So, Megatron. Giant robot, one-time warlord, new adopter of pacifism, explicit Stalin analogue. We all know that. But also – a reflection of Brutalist ideals! Bet that one was new to you. And not just in his design – his actual character works with this as well, and the design reinforces all that we know about the character. It’s a beautiful two-way street.
If you’re asking yourself, “where the hell did this come from? What on earth is Brutalism? Why should I even care?”, then friend, I have some cool knowledge for you.
One of the things that’s a real shame about the end of the IDW continuity is that this is such an intriguing take on the Junkions and yet we barely got to dig into them.
Rumble shook his head. “Not sure that’s your problem, Boss, if
you don’t mind me sayin’. Your problem is, you think too much.
It’ll be fine, you’ll see.” And he strolled off to find his
brother, leaving Megatron sitting on a makeshift bench below an
illegal fighting pit, staring at his hands and wondering whether he
could really do this. True, when he’d smashed his fist into that
Senate enforcer and felt plating buckle beneath his fingers, felt the
warmth of living fuel spatter over his face, it seemed to awaken
something in him; but to take on a lackey of the Senate in the heat
of the moment was one thing. To walk calmly into a gladiatorial
arena and hurt a complete stranger, possibly kill him – that was
something else.
In the tense quiet, Megatron could hear someone humming. Then
singing, very softly:
Rain fall sharp, and the mist rise cold,
And the foreman come down for his purple gold,
He’ll take it from your cart, or he’ll take it from your
lines,
Or he’ll take it from your spark, ’cause you’re married to
the mines.
Megatron rose without really meaning to, and followed the sound until
he stood over a spindly bot with a drill arm that reminded him, for a
painful moment, of Impactor. “Where were you a miner?” Megatron
murmured.
The bot started. “Uh – Luna-2. Before the energon started
drying up. You?”
“Messatine. Much the same.” He sat down a little ways down the
bench, giving the stranger some space. “We had the same song.
Only… some of us came up with a variation, on the chorus.”
“Yeah?” The bot seemed grateful for the distraction, and turned
towards Megatron. “You remember it?”
“Oh yes.” Megatron hummed deep in his throat, finding his pitch.
Then, in a voice a little rusted with disuse, he began to sing.
Rain fall sharp, and the moon rise blue,
No purple gold without me and you,
Take your axe, take your hammer, meet the foreman at the door,
Tell him we ain’t married to the mines no more!
The song began in silence, but by the time Megatron was halfway
through, there were a few mutters, here and there; whispers of,
“Mmm-hmm,” or, “Right on,” though their owners kept their
faces turned away. By the third line, a few smiles were breaking
out, and when Megatron finished, he lifted his head to find half the
room looking at him, grins on their faces.
“Sing it again, miner,” someone called.
Megatron obliged, and this time, a few other voices joined in. The
third time, most of the bots in the room were singing, and the rest
were stamping along with the beat; and when Megatron roared out,
“Take your axe, take your hammer, meet the SENATE at the door!”
cheers broke out.
The whole crowd chorused back, “Tell
’em we ain’t married to the mines no more!”
“Boss?”
Megatron turned. Rumble was grinning in the doorway, but all he said
was, “We’re up.”
“Hey, miner!” a voice shouted after him as Megatron turned to
leave. “What’s your name?”
“Megatron.” And with that, Megatron of Tarn entered the arena
for his very first gladiatorial match.
He didn’t say, “With an R.” He didn’t say, “As in
neutron.” But for once, he didn’t have to, because no one got it
wrong. When he won, the waiting fighters started chanting, and the
audience took it up in turn: “Meg-a-tron! Meg-a-tron!”
And Megatron – always thinking – began to see the shape of
something forming, in the faces and the voices and the fuel-slick
sands beneath his feet.
Ladies of Transformers print for TFNation is done! A humble thank you from me to the past 13 years of IDW comicsverse that has given us so many incredible and different characters. I feel it’s important to remember how awesome and different all of them are 🙂
So, I was listening to Moana, and then my hand slipped… a few times. Lol
(Also, Krita’s kinda nice. This was my first time using it. There are a couple of things in it that are not so user friendly as SAI, but I can’t get my copy of SAI to load any brushes except the absolute most basic round ones, so.)
yanno at first i thought optimus was kinda overrated, boring etc, others were more interesting/smarter/better
but then i was talking with a friend and she said something interesting ‘he’s not necessarily a tactician, he just brings out the best in people’
which 10000% turned me around on him, as i’ve seen things i’ve come to realize just how tragic a character optimus is, locked in this cosmic struggle, tougher than everyone else for very little reason, he’s seen so many die, he’s really not good at planning things
but he brings out the best in people, above all odds