Post by Jeff on Feb 2, 2004 14:06:07 GMT -5
Ep 14: New Blood
I suppose I could have done another episode of Fred and Prime battling it out, but I felt part of the humor of the previous episode was that we knew Prime didn't stand a chance without help. What was already implied didn't really need to be shown.
The McDonalds storyline had now resolved itself, and begining this episode, I found the comic wandering into new territory. I felt that I'd really nailed the McDonalds storyline, and I was getting feedback from readers that said the same thing. My comic was really becoming something. Though I wasn't really aware of it at the time, this was the crucial point where I stopped viewing ACT as just a Transformers fan comic, and started considering that the comic might be capable of exploring new characters, plotlines, and directions that had nothing specific to do with Transformers toys nor comics.
For this episode, I wanted to try an audition, which would be a unique and funny way to approach getting new recruits, plus it would be even funnier to include random, unrelated toys, once more blending worlds by presenting pretend characters in a world of real toys. It was a step away from Transformers, and it seemed quite funny. I didn't realize until much later that every toy comic does an audition episode. I was very embarrassed to discover this.
My original plan was to end this episode with "Me Grimlock not your baby's father". To this day, I can't explain why that line is funny, but it is. One thing I try to be very respectful of in this comic is timing. No joke is funny when presented at the wrong speed; and every joke is funnier when done at the right one. I'm usually quite lucky in that my ideas for episodes work out to be about six panels long, needing exactly that amount of time to deliver the gags properly. Unfortunately, this proved to be a four panel episode. That was how long I felt it should take to deliver the joke, and dragging it out with two panels of filler would kill it.
My solution was to add a second joke in the last two panels, which became the "bit me in the trademark" gag. I don't feel it was as funny as the first one, but it worked, and it helped in further detracting any sense of nobleness or heroics from Prime.
The begining of the episode starts to develop Grapple as a character. They're the first real lines he's given, and they set him up as a potentially morally and intellectually superior character who should know better than the rest of the Autobots. The fact that he's talking to Prime alone also suggests some closer relationship between the two. It sets Grapple up as a sort of second in command. He loosely maintains this status after this episode, though no higher ranking is ever directly implied or stated.
Making Prime look beaten up was quite fun, and the toy easily lends itself to such a thing.
For the actual toys shown in the lineup, I wanted to choose the most unalike toys in my collection in order to create a truly ragtag spectrum of forgotten toys. I was particularly proud to include Adam Power (the guy in the orange who I'm sure no one remembers). He couldn't stand on his own though, so I had him leaning on Splinter, sort of making them look like a gay couple. This kind of influenced my characterizations of Flamewing and Turkey in later episodes.
Speaking of the famous duo, Turkey was a beanie baby I'd randomly bought for my wife a few Thanksgivings earlier. I thought it would only add to the ridiculousness of the shot to have him trailing the line. Originally, Flamewing (a bad guy from Super Powers whos name I've forgotten) was where Doctor Doom is in the final panel. I realized he matched Turkey too well, and furthermore that the two would look even more absurd if this evil looking demon toy were riding a beanie baby turkey, and a legacy was born.
I originally had no intention of having the Autobots choose any of the toys shown (not even Flamewing and Turkey). Instead I had an idea where Zam Wessell, a Star Wars "Attack Of The Clones" figure that changes its face from that of a human female to a green and puffy alien one, would attack the Autobots during the audition. Somehow this was going to be funny, but I forget how. As the green, puffy alien face, she'd reveal her origin, showing her in female form arguing with a boyfriend. The angry boyfriend would then throw a vile of acid at her. Just when you think this is how she became green and ugly, the vile clearly misses and he runs off. One of the Autobots would then ask "well then how did you become like this?" and, in the final frame, Fred and Battle Buffalo would come by with a boom box and Fred would say "Wanna hear some Celine Dion?". The joke being that hearing Celine Dion is what mutated her and made her evil. Several other episodes in this story line were planned, but I've since forgotten them all.
Zam Wessell figure with detachable green face.
Ultimately, the Celine Dion gag felt too repetitive, and I really didn't know what I wanted to do with the new character beyond the few episodes I already had planned. Grapple, Trailbreaker, and Poseidon were all still too underdeveloped at this point, and introducing another character in need of development seemed excessive. Instead, the Audition ends up going in a totally different direction in the next episode.
I suppose I could have done another episode of Fred and Prime battling it out, but I felt part of the humor of the previous episode was that we knew Prime didn't stand a chance without help. What was already implied didn't really need to be shown.
The McDonalds storyline had now resolved itself, and begining this episode, I found the comic wandering into new territory. I felt that I'd really nailed the McDonalds storyline, and I was getting feedback from readers that said the same thing. My comic was really becoming something. Though I wasn't really aware of it at the time, this was the crucial point where I stopped viewing ACT as just a Transformers fan comic, and started considering that the comic might be capable of exploring new characters, plotlines, and directions that had nothing specific to do with Transformers toys nor comics.
For this episode, I wanted to try an audition, which would be a unique and funny way to approach getting new recruits, plus it would be even funnier to include random, unrelated toys, once more blending worlds by presenting pretend characters in a world of real toys. It was a step away from Transformers, and it seemed quite funny. I didn't realize until much later that every toy comic does an audition episode. I was very embarrassed to discover this.
My original plan was to end this episode with "Me Grimlock not your baby's father". To this day, I can't explain why that line is funny, but it is. One thing I try to be very respectful of in this comic is timing. No joke is funny when presented at the wrong speed; and every joke is funnier when done at the right one. I'm usually quite lucky in that my ideas for episodes work out to be about six panels long, needing exactly that amount of time to deliver the gags properly. Unfortunately, this proved to be a four panel episode. That was how long I felt it should take to deliver the joke, and dragging it out with two panels of filler would kill it.
My solution was to add a second joke in the last two panels, which became the "bit me in the trademark" gag. I don't feel it was as funny as the first one, but it worked, and it helped in further detracting any sense of nobleness or heroics from Prime.
The begining of the episode starts to develop Grapple as a character. They're the first real lines he's given, and they set him up as a potentially morally and intellectually superior character who should know better than the rest of the Autobots. The fact that he's talking to Prime alone also suggests some closer relationship between the two. It sets Grapple up as a sort of second in command. He loosely maintains this status after this episode, though no higher ranking is ever directly implied or stated.
Making Prime look beaten up was quite fun, and the toy easily lends itself to such a thing.
For the actual toys shown in the lineup, I wanted to choose the most unalike toys in my collection in order to create a truly ragtag spectrum of forgotten toys. I was particularly proud to include Adam Power (the guy in the orange who I'm sure no one remembers). He couldn't stand on his own though, so I had him leaning on Splinter, sort of making them look like a gay couple. This kind of influenced my characterizations of Flamewing and Turkey in later episodes.
Speaking of the famous duo, Turkey was a beanie baby I'd randomly bought for my wife a few Thanksgivings earlier. I thought it would only add to the ridiculousness of the shot to have him trailing the line. Originally, Flamewing (a bad guy from Super Powers whos name I've forgotten) was where Doctor Doom is in the final panel. I realized he matched Turkey too well, and furthermore that the two would look even more absurd if this evil looking demon toy were riding a beanie baby turkey, and a legacy was born.
I originally had no intention of having the Autobots choose any of the toys shown (not even Flamewing and Turkey). Instead I had an idea where Zam Wessell, a Star Wars "Attack Of The Clones" figure that changes its face from that of a human female to a green and puffy alien one, would attack the Autobots during the audition. Somehow this was going to be funny, but I forget how. As the green, puffy alien face, she'd reveal her origin, showing her in female form arguing with a boyfriend. The angry boyfriend would then throw a vile of acid at her. Just when you think this is how she became green and ugly, the vile clearly misses and he runs off. One of the Autobots would then ask "well then how did you become like this?" and, in the final frame, Fred and Battle Buffalo would come by with a boom box and Fred would say "Wanna hear some Celine Dion?". The joke being that hearing Celine Dion is what mutated her and made her evil. Several other episodes in this story line were planned, but I've since forgotten them all.
Zam Wessell figure with detachable green face.
Ultimately, the Celine Dion gag felt too repetitive, and I really didn't know what I wanted to do with the new character beyond the few episodes I already had planned. Grapple, Trailbreaker, and Poseidon were all still too underdeveloped at this point, and introducing another character in need of development seemed excessive. Instead, the Audition ends up going in a totally different direction in the next episode.