While my lady friend and I share many of the same tastes, I have received the same “ehhh…” in panel three. In those cases, I wish I could change course as adeptly as Ethan does.
Thanks. Not familiar with that one, and barely familiar with its predecessor, “A Certain Magical Index.” Might have been able to recognize Kanzaki Kaori or Orianna Thompson if only because I think they’re hot. 😉
Technically speaking, they WERE intelligently designed by the Quintizons as slave labor, until they rose up against their alien overlords to gain their freedom.
Much like a lot of the things in the Bible and like the Bible there are people in fandom who will kill each other over the details so I think there is plenty of common ground for these two.
Not necessarily, Nick. When one of their sons, post kick-out, had to worry about others killing him in retribution for killing his brother, unless there were other humans than his mom and dad, he didn’t have to worry. So basically, Genesis 1 is where everything gets made, Genesis 2 is where the divine genealogy starts because research has shown the evolutionary ancestry began in Africa, while the rivers mentioned put Eden somewhere in modern-day Iraq, Syria, or Turkey, based on how you interpret the Hebrew renaming of the rivers Pishon and Gihon.
Yeah, he was fairly obscure and mostly kept in the backstory and side materials. At least until Michael Bay decided to bring him/it into his second movie.
Depends on how you look at it. The Transformers mythology isn’t one-to-one with Christian theology, what with Primus and Unicron being brothers. That’s not a relationship God-the-Father and Satan have. But when you consider that both were created by The One, who is even higher up on the chain, possibly making Primus into Jesus-The-Son, and Unicron who rebelled against The Father, that kind of pushes the Original 13 into The Disciples territory. And that perspective makes him feel more like Judas than Satan, because Unicron is already the fallen angel.
I was going to say that Starscream was Judas, but that would make Megatron Jesus, thus making that particular analogy really twisted even if true in a bizarro way.
Seriously. It took Joyce YEARS to change in the old continuity, at the pace Dumbing of Age moves, Willis might die or something before she gets to be a senior and presumably more adjusted!
Ethan, you are, and always will be my favorite…also you made me want to write a paper on the religious idea present in transformers… *the problems of being an athiest religion major*
Ethan is still weirding me out here.
Is he drawn a bit differently? He seems like a creepy old dude trying to seduce a young girl.
Seducing her into watching cartoons and not sex, obviously. But it’s still a creepy seduction.
He is surprisingly tall for his age. And gay & acting like he’s trying to seduce her despite not knowing how and not really wanting to either. So that probably accounts for at least some of the “uncomfortable seduction” vibe.
Isn’t Ethan a little young to give a rat’s ass about Transformers?
I mean, the movies, I could understand, but the show? If we assume that Ethan is 18ish here, then the 2nd Generation series would have ended about the time he was conceived.
Yeah, yeah, I know that DoA is all timey-wimey, but I have yet to see any of the characters reading Bloom County or dancing the Charleston either.
At this very moment, with it being 2012 and Ethan being 18, that means he was born in 1994. Beast Wars aired from 1995-1999, Beast Machines from 2000-2001, Robots in Disguise from 2001-2002, Armada from 2002-2003, Energon from 2003-2004, Cybertron from 2004-2005, the first live-action movie in 2007, Animated from 2007-2009, the second movie in 2009, the third in 2011, and now Prime is airing.
When I was in college, Beast Wars was current. For Ethan, it’s probably something he caught in reruns on Fox as a child. …until eventually, as he doesn’t grow up as fast as the real world does, and he saw a different Transformers series as a child. But he’d probably have seen it all on DVD/Netflix anyway. Fans do that.
My oldest nephew was born exactly one week after “The Agenda, Part I” made its debut as part of Beast Wars Week on Toonami. By age 7 he was well-versed in both G1 and Beast Wars, and he’s since gone on to enjoy Animated and Prime. His main exposure to RiD and the Unicron Trilogy has been through the toys.
So, yeah, kids can definitely make up for lost time these days.
and on top of that, he could have always bought the G1 dvds after becoming a fan of the franchise. or, rather than just blindly buying the dvds, he could have seen it on the hub. the G1 cartoon has been on the hub since day 1, so he’s had plenty of time to catch the full series.
Ethan would have to have born around the same time as me and I watched Armada. I could probably have watched Beast Machines and RiD if I had proper television.
I’m not trying to start anything here, but I was born in 1989, making me pretty solidly a child of the 90s, and still read Bloom County. And some of my favorite movies are Major League and Beverly Hills Cop. So yeah, it happens.
He was not – the super best friends were Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Muhammad and Krishna… I believe that’s it, at least. Oh! And who could forget Seaman (that’s SEA… MAN!) and Swallow.
It doesn’t matter what the subject is, throw a little religion on it, and you have Joyce’s undivided attention.
I am a bit confused though. The gray hair at Ethans temples is gone? So is he getting younger again?
This is so surreal. I know they’ve always coexisted in the Walkyverse as well as here, but seeing them side-by-side like this… I feel like I’m reading a crossover special.
“Well, as it turns out, cars and trucks that turn into robots aren’t really that blasphemous. Because my pastor says that machines can turn into other machines and it’s not a slight against God. … Since God created man, and man created the Transformers, the Transformers are like a gift from God!”
I hope he’s not starting her with G1. I mean, I like the show, but that’s with *HEAVY* nostalgia filters installed. Objectively, it doesn’t really hold up, at least not in a way that could convert outsiders into new fans with any reliability.
I’m really uncomfortable with this storyline. The fact of the matter is Ethan is with Joyce right now under ulterior motives and trying to make her his new beard. He could probably get away with it for awhile too since Joyce wouldn’t really expect anything physical until marriage anyway. I understand that he’s lonely and in a difficult position but that doesn’t change the sliminess of what he’s doing. I’m sure it will all work out though in the end…hopefully? I am wondering what Joyce’s reaction will be when she finds out about Ethan being gay. Since by the time that happens she’ll probably have gotten to know him more maybe she’ll just wish him into the same less bad hell as Dorothy?
As for Transformers I might have had the same reaction as Joyce. It’ll be nice though when Joyce finally develops some interests outside of “Jesus!” You can be religious and still be a well rounded human being.
I’m not feeling as uncomfortable here as I was when Ryan was trying to get Joyce alone at the party, but it’s definitely a little oogy to me too. Depending on how long Ethan lets this go on, the situation could get quite messy indeed.
So, about 10 days ago I posted very misogynistic and racially/culturally insensitive pick up lines for Joe (On the panel where Walky gets his PJ Jeans). I actually haven’t looked back at that page until now.
Point is, I’d like to apologize to David, and anyone I may have offended. The only way I could describe my comments is to say that they were really, REALLY stupid as the words foolish, childish, and ignorant just don’t cut it.
Not to justify, but I find race and culture something that needs to be poked fun at, I mean Mr. Willis pokes fun at the culture that stems from America’s Bible’s belt. BUT there are chasmic differences between Dave’s writing and my remarks.
To try to some them up, Dave shows realistic people who have reasons for what they do. Theres no generalizing, grouping, and more specifically not playing off of racist generalizations like Asians can’t drive, or all Arabs wears turbans and burkas and are terrorists.
Also Dave puts his characters in situations to show and expand upon how his characters, and we the readers, see different cultures and viewpoints.
My situation was Joe soliciting a stranger for sex by either boasting about his own manhood or saying how he thinks the girl is sexually attractive by specifically mentioning her apparent Muslim heritage. =/ Yeah…
Again, I apologize for what has been said, I should know better considering I’m African American (or Black when I’m trying save six syllables) and I’ve had people cross that line on me before because they didn’t follow the simple rule of making racial and cultural comedy about bringing people together instead of alienating each other.
I was kinda upset about this, or whatever you call that feeling of utter disappointment when you realize you crossed a moral line you hold in pretty high regards in a very public setting.
Aww now I’m sad agiain, TIME TO CATCH UP ON COMMENTS AND COMIC STRPIS!
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Well. That almost got even more awkward than it could’ve been. *Gets the popcorn* TRAINWRECK TIME!
Smooth, Ethan. Smooooooth!
It worked didn’t it, so I think he’s in the clear.
I wasn’t being facetious. That was some quick-on-his-feet thinking.
To be fair, sarcasm isn’t always easy to spot with only text.
True, that. Back on topic:
While my lady friend and I share many of the same tastes, I have received the same “ehhh…” in panel three. In those cases, I wish I could change course as adeptly as Ethan does.
You don’t say? That’s bloody brilliant! In fact I wish more people would notice that.
That’s why I either try to word it in such a way that it is almost certain to be seen as sarcastic or I use the 😛 or occasionly the 😀 emotes.
To be even more fair, I’ve often had people uncertain whether I was being sarcastic in real life.
Same. v_v
Dude knows how to sell the sizzle.
Yes, Transformers is Veggie Tales but with space robots.
When you put it like that…I really want to watch more Transformers
This makes me want Transformers to have a “Silly Songs with Starscream” segment.
Only if Soundwave gets to do bass.
and all the songs will be about either how starscream is great or how megatron sucks…or both
How about “Megatron Sucks Starscream Rocks”? Also known as “the enemy scrotum”. (All puns intended.)
Look at the P38, he can’t dance. Poor P38! He wishes he could dance like the fighter-jet free and smooth, but he can’t…
Just like Prowl, about to eat.
Hi, PM, who is your gravatar today?
Today’s grav is Shinobu from “A Certain Scientific Index”.
Thanks. Not familiar with that one, and barely familiar with its predecessor, “A Certain Magical Index.” Might have been able to recognize Kanzaki Kaori or Orianna Thompson if only because I think they’re hot. 😉
Wow, was I off, I thought it was Wednesday from the Addams Family.
Isn’t it scientific railgun?
Railgun is the spinoff of Index featuring Mikoto Misaka, the Electric Princess aka Railgun.
Yeah but I thought it was magical index and scientific railgun.
Ah shit… you’re right, looks like I had one of those damn senior moments.
Giant Robot Veggie Tales.
Okay, now I want all religious allegories to be taught with giant robots. For all the religions. Forever.
Giant Robot Jesus. Hmm I actually hadn’t heard of that one before
He was a robot god. Of course when he transforms…he doesn’t get much cooler.
If transformers followed Joyce’s religion their motherboards might crash from the sheer amount of conflicting themes within.
naw. just instead of Autobots and Decepticons you’d have Cathrobots and Hathantrons
Don’t forget Robanukah, the holiest two weeks on the robot calendar,
I think they would refer to that as a “fence posting error”. For us “it just don’t add up”.
Is that really such a concern for her?
I think it was more “eh, not really interested” but then he turned it around into something sure to catch her interest! Because God.
It’s true. Gotta know your audience!
Exactly, it’s all in the marketing.
Don’t stoop to her level ethan maintain some dignity.
that ship is leaving the dock, man
More like dry-dock. 😀
That boat has LONG since sailed. The minute Ethan decided to climb back in the closet he gave up his dignity. v_v
Sadly, this is true.
Technically speaking, they WERE intelligently designed by the Quintizons as slave labor, until they rose up against their alien overlords to gain their freedom.
G1 Cartoon continuity; everything that followed, they were created by Primus.
Even the cartoon itself was retconned to include Primus, with varying clunkiness.
Much like a lot of the things in the Bible and like the Bible there are people in fandom who will kill each other over the details so I think there is plenty of common ground for these two.
You could argue that combining the seven day creation and the Garden of Eden stories into one Genesis account is the original retcon.
Documentary Hypothesis FTW!
Not necessarily, Nick. When one of their sons, post kick-out, had to worry about others killing him in retribution for killing his brother, unless there were other humans than his mom and dad, he didn’t have to worry. So basically, Genesis 1 is where everything gets made, Genesis 2 is where the divine genealogy starts because research has shown the evolutionary ancestry began in Africa, while the rivers mentioned put Eden somewhere in modern-day Iraq, Syria, or Turkey, based on how you interpret the Hebrew renaming of the rivers Pishon and Gihon.
That’s a very asute observation! Bravo!
Isn’t that where the term “canon” came from too?
I might be the only person in the world who prefers the quintesson origin to the Primus origin. ^^’
No, I prefer the sci-fi Quintessons over the high-fantasy Primus origin too.
Real Robot > Super Robot.
Real Robot always > Super Robot
Gundam > Transformers
Boo-ya! The fact that I just quoted another cartoon robot was unintentional.
They seem to be more like Super Robot’s since they are full of Burning Justice!!!
OR! By Primus as a first and last line of defense against Unicron!
It works in all continuities!
So who gets to be Satan then?
Unicron. Or the Fallen. Either one.
Unicron I recall, the Fallen, not so much.
Yeah, he was fairly obscure and mostly kept in the backstory and side materials. At least until Michael Bay decided to bring him/it into his second movie.
The Fallen is Judas!
Isn’t the fallen more like Lucifer, the fallen angel?
Depends on how you look at it. The Transformers mythology isn’t one-to-one with Christian theology, what with Primus and Unicron being brothers. That’s not a relationship God-the-Father and Satan have. But when you consider that both were created by The One, who is even higher up on the chain, possibly making Primus into Jesus-The-Son, and Unicron who rebelled against The Father, that kind of pushes the Original 13 into The Disciples territory. And that perspective makes him feel more like Judas than Satan, because Unicron is already the fallen angel.
I thought it was more like Primus is Ahura Mazda and Unicron is Angra Mainyu.
Except that Optimus Prime is *obviously* Jesus. Not that that meshes well with any of the rest of it…
Blasphemy! Optimus Prime is Aslan!
If the Fallen is Judas, who is Liege Maximo suppose to be?
Thomas, duh!
I was going to say that Starscream was Judas, but that would make Megatron Jesus, thus making that particular analogy really twisted even if true in a bizarro way.
“One of you will betray me thirty-seven times. This evening.”
In early today!~
Also, really Joyce? did he need to add all that? >< this will be a long "Pop culture" intro if they all will be like this…long and confusing :s
Seriously. It took Joyce YEARS to change in the old continuity, at the pace Dumbing of Age moves, Willis might die or something before she gets to be a senior and presumably more adjusted!
We all will get the seniors before she does, senior citizens that is.
Ethan, you are, and always will be my favorite…also you made me want to write a paper on the religious idea present in transformers… *the problems of being an athiest religion major*
That doesn’t sound like a problem at all! If it were, Lord, I’d love to have it.
Nopers, there are plenty of atheist Religion majors. It’s actually harder to find a devout one.
Wait, there are religion majors who AREN’T atheists?
If anything it’s a boon because it allows you to examine the subject matter critically and with less bias.
I know why I’m an athiest, because I actually learned about it.
Ethan is still weirding me out here.
Is he drawn a bit differently? He seems like a creepy old dude trying to seduce a young girl.
Seducing her into watching cartoons and not sex, obviously. But it’s still a creepy seduction.
and I never thought of him as an old dude before.
At least he doesn’t have the gray near his sideburns.
in@sametimeas “Ethan is gay”.
He is surprisingly tall for his age. And gay & acting like he’s trying to seduce her despite not knowing how and not really wanting to either. So that probably accounts for at least some of the “uncomfortable seduction” vibe.
For his age, a lot of people reach their adult height before they reach 18, hell, I reach my adult height of 5’10” by the time I was 14.
Isn’t Ethan a little young to give a rat’s ass about Transformers?
I mean, the movies, I could understand, but the show? If we assume that Ethan is 18ish here, then the 2nd Generation series would have ended about the time he was conceived.
Yeah, yeah, I know that DoA is all timey-wimey, but I have yet to see any of the characters reading Bloom County or dancing the Charleston either.
“The” show? Dude, there are dozens, and they’ve been airing nonstop for 30 years.
Really? Then Wikipedia failed me.
I’ve been watching G1 since I was like 3 or 4 through VHS rentals and repeats on Sci-fi. Ethan probably had a chance to start with the G1 cartoon.
At this very moment, with it being 2012 and Ethan being 18, that means he was born in 1994. Beast Wars aired from 1995-1999, Beast Machines from 2000-2001, Robots in Disguise from 2001-2002, Armada from 2002-2003, Energon from 2003-2004, Cybertron from 2004-2005, the first live-action movie in 2007, Animated from 2007-2009, the second movie in 2009, the third in 2011, and now Prime is airing.
When I was in college, Beast Wars was current. For Ethan, it’s probably something he caught in reruns on Fox as a child. …until eventually, as he doesn’t grow up as fast as the real world does, and he saw a different Transformers series as a child. But he’d probably have seen it all on DVD/Netflix anyway. Fans do that.
Beast Machines never happened. >8~(
It is not a thing that ever started existing.
That’s my headcanon, and despite the awesome hypothetical floating Megatron head notwithstanding I’m sticking to it.
Oh my god yes I loved Beast Wars.
My oldest nephew was born exactly one week after “The Agenda, Part I” made its debut as part of Beast Wars Week on Toonami. By age 7 he was well-versed in both G1 and Beast Wars, and he’s since gone on to enjoy Animated and Prime. His main exposure to RiD and the Unicron Trilogy has been through the toys.
So, yeah, kids can definitely make up for lost time these days.
and on top of that, he could have always bought the G1 dvds after becoming a fan of the franchise. or, rather than just blindly buying the dvds, he could have seen it on the hub. the G1 cartoon has been on the hub since day 1, so he’s had plenty of time to catch the full series.
Ethan would have to have born around the same time as me and I watched Armada. I could probably have watched Beast Machines and RiD if I had proper television.
…. I was born in 91 and read bloom county religiously.
I’m not trying to start anything here, but I was born in 1989, making me pretty solidly a child of the 90s, and still read Bloom County. And some of my favorite movies are Major League and Beverly Hills Cop. So yeah, it happens.
Timey-Wimey? Are you a whovian?!
dude, i was raised on G1 transformers and i’m 17.
At first I thought Ethan was saying “girlfucker” with the dashes, but then I figured it out.
Hooray for being tired.
Great, now I can’t see anything else!
Score one for the Internet! 😀
Okay, it’s retooled for clarity.
I understand why you did it, but it’s a shame non-the-less.
Dammit, now I see it.
Presumably, Ethan’s girlfucker is Mike.
That’s an interesting way of describing Transformers.
So after he warms her up with some giant robots, he’s going to break out the South Park, right?
woah now…That might make her head explode…at least have a simpsons-futurama- family guy sequence in between to work her up to that
I somehow doubt Joyce would like South Park’s idea of God.
I know, right? the Imagination Land arc is gold!
Or the giant… Bhuddist….. Hippo…. Thing.
Or the Super Best Friends!
Was god in super best friends? Jesus and Muhammed and Moses were
But I don’t remember god being there.
He was not – the super best friends were Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Muhammad and Krishna… I believe that’s it, at least. Oh! And who could forget Seaman (that’s SEA… MAN!) and Swallow.
It doesn’t matter what the subject is, throw a little religion on it, and you have Joyce’s undivided attention.
I am a bit confused though. The gray hair at Ethans temples is gone? So is he getting younger again?
SP! Ethan is in his 30s, DoA’s Ethan on the other hand, is only about 18.
or wait, thats in Short Packed?
Shortpacked!
I have to admit, this is probably the best explanation of Transformers I’ve ever heard.
This is so surreal. I know they’ve always coexisted in the Walkyverse as well as here, but seeing them side-by-side like this… I feel like I’m reading a crossover special.
Transformers: They’re pro-creationism!
Baby steps. You know this might actually end up bettering both parties.
“God, Jetfire doesn’t believe in you.”
Wait… goddammit, I just remembered where I was.
Don’t cross the streams!
Ethan know how to sell it.
Is he talking about Amber when he starts to say “girlfriend?”
Most likely.
“Well, as it turns out, cars and trucks that turn into robots aren’t really that blasphemous. Because my pastor says that machines can turn into other machines and it’s not a slight against God. … Since God created man, and man created the Transformers, the Transformers are like a gift from God!”
man did not create transformers, they created themselves!
http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/f/f1/Pulleys.jpg
I hope he’s not starting her with G1. I mean, I like the show, but that’s with *HEAVY* nostalgia filters installed. Objectively, it doesn’t really hold up, at least not in a way that could convert outsiders into new fans with any reliability.
I would say that was silly, but if I remember my continuity, that is how things begin for Transformers.
I’m really uncomfortable with this storyline. The fact of the matter is Ethan is with Joyce right now under ulterior motives and trying to make her his new beard. He could probably get away with it for awhile too since Joyce wouldn’t really expect anything physical until marriage anyway. I understand that he’s lonely and in a difficult position but that doesn’t change the sliminess of what he’s doing. I’m sure it will all work out though in the end…hopefully? I am wondering what Joyce’s reaction will be when she finds out about Ethan being gay. Since by the time that happens she’ll probably have gotten to know him more maybe she’ll just wish him into the same less bad hell as Dorothy?
As for Transformers I might have had the same reaction as Joyce. It’ll be nice though when Joyce finally develops some interests outside of “Jesus!” You can be religious and still be a well rounded human being.
I’m not feeling as uncomfortable here as I was when Ryan was trying to get Joyce alone at the party, but it’s definitely a little oogy to me too. Depending on how long Ethan lets this go on, the situation could get quite messy indeed.
I don’t find it uncomfortable so much as just sad. Because this entire farce will fall apart, and everyone involved will be mortified and such.
I instantly fell for Joyce’s ‘Oooo’ face XD
So, about 10 days ago I posted very misogynistic and racially/culturally insensitive pick up lines for Joe (On the panel where Walky gets his PJ Jeans). I actually haven’t looked back at that page until now.
Point is, I’d like to apologize to David, and anyone I may have offended. The only way I could describe my comments is to say that they were really, REALLY stupid as the words foolish, childish, and ignorant just don’t cut it.
Not to justify, but I find race and culture something that needs to be poked fun at, I mean Mr. Willis pokes fun at the culture that stems from America’s Bible’s belt. BUT there are chasmic differences between Dave’s writing and my remarks.
To try to some them up, Dave shows realistic people who have reasons for what they do. Theres no generalizing, grouping, and more specifically not playing off of racist generalizations like Asians can’t drive, or all Arabs wears turbans and burkas and are terrorists.
Also Dave puts his characters in situations to show and expand upon how his characters, and we the readers, see different cultures and viewpoints.
My situation was Joe soliciting a stranger for sex by either boasting about his own manhood or saying how he thinks the girl is sexually attractive by specifically mentioning her apparent Muslim heritage. =/ Yeah…
Again, I apologize for what has been said, I should know better considering I’m African American (or Black when I’m trying save six syllables) and I’ve had people cross that line on me before because they didn’t follow the simple rule of making racial and cultural comedy about bringing people together instead of alienating each other.
Thanks.
Khrene Cleaver uses TACT
It is SUPER EFFECTIVE!
Thank you so much for that laugh!
I was kinda upset about this, or whatever you call that feeling of utter disappointment when you realize you crossed a moral line you hold in pretty high regards in a very public setting.
Aww now I’m sad agiain, TIME TO CATCH UP ON COMMENTS AND COMIC STRPIS!
If Clerks 2 taught us anything (and I’m pretty sure there was only the one thing), it’s that Transformers is Jesus-approved.
I remember seeing a YTMND where Optimus was on the cross with “Our God is an Awesome God” as the music.
Why are there two cables going into his laptop? Power, and…?
Ethernet, maybe?
Ahhhh! AVATAR JINX!