Transformers Windblade: Distant Stars Review

Hi, this is Marigold Scott, the first female

writer on Transformers comics, and you are listening

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we are reading right now here inside the pullback.

Autobotly August 2018 kicks off with something

that has been years in the making. The return

of the Fembots to all things Transformers here

inside the pull bag. This is episode 317 of the

pull bag. I am your host TF2 and Mike. Joining

me are three Fembots that would give Austin Powers

a run for his money. First up we have the Cyclonus

Lovin' Knockout Droolin' Nicole Beatles Diva

Hailstorm. Hello. Rock on. See? No mention of

Rio this time. I appreciate that. Oh, you just

bitched his day. What are you talking about?

Then we have the Megatron Obsessed Wrong Prime

Worshiping Heather aka Haji Prime. Optimist rules,

optimist rules. You're allowed to have that opinion.

It is wrong. No, it's not. Then there's that

Wrecker girl. She wrecks, she rules. It's Amy,

aka Lady Wreck. Woohoo! Not the kickin' intro

that I expected, but that's okay. You interrupt

me enough times. You don't not worthy enough

of one. Yeah, I get it. It's fine. It's fine.

I'll whirl it on you later. Uh huh. I'm sure

you will. Today we explore the Distant Stars

with Transformers Windblade. This is the second

series that was a part of the Combiner Wars,

so this shit is confusing. Amy, take this away,

because holy crap. Okay, so before you go, just

a little bit of history, folks. We're only currently

doing, in this episode, issues four to seven

of the second Windblade series, written by Margaret

Scott, uh, art by Korn Howell. We're also doing

combiner hunters at the end of the arc and that

is done by Sarah Peter d 'Orche The the crazy

thing about this is we tried doing this like

three and a half years ago when this was like

new We tried doing the combiner wars issues for

wind blade We did four of the seven issues and

only four of them were actual combiner wars crossovers,

but how the how this second Volume of Windblade

is traded is crazy. There's actually two trade

paperbacks There's one called distant stars,

which is what I will be going off of because

it's just Issues four to seven and plus combiner

hunters and then they released something more

recently called when Transformers Windblade lost

city. I'm so lost Yeah, so how it was traded

this set that were so The first volume that they

did the one that was drawn and all the art done

by Sarah Stone and Marigrid wrote. That one was

just Windblade Volume One, and it had four issues,

and we've already reviewed it. We've already

covered that, yes. So you were thinking, if you

were thinking, oh, then I'll just get Windblade

Volume Two. Well, Volume Two kind of got split

up in between two things because it got folded

into Combiner Wars. Yep. So half of it, if you

just wanted just the trade, with just the Windblade,

however it fits into continuity, you're gonna

wanna go with Transformer Combiner Wars, and

then get Transformers Windblade Distance Stars.

That'll be the first four issues, and the last

four issues with Combiner Hunters, the one shot.

And that's what I got. But then they came out

with Last City. Now the Last City is basically...

all of the Windblade issues, we get all of the

first volume, which was the one through four

with Sarah Stone doing just the solid art on

that, where we first get introduced to Windblade,

and then all of volume two, which is half of

Combiner, yeah, it's the seven issues, minus

the three Combiner Wars issues, and the... combiner

hunters one shot. The problem with that is that

there are really essential pieces to what happens

in the second arc. The volume two that got folded

into combiner wars. So the confusion is is that

when you read the last city, you're going to

have missing pieces to how things pay off in

that because. Combiner's happen. and then they

suddenly just appear and you're like what wait

wait wait wait wait when did we get that so you

have to come you to get the full story you have

to to get combine awards there's just no way

around it and and the last city is the one volume

that kind of misses that so i think the reason

why they made it was because people were out

there going hey i want to complete just wind

blade series thing Whatever and so that's probably

why they put it together like that. I really

don't know other than the fact that it's very

confusing if you And and here's the thing Because

I stopped reading for a little while then I jumped

back in and I was like going wait, wait, wait,

wait What issues are these I'm missing pieces

and so as I was reading to get ready for this

podcast I was like, what am I missing? And what

she was missing at the time when she was asking

me about this because we had a whole conversation

about this affair the fact that she said combiner

wars you need to read part of that to finish

off this story because the wind blade epilogue

is robots in disguise 42 yeah oh yeah that's

the other one yeah the other one that you if

you've read combiner wars then the then you hop

out of combiner wars and read the next issue

which is the epilogue of combiner wars also not

come also not traded in any of these as well

so if you got like hey what was the scene going

on with between optimus prime and prime and or

optimus prime and prowl in what the that wind

blade issue that happens blah blah blah yeah

you don't see the payoff for that to the epilogue

and that also is not traded in the last city

even though it's in that train wars versus combiner

wars the combiner wars Trade and then the last

city I mean if you got combiner wars and then

last city and you failed to get distant stars

Then you're gonna be a little confused. So that's

that's the lowdown. I hope to god I hope to god

when they eventually put this in the phase two

or if it ends up being phase three the actual

Reading order hardcore. Oh, yeah, they come out

with I hope to god they fix this the collection

volume will make sense I love those collection

volumes they're worth the money yeah they are

definitely worth it but like if you decide to

get the collection volume my guess is that they

will they will put it in the proper order and

it'll all work out because somebody done screwed

up with this yeah because this this was a little

bit confusing if I remember correctly when I

went at first got announced i thought okay that's

interesting well is it have the combiner war

issues and i don't remember if i ever figured

out whether or not it was going to have it or

not i didn't get the last city i thought it was

pointless i didn't get it although i didn't like

the cover i thought the cover was really pretty

the cover was cool but i there's no There's no

way in hell I was getting that. Yeah. So if anybody

else out there is like, hey, how do I follow

what you're saying? It's like, just get Distant

Stars. Exactly. It's called Transformers Windblade,

Distant Stars. And that's issue four through

seven, and the Combiner Hunters, one shot. The

last city will not have combiner combiner. The

combiner hunters one shot. That's the other thing

that's important because it kind of follows around

that time as well, and it kind of is important

because that affects other things later. You

that's because we will will discuss it, but still.

So if you if you wanted to get the whole thing,

let's say you're new, but you're like hey, I

want to hear I want to hear it all. Get Transformers

Windblade volume one. Then get Transformers combiner

wars. That'll be the one through three arc with

the extra ridges. Then get Transformers Windblade

Distance Stars, and then you're all set. And

anything after that, you'll go on to, I think,

robots in disguise or... bread with it it's yet

the top barbara and it's or is that the uh...

yeah it was it's true that one of the sprain

yeah and it was just a man and now it's optimist

prime i gotta say before we go in for the world

ryan a can i be there in a cover optimist prime

and lost like volume one later this month but

it's reading that like i'm in the middle of reading

optimist prime right now so we can record that

episode and i feel so disjointed reading the

first volume of Optimus Prime because it's been

a year since I read the end of the Transformers

not rid series that they that this used to be

and I'm like I feel so lost yeah I hear you Mike

it has been I ducked out of Optimus Prime for

a while because I just I couldn't care anymore

and I'm ticked off at IDW Prime but I finally

dived back in since everything was ending, and

I wanted to find out how it was ending. If you

read it in big, huge chunks, it's a lot easier

to deal with. But issue by issue, it's really

hard to track. I have the volumes. I have the

trades digitally. I was not buying it single

issue at all. I waited for the trades on Optimus

Prime and Lost Light. So I've got the collections

for it digitally. Two or three issues into it

and I'm like Okay Anyway, so yeah, I just to

piggyback on that as well because I It's I I've

not been keeping up on either, but I'm gonna

try and catch up on Optimus Prime and I think

I'm on issue 13 I got to the end of that when

there's so much I'm missing I need to go back

and reread all of this all over again good Missing

pieces and that's the other thing that I guess

it's the only criticism I can throw at it Is

that when they've made it this huge combined

universe? I'm starting to get to the point where

I realize oh crap. I do need to go back and read

the GI Joe stuff I do need to go back and read

all of the ROM stuff I do need to go pick up

all of these extra stuff because things are happening

in those issues that are Coming in this direction

and I'm like going wait wait wait. Where was

that at? And I'm kind of frustrated with it because

I didn't want to have to read visionaries. I

didn't want to have to read some of them because

I thought, well, I just don't feel like reading

that. I just I only care about Transformers and

the Cybertron story that was going on. I really

don't. I'm still I read the cost of stuff. I

don't want to go back to Earth. No slight to

John, because I like what he's building too.

But it's like, I never really wanted to go back.

I wanted to see Spike get squished and he didn't.

So like, I think, I think the majority of people

wanted to see that. Yeah. Wow. Can you imagine

the joy and rejoicing? Sorry. I'm just going

to take a moment and meditate on Spike. Wow.

Okay, so... You know, that's what they... You

shouldn't have ended it with the Unicron. They

should have ended it with that. Unicron's whole

point is to squish Spike. He's like, never mind.

Assist Unicron. He's like, that's why you need

to destroy Earth, just to get to that one guy.

It'd be like a cockroach. He'd probably survive.

It'd be like the... You guys like the cover of

the the huge Wrecker's compendium where there's

just like the big pile of bots, but it's a big

pile of people all shoving spike up towards Unicron's

mouth. And they strangely look like fans. Yeah,

they all of us are like sneaked in there. Weren't

you? You were sneaked into some issue. I was

back in the ongoing. The cost is run that day.

yeah yeah that was that was one of the joy that

was few moments of joy that I had sadly I was

picketing the people were in there that were

us were picketing against the transformers being

on earth oh yeah I remember that was fun nothing's

changed the more they change the more they stay

the same Let's discuss this comic book so that

poor Nicole can get to work on time. I know.

Yeah, Windblade isn't too bad. I like Windblade.

Yes, Windblade's adorable. So in issue four,

Windblade and Starscream are essentially an old

married couple. Sure, words have not been spoken.

Knockout is hilarious. Knockout is adorable.

I love Knockout. The best line in this entire

issue is shut up rat trap with both of them finally

getting on the same page and, you know, agreeing

on something. Let's see, what else did I write

down for this? Velocitron has too much energon?

Really? You'd think the Decepticons would go

there instead of ravaging Cybertron. Yeah. Well,

nobody knew where it was. Obviously, yeah. What

else did you guys think of this one? Heather?

I liked the - Oh. It's all good. Okay. Well,

okay. I kind of want to do a quick overview of

the entire series. Mm -hmm. Sure. Which is just...

What do we think of Kornhowl's art? general kind

of this because this series is about finding

the different colonies and roping them into the

council of worlds so I would be like thoughts

and feelings on that that whole thing and and

rather than just like starting with diving into

individual issues I think it's useful just be

like what do we think of this trade this volume

I think it's good, I think it's interesting.

I think it somewhat slightly suffers from the

Combiner Wars thing, but other than that, I mean,

if you started issue, you know, four instead

of issues one to three, you're fine, because

it, you know, it basically, like you said, starts

on the hunt for the colonies. And with Corrin's

art, it's very, very cartoonish, which is good

because it reminds me, like it's basically...

her version of the G1 cartoon with all of these

other characters that she can then put her spin

on, like the Beast Wars characters when we get

to Yukaris and all that. Knockout looks just

like he would in the Prime cartoon, so that's

cool. I had an interesting experience going for

it because when we were first figuring out how

we were going to run this podcast, we were thinking

we were going to do the Combiner Wars issues.

And so going from the way Livio draws Cybertron,

which is a place I do not wish to go ever. And

then switching over to Corin Howell's art and

Thomas Deer's colors was kind of a whiplash,

but also so much more welcoming. And so this

art for this story of, hey, let's get everybody

in this Council of Worlds, making Cybertron a

place you might actually want to come to is helpful

because if it was still that Combiner Wars Livio

art, everybody'd be like, nope, I'm out. And

I would blame them. But when I first, this read

through was the first time when I felt not quite

as off put by this art style. It's so cartoony.

That I have a hard time taking it seriously Okay,

and I'm used to reading these comics in adult

mode and This particular trade is a lot more

feels a lot more Like I would pass this to my

11 year old daughter and be like here take check

this out You know read your read my little pony

and then read this I agree At least until you

get to issue seven. Seven feels like it ups its

game a little bit because there's more manipulation

going on between the characters and how they

wrote it. It does improve as you kind of adjust

to the world. And honestly, the issue with the

big party, that's just phenomenal. And I love

everything about it. And it is joy and sauce

and women. Once I once I kind of found my footing

in the way that Corrin was making the world,

I was like, oh, OK, OK, I know where I am now.

But it was it was such a switch even from Sarah

Stone's art. Like if you just skip Combiner Wars

and go from Windblade volume one to Windblade

volume two, it still feels very, very different.

But I will say because, you know, me in colors,

I will say I think this is Thomas Deere's best

fit for coloring in anything he's ever done.

Because somehow, due to his palette, this makes

it feel like a planet in space. And I don't know

any better way of saying that, but something

about the lighting, I feel like at all times

it is dark outside, and there are stars. You

can almost feel the... Like the ozone kind of

like almost yeah, it's it's got this kind of

really It's got a specificity to it that I that

I appreciate so yeah, I think Once I adjust it.

I think they're a good art team. It's just so

different Yeah at first I'm not used to the art

style because I was like you I'm like wow This

is really really cartoonish like you said But

you know what, I think after the first, you know,

probably seven or eight pages, I got past it

because I realized, I don't know, I just got

sucked into the storyline. And so somehow it

worked. That's cool. See, I, I had actually a

hard time with the storyline too, because these

were such one shots. Yeah. And yes, there was

political machinations, but it feels a lot more

day trippy. Mm -hmm, and that that also took

me a while to to get my head around but um Can

we can we talk a little bit of spoilers? Well,

no spoilers spoilers for issues that have come

out recently like in the last month Yeah, sure.

That's fine. Anything that's a week old is fine.

The one thing I want to point out about Corinne's

art on this on Windblade specifically is at the

time the first issue even though Combiner Wars

issue was not her but okay let's say issue four

so basically Combiner Wars Windblade started

in March of 2015 by the time we get to issue

four where this picks up and she's on art that

was June 24th of 2015 at the exact same time

around there I think June 3rd or so She was doing

a six -issue series over at DC as well, Batmite

with writer Dan Jergens. So I had read that before

I had read this. So I was already accustomed

to her art style. So when I saw her basically

drawing, like I said, the scene with. Starscream

Windblade and Rattrap where they're telling him

to shut up. I'm like, oh my God, it's G1 Starscream

with a G1 version of Windblade talking to Beast

Wars Rattrap. I loved it. I thought it was hilarious.

Go ahead. Can I jump in real quick? That way

you can move on and we can go to the next topic

after this. So I see what you're saying because

there are parts in here where I think she gets

her feet, but there are parts and pieces where

hands don't feel like they fit because there's

a, like you said, it's a little bit of the cartoony,

like you said. And while I really, really like

a lot of the expressions, there are parts and

pieces where sometimes even hands don't look

like they're attached. And so, I mean, just a

feeling of that. She gets her feet by the end,

and I can't remember, I really don't remember

if she'd done the Transformers book before this.

I think she did. I think we saw her in an annual,

I want to say, but I don't, I need to go look

it up real quick, and I didn't prep really well

for the art, like I should have. But you're right,

I mean, a lot of things, a lot of the points.

And that's just the only thing I put on here.

But other than that, yes, if you go from Livio's

art to this, it's a huge switch. But in terms

of what they do in the writing, I liked how they

moved from Livio's darker, moodier style to this

because the stories are not really heavy. Things

happen. that make it, like, interesting. I mean,

like, Marigold packs it. She packs it as best

as she can without getting too much in there

and making it feel like, oh, there's so much

going on. It's like, no, they have specific goals,

and you pay it off, and it gets paid off before

the end. You get those goals met by then. So,

like, in terms of writing, I think she did great

with that, and we'll probably get more into that

later. But, like, it worked for what the art

needed to do. It pulled it off. And so I like

I was like you by time I get halfway into it.

I was like, oh yeah, this is the art. Oh, yeah,

that's right. This is not the art that we had

before that. And I think that's also a criticism

that I think a lot of fans have thrown at a lot

of these events is that sometimes when you get

these events and you don't have the same artist

on every issue that goes through the event, it's

kind of it's it detracts from your enjoyment

of it because you're switching from one mood

to the next. And sometimes that switch is incredibly

huge. Yeah. So cool. Anyway, what I wanted to

bring up in terms of story was how much my perception

changes of some of the things that happen in

this due to the recent stuff with Unicron and

the Optimus Prime series. Especially, I remember

when they go to Eucharus and there's the bird

titan Chella. And I at the time was like, this

seems so just random. Why is there this bird

titan that is against regular Transformers? And

then we've just found out that Shockwave went

and lived there with his fursuit Onyx Prime outfit

on and made them be against you know people who

turn into cars so that he could have his own

kind of group and you know somebody on the internet

correct me if i've got this wrong because i'm

still trying to figure it all out but so there's

that and then the fact that unicorn has eaten

all these guys by now like all these guys are

dead velocitron is dead eukaryotes is dead and

it's so different going back and reading this

now there's this weird sense of nostalgia i'm

like oh They're dead. Wow. Somebody replaced

Heather with Shattered Glass Optimus. That's

what they've done now at this point. You get

this when reading, at least because that's the

only volume I've read so far, is Unicaron, the

zero issue, the free comic book issue that came

out this last May. of 2000, May of 2018, you

read that and that's where you get the, oh crap,

everybody's been gulped and eaten and that's

it. I was like, well, that sucks. Yeah. It just,

it made, it made Unicron weirdly real going through

and reading this because that those issues are

so packed and huge and wild and crazy, but all

of a sudden Just taking a moment to be a little

quieter and being like, here, meet these people.

And meanwhile, I'm like, oh, they're dead. And

that's why that reviewer, that review, it made

no sense what he said, because I'm like, yeah,

if you've been reading and you find that certain

big, bad, you know, unicorn has eaten people,

that makes him an incredible, huge. That makes

him like the ultimate villain. He just gulped

places and they didn't catch it until now Yeah,

and if anyone goes back and listens to Nicole

and I on that episode of all things transformers

I did contact the guy and I did I just I wasn't

mean or anything like that I just said have you

been reading for the last 12 years or is this

something you're just Yeah, or even for the last...

Or pre -read anything, yeah. And he basically

said, no, I love the original franchise. I love

the franchise in general. I wanted to see what

Unicron was going to do since he's coming in.

And he just felt that it was a lackluster issue.

And that's fine. That's his opinion. It's understandable.

I guess if you haven't read anything else, you

don't feel the impact of what's going on. And

not that I'm going to try to review Unicron right

now, because that's way down the road. Oh no,

that's way later. Yeah. But it's just, again,

and maybe this is a criticism as well, because

now I feel like, and I've mentioned this before,

that I have to read everything else coming into

getting ready to read Unicron and see the end

of everything. It's the whole purpose why I'm

currently reading Optimus Prime and Lost Light

right now, because within this month of Transformers

comics here inside the pullback on all things

Transformers, Ryan and I are doing both volumes

one of each, Optimus Prime and Lost Light, and

volumes two of each. So we're not going to get

to Unicron until next year. We're just not. Am

I going to read it to find out what the heck

happens? Oh yeah, I am. it's not going to be

covered here on the podcast until next year i

just yeah because i there's too much to do it's

just way too much it is what it is yeah it's

crazy yeah you know i think i find not that we

want to drag this this one down because this

was really a fun read to be honest oh it is yeah

absolutely yeah And I will say just to close

off, I find every time I read any sort of story

that goes over multiple issues, the first issue

feels a little iffy. And then when you read the

whole thing over again, you're like, oh, I get

it. And it's cool. So we just have to give ourselves

time to kind of bed our roots down into the story.

And then we kind of. That's the challenge of

being a reviewer though, is the fact that you

have to be right then. You have to review such

a small portion of a hole, a bigger hole, and

sometimes you can't really do that till you have

the whole hole. Everybody just does their best.

Yay, the internet. Just the fact that we do live

in a society now where people just demand instant

thoughts and We can't even have completely formed

thoughts. So we just kind of thought. But anyway,

yeah, all right. It's kind of like, oh shit,

what are we going to do now? Okay. Oh my God.

The internet is Unicron. We're being sucked into

it. Talk about the walking dead Well what I the

reference that maybe you know, you know the reference

I'm talking about it's not the zombies who are

the walking dead. It's the survivors Of course

Okay, Nicole you've been awfully silent over

there. Oh, I'm just listening What do you want

me to say? When you were reading when you were

reading through this because we've all been kind

of keeping up with the well sort of and not sort

of With how the universe is going to end later

this year when you were reading through this

Did you have the same feelings that Heather had

like oh? So it was really weird. I'm like, oh

yeah, that is kind of true. The first time I

read through it, I didn't. I read through it

like the first time a while ago. Then when you

told us, hey, we're reading this, we're reviewing

this month, I read it. right after I'd read the

Unicron issue. So I did kind of have that cognizant

in my brain, but then I just, I kind of flipped

through again, this just today before we started

the pot. Well, you know, earlier today, I was

going to be on the podcast. I wanted it fresh

in my head and I didn't even think about it because

I tried to focus specifically on what's just

happening in the story and what, what do I bring

out? I was like, it is easy to think about, let's

just be present. What's going on right here.

But you know, if you just read Unicron and then

you come, back to read this, you're going to

be like, but everything's dead. It's like I said,

at the end of the last episode of all things

transparent is that Nicole and I did, you know,

the way this universe ends, the only thing that's

left to say is till all are gone. Exactly. Well,

they would be one in somebody's stomach. Oh my

gosh! That is such - You know, Blink and Drake

would fight something like that. Blinking well

would. So you're saying the will of all sparks

is inside Unicron's stomach? Two games to Blink

and Pete, man. Sorry. I'm now swearing incoherently.

You're welcome. Issue six is my favorite out

of this because it's been a long time since I've

seen beast I mean, I know there are other Beast

Wars comics and things but like Corin did an

amazing job with the Beast characters I felt

like I Saw and heard young season one Beast Wars

Cheetor in this comic I heard Ian James Corlett's

voice in my head as I'm reading the stuff same

thing with Dino Bot with Scott McNeil's voice

and things like that agreed They did a good job

that it really did capture it ahead Nicole. I

think we just need more party scenes Yeah, see

that's that's my personal favorite is is the

party one. I love that one. But yeah, I Isn't

isn't Marigold like didn't she grow up on Beast

Wars? Yeah, that's her That's her G1 and so you

can really tell like like she just brought all

of her love of Beast Wars to that issue and that

Anytime you get somebody writing who's bringing

all their love it's you know it gives you the

warm fuzzies to read it like yeah it's that guy

i know that guy but this um this series was even

with the combiner wars stuff and having to follow

it in that this series was like if this had been

able to stand alone away from combiner wars it

Would have been even better than what it already

is, but this series still explores so many facets

of all of these characters Margaret's writing

like there was one note. I had I think an issue

five about how she I Don't want to say colludes,

but she brings characters together in a way where

in the writing It makes so much sense that they

would do something together than they would go

off on their own and do something stupid. Give

an example, what do you mean specifically? Like

when she and Rattrap start talking to each other,

and Rattrap, we find out, yeah. And Rattrap's

pretty much like, well... I'm just out to cover

my own ass because I'm ratchet kind of a thing.

Yeah, he doesn't really like he assists her in

going through the space bridge. And, you know,

he knows Starscream is going to kick his ass.

But. Yeah, he's got his own motivation. He'd

rather have his ass be be there to be able to

be kicked than not have his ass be there to be.

Yeah. Yeah. It's quite interesting, because up

until this series, we're not quite sure who Rattrap

is with. At first, we think he's with Starscream,

but in this one, you definitely get this feeling

that he's working on his own. He definitely is

working on his own, but he's also working against

Starscream, which is kind of a good thing because

when you see he goes, I think it's in issue six,

when he goes to Icarus by himself. And then he

comes back, gives her a tip. lean on, you know,

the spider and the spotted one. You know, it's

just like, it's the little things like that.

And you're like, it's what makes me really like

Rattrap because he's a wild card. You don't know

where his loyalties really lie. And they really

kind of just, and this is the character, this

is very true of the character that we got in

Beast Wars. It kind of just is his own self.

He's got his own motivations and sometimes they

line up with everybody and sometimes they don't.

Yeah, I agree. I'm actually glad you guys brought

that up because I hadn't really put it together.

But the way John Barber writes Rattrap, I never

really quite grok him as a character. But then

as soon as Marigold got him and through this

trade series of issues, we really start to be

like, oh, yeah, that's who Rattrap is. And it

makes all of the other stuff that he does really

coalesce into a character that we're like, yep,

we get it. Because he's working He's kind of

being Prowl's sort of man on the inside, too.

He feels like the guy who's saying he'll work

with anybody just to try and stay alive, like

you were saying. And, yeah, I think this really

serves his character well, this series of issues

that we're reviewing. And even the stuff we got

previously with him, it's kind of like... he

was getting to know how things function. Like

I haven't been on Cybertron for a while, so let's

see how the political atmosphere is. Let's see

how people, and he just kind of observes and

does what he's supposed to do until he gets to

a point where he's got all the pieces that he

needs and now he starts playing his own game.

And that's where I kind of feel like that this,

he started playing his own game. When we, I think

he's been in here as long as far back as Dark

Cybertron. Yeah, he's been yeah, so he's been

here for a while It's like he's been staking

out everything and finding how things work and

function and now he's becoming a playing piece

basically in the chess game And I love that about

his character Yeah, so yeah, you're right. This

is really good rat trap development. So yeah

rat trap He's always been a complex character.

Mm -hmm. He's good character. Yeah Yeah This

story was just so good and how they wrap this

up. I was wondering why the hell When this first

came out, I'm like, why the hell is Alita on

the throne? This is why I love issue 7. And then

I looked at the picture more and I'm like, ugh.

The thing is that I was surprised with Alita

is how big she was because she's bigger than

Starscream. And I was just like, oh, this girl's

massive. But can I get a shout out to my girl

Strika? Come on. Oh, heck yeah. Heck yeah. I

was so, so happy to see the Strika though, because

I love that woman. God, I love it. What is she?

She's got like some good lines. I'm trying to

like, not be left. I terminate. because that

was her line in beast machines obviously oh i'd

forgotten about that yay see beast machines is

such a forgotten series i wish people loved that

series more not you i'm not talking about you

specifically i'm just saying in general like

Er, you know, you ask somebody, what's your least

favorite Transformers series? They're either

gonna say the, uh, the Unicron trilogy or Beast

Machines. And I'm like, why don't you like Beast

Machines? Come on. It's not that bad. It was

too touchy -feely. Oh, shut up. Now, Beast Machines

had Jetstorm. Come on, it's worth it. Exactly.

I think Beast Machines is the Livio Ramandelli

of Star, of, of Transformers. It is. It very

much is. It's like, you either love it or you

hate it. I liked the music. Oh yeah, the music

is the sauce. Yeah, the music is the sauce. So

this is the reason why I liked issue seven is

because it's so dark and gritty and there are

pieces to it that you're like, what did she just,

oh my gosh, everything there is made out of pieces

of people. That's another thing that, that. becomes

more meaningful as you go along and read stuff

that follows their whole like no we if you lie

it's punishable by death we do not put up with

lying and you're like whoa these guys are intense

and then you realize that the reason they have

that rule much later you realize is because they

were manipulated by leach maximo and they're

like nope we are not going to listen to loki

anymore yeah it's just i love the way all of

these characters and stories have continued to

be developed. It's just good, good groundwork.

Yay, Marigrid. Marigrid just amazes me. She does

such good character development. Yeah. Just when

I think, I'm like... Okay, I think because when

we watched, you know, Windblade in different

forms here and there, you know, she's been on

the various TV series and stuff. And for some

reason, I always go back to how Maverick always

writes her, you know, because she's been on robots

in disguise and not a huge fan of that character.

Yeah. Wind blade is just like okay is however

you want her to be basically, but this is the

character I like you know she's doing good for

the Being good for the right reason you know

yeah, and that's true it because in such a short

time We've gotten almost three different iterations

of her we gotten what IDW and Marigold have built,

what Robots and Disguise has built, and then

what the Combiner, whatever, the Mack -Among...

The Prime Wars trilogy. The Prime Wars trilogy

is built. I just finished that, and I am now

convinced that after all these years, 30 years

or more... Megatron's not a bad guy. He's just

a misunderstood good guy. That was my least favorite

version of Windblade was what they did there

and I'm glad that I'm not watching that. I watched

the first one and it was enough and I said, nope,

don't work for me. Okay, but listen to me right

now. You need to finish it. You really do. Just

for the Megatron? jeep well not necessarily megatron

but just for the whole story for the other fact

okay so i forget off the top of my head who what

it's not frank walker it's uh... yeah i don't

know what he was is metron but it's really good

i i've heard of the fact that you have luke flippin'

skywalker as megatronus and yet you need to watch

it just for that i heard that the final series

was pretty but i was trying to the final series

you don't necessarily have to watch titans return

the second series but you should only because

uh... you know it's another place uh... yeah

you get to know that and uh... he gets a lot

of time uh... well side of the sort of uh...

but it's already uh... He gets the Matrix of

Chaos basically put inside him and he becomes

shattered glass rata. He becomes Rodimus Kron

in the cartoon, but it's the shattered glass

coloring. It's the black and purple. he wasn't

that you know the lost light version of that

is not a better a shattered glass version of

him oh no no i know it's not it's just just a

repaint i understand that but i'm saying in prime

wars he turns evil because the sd is the basically

the essence of unicorn inside of him okay nobody

deserves that not even roddy yeah not even roddy

come on all right well i'll think about it You

haven't changed my mind completely. But just

for the voice acting alone, I think I'll think

about it. It's just that it was so off -putting

seeing Windblade act the way that she was, and

I just was so... I was not a fan. I just, I'm

sorry. These are characters that have been built

up in other... iterations of the brand and they've

been done better. And when you have so much better

to compare it to, it just, that's why I didn't

watch it because of that. What IVW is building

is good enough for me at this point. But still,

I mean, so coming back to the comic, what did

you guys think? Because we get how many different

worlds in these four issues? Let's see. Well,

we don't ever get to see the Devasen place. Yeah,

we didn't. It's just a panel. We get Eucharist,

Velocitron, and... The ship of Elita's people,

and... Oh yeah, Carcer... Four different places.

Yeah, four. Four different, like, you know, things

set up differently, and we haven't really talked

on how the variety of that... So that was one

of the things I put in my notes. I was like,

hey, we should talk about the differences between

the different. Not everybody seems like they've

gotten off, that they've done well since they

all split from Cybertron, even though Cybertron

did the worst. It almost feels like Cybertron

isn't as worse off as some of these other places.

Yeah, I don't know. They all have bad things

that happen to them because they all split off.

And and part of my thing is like when is someone

Margaret or whomever When is which they're not

gonna do that now because hello till all are

gone unicorns here, and we're dead, but when

is someone going to go back and give us like

a Three or four issue miniseries Spotlighting

the actual planets and like that's what I wanted

after issue six and reading all about you cars.

I'm like oh I want to know more about this planet.

I want to know more about this. Well, it sounds

like there is more about Eucharist that we learn

later with shockwave and stuff. So there's that.

It does still. And I think maybe that's why going

back to my sense that this this book just felt

light. So many of these worlds feel skin continue

to feel like untapped potential like never fully.

Fleshed out in the ways that you really really

want them to and Mike I look you know your idea

of having spotlights would be so awesome because

we're introduced to these characters who Seem

like they'd be really fun to really dig into

and then we just never get There's a little bit

done in Optimus Prime with the the little binary

people from that devisen place, but not a lot

and it'd be interesting to, you know, find out

more about them. Obviously, we would all go and

hang out with the Beast Wars people forever because

they're fun. Even the cell is crazy. Yeah. Oh,

man. And guys, we got to talk about Titans. I

have opinions. Go ahead. But yeah, like, who

else am I forgetting? Yeah, just. Yeah. you know,

untapped potential. I think that's it. My train

of thought just went neering off the cliff. No,

no, it's good, though, because I like because

I kind of got the sense of other fiction kind

of inspired some of this stuff. Like, you know,

you go to Velocitron and it's pretty much an

ice world that's running away from the sun all

the time, which is cool. I like my concept. I

love that, especially for Velocitron where they're

always racing. Yeah, they're they're literally

their whole life is racing against not being

burned by the sun. And I thought, wow, that's

kind of that's unique. I like that. That was

very cool. It was even cooler when Windblade

actually took a hold of the city to win. That

kind of got in the way for me. But yeah, OK,

really fast. The page where you first see a city

and they're like, oh, crud. You see the giant

city rolling towards you in the fire in the background.

That's the one where I most desperately wanted

another artist on that page. Because can you

imagine Alex Milne? Oh, yeah. That'd be awesome.

The weight of this city was not big enough. Yeah,

it wasn't big enough. And even just the background,

the way the background is done and the way the

colors are done, it doesn't quite feel like I

was like, is it just a really bright sunrise?

There's not that sense of oh crud we are all

going to die Multiple cities that are like this

so it's like it has to be I Wanted the size to

be double that or you need to take the shadows

of the characters and put them down the weight

of how huge this place is. It's got to be twice

that size. Yeah. Have you guys seen, there's

a preview for a movie coming out called Mortal

Engines? Yes, yes. Something like that, where

I'm just like, oh. But yeah, that would have

been cool. Okay, so really fast. Titans, especially

the one that is the city on Velocitron. You guys

are missing all of my hand gestures right now,

but they're good. Navitus? Yeah, thank you. That's

his name. The thing that continues to bug me,

especially as I go back and read this, is just

how sad the Titans make me. Yes. And especially

this one. Oh, yeah. Where he feels like an abused

and neglected child. Oh, it's more than that.

He's like, he's barely holding onto consciousness.

He's halfway through the conversation. It's like

he forgets what they were talking about. and

says, oh, who are you again? And I was like,

oh, my gosh. The fact that he is. They did that

in a page. Merigrid did that within a page. Yeah.

Oh, you know. Yeah. That's the thing that Merigrid

does is Merigrid makes the Titans people. Yeah.

Even if it makes the Titans people. Yeah. Merigrid

makes the Titans people that you want a plushie

of that you can hug. No. It's very true. That's

funny. You're right. I mean cuz like within the

page within two pages you're like so when we

get to the end and you don't see wind blade put

them all back together and fix them you're like

Mike Mike, please put ratchet like a little sound

better ratchet it right there But yes, I needed

that by the end of this issue. And then we don't

get it. And I was like, but what about now? What

about him? Is he going to get fixed? So somebody

has to come back and fix this guy, even if he's

going to get eaten. That falls into the stories

that you want to see and never quite get to see.

And maybe that's why we love this version of

Windblade so much, because right now the world

is so gray. See, and this is another thing about,

about Margaret's writing. You feel for this character,

even though you don't see a face with it, you

see this, like the orb. Um, my gosh. Oh yeah.

His brain. Yeah. Yeah. There's the brain capacity.

And you're just like, you feel for this just

structure. You're just like, Oh my gosh, this

is. the being right here, and you're not seeing

the face or the emotions that are coming out

of it. That's how good the writing - No, you

just see this little dialogue. This little dialogue

thing going round and round and round and round

and round. You get the buzz of that, and I thought

that was brilliant how just with a word, writing

it over and over and over again like they did,

you got an instant idea of exactly what's going

on. Yeah. I mean, to be able to make an emotion

Makes you feel for just this fear of metal. You're

just like, oh my gosh. Yeah, that's good writing

right there. Yeah But what I was gonna say about

what makes wind blades stand out so much in the

IDW universe is that we see her over and over

trying to help Genuinely caring about people

and get that so rarely from anyone I mean I would

say, I mean, James does his schmoopy people,

but Sean Barber is a lot less about here's a

person trying to be kind. He's a lot more about

a lot driven. Here's everybody trying to get

things done. Yeah. What he doesn't realize is

you have to be cruel to be kind. Well, see, Margaret

shows that she shows Windblade having to make

compromises. And we feel her being lessened by

them. Yeah. She's a very empathetic, empathetic,

empathetic. There we go. Empathic? Empathic,

yes. Whatever. I think that's true. Yes, I love

it. This is her character, too, because, I mean,

not only she she's the only one that can speak.

Well, she's one of the few city speakers that

can speak to Titans. And so She's more empathetic

than any other character. I think in the whole

series to be honest. Yeah that I've seen besides

rung Less rung And even rungs not always super

great. Yeah Sometimes he's he's wrong. Yeah,

he tries. Yeah, but you know, you're right I

mean when the wind blade is this that and maybe

that's the reason why she's such a standout character

is because Marigold has gotten in her and created

this so well that I don't want anything else.

I want that because in all of the characters

that we have, she's probably the most empathetic.

And you're right. Everything that she does takes

a piece of her. Everything that she does, like

every plot, every conflict that we see from here

until Marigold jumps off is taking a piece of

her. It's taking a piece. Every single time,

and it's slowly happening. Every single time

you see it, you're like, but, but. But then you're

stuck between a rock and a hard place. You're

like, but, but. And yeah. So it'll be interesting.

Cause the next stuff that's coming with till

all or one is going to be interesting. I really

want to talk about it with you guys so bad. Not

until next week. Next week. Yeah. Hold your horses.

That's next week. I'm holding them. I'm holding

them. Just barely. They're fighting me. They're

bearing on, guys. I'm hauling off the reins.

I think it's also cool to not just talk about

Navitas, but we've got Chella, and we've also

got Carcerer. Who isn't Carcerer? Yeah. Oh, man.

I'm keeping my mouth shut. It's really hard.

I'm like, we're urged to speak 98, 99 fist in

mouth. Strongly advise anybody that's gonna listen

to our review of till all are one volume one

and volume two read it before you listen to the

podcast Yeah, not that I want to stop and say

hey let's plug another podcast The crazy thing

is is I did not know cuz like all of us I have

I've been keeping up, but I haven't been keeping

up Just now realized still all or one has three

trade volumes. I did not realize that at first

I thought it was just gonna be two because I

thought it was only a 12 -issue series Wasn't

it only two? No, it's three. Oh, okay Cuz there

were 12 issues Yeah, there was a little disjointed

because it was still it was still still still

being roped into other events Gotcha so Anyway

now I'm like second -guessing myself, but yeah,

I feel like the first I feel like the first volume

was a little bit of cleanup after Whatever the

heck it was was it take a minor. I don't care

There's like there's some weird thing that happens

where I'm just like John There was a lot of combiners

a lot of big people and Titans and yeah, just

got a little crazy for there I got a little lost

as well. So Well, we'll cover this again next

week But volume for till on our one volume one

is one to four volume two is five to eight and

then volume three is nine to twelve with the

2017 annual so good Are we gonna talk about um

combiner hunters in this one? Oh, yeah Because

I have very little to say about it except for

one tiny thing It's very pretty but I don't care

at all about the story except for one tiny little

exchange, which is Pretty good and even awesomer

now So, you know where RC, you know all the crap

goes down that I really legit don't care about

but um RC's talking to wind blade and being all

you know, combiners are bad and an abomination

and blah blah blah and wind blade says you sound

like Galvatron and RC says You know, yeah, whatever,

but I just don't like it when people are changed

against their will and I'm like That was good

because a RC used to be Galvatron's twin brother

B She did get changed and you know, it depends

on who's writing her whether that was against

her will or not or like it was against her will

and now she's okay with it or blah, blah, whatever,

but um, that part was good. Everything else was

just like, look, we made Victoria. Yeah. Another

combiner. Yeah. And even like Sarah's art is

kind of not quite up to par yet, but Yamaishi's

colors, I want her to color absolutely everything.

Please let her color all the stuff. Yeah. There

we go. That's all I have to say about that. No,

I agree that that ending when she's when they're

actually having their moment together, because

that's still one of my favorite spotlights is

the RC spotlight because it's so good. Gosh,

it's one of those ones I go back to when people

say that that transformers are for kids. You

know, I'm like, you go read it. Spotlight RC.

You go tell me if that is for children. You know,

you know, and. Yeah, and then just to know that

even though it was what, six, seven years later,

it's still having an impact on the stories. I

love that. Love that. Well, what I will say about

Combiner Hunters, other than the fact that it

had a job and it did it, like we needed Victoria

on to be a combiner. And we needed an excuse

to paint everybody differently. And it's the

only... purely girl issue. All the females are

in this issue. And I liked that. So I mean, there

are a few guys like Ironhide makes a panel. And

I think some dude that gets knocked out makes

a panel who has no name. So but it was literally

about the ladies in this one. It also shows that

R .C. still has her own motivations for things.

And you're right. After all this time, like the

stuff that happened, spotlight R .C., her past

is still controlling Part of her she's still

motivated and again. She's another wild card

like we've talked about with rat trap. She's

She's she's a wild card as well She has her own

motivations for doing things and part of that

was to take the Enigma of combination because

she doesn't trust anybody and so this that that

was the other thing is she has to kind of Again,

she takes something on faith Because she sees

that wind blade is again doing this little pieces,

she's conceding these little pieces of playing

dirty. She's having to learn how to play dirty.

And I like that, that we get that moment in this

issue, even though it was like, hey, you know,

it's all girls and, you know, combiners. There

were other things going on. I mean, the conflict

is just a vehicle for what's really going on

with the characters. And that's why I really

loved this issue. So. It's quite interesting.

So you really liked it? I did. I liked it. I

mean, I didn't care about the conflict. What

I cared about is what's going on with the characters.

What I cared about was the fact that, you know,

RC is doing something that she feels very strongly

about, and they're having their first meet of

all the ladies and the same issue. Then it just

kind of like, it made sense to me that something

like this kind of had to happen because Somebody

was pulling the strings with the combiner or

with the enigma of combination and who wouldn't

be like hey like she's been Prowl has been in

her head to a sense because she's the one that

was like his Assassin back and issues gone past

and so she doesn't trust what's going on on Cybertron

But she's also not on Cybertron. So it's like

she has to you know, if somebody else is gonna

is not gonna get rid of this item that Starscream

should not have access to, then she's going to

do it. And I like the fact that she was going

to be that person's just go in there and say,

just, I'm going to steal it and it'll disappear

and nobody will know what happened to it. And

it'll be done and Dustin. And there'll be one

less thing for me to have to worry about. And

yet, you know, by the end of the issue, she's

okay. Fine. If you're going to play dirty, I

guess I can take a few things on faith. Good

job. And I should not be the one to bring out,

you know, the fan fiction here, but essentially

Starscream and Windblade, Arcee and Prowl, Double

Date Night, they both are married couples to

each other. Hang on, hang on, hang on! Oh my

gosh! It makes sense. And I have to say, there

are a lot of people that have shipped these characters

because of that. But I also see they there's

a love -hate relationship there there is a game

going on and it's all Starscream and Because

he set it up the way that it is when blade is

having to learn how to play it but I think that

also makes her a stronger character because What

happens in the next couple? Until all are one

where we get what happens to her and where it's

moving I think she needed to be on that path

so she could be a stronger character to lead

further down the road so I like the I like the

journey. I've enjoyed the journey. So it's good

stuff. Yeah. But yeah, is there a shipping going

on between those two characters? Actually, yeah.

What? The Internet, Amy, of course, they ship

everyone. Yeah, they ship people with Star Wars

and Star Trek all the time. Sometimes they ship

real people. Oh, yes. Oh my gosh. Have you ever

talked to Alex about that? I have not. I've heard

my fair share of stuff about James and Nick,

so just saying. Oh my gosh. Of course I go, absolutely

not. They're both, they have, they have lives

apart from one another. They have wives and kids.

So get over yourself. It's all my land. I would

love to read a tongue in cheek. Nick slash James

fan fiction, like a fully tongue in cheek. Wild.

There was like that, like the one that somebody

found for me a while ago that was like, I think

it's James Roberts and John Barber ride bikes

is like the title of it. And it is just very

tongue in cheek mocking. Absolutely everything.

And it is joyous. And yeah, 100 % would read.

Sign me up. Hit subscribe. Pass. Not for me.

I'll read the characters, I won't read the real

people. I'm sorry. I have to have standards,

I draw a line of the sand on that. It's crazy

that Whirl has standards and Optimus Prime doesn't.

That's because we aren't really those characters,

silly. Now this series even though it has the

combiner wars kerfuffle and all that This series

was between the two of them between Korn's art

and Marigold's writing. It was a really really

fun series. I agree. I agree, too Sorry, go ahead.

I just want to see more of Windblade. When Windblade

first came out, when she was the fan vote and

everything, I'm like... I thought it was forced

that, okay, we got a female, so they're Autobot,

blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, I'm like...

You wouldn't have said that if it was Slipstream

on the Decepticons. Exactly, because I want the

Decepticon love, come on, you know? But I honestly

am in love with this character. She is amazing

to me. Like I said, her character is someone

that I would strive to be. Yeah. Yeah. I agree.

Well, and here's another thing to think about,

too, is when this, you talk about how, you know,

kind of the kerfuffle of having Combiner Wars

and Windblade. At the time when we got this,

we didn't have the go ahead, at least that had

been announced, that Marigold was going to be

doing until Aller won. And so... We got the first

Windblade volume. We didn't even know if we were

going to get anything more Windblade. And then

this happened, and it was kind of combined in

with Combiner Wars. And I think because of what

Marigold was building with that, we got the,

hey, do you want to do a third ongoing? And that's

what was next announced after that. So we got

the end of Windblade. We got the till all are

one ongoing, which ran for 12 issues until that

went away as well for reasons, which we will

go into in the next podcast. But the whole point

is that we didn't know if we were going to get

anything else. I know it was kind of frustrating

that it was kind of combined with Combiner Wars,

but I'm bummed. At least at the time it was like,

oh, at least we're getting more Windblade and

we really liked what was going on at least in

the first volume to see more of that. And I think

I was really glad that we got it. And yeah, it

is kind of frustrating that the trade is it's

just kind of a little weird. But I mean, it's

probably one of the only ones out there that

I think to date that I can remember besides.

having Combiner Wars and then Titans Return and

everything kind of boom, boom, boom all at once.

It's the only one that I think that's kind of

confusing that I'm like, okay, what happened

during that time? So much was happening at the

time. It was like, ah, hard to keep everything

straight. But I mean, for the most part, I'm

glad that we still got it. I'm glad that what

this built, I'm glad that we got what we got.

But you know, It was kind of also set up for

what happens with till all or one. I mean, you

can already see the seeds knowing what I'm expecting

to get in the next. couple volumes here with

the two other one. They she laid a lot of ground

within these four. Oh, yeah. Or four to five

issues. And it set everything up. And I kind

of like to think that because she was working

with John and he was saying, oh, you're really

building this really into this. You've got a

lot of energy because she does. Margaret has

a lot of energy. Very I would say. She's very

motivated and she has a lot of ambition. And

you can't tell me that she wasn't saying, John,

so when am I going to get the next one? When

am I going to get the next one? Come on. I want

to get that next one. Come on. Oh, I'd love to

have an ongoing. Is there an ongoing for me?

Yeah, I can totally tell that she did that. And

because of her energy, you know, sometimes that

does have a good effect on, you know, if you've

got a lot of energy, a lot of ideas and ready

to ready to go right, right, right. and people

see that you have the ability to do it and do

it well, why would they not give it to you? So,

yeah, and it's been fun with, Marigold's been

great. I hope she comes back. Yeah. Oh, I hope

so, too. Isn't she, guys, isn't she doing like

an actual Marvel girls cartoon now? Oh, no, no,

no, I don't know. It's rising. Marvel rising.

Oh, really? Yeah. Well, then she's really busy.

Because she's - It's got Squirrel Girl in it.

I know, I just picked it up this week. I'm excited.

She's been really busy then, because as of April

16th of this year. So DC Comics July 2018 solicits

just came out. I can now say that I am currently

working on the next arc of Batgirl starting the

short story in issue 25. She's a very busy woman.

Oh yeah. Absolutely. I'm gonna grow up and be

her But yeah, I so tuck I loved what you were

saying about wind blades character Nicole and

to Riff off of that really fast before you run

to work I was thinking a lot because the the

cover for the trade of distant stars is this

really interesting and unique image of wind blade

with like Every last bit of Japanese influence

on display Um, and it's done by a Japanese artist,

as far as I can tell by my totally white girl

knowledge of names, which is nil. This is getting

expensive. Okay. So going off of what Nicole

was saying about our feelings about, uh, the

fan made design of wind blade and how at first

it felt really kind of hacky. And, you know,

of course she's a red and black seeker that is

teamed up with Starscream and has a sword. But

anyway, um, the. the cover for Distant Stars

is by a Japanese artist and it's very very it's

got all these these Japanese kind of I guess

iconography in it and I was thinking about how

Windblade's sort of visual influences have been

used to deepen her character because as far as

I can understand she has elements of samurai

and elements of geisha in her character my personal

knowledge of samurais is very small and based

on like board games and my knowledge of geishas

is from reading memoirs of a geisha so you know

take what I say with a grain of salt but Windblade's

character is so much about honorable service

to the greater to the lord of the land and trying

to do that with integrity which is kind of a

samurai thing. And also she is very much a facilitator.

Especially in this series, this trade, she's

very much the person who's bringing people together.

what's... I hate the word networking, but you

know what I mean, like bringing people together,

and that's a Geisha thing. And you get a Facebook,

and you get a Facebook, and you get a Facebook.

Gosh. But you know what I mean, like trying to

help people get along and work together. Right,

yeah, she's the calm voice amongst all the infighting,

yeah. And I just, I love how these elements that

could have been very cheesy... Have been used

to deepen her character and I appreciate that

Yeah, that's good though. I mean This again,

it goes back to Margaret as the writer. She is

in the headspace of a wind blade she took those

she took that she had literally a Unused an uncreated

character was created and She made this character

who she is. I think she made the strongest version

that we're probably going to get of her. Her

character identity that we read on the page is

very specific. And that's why I can't read anything

else other than what they've got in IDW right

now, because that's who she is. That's her identity

to me because of that. And I don't want anything

else. That's what I want, because that's what

I love. So yeah. kudos to marigold you go girl

marigold i think she's won us all over yeah pretty

much i knew that when she wrote the the dinobot

version what was it oh the rage of the dinobots

yeah that was awesome oh my gosh she did so good

with those guys and she just pulls it in from

there as if it was like that's easy i can do

that uh -huh yeah just watch me flex my muscles

There you go. Yeah. All right. So let's wrap

this up. Amy, what would you rate Distance Star

0 to 5? 5 being the highest and 0 being the lowest?

Yes. OK. I'd give it a solid of 4 and 1 .5. It's

not perfect, but I like a lot of stuff that's

in it. A lot of it makes me happy. A lot of it

makes me smile. So yeah. Nicole? I'm going to

to mimic Amy. I'd say four. I mean actually I'm

gonna give it four and a half because it has

knockout on it No, I really liked Though I just

think the thing that throws me off is throwing

the combiner hunter series in there. It just

seems like It's out of place, but it does have

its moments. Overall, I really do appreciate

it. I mean, Margaret does just an amazing job

with her storytelling. I really had a fun time

with it. I had a fun time visiting all the different

planets. It's kind of like the Unicron series

done well. And to see to relive characters in

a different view that we're familiar with, and

to be introduced to new characters. And like

I said, her writing Windblade is just so amazing.

I love it. Heather, what about you? I'm going

to give it a very workman -like three and a half.

It's doing hard work, and it's there, and it's

present, and it's gotten the job done. carried

up into the higher echelons of things I would

give to people and press upon them and be like,

read this now. Yeah, but it's it's a really solid

foundation. Yeah. And I think the I think you

could do that once it gets put into the phase

two, like store like Actual storyline hardcover

collection you could do that and this now and

everything that we went through at the beginning

of this podcast I'm trying to figure out where

all because by the time we got to the end of

combined honors. I'm like wait That's it. You

just leave us there or was it issue seven that

basically just leaves it and and doesn't say

anything like it essentially ends on a cliffhanger

yeah and i'm like really seriously that's it

and then you have to go because if you go from

issue seven you have to go from issue seven to

issue 42 of not rid because that's the epilogue

yeah and it's like god no we need this in story

form right now i'd say no the next one that happens

is at least if you read the last like the last

issue seven the next one would be till all are

one this doesn't follow this doesn't follow to

what john's doing that would be right in the

middle of i'd say that was that was combiner

wars but the thing is you have to read combiner

wars to get to distant stars because what happens

in minor wars is very important i want to give

a standalone wind blade issue or standalone wind

blade story i would be giving somebody wind blade

volume one Yeah That's probably the biggest criticism

that I can say against this right now is is how

it was traded was kind of eh But again, if you

look at the timing and you look at what we were

getting we were lucky Just to be getting more

wind blade at the time and we didn't know we

were to get till other ones. So um, I Just didn't

think I I don't think that that I don't think

that that should play a role in how I vote on

the play. Oh, no, no, no, no, it's not. It's,

yeah, no. Other than that, I mean, yeah. That

wasn't my point. It's not going to affect the,

I wouldn't let that affect the rating of it,

but I'm just saying in order to recommend it

to somebody, you're going to have to wait until

it's collected in the phase two full -on story

order thing. Yeah. Yeah. All right. You know

what, guys? I gotta throw out a dissenting opinion

on this. I would be absolutely fine handing someone

Windblade Volume 1 and Windblade Volume 2 and

not even bothering with the intervening story.

I think the trades on their own are okay. I mean,

I can pick up Windblade Volume 2 Distant Stars

and start at the beginning and just kind of infer...

Everything else and I don't feel lost. However,

the the last city version I'm sure I would feel

lost if it's got those But so if we if we don't

get too hung up on one trade that was poorly

put together out of all The trades that IDW have

done which I say Really? They do a pretty good

job. Yeah You know, just just make sure everybody

knows don't bother with this version get this

other version, you know, then you'll be fine

Yeah, so anyways, I was just like, you know what?

I'm gonna throw this out there. Yeah No, that's

that's completely fair though, because I mean

the loss the last city seems to be like the only

misstep that I think I've ever Seen them trade

so other than that, you know But yeah Alright

for me, I'm probably gonna Give it a between

All of your all's ratings. I'm gonna give it

between a three and a half and a four. It was

really good I really enjoyed it I felt that you

could follow a lot you they opened each issue

with you know following along fine You didn't

really have to read the first three like at all.

I read this in single issue like it was at least

a year before I bought the whenever the distant

stars trade came out it was a year after that

that I probably bought it I had originally had

it as all seven single issues and I read it fine

so yeah three and a half or four for me I'm trying

to think coming up next we've got oh boy More

of us folks lovely We've got till all our one

is next week So that's what's happening inside

the pull bag then Amy where can the people find

you online? Best place to find me is on Twitter

at lady of rack Nicole what about you? Just Google

beetle Stephen that's Beatles like the band not

the book Google ha he prime and it's always me

I Am at TF2 and Mike on Twitter You can follow

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