#gi joe freedom

[blade-liger-4ever]

I'm reminded of Legolas traversing the snow in Fellowship of the Ring.

[dynared]

New York Comic Con 2023 and the Energon Universe panel is in the books

And while the room wasn't COMPLETELY full, there was a big crowd for said Energon Universe panel. Daniel Warren Johnson, Robert Kirkman, Joshua Williamson, and others came to the panel to announce that their plan involved making all these disparate parts work together as a series, including Void Rivals, which Kirkman specifically said was aiming to feel like it could have been a sister line with the Joes and Transformers (and considering Hasbro owns the property, probably means if it is successful they'll get toys of their own).

Some highlights and spoilers -

Daniel Warren Johnson knows people are upset at Bumblebee dying and frankly, does not care. "I feed on your tears", was his quote, which got a big laugh. Specifically, he didn't want to draw Bumblebee, hence his death in Issue 1, a death that he and Kirkman have confirmed will stick and Hasbro was totally cool with. With Bee dead, the panel concluded that there's more freedom to work with other characters and a lot more tension about who will live and who will die, since plot armor due to Hasbro demands is not a thing in the Energon Universe.

There was a big focus on GI Joe and how it will connect with the Transformers since the idea is that the Transformers' appearance causes the world to shift in a major way. The Duke miniseries will focus on how a traumatized Duke deals with the fallout of his fight with Starscream in the upcoming Transformers #2, and how Joe is founded specifically to combat them. Rebranding the Joes as an anti-alien strike force/international crisis team also seems to be a way to deal with getting away from the "jingoistic army toys" stigma that hasn't played as well since the Reagan years (even if most Joe fiction like Larry Hama's comics condemn blind jingoism). Interestingly, the initial lineup includes the Baroness, who's traditionally a high-ranking Cobra member and romantically entangled with Destro.

3. Cobra meanwhile is shown to be what is specifically described as a horror comic about Cobra Commander using the discovery of the Cybertronians to fuel his plans for world domination, and how Cobra Commander brings together a lot of disparate elements that otherwise would never have worked together to join his quest for world domination. More fuel is thrown on the "Cobra Commander's Luger is actually Megatron" fire, but of course, nothing is confirmed.

Another surprise for the initial lineup is the big guy in the back is Mercer, a character introduced in the GI Joe movie as an ex-Cobra officer who had "seen the light". Whether he does this time is another matter.

4. Back to the Transformers. The running idea (besides a minor but notable undercurrent of "Screw IDW") was that this is using the cartoons as gospel rather than the comics, but it will eventually expand beyond that initial concept using other characters. Specifically, during a quick Q&A at the end, someone asked about the Japanese characters, and Kirkman said while he had no immediate plans for them, he was actually a big fan of Star Saber, while Johnson mentioned liking the Japanese openings. A far cry from IDW making them all villains and losers.

5. Johnson is a big fan of wrestling. Kirkman, not so much. This led to some funny banter on stage about Johnson's tendency to fill fight scenes from the initial script (which will often just say "Character A and Character B fight") with wrestling moves like Optimus Prime introducing himself to Starscream with a Rainmaker Lariat before giving him a German Suplex. Despite Kirkman not being a fan, everyone on stage and the crowd seemed to agree that it gave the fight scenes a dynamic look that is new to the Transformers.

6. Void Rivals has not been forgotten in all this. While after Issue #6 it will be taking a five-month break, the series will continue to serve as the backbone of what's going out outside of Earth.

Including the teased appearance of the Quintesson Judge. Kirkman also promised more backstory, like possibly getting to see the Skuxxoid's family and other species that are part of the cartoon lore as part of his efforts to build out the universe while still making Void Rivals its own thing that is engaging without the other series.

7 The main goal of everyone is that while all the various series are part of a big story that is the Energon Universe, the reader can read just one and get a full experience. That being said, it's clear that the ultimate goal is for them all to work together.

And those are the highlights of the panel. Fun times are ahead if you're a Transformers fan, and after years of mismanagement and neglect, it sounds like the GI Joe-related stuff will be very interesting to see. Still, the focus right now is the comics, so my pie-in-the-sky theory about this being a dry run for a big animated show in the vein of Invincible will have to wait for another year.

[shootertron-stuff]

Patriotism and the banality of evil

A child writing a letter of support to her local Black Legion warband with a blood candy bar attached. The letter thanks the brave Space Marines for their service and has a crude drawing of the eight point Eye of Horus.

Sometimes a child attaches a piece of jerky or a shelf-stable curry pouch instead.

A Beastman village baking flatbreads for a traitor guard regiment about to embark on a Black Crusade and be atrociously evil. Each flatbread has the hoofprints of the breadmaker on it.

A school in Black Legion territory having an assembly celebrating "our brave freedom fighters", complete with flag waving.

Schools in the Eye of Terror teach galactic history framing the Black Legion as liberators and freedom fighters, both from the Imperium and other legions.

Chaos cultists descended from populations expelled by the Imperium during the Great Scouring telling their kids how "we suffered", to keep the flame of Vindicta alive.

Adoring fans of the Black Legion swooning as Space Marines hand out flowers during a military parade.

Black Legion-aligned chefs making a gigantic plate of hummus with the Black Legion emblem on it (made of toppings such as herbs and olives). The chefs insist it is noble and heroic as opposed the barbaric hummuses of the enemies of the Black Legion that contain corpse starch or will give you food poisoning.

Two traitor guardsmen take a picture in front of a lucky windchime, pledging on the strength of their love as they head into battle. The photo has a glow and sparkle filter and text overlayed on it with the corniest text effect possible.

The same couple posing on top of a body of corpses of their enemies. It's okay, they were scumbags who hated all that's good.

Chaos cultist growing up idolizing her warband leader, urging him to divorce his Imperial Fist wife after they go on a rampage and killed a bunch of civilians trying to run away from their abusive husband. Somebody's jealous.

Chaos cultists hearing about bad things the Black Legion did and it only makes them more patriotic, to the point they mock the victims.

Chaos cultist children collecting Black Legion GI Joes and trading cards depicting notable commanders and scientists.

Towns putting up gigantic "Welcome Home Space Marines" and "welcome home brave soldiers" billboards when their kids come to visit. There will be a gigantic welcome home party!

Traitor guardsmen visiting children at the hospital. The children hope the guardsmen have a good war and kill lots of people.

Black Legion Wounded Warriors program funded by civilians helping guardsmen with lifechanging injuries. Each year the program gets a flood of donations.

[spacetimesally]

Hey, toy fans and action figure aficionados! Wanna play? It's another look at some of the figures spawned from the classic Spacetime Sally show and short-lived animated series.

Last time, we took a look Kenner's line of action figures (here & here). This week, we'll be taking a look at a few figures from LJN's line of toys.

LJN was mostly known for their WWF wrestling figures (the big bulky ones made of solid rubber, nearly all of whom were posed in a dump-making squatting position- see for yourself here). LJN was also known for making really nifty TV toys in the style of Hasbro's GI Joe 3.75" figures, like Magnum PI and CHiPs. Above, we have a typical LJN Sally action figure, but LJN was known for making specific specialty characters as we'll see below.

Left: Pink-Suit Pitstop Sally; Center: Assassin Sally; Right: Hazmat Suit Sally

A personal favorite, Suitcase Nuke Sally!

Left: Canadian Special Agent Paul Townshend; Center: Rathbone Blygh, from the episode, "Another Man's Treasure" as seen from the reboot; Right: underworld enforcer-turned-freedom fighter, Cyclops Metalhawk

Left: the mysterious and enigmatic, Astronaut-X; Right: P3N15, the plucky rambunctious ServiceBot that's a bit of a dick

Tune in next time for a further look into LJN's line of Spacetime Sally action figures for more nostalgic fun!

.

[nettlewildfairy]

I need to know more about this!

So session one of a pirate themed dnd game where the world is like 95% oceans a group of heros in a tavern hear the dockmaster complaining about how the ghost ship docked in the harbor is scaring off sailors and how if someone clears the ghosts out they can have the boat. the crew dutifully goes there and defeats them all from the top decks down into the underbelly of the boat, once they finish, they realized that the boat had drifted so far from shore it was no longer in sight, and now they were in the middle of the ocean in a huge ship that normally needs a much larger crew.

luckily they had found in there time here a key that when used could re-awaken a certain number of skeletons at a time. even though necromancy is super illegal the crew reluctantly brought the skeletons back. I thought they'd mostly be silent sailors then be dismissed or would quickly die in battle (its very inconvenient to be hiding high treason at every port and they don't have a lot of hit points) but the crew took to the skeletons, befriended them, and have despite having faced truly so many high level threats, the skeletons have been actively kept out of harms way, not even a single skeleton from that first session years ago has been destroyed. Some are named silly things, some are named after characters siblings, all of the skeletons are, by the nature of the key that brought them back to life, trapped on the ship, but the crew are working on finding a way to give them back their freedom. The players are searching for keys to extra-planar seas, there is a god collecting all of them for an unknown purpose, and the warlocks patron asks for another to free him, these keys are hidden and scattered throughout the world, perhaps even at the bottom of the sea. (screenshot of the skeletons on the boat named Ken, Moth, Tiga, Neil Armstrong, GI Joe, Marquis de Saude, Tim, Magnus, Mark Zuckerberg, Barbie, Raymond Luxury Yatchet (pronounced throat Warbler Mangrove), Margie, and just Skeleton), maps for the boat and water are from two minute tabletop)

(despite the silly names of basically everything in this game the players are committed to playing their characters fully seriously and dramatically, even the chef who's signature weapons are throwing pies and a potato canon)

[theknightofivanhoe]

Robstar Week - Crossover/AU for Robstar week by @robxstar

They’ll fight for freedom wherever there’s trouble, you know who to call…Teen Titans and GI Joe!

Just two redhead heroines wondering why they love their guys mysterious and masked.

[quasitsqueeries]

Does Warhammer 40,000 need some good guys?

Firstly, 40K does have good guys, they’re called Exodite Eldar and they ride around their planets on dinosaurs they call dragons and they live an agrarian and nomadic existence, but also they’re not a playable faction because they don’t really fight anyone so on to the more relevant stuff.

Look, I’m upset about the idea too. There’s a creative purity to the idea of a setting where everyone is severely morally flawed. Here’s the thing though, 40K’s fans aren’t the community of weird nerdy punks they were in the eighties. For a long time, Games Workshop have recognised that kids are a huge market for their games, so the question is more, does Warhammer 40,00 need a faction for kids to identify with who aren’t Fascist power fantasy?

If you walk into a Games Workshop store, this is the first thing you’re likely to see:

These are the power fantasies you’re encouraged to identify with. I think we all know how appealing this stuff can be to twelve year old boys, and, sure, that’s nothing new. When I was growing up all the kids were into GI Joe and Transformers, and the generation after me were very excited about the Power Rangers and there is absolutely a discussion to be had about selling kids media that tells them violence is a good way to solve problems. In many of those cases though, the message is that the violence is in defence of some quality like freedom, justice, the earth, etc. Space Marines are Facists, they’re involved in a constant expansionist war in service of an Imperium that’s theocratic, xenophobic, and doesn’t seem to have any concept of human rights.

Sure Bernard, let’s not talk down to children, but also, let’s recognise that they don’t always have the context to be critical of the media that’s being presented to them, particularly if that media is one-sided in its narrative. This is why I think we need to be concerned about how military simulators like Counterstrike can act as recruiting tools. In the case of 40K, it’s been a long time since the game and the media around it have made it explicit that the Imperium is a Fascist state. All that’s really presented is the power fantasy associated with the ‘human’ space marines, and the values that come along with it, so I don’t think it’s really surprising that we’ve ended up here:

Trump doesn’t quite share the values of the Imperium of Man, he’s more isolationist than expansionist, and he’s more kleptocratic, while the Imperium is more Theocratic, however there are definitely similarities in how his followers see him, and how the Emperor is presented in 40K. They’re both seen as the heroic ideal of a charismatic strong-man, able to take a stand against ‘alien’ forces arrayed outside the state, and ‘degenerate’ forces inside, through a focus on militarism and national security. Again, the 14 characteristics of Fascism include a number of points where the politics of Donald Trump and the Imperium of Man intersect. I’m absolutely not saying that all kids who play 40K grow up to support Fascism, however it is likely that some people who were presented with the ideology of the Imperium as teenagers and weren’t equipped to critique it would have grown up to see something they could identify with in Trump’s politics.

It’s funny because if Trump did exist in 40K he’d be an ork, but the biggest ork already shares a name with Margaret Thatcher, and of course contemporary GW are too cowardly to name a space ork after Donald Trump.

Back to the point though. I think it’s really easy for kids to identify with Space Marines partly because they look really cool and heroic, but also in large part because they’re part of the human faction. We’re used to looking at humans as the good guys in Sci-Fi and Fantasy because it’s easy for them to act as audience inserts. There’s a common refrain in 40K spaces that ‘there are no good guys’ and I think this comes from an assumption that if humans aren’t the good guys then nobody else can be. The Eldar and Tau are definitely *less* messed up than the Imperium and I think what’s often overlooked is that their actions against humans are a response to Imperial expansionism. It seems like the Tau were originally intended as a foil to the Imperium; their value of the greater good was presented as a genuine positive, the Fire Warrior video game showed the Imperium as Fascistic and put you in the role of a Tau fighting their expansionism. These days, however, GW seem more focused on redeeming Space Marines (lol), and they’ve introduced all sorts of stuff about the Tau maintaining power through mind control (because of course nobody in their right mind would submit to Space Socialism). In any case, I think kids are less likely to associate with the Tau because they’re not human. I guess GW thought the anime aesthetics would appeal to a younger audience because kids like cartooons, right?

This is where I remembered there was an attempt a few years ago to put together some Warhammer media for kids. There’s still a website and a Youtube Channel but it doesn’t look like it went very far. Watching the Adeptus Mechanicus child inventing things with his cute Jokaero friend gave me whiplash. I’m confused that they’d make all the characters Imperials, but maybe they were giving it a bit before they showed an Eldar child setting out on their journey to become a ranger or a young Tau and their Kroot friend. Or maybe GW think only human characters are accessible to kids.

Anyway, if GW are going to be selling to a young audience (and I don’t think that toothpaste’s going back in the tube), then I think that at least for that audience they need to shift 40K’s focus a bit, it needs an outside perspective on the Imperium. One of the reasons the Imperium is so normalised is because they are the perspective faction. Most of the books, most of the video games and all of the TTRPGs are from the Imperium’s perspective. Players can’t see the Fascism for the Fascists. My suggestion would be to have the perspective characters be humans who aren’t Imperials, and who are engaged in resistance against the Imperium.

Gue’vesa by ComradeMatt on DeviantArt

They’re called Gue’vesa. Some time in the 2000s someone decided to release rules for using human auxillaries in Tau armies. It makes sense, the Tau Empire is unique in 40K in being multi-ethnic, and the Tau would much rather incorporate ex-Imperial worlds into their Empire than fight them. Having the Gue’vesa as perspective characters would work because it would put the Fascism of the Imperium into perspective. Gue’vesa characters would be aware of the tyranny that caused their planets to secede from the Imperium, as well as the threat of being reconquered, they know they’re all considered excommunicate traitoris. The Tau Empire is multi-ethnic, which is a foil to the Imperium’s xenophobia, Gue’vesa characters would likely work side-by-side with Tau, Kroot and others. The Gue’vesa can’t be Nationalistic because they’re part of a wider Empire. The wiki page describes these worlds as having freedom of religion. Also, the joke is that the Tau are Space Communists. If that’s the case then perhaps the Gue’vesa have actual trade unions. Imagine! Trade unions in the 41st Millenium! So yeah, Gue’vesa make good perspective characters because they’re humans, but they’re also involved in a Star Trek like alliance of worlds that’s a more optimistic view of the future and doesn’t bring the Imperium’s Fascist undertones.

There are some things I’d want to change about how these units are depicted though. The rules that were released just take an Imperial Guard unit and put it in a Tau army, with some Tau weapons. What this fails to recognise is that the way Imperial Guard squads work is a function of the Imperium. The Imperium just throws bodies at their problems, with little regards for human life. The Tau Empire is much more efficient, partly because they’re younger, but also because they’re smaller and can’t treat their troops with the same disregard the Imperium does. It’s likely that human troops serving the Tau Empire would be much better trained than their Imperial counterparts. Gue’vesa troops would likely be elite and highly specialised. They would have the advantage of Tau technology, but also, given Tau would have access to Imperial technology through the Gue’vesa, but without the superstiton of the Adeptus Mechanicus, there’s a possibility that Earth Caste scientists could reverse engineer Imperial technology and make improved versions of it available to Gue’vesa troops. With those kinds of advantages it makes sense for the Gue’vesa to serve not as auxilliary units but as an army in their own right.

So here’s what I’m picturing. The Gue’vesa army is made up of very small, highly trained and specialised, well equipped units. Commanders are accompanied by various T’au and human advisors. Units similar to Catachan veterans could be accompanied by Kroot trackers, while using drones and stealth battlesuit technology to keep themselves safe. They could even field something similar to a Space Marine in a melee role using battle-suit armour and power weapons. T’au likely have the technology to provide Gue’vesa with jetbikes or similar. This would all be accompanied by the standard battle suits and hover tanks.

Obviously all these units are completely mixed-gender. No more squads of dudes with a single femme head option.

(Here’s the bit where I might really upset the GrimnDark fans, but the absence of the Imperium from human worlds is likely to result in a lot of unsanctioned psykers, and there’s a possibility that Exodite Eldar seers might notice this, and grudgingly offer to train these psykers in the path of the seer so they’re equipped to resist the warp’s influence, because having daemons crawl out of their heads is a problem for everyone. So maybe they can field units of actually stable psykers)

Guard verteran units can look really cool, which is a shame because they’re likely to get annihilated just like other guard units. With a bit of extra stealth and drone technology though, (and perhaps pulse rifles) they could fill a role similar to Eldar Rangers. It’s the armoured, power weapon wielding melee units you want to make the cut-outs for the store though. They’d look badass like a Space Marine, but their fervour is about freedom from Imperialist oppression and standing side-by-side with their non-human allies. It’s still a violent power fantasy, and that’s not great, but it’s one with better values behind it and it at least makes a space for a conversation about the Imperium’s Fascism.

Anyway, that’s what I’d do if I were Games Workshop and wanted to keep selling toys to kids, but also wanted to address the shift towards Fascism in some fans. Obviously this is a long-term project but it doesn’t seem like 40K’s going away any time soon.

[my-never-ending-nightmare]

Battlefield Vietnam (2004) Main Menu & Soundtrack (White Rabbit remix Ft. President Lyndon B. Johnson & Hanoi Hannah.

“Our Government is united in its determination to take all necessary measures in support of freedom and in defense of peace in southeast Asia.”

"How are you, GI Joe? It seems to me that most of you are poorly informed about the going of the war, to say nothing about a correct explanation of your presence over here. Nothing is more confused than to be ordered into a war to die."

[canmom]

I've been recently surprised at how good American kids' TV action animation was in the 00s. Jackie Chan Adventures, Kim Possible, GI Joe Renegade, TMNT 2003, there used to be a real understanding of motion that seemed to be based on Hong Kong martial arts movies rather than anime. (Although, I do see a fair amount of South Korean credits, so.) It's so weird how all of that expertise has seemed to vanish, and now even when western animation wants to be anime it's super stiff and jerky.

i will admit, I'm totally unfamiliar with that era of American animation, but hong kong inspiration is a hell of a selling point. I'm sure the talent of Korean animators has much to do with it, but then, the story usually goes that American studios didn't give their outsourced animators much freedom outside of exceptional cases like AtlA.

as for the current stuff... honestly that is a great question. like, it's not like everyone in America has forgotten how to animate, if you watch student films or even a lot of cg stuff. but as you say, the tv animation is so often just like... staid, i guess. it might have to do with the way the pipeline has evolved, storyboarders who want to actually animate but have no room for it and don't have real control over timing and the outsourcing studios under intense pressure to get the job done quickly using standard puppet rig stuff and thereby removing whatever unique character the boards had... so everyone ends up unhappy but it's cheap so that's what gets done. it is weird though like those economic pressures surely aren't new.

speaking of tmnt there are exceptions of course - like flying bark who are like "no we'll try and one up imaishi in the level of kanada school". castlevania is a weird one bc most of the time it's really stiff but they got a bunch of webgen sakuga animators to come in for the fights so those can actually be cool. idk maybe there's other decent ones.

anyway thanks for the impetus to check out that period, i feel like i don't really have a strong sense of the timeline so it would be good to dig in ^^

[druware]

Over the last couple of years, I have made a concerted effort to avoid overtly political, or religious posts ( however, comments upon others posts have remained fair game ).

It has been a struggle, because the politics at both ends of the spectrum are a mess, and quite frankly, terrifying.

The left has completely and utterly lost their ever loving ( and I mean that literally ) minds. Love is truly love, and I fully support gay marriage and gay partner rights. I fully support gender identity choices in how a person lives their lives. Their pronouns are theirs, and there should be no issue with this. However, tansgender athletics is nonsense, because a year of hormone therapy, and a current hormone number that meets ‘gender normal’ does not overcome or offset a decade or more of body adaptations with cross gender normal numbers. Meaning, a birth gender male, once choosing to adopt a female gender identity, should not qualify to compete against birth gendered females. Of course, there are other things, climate change, COVID vaccines, and of course, abortion as a contraceptive ( yeah, I know all of the arguments, I am pro-choice, or more specifically, that as a male, I have ZERO say in the matter ).

The right however, has gone every bit as overboard, and borderline religious extremist, as in ‘they will not admit it, but they are pushing ‘Taliban’ levels of religious based intolerance’. The level of fear mongering and hateful rhetoric coming from the right is terrifying, and DEEPLY anti-democracy, anti-religious freedoms, anti-free speech, all while actively trying to protect their own rights and civil liberties. So much is being made about corporations choosing to embrace inclusivity that the right is raging against, and yet, this inclusivity should be both a priority ( if they in fact believe in the Christian teachings of love and inclusivity ) and a financial obligation ( as a deeply pro-business party line ), and yet, because of some bizarre perspective on the immorality of a version of love they choose not to embrace, while that version of love has NO DIRECT IMPACT upon them, the instead cling to the ideas that those ‘others’ are ‘grooming’ their children. ( For what it is worth, if you want to talk about ‘grooming’ can we discuss the impacts of toy guns, toy cars, toy trucks, GI Joe, HALO, and Gran Tourismo along with the driving and lifestyle choices including drug use, alcohol abuse, adultery, pornography, physical abuse, emotional abuse and divorce that are all rampant throughout both spectrums, particularly at the fringes? )

None of this even begins to address the elephant in the room that is the “Boomer” generation and it’s political disingenuous behaviors where they vote to protect their own lifestyles in full knowledge and awareness that those choices are almost certainly resulting in enormous liabilities for the children that should have benefited from the generational wealth they should leave, as their own parents did for them, and yet due to these protectionist choices will bear an undue burden.

I will be honest, this post is going to cost me some long term connections. Many of whom I respect, and truly like. It will also trigger some argumentative positions that will want to defend their views. It is for these reasons that I have avoided these topics. I have too many dear friends, whom I respect deeply, that have in many ways sublimated the extreme right or left into their personal identities ( much as my gender dysphoria friends have with their own gender identities ). Many of these friends will take offense, either on political or religious grounds ( several of whom, I have offended in the past with my own deeply anti organized religion, ‘Church’, comments in the past, because while I believe that faith and belief have a purpose and place in a moral society, Churches too often twist those things into little more than power and manipulation of a community ).

So, at the end of the day, I post this because I have grown incredibly tired of the bullshit ‘silent majority’.

The ‘silent majority’ is the centrist population that is fed up with the Republicans and the Democrats. Fed up with the IRS, Fox News, and CNN. Fed up with the lies, misinformation and the outright deceit practiced by the media, advertisers and political lobbyists. We want good candidates, people that are not outright crooks like the Clintons or Trump ( and if you ask me, the Clintons have a more crooked history than Trump, which is saying something... ). The problem is, when we get ‘moderate’ candidates on the table, it is the literal definition of ‘good because not awful’ that is the Biden result.

At some point, right, left, center, straight, gay, other, religious or atheist, it falls on us, each and everyone of us, to reject the extremes, reject hate, and divisiveness, and demand love, honor, respect, and competence in ourselves, our elected officials and our churches.

Until then, we get to keep the train wreck that has given us Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden ( along with a ‘Moral Majority’ that takes it’s cues from the likes of Jerry Falwell, Lyndsey Graham, Majorie Taylor Greene, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Bernie Sanders etc ). 

The problem is not the politicians and church leaders. The problem is the people that keep enabling these idiots.

[blade-liger-4ever]

Wait.....those are 3D PRINTED?!?!?!

What people do with 3d printers is amazing

[dynared]

I noticed I was getting some pushback on my observations about Earthspark (essentially that while it does nothing wrong, Nick seems like they could not care any less than they do) being this "filler" season while the brand, after years of unclear direction, and Hasbro's own very public financial difficulties, so I wanted to go over my, on the outside looking in, guesstimation theories about Earthspark, the Energon Universe, and Robert Kirkman moving the Hasbro properties away from the low selling, unpopular later years of IDW.

Rant under the break for those of you inclined to read it.

The key to all of this is the fact that they did hire Robert Kirkman to spearhead their new Energon Universe, rather than hiring a company to produce the comics more akin to Hasbro's say-so. Kirkman was a recent guest on the Forbidden Planet podcast, and after reminiscing over older titles he worked on, goes into the Energon Universe at the 44 minute mark.

According to Kirkman, around 2020, Hasbro was done with IDW following years of poorly selling comics and issues with the brand. So Kirkman put together a pitch as roughly every other comic company worth their salt, including Marvel, pitched Hasbro on getting the license. Kirkman specifically pitched them on a long-form universe with major future plot beats based on the cartoon (as opposed to most attempts at modern Transformers comics which take their cues from the Budinansky/Furman comic run from Marvel back in the 80s and early 90s) and from there hired people and creatives to help build out what he had in mind (Daniel Warren Johnson specifically cited that while there are certain big events Kirkman has planned he can't contradict, he has a decent amount of freedom to build out the Transformers series the way he feels is best).

This is a lot of work for just a comic universe, especially since the idea is to make a coherent whole out of a Transformers comic based on the 86 cartoon, a GI Joe that organically fits with them (it's heavily implied that both GI Joe and Cobra form as a direct response to the Transformers), and the original characters which are Hasbro property. All this effort and the bidding war doesn't make sense if it's just for a comic universe. And Robert Kirkman, unlike some of the other contestants for the writing rights, has a development company that wouldn't step on the toes of existing contracts (such as Paramount not wanting to deal with Disney), which given the success of The Walking Dead and Invincible, shows he has Hollywood credibility.

That leaves the animated front. Earthspark is being viewed by Nick and Paramount Plus as an afterthought, though thankfully not to the degree of the written-off Star Trek Prodigy. The toys are there, but they're not the main draw, there's a few kids books, but there's not the concentrated effort and promotion to indicate that this is a major going concern for Hasbro.

That's why I keep coming back to "Earthspark is filling time" as we wait to see what reception the Energon Universe has. It can't be any worse than what IDW had in its final days, but the goal seems to be something bigger than just a comic to pluck ideas from for a separate cartoon or a movie script.

Besides, after the debacle that was the War for Cybertron Trilogy, Robert Kirkman headed a big shiny Energon Universe cartoon sounds like the sort of thing that would get the Transformers attention.

[simeonscott]

And now for the final four out of my personal #TopTen #Toys I got in 2022! No. 4 is the #Hasbro #Transformers #Legacy #Speedia500 #VoyagerClass #Override, what a way to kick off the #UnicronTrilogy love in Legacy, just a straight up perfect "ya got it in one bois!" Redo of a figure I always wanted as a kid and did actually get this year, but was kinda disappointed in tbh. No. 3 is the #GIJoe #ClassifiedSeries #SpiritIronknife and #Freedom, these two totally caught me off guard, was never really interested in the characters before and I got these just so I could do a fourth of July photo with my Captain America, but they ended up being so much fun on their own that they are one of my favorite Classified sets outright. No. 2 is the #Bandai #SHFiguarts #shinkocchouseihou #KamenRiderBlack, who I really got at the perfect time having just watched everything #KamenRider black this year and despite my general issues with Figuarts, this thing is a fantastic rendition of one of the all time great toku designs. And no. 1 is the Classified #AmazonExclusive #Kamakura, everything great about Storm Shadow is made even better by way of some awesome new parts and my nostalgic love for the character. So happy the oddballs from the mid 2000s finally started getting some love this year and you know I'm hype for more of that and more GI Joe Ninjas in 2023! Overall I think this was a great year for toys, so much amazing stuff and a lot I really wanted to put on the list but just couldn't make fit. I loved Studio Series 86 Ironhide and three pack Daredevil but just couldn't get them on the on the list. I hope you all have a safe and fun holiday this weekend and I'll see you for more photos in the new year! (at Taylors, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmzd1lrunW2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mmoviejournal]

2022

Don’t look up (2021)

Notting Hill (1999)

F9 (2021)

Das perfekte Geheimnis (2019)

Dara iz Jasenovca (2020)

Encanto (2021)

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Carlston za Ognjenku (2008)

Eternals (2021)

Bruised (2020)

Presumed Innocent (1990)

Guess who’s coming to Dinner (1967)

Hypnotic (2021)

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten RIngs (2021)

The Night House (2020)

Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins (2021)

Giant (1956)

Criss Cross (1949)

Ella Enchanted (2004)

Passing (2021)

The Guilty (2021)

The Fallout (2021)

The Incredibles 2 (2018)

Branio sam Mladu Bosnu (2014)

Mississippi Masala (1991)

What ever happened to baby Jane? (1962)

Malcolm & Marie (2021)

The Harder they Fall (2021)

Shiva Baby (2020)

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

The Lost Daughter (2021)

A Perfect Murder (1998)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

Mulan (2020)

West Side Story (2021)

Prelude to a Kiss (1992)

The Weekend Away (2022)

Tick Tick ..Boom (2021)

Babel (2006)

King Richard (2021)

Arme of Thieves (2021)

The Adam Project (2022)

Turning Red (2022)

House of Bodies (2016)

Empire Records (1995)

Silent Night (2021)

The Big Short (2015)

Custody (2016)

Just Mercy (2019)

Cruella (2021)

Luca (2021)

Sophie’s choice (1982)

Monkey Business (1931)

The Call (2013)

The Suicide Squad (2021)

The Hustle (2019)

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

Mystery Date (1991)

What lies beneath (2000)

Brother Bear (2003)

Something of Value (1957)

Uncharted (2022)

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

The Little Things (2021)

A fall from Grace (2020)

Message in a Bottle (1999)

Cars 3 (2017)

Tickle me (1965)

Mission Impossible (1996)

Dumbo (1941)

Cars (2006)

Umma (2022)

Fifty Shades of Black (2016)

Monkey Business (1952)

Sweet Girl (2021)

Heat (1995)

The Sum of all Fears (2002)

Cars 2 (2011)

The Cold Light of Day (2012)

The Lost City (2022)

Slumdog Millionair (2008)

The Normal Heart (2014)

Without Remorse (2021)

The Forgotten (2004)

Village of the Damned (1960)

Dream House (2011)

Bilo jednom u Srbiji (2022)

The Emperor's new Groove (2000)

Tenet (2020)

All my Sons (1948)

Voyagers (2021)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Monsieur Claude 2 (2019)

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009)

The Gray Man (2022)

Ferdinand (2017)

Day Shift (2022)

News of the World (2020)

Goodfellas (1990)

Scarface (1983)

The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)

Intrusion (2021)

Executive Decision (1996)

Hush (1998)

Bullet Train (2022)

Me Time (2022)

Secret Window (2004)

Coach Carter (2005)

Berlin Syndrome (2017)

17 Again (2009)

The Gentlemen (2019)

Yes day (2021)

End of the Road (2022)

Unlocked (2017)

Rebecca (2020)

All the bright Places (2020)

Hannibal (2001)

Along came a spider (2001)

La nouvelle guerre des boutons (2011)

Ticket to Paradise (2022)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Airheads (1994)

Dolemite is my Name (2019)

Assassin’s Creed (2016)

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

RocknRolla (2008)

Gilda (1946)

Soapdish (1991)

Falling for Christmas (2022)

Love Potion No. 9 (1992)

Post Cards from the Edge (1990)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Collateral (2004)

The School for Good and Evil (2022)

Dunkirk (2017)

Komedija na tri Sprata (2022)

The Woman King (2022)

I am Mother (2019)

US Marshals (1998)

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)

The Cider House Rules (1999)

Glass Onion: A Knives out Mystery (2022)

Rurouni Kenshin (2012)

Love Hard (2021)

9 Bullets (2022)

Lou (2022)

Rear Window (1954)

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)

Cry Freedom (1987)

Cape Fear (1991)

The Invisible Man (1933)

School Ties (1992)

It’s a wonderful Life (1946)

The Bodyguard (1992)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

[zooterchet]

Stormfront Rejected (Pissing Themselves in Humilation)

German Trade Federation: Disney removed, for Warner Brothers.

Puerto Rican Navy: Jewish-Romalian, Larry David, creates Hamburger Helper, on television, begging for forgiveness.

Capcom Games: Megaman X, son of hunter of Whitey Bulger, faces own system, Montessori Sigma.

id Software: Doom too late, to help struggling students, Catholics, called "Christian" by enthusiasts; old uncle, Danny, "Subgenius", "Bob".

Dragonball: Kakarot, as Goku, the latter a slur, the former as same as "Freiza", American nuclear option.

AIDS Quilt: Own dystentary immunity, Tommy Lee, as Tommy Lee Jones, "Batman Forever", "Spider-Man" standup; removal of testicles, "Robocop" as directed by Paul Verhoeven.

UseNet Hentai: Jelly roll, Chinese-Korean, as having proven valor, through bust of Mossad Taiwan, as 9/11 attacks.

Rhode Island PD: Buddhist League, "James Knox Polk", as "Zoolander", Stiller Clan, as having removed optomitrist's spectrum, rape glasses as contact lenses, "better than perfect" vision.

Rhinoceros Party: Placement as drug, upon party, "People of Lot"; first romance, with North Korea, as "Rolento", Match of the Millenium MUCK; Rolento Schugerg, West Point Academy.

Orange Order: Hawaiian Naval Engineering, as catch of Osama Bin Laden, considered weak, for Kazakh, precongitive, Abu Bakr; Dead End, own volunteer, as Starscream; Scott Beamer, Swindle, as owner of Transformers; Optimus Prime; Saladin, with Osama, as Kup, Ghandhi.

Hell's Angels: High conference, of Rabbinical, as removed, through "Paste Pot Pete", Lansky.

Canadian Freemasons: Nixon Laird, as given to Northampton Nixon, five point Slayer spot as removed, instead of implanted; Slayer, ruled poor music, compared to Motorhead, thief of Scottish Cross, Kaisers.

GI Joe: Mercer, as the Billy, the Cobra Commander's son; full insurance intelligence on MetLife given, however through "Apples to Oranges", Prudential Life; "black ops", as "wet works", "slush funds"; all appropriations, now through arts, "James Bond 007".

Marvel Comics: USMC child molester, Rabbinical, by virtue of US Marine, as a child molester Catholic, having memorized issue, of own molestation; never having called historical figure, as investigated by Catholic priest, a frame from Orange Order, Zulus. Prison rape.

Northern Alliance Reagan: Marked as "loser" in warehouse, attending college, for transit of Marblehead Beach, to Taliban, victory over CVS poppy crops; instead, "Pom", terrorist market, in pomegranates, Afghan resistance. Karzai.

Ba'ath France: Saddam Hussein, as hung as if CIA, "Kakarot", Hopkinton Lodge, not "Goku", enemy of Freiza, "MI-6"; therefore, "Luke Stetson", as "Superman", running through woods forever, new model of cinema; sarcastic joke on accused, as hero in art. Contrary to Hitler and Goebbels, hero in art as favored.

Likud Dallas Wights: Cain, David Charlebois, as favored, however John Remby, as opposing; picking "John Doe" as self, for Whitey Bulger, FRG/IDF agent, with David Charlebois as "Grim Reaper"; Whitey Bulger executed as David Berkowitz, frame of veal at meal on Whitey Bulger, instead of Prodigal Son age 18, Temple. David Charlebois, raised Catholic. Whitey, raised Jewish.

United States Marine Corps Tourism Fund: Demand of Marines, for transgender operations, advertised by Robin Williams, Israeli Juden actor, slave owner, Confederate; against Edward Norton, German Nazi actor, freedom from thralldom, Emancipator. Those siding with Robin Williams, as slave owner, to be refused of court's reference, given media attention instead; media actor, as shamed.

United Health Associates: Dr. Golden, as blintzes and latkes man, claiming Israeli heritage, despite being Gestapo; own form of German ministering, oppsed by Donald Trump, siding with Israelis.

NORML: Spraying of weed, with Pinesol or Lysol or Hair Spray, however "Lemon Heads", same scent, puking if sprayed. The freedom of American weed dealers, and tree surgeons, to legalize marijuana, outside of Holland German interests, straight jacket of economists; any claiming otherwise, as raped, and wives relocated.

INTERPOL: Prostitutes' wives, and husbands, and blood of Christ, to be taken from common ampitheater of politics, "Batman"; children having seen Batman, in the nude, a Buddhist, causing school shootings for sharing of independent pornography; porn stars, as having received GHB, for survival in prison.

On Leong Tong: Taiwanese Triads, "Ghos Shadows", outed as David Carradine's death, and farts on food of clothing distributed through cuckold husbands; the John Hancock structure, dissolved, under Amway, revealing American politicians as serving Britain, to be crossdressers, in refused of Chinese women's rights and African musician's melodies

Unitarian Church: The refusal of marijuana and cannabis noted, in jobs and roles essential, the white collar; not the pink collar, as if nursing, a blue collar job with opium given by Israel; still hunted, by nurses and mental patients, to this day. " I Fuck Kids ".

MI-6 Windsor: Removal of laureates of disabled, crippled and removed of law given prosecutor; the murders of those endowed to Mossad, Musashi and Rohm, otherwise removed from precips, if calipers used on bones; falsely advising, children as rape victims, a house husband; "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell".

Friends Stand United: Indebtment, to Robert Redford, from house busts on Halloween, massive rapes of Boston extra-range PD, for offering exorcisms as drugs, instead of attorneys at law, the refusal of Marvel and DC Comics and the Democratic Party; Boston police, revealed as racist for voting Democrat, Catholic African.

Wiccan Federation: The consumption of meat, as unethical given worker, however framed as others being slave labor; martial arts federations, outside of Papal Advocacy, the self; the crippling blow, as self-defense, instead of first strike, the murder of a physical arts fighter, especially a Marine.

Trump Organization: The sales of Sulla, to Barack Obama, however as John McCain, destroying entire Pyramid Structure sought by MI-6 and constructed by alien UFO briefings since 1990s, before George W. Bush. Obama, Trump, and Biden, revealed as fake

Mossad. Code of silence, Italian Mob blueprints of arrests, violated, to keep from Oath's Silence, Kapo, Capo, Captain, on John Gotti bust; supporting Friends Stand United and the Cottonmouth Kings, "Jewing' as wise finance, outside of "tips", Alcoholics Anonymous and Lids, an NYPD Hitler Youth investment.