37. Sideswipe (Movie) First Appearance- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Hey, it’s Stabby McWheelfeet! That’s what the Transformers Wiki
affectionately calls Movie Sideswipe at least, and it’s a pretty fair
assessment of him. His key design attributes are his arm-mounted swords
and having wheels for feet...so, there ya go. Sideswipe’s on-the-roll
fighting style in the films is pretty eye-catching...at least for the
few scenes he has. As a warborn Autobot, he’s mercilessly efficient in
combat and has no issues with taking out fleeing enemies...just ask
Sideways. His arm-swords are his primary weapons, but he’s not hesitant
to switch to firearms either, as evidenced by the “Mexican stand-off”
scene in Dark of the Moon.
As far as personality goes, well...just like most other Movie
characters, you pretty much have to rely on tie-in fiction for this guy.
He’s kind of a merge of G1 Sideswipe and Sunstreaker into one
individual, being an impulsive street fighter as well as kind of a vain
jerk. The IDW comics also added in a rivalry with the Decepticon
Demolishor for him- Demolishor having once destroyed an Autobot colony
that Sideswipe was charged with defending. It was all shades of Beast
Wars Depth Charge and Rampage, except Sideswipe never gets a chance to
settle the rivalry himself. As you may know, Optimus Prime himself was
the one to put Demolishor down at the beginning of Revenge of the Fallen
while Sideswipe was busy bisecting Sideways. This bothered me enough
that I once wrote a Transformers: Mosaic fan-comic that attempted to
address this disconnect.
The IDW comics also gave Ironhide and Sideswipe a long-standing
mentor/pupil relationship similar to G1 Hot Rod and Kup, although in
present day Sideswipe had since become resentful of his former teacher
and dismissive of his counsel. The two work together quite well though,
both in the comics and in Dark of the Moon (the aforementioned Mexican
stand-off) and it would have been nice to see some kind of reaction from
Sideswipe over Ironhide’s death at Sentinel Prime’s hands. However,
that would be asking for Michael Bay to actually care about the
Transformers’ character development in the films, which would JUST BE
CRAZY.
There is a subtle, although likely unintentional, notion that Sideswipe
has since taken up Ironhide’s role as Optimus Prime’s battlefield second
later in Dark of the Moon. Sideswipe is suddenly the one giving orders
to the other Autobots in Prime’s absence during the final battle of
that movie, which is just what you’d expect Ironhide to be doing were he
still there. Gotta take what you can get, I guess. And as long as
we’re headcanon-ing...there’s no WAY Sideswipe died off-screen between
Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction- I don't care WHAT your stupid
trading cards say, Frasier!!
As far as toys go, Sideswipe, like most on-screen Movie guys, has had
quite a few. I liked his original Revenge of the Fallen deluxe figure
and the later “Sidearm” version that emphasized his firearms over his
blades. They’re both solid figures but they somehow didn’t quite
precisely capture the sleekness of his CGI character model and seemed a
little too chunky to me. None of the other available Sideswipe toys
looked like they fit my admittedly-picky tastes either and I even bought
the non-transforming “Robot Replica” figure of him in an attempt to
correct that nagging dissatisfaction. I certainly wouldn’t say no to
another new Movie Sideswipe figure somewhere down the pipe, and with the
Movie line not going anywhere for awhile, I’m sure I’ll get another
chance one day.
Damn, he’s good...
36. Guzzle (G1) First Appearance- Marvel Transformers UK # 152 (1988)
Guzzle’s spot on this list is owed entirely to his portrayal in IDW’s
“Last Stand of the Wreckers” mini-series. Before that, Guzzle was just
some short tank dude with a character design vaguely more interesting
than his two Sparkabot teammates and who somehow managed to become one
of the last seven surviving Autobots in an alternate future in Marvel US
# 67. However, Nick Roche and James Roberts took this cute little guy
and made him a bit more memorable.
By the second issue of Last Stand, we pretty much knew what the deal was
with the other three rookie Wreckers, but all we knew about Guzzle was
that he was short and trigger-happy. His motivation for joining the
team and the sinister connection between him and Kup was revealed in
issue three, and suddenly all his scenes and dialogue in the previous
couple issues had to be reexamined from a different angle.
See, Kup once murdered a bunch of Guzzle’s friends when he was
temporarily-insane, and Guzzle just can’t let that go. This reveal was a
great storytelling moment, even if the writers still had to use an
editor's note to refer back to those events in Spotlight: Kup just in
case it wasn't obvious. While there wasn’t space to wrap up this
subplot in Last Stand, it eventually came to its stark conclusion in the
sequel series “Sins of the Wreckers” and...well...these things never
end happy when it comes to the Wreckers.
That aside, I like Guzzle. He's a simple guy with simple tastes,
violent as they may be, and he made a good foil for Impactor, Kup,
Ironfist or anyone he was paired up with. Nick Roche and Guido Guidi
gave him a lot of personality with their visuals, and I still want a new
toy inspired by that first, stout Roche design. Guzzle did receive a
homage toy in the Movie-verse line, but it was not quite what I had in
mind. And his original G1 toy is...uh...a thing.
Make a new Legends class G1 Guzzle, Hasbro! And make sure to include his signature handgun- "The Judge" this time!
35. Rampage (G1) First Appearance- The Transformers episode # 70- "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5" (1986)
Most people would probably name the Beast Wars guy their favorite
Transformer named “Rampage”, but not me! I do like BW Rampage, but I
liked THIS guy ever since I first read his Marvel Transformers Universe
profile. G1 Rampage is excitable and aggressive...until he is put in
front of a TV, and then he's completely transfixed by Earth television
shows. This seemed so awesomely ridiculous to me that I once had to
write a Transformers Mosaic fan-comic about it, which was realized in
art by several talented collaborators, including my fellow Fanhole and
Bottalker Tony Jackson.
That aspect of Rampage is kind of emblematic of the G1 Predacons in
general; badass on the surface, but when you honestly look at their
given personalities and “accomplishments” in fiction...you'll see that
they’re actually kind of a bunch of failure-prone goofballs. I mean,
sure- they’ve taken on Megatron himself on a number of occasions...but
they’ve never really actually beaten him or anything. They were Sky
Lynx's chew-toys in the original cartoon and the only fights their
combined form Predaking has ever actually WON in-canon were against
fellow Decepticon combiners Bruticus and Piranacon.
The Predacons
simply just LOOK awesome and cool and that’s pretty much contributed to
their inflated fan aura and reputation. Of course, you could say that
about a LOT of Transformers characters, so maybe I’m just being
harsh...but then, I do like taking the piss out of severely-overrated
guys.
COUGHWOLVERINECOUGHBATMANCOUGH.
I do think Rampage is the second-coolest-looking Predacon after
Razorclaw and he is the only individual G1 Predacon toy I've ever had my
hands on for any extended amount of time. An old childhood friend
owned him and I can remember enjoying playing with the figure and
marveling at how much bigger Rampage was than your average gestalt team
member toy. Maybe one day Hasbro will make some new G1 Predacons...but
there certainly are enough super-expensive third party options out there
now!
One last thing; when Don Figueroa redesigned the Predacons in IDW to
give them Cybertronian vehicle modes, he made Rampage a treaded
catapult. Get it? CAT-a-pult!! Haw!
34. Scavenger (Armada) First Appearance- Dreamwave Transformers: Armada # 1 (2002)
Scavenger debuted on the Armada cartoon wearing a giant cool-ass
cloak/poncho, and as I mentioned in my entry for Lockdown- robots
wearing cloaks are almost always awesome to me. Like Lockdown, he was
also an unaligned mercenary and he talked some serious smack to Megatron
and Megatron just sat there and took it like a little bi- ...errrrr,
like a perfect gentleman.
He was employed by the Decepticons for
a span of episodes and frequently pointed out how incompetent they
were. Of course, we already knew by that point thanks to the toy and
the Armada comic that Scavenger was actually an Autobot, so there was no
real surprise when he revealed that on the show. Still, for a while
there he was an intriguing wildcard who had even been Optimus Prime’s
mentor once upon a time. It would have been cool if they let that
set-up run for a little longer than it did, and Scavenger and Optimus
were forced to clash in a more serious manner.
Once he permanently joined the Autobots, Scavenger became a mentor to
kid-appeal character Hot Shot. Even though Scavenger was voiced by Ward
Perry and not Scott McNeil in the English dub, I couldn’t help but be
reminded of Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z. I mean, he wore a cloak, was
green, and was a mentor for the “kid” character. Being that Piccolo is
my favorite Dragon Ball character, that archetype obviously appealed to
me.
I also enjoyed how Scavenger used the bulldozer treads that made up
his arms in robot mode as part of his hand-to-hand fighting style. He
was certainly more distinct in general on the cartoon than he was in the
Dreamwave comic. In the comics, Scavenger’s just some rando Autobot
whose most notable scene was losing a game of “chicken” against the
tank-mode Decepticon Demolishor. C’mon dude, you’re a literal
bulldozer!
In whatever case, Scavenger’s got a great character design and a color
scheme (and name) that homages the Generation 1 Constructicons. It’s
kind of funny that his English name is Scavenger and his Japanese name
is “Devastor”, or Devastator. So in the West he has the name of the
wimpiest Constructicon and in the East he has the name of the ULTIMATE
BADASS Constructicon! His toy has some of the more involved sound
gimmicks of the Armada line, although they come at the cost of any kind
of leg articulation. Still, “walking” Scavenger around and making that
stomp-y noise is super-fun. I wouldn't mind an updated version of him
with more articulation in the future, but he’s probably quite far down
the list of potential “Unicron Trilogy” figure remakes.
33. Snarl (BW) First Appearance- Beast Wars: The Gathering # 1 (2006)
I remember first becoming aware of Beast Wars Snarl when my cousins
bought him back in 1997. I hadn’t ever seen the toy before in stores
and it was a time when you couldn’t always find everything on the
Internet. I was struck by two things; one- he had the name of my
favorite G1 Dinobot...and two- he was (supposedly) a Tasmanian devil. I
thought it was a neat idea for a beast mode, even though
nowadays...most have realized that Snarl doesn’t really even look like a
Tasmanian devil. His beast mode more actually resembles a similar
Tassie marsupial predator- the quoll. But hey...when I was twelve it
didn’t really matter- all I wanted was the toy.
I never found it in a
store during the run of Beast Wars and just settled for playing with
Snarl whenever I was at my cousins’ house. It was a decent little basic
figure, even though the “air launch” gimmick never really worked that
well. You could supposedly propel Snarl’s beast mode forward thanks to a
spring-loaded mechanism in his...uhm, butt. However, it never really
sent him sliding forward more than an inch or two.
Flash-forward to 2006, and Snarl received his first real fictional
appearance in IDW’s “The Gathering” mini-series. Simon Furman portrayed
him as a youthful and restless little guy, but also one who was totally
competent, independent, and a real asset to Razorbeast’s team. Snarl
could turn invisible like G1 Mirage and he ended up being instrumental
to most Maximal victories in both The Gathering and its sequel series
“The Ascending." In short, he was a pretty cool and capable dude and I
decided I finally had to go track one down and buy him...which I did off
eBay. People like to call that “The Furman Effect”, where he makes a
seemingly run-of-the-mill toy into a striking fictional character,
prompting people to suddenly develop an interest in buying it. I had
always wanted a Snarl of my own, but The Gathering certainly lit the
fire under my ass to track one down years later.
Snarl’s character model and toy were used in Japan for their Beast Wars
II series, as a new character named “Tasmania Kid." Tasmania Kid was
kind of the “Hot Rod/Cheetor” archetype of Beast Wars II, and he does
share Snarl’s youth and exuberance. He didn’t quite always pull his
weight on the battlefield though, and ironically...Snarl was probably
what Tasmania Kid would eventually mature into after some
experience and tempering. There’s enough similarity between the
characters that I personally would have just merged them into the same
guy when IDW decided to introduce elements from the Japanese series into
their Beast Wars stories. Unfortunately, they didn’t go in that
direction, and so Snarl and Tasmania Kid remain two different, if quite
similar characters.
Like I mentioned, Snarl does have the name of my favorite G1 Dinobot,
which I was mostly okay with as there were a lot of name reuses in Beast
Wars. However, to cut down on the name recycling that had since become
rampant in the Transformers franchise in general, the writers of the
“Beast Wars: Uprising” series of prose stories would instead use Snarl’s
Italian name “Diablo” for him when he was briefly mentioned. I kinda
like that name for him; it seems fitting and it does make the character
more unique. A lot cooler than “Tasmania Kid” in whatever case! And
what was Diablo’s claim to fame in Uprising? Killing the Micromaster
Erector while in his cloaked mode.
I guess nothing kills an Erector like an invisible Tasmanian devil in the room.
Much like his fellow Autobot tank Guzzle, this spot on my list is owed
to Hardhead’s portrayal in the IDW comics, most specifically under Simon
Furman. Hardhead was introduced into IDW continuity as part of the
reinforcements for Optimus Prime’s team of Earthbound Autobots alongside
Hot Rod and Nightbeat. Those two already had solo stories in the
Spotlight series by that point and were fairly popular characters on
their own, but Hardhead was a relatively-surprising addition to the main
cast.
Up until IDW, Hardhead had just been your standard generic
gung-ho Autobot who happened to be a Headmaster. The most lasting
memory I had of him before IDW was pretty much Hardhead getting stepped
on by Unicron in the landmark issue # 75 of the original Marvel US comic
run. In the Japanese Headmasters cartoon, he once got drunk and sung
karaoke, but other than those moments...he wasn’t the most unique guy.
In IDW's "Spotlight: Hardhead", Simon Furman developed the character into a
sort of Winston Wolf-type guy- someone who “solves problems” for the
Autobots. Hardhead makes troubles go away and gives the higher-ups some
measure of plausible deniability. In that issue, Hardhead is forced to
put down his mind-controlled comrade Nightbeat. Normally I’d be down
on that kind of thing (especially since Nightbeat is another favorite
character of mine and farther up this list!) but it was a
truly-effective dramatic moment in the story and Nightbeat had even
previously ASKED Hardhead to do it if he started displaying signs of
being controlled. Too often in fiction, I had seen characters in that
situation back down from killing their friend and ending up making
things even worse for everyone, so seeing Hardhead make the hard choice
earned him some cred with me.
Writers that followed Furman on IDW
mostly downplayed this aspect of Hardhead and just focused on portraying
him as a career soldier, but I have still maintained my fascination
with that initial conceit. Nowadays, Autobots that skirt that line of
morality and live in the gray area are a dime-a-dozen, but back then it
was actually kind of refreshing and made Hardhead stand out more as a
character in general.
In fact, I can’t help but hear actor Patrick Warburton's voice when I
read IDW Hardhead’s lines. He reminds me of Brock Samson from Venture
Bros. and even has that same kind of perpetual frown-y thing going on.
If Hardhead is ever included in some new animated project, they should
totally get Warburton to voice him!
As far as toys go, Hardhead’s had several by now and they’re all pretty
decent. Never owned his original G1 Headmaster figure, but his ‘08
Universe Ultra-class toy was a nice attempt to capture his then-current
IDW design that had an APC vehicle mode. That toy was originally made
as Combaticon Onslaught and was just straight-up repainted, so I had to
buy a third-party upgrade kit to give Hardhead his proper head design.
Likewise, his most current “Titans Return” deluxe figure closely homages
his original toy...right down to the usually-unused-in-fiction head
design. I preferred the visored head design that originated with
character model artist Floro Dery and which was used in the Sunbow
cartoon, and Marvel and IDW comics. So of course, I had to purchase a
Shapeways reproduction of the preferred face to replace the official
one.
I guess my caveat to “Hardhead’s had several decent toys” is “-except for the heads, which I have to replace at my own expense!”
31. Injector First Appearance- Beast Wars: The Gathering # 1 (2006)
The picture above is probably what most people are familiar with when it
comes to ol’ Fishbughead. Injector is well-known across the fandom for
being a hideous shelf-clogger. I say “being”, present-tense, because
it’s quite likely one can still find boxed Injectors hanging on a retail
peg SOMEWHERE in the United States to this day. Kids just didn't go
crazy for the whole bee-with-a-lionfish-head thing...go figure. For my
part, I could walk into a Kaybee Toys when that was still a thing and
find Injector on a peg well after Robots in Disguise had ended its run
on shelves, some four or five years after his initial release.
I actually did buy Injector when he was new though, and frankly...I
think he’s a pretty neat figure! He's got an opening mouth in his robot
mode thanks to the transformation, which allowed for all sorts of
“screaming” poses. That, combined with the splaying head-fin gimmick,
always made me imagine he had some kind of sonic attack and his bee
stinger could become a well-integrated arm weapon for him. I always had
a lot of fondness for Injector, and thought he and Sky Shadow (his
fellow deluxe Predacon Fuzor) complimented each other well visually.
Both of those figures had a lot of somewhat-gaudy personality in their
designs, but Sky Shadow is usually spared from the scorn Injector
receives. I guess it’s because Sky Shadow just looks cooler in
general...but Injector still seems more unique to me.
Injector's toy bio paints him as incredibly vain, which I thought was
pretty funny and ironic. He's largely considered one of the most ugly
Beast Era designs by everyone, but he personally thinks he's beautiful.
The IDW Beast Wars Sourcebook write-up on him tries to rework that as
“Injector secretly knows he's ugly, but acts vain to cover it up”, which
is not really as fun. Most people ignore a lot of stuff from the Beast
Wars Sourcebook anyhow, and as far as Injector goes, so do I.
Injector’s character model and toy were reused across the pond in
Japan’s Beast Wars Neo series as “Rartorata”- don’t ask me what the hell
that name means. Rartorata was an agent of Unicron alongside recolors
of two of his fellow Fuzors, including Sky Shadow. Their grotesque
chimeric forms certainly seem suited to serving a god of chaos, so good
eye, Takara. In the IDW Beast Wars series "The Ascending", Injector
even gets to fight Rartorata and refuses to acknowledge their clear
resemblance when pressed on it. Injector's one of a kind, foo!
In any case, I’ll always have some positive regard for Mr. Fishbug, and
I’m not alone; IDW writer Mairghread Scott has professed love for
Injector as well, so perhaps he’ll get a starring role in Transformers
comics one day. Until then, just know that there are probably still
enough Injectors out there on retail shelves to wipe out humanity...so
be nice to that toy.
