Transformers: Crowning Moments of Awesome

[Cliffjumper]

If you don't know the drill, read about the concept here. Short version: really cool bits from Transformers. Which are the bits from all walks of tie-in media that make you cheer, the bits you always try to get non-fans to watch or read?

Some of mine: -

Inferno's death in UK #149 - Smokescreen and a badly injured Inferno, having barely escaped from Unicron and a possessed Death's Head on Junk, make it back to Cybertron with vital information, only to get jumped by Cyclonus and Scourge, who cripple the shuttle. Inferno's response? To bung Smokescreen out of the shuttle so he can get the information back to Rodimus Prime, before making sure the blazing ship crashes into the attacking Decepticon army. A blaze of glory indeed.

Optimus Prime vs. Sector 7 SUV - Prime smashes up Reggie Simmonds' soccermom mobile in a startling piece of pragmatism, before delivering the immortal line "Taking the children was a big mistake". So good Furman stole it.

Hellbat kills Deathcobra - one of the few times in a TV series that a Decepticon gun proves lethal, and it's both accidental and one of their own. Bonus points for both Hellbat's inept attempts to fit up Holi, and the fact that the others actually believe him.

Optimus Prime, TF:TM - it's hard not to make this an Optimus Prime list, but he did get all the best bits, such as dropping half the Decepticon army without even breaking a sweat. Sadly the following fight scene made him look like an idiot, and the whole scene was set to Stan Bush's sub-Styx warbling when a nice slice of Vince Di Cola was called for.

Fortress Maximus, Rebirth - an unashamedly nostalgia-driven moment, jsut because when I was about 8 and saw this one on tape for the first time, "Decepticons - prepare to face Fortress Maximus" sent chills down my spine. He's so badass he tells them he's on his way! Of course, the following epic battle with Scorponok consists of two badly-animated shoves, but that line still gets me. Nearly getting mentioned in dispatches from Rebirth is Ultra Magnus for finally coming up with the plan of rounding up a squad and just trying to kill the Decepticon leader, but a) he really should have thought of it sooner and b) in true Magnus style, luck's not with him and the *master Decepticons pick that precise moment to turn up.

Enter Shockwave (The Last Stand): Exaggerated for years by ignorant fans (he doesn't take out all the Autobots, just the half-dozen still functional at that point), Shockwave's entrance is still a great twist - seemingly random and Brad Mick-esque, but somehow totally fitting - you can imagine him watching the whole fight impassively, waiting for the logical moment to arise. Plus he still takes out half a dozen Autobots with a single shot...

Ratchet lamps Starscream, US #78 (thereabouts, anyway) - fed up with Starscream's strutting pantomime villain schtick (Yay for Furman reverting the character to 'classic' form :\), Ratchet finally loses his temper and shatters the Decepticon's glass jaw while launching into the mother of all rants. Captured perfectly by Andy "Andrew" Wildman Stephen Baskerville.

Megatron takes out pretty much anyone he comes across, first half of G2 - to celebrate finally having a proper alt mode, Megatron spends the early part of the series dismembering anyone he comes across - Steeljaw, Brawn, Override (torn limb from limb), either Chase or Searchlight, Dreadwind, Bludgeon, Optimus Prime. It doesn't matter whether they're a cassette or a leader, the battles are largely formalities - Prime never beats him in that body, and only an ill-advised attack on the entire Cybertronian fleet (with a crew that includes Titans like Ruckus, Runamuck and Battletrap) stops him.

Ultra Magnus versus Galvatron, Target 2006 - An obvious one, yes, but some things are cliche for a reason. An epic, sprawling fight scene that takes up pretty much an issue and hits all the right buttons, with Magnus at the peak of his form. Even better in context, as it showed just how terrifying the Marvel UK version of Galvatron was.

Metroplex, Space Pirates - Thanks to the efforts of Arcee, the Quintessons invade Autobot City Earth and basically kill all the Autobots there. Rodimus Prime's reinforcements are overwhelmed, and the Matrix is nicked by a Quint. How they going to get out of that one? They activate Metroplex, a mile high and virtually invulnerable, who swats the entire Quintesson force to death while barely moving. Admittedly, not the most suspenseful conclusion...

Just about anything with Air Raid - I'm not sure if it's just selective memory, but it always seemed that whenever a script required one of the Aerialbots to do something awesome, Air Raid got the gig, whether it was carrying the entire team for their comic debut, or charging into Trypticon's mouth for a bit of daredeviling. Neat paint job, too.

Nightbeat takes down Thunderwing (Matrix Quest) - Thunderwing is the most over-rated Decepticon leader of all time, which considering his competition includes Megatron really is something. His roll of triumphs include being blown up by a dead cassette, trying to kill his own troops more often than the Autobots, attempting to destroy the Ark with only three other Decepticons and basically getting let off because Prime thinks he's funny and almost immediately turning into a mad zealot. He fulfills every Decepticon fanboy's wet dream and gets hold of the Matrix, only to use the thing as a laser cannon. The Matrix, having kept out of things for eight million years, gets fed up with his ineptitude and takes over his body, at which point the Autobots are in trouble. Not to fear, however - Nightbeat has a wonderfully low-tech solution, simply firing a harpoon through Thunderwing's body and flushing him and the Matrix into space. While cracking one-liners.

Soundwave wins (Dinobot Hunt): With Megatron off living a life of crime and Shockwave presumably still trying to get out of that lake, Soundwave ends up being temporary Decepticon leader. His first plan - kidnapping Bumblebee and posting bits of him back to the Ark - goes awry when Optimus Prime goes spare and takes everyone, but everyone out, but his second one of letting the Dinobots lose to vandalise the planet is great, as Soundwave puts the cherry on it by watching the whle thing while laughing his arse off.

Trailbreaker deals with Grimlock (The Prime Directive): A bizarre moment in such a dire series. Grimlock spent the whole series spouting cod lone wolf sentiments and trying to tick all the "Manufactured Badass" boxes. He ended up one-on-one with that most workmanlike of Autobots, Trailbreaker, who promptly twatted Grimlock with an I-bar for acting like an arse. Intelligent readers cheered at the surprising moment of common sense, but alas normal service soon resumed, and Grimlock kept being a cheap Wolverine knock-off.

So, there we go, I'm sure you've all got ones of your own, and I'm sure there are loads I've forgotten, so post away. Only one rule - anyone using phrases like "Nuff Said" or "That is all" as their justification will result in me abusing my powers, oh yes. And will also look like a sub-literate wanker, so it's in your own interests as well...

[Terome]

Galvatron just gets on with it - Vicious Circle (The Annual one, not the post-Unicron circle. Furman loves his phrases.) - After going to some magnificent lengths to build a big thingy to give him THE POWER OF A GOD (which is...?), Galvatron is at the brink of victory when a supposedly dead Ultra Magnus stumbles in the door and Galvatron doesn't even miss a beat and tries to kill him again.

Megatron tears Optimus Prime in two - Salvage - I went out to Wandsworth park and paddled in the Thames last week. It is not a pleasant place wherein spend any amount of time immersed. Megatron spent decaweeks at the bottom of the thing after being blown up by some Eurocised GI Joes, which must mean it is pretty deep, and then after a comfy psycho-probe from Snaptrap, metaphorically destroys / has sex with Optimus Prime and reasserts his dominance to himself and any beta males that were watching. Well done, Megatron, you silly old ape.

Megatron doesn't care - The second half of Infiltration - I suppose this is turning out to be a Megatron counterpoint to Cliffjumper's Prime post, but from the moment he appears and utterly disregards Adventure Kid Verity Carlo, Megatron strides purposefully across the United States, ripping the guts out of Starscream's rebels and then Starscream himself with only any hint that he gives the slightest shit of what anyone has to say or do about the matter. Oh, and he only pauses to order the destruction of his home planet over the phone, which was brilliantly cold in the E.J Su staging and all stupid and grinny in the Don version.

Unicron kills Primus - On The Edge Of Extinction - When 'At Last We Meet, We Old Enemies' dialogue gets Unicron rather embarrassingly lassoed, he remembers that he's a lot bigger, smarter and better prepared than Primus, who's really a bit clueless and entirely reliant on that Matrix device that his kids seem to have fired into space and corrupted with evil. Never one to pass up a ripe opportunity, Unicron fries his avatar, breaks his silly little light-ropes and crushes his nemesis' godhead in his continent-sized claw. Let it not be said that he didn't go down fighting.


Hardhead shoots Nightbeat in the face (Spotlight: Hardhead): So it looked like all my picks involved someone doing the practical thing and killing, or attempting to, someone with little fuss or pretence. After 25 years of coming to these moments from time to time, Furman nails it in Spotlight: Hardhead, where a mind-controlled comrade is not reasoned with or coaxed out of enemy control, but cleanly shot right through the brain. Also, the quick-wrap of Revelation and all the 'brand new direction' euphemisms at IDW mean that Furman probably won't be able to go back and pick at this particular scab, leaving the moment perfectly preserved in an amber of editorial about-turns.

[Cliffjumper]

Good picks... I always like dhte Unicron/Primus thing, just because first time around you expect Primus to be something slightly naff like a good Unicron (was it Cybertron they actually did that in? Idiots...). Instead he's this out-of-touch clot who possesses possibly the most physically crap Transformer still alive. It's the way it's not even a fight...

Loved Megatron clobbering Starscream for what it was, but the problem (for me) is the TF Fictionverse is full of that sort of thing - Megatron absent-mindedly blowing him through a wall in the early days ("Add Starscream to the repair list"), but despite Starscream never looking like changing his spots, Megatron always leaves the door open - why bother even putting him in a CR chamber? No wonder the Decepticons always have this kind of back-stabbing shit going on, their Aerial Commander is allowed to wander around openly babbling about overthrowing their leader, and Megatron will even give an order to patch him up if his inept coup fails.

That's what I sort-of liked about his early-ish Marvel characterisation - aside from the odd lapse he's fairly well-behaved, and waits for the big chance in the shape of the Underbase. Sure, it doesn't pan out and he dies like a bitch, but it made a broad sort of sense. Sadly, he comes back to life and slips into cartoon characterisation - as funny as Megatron doing his "Why Starscream?" moan in G2 is, you've got to ask the question seriously...

EDIT: I think in a franchsise that, however much it's tarted up to be otherwise, basically comes down to big robots hitting each other, a lot of the awesomer bits are going to be about big robots hitting each other... That's not to say there aren't lots of other good bits - Prime in "Dark Awakening", for example, is great stuff, but hardly distills into a moment of awesome (c'mon, he fails to scratch Daniel and Spike when gunning them down), and neither does something like the lovely bits of characterisation Ravage got from Furman (before, again, inexplicably bringing him back in Don Glut mode...). Similarly, touching moments like Scorponok's death don't quite fit with awesome.

Jhiaxus' metaphorical suckerpunch about the Cybertronian Empire should probably be in there, though

[Terome]

Loved Megatron clobbering Starscream for what it was, but the problem (for me) is the TF Fictionverse is full of that sort of thing - Megatron absent-mindedly blowing him through a wall in the early days ("Add Starscream to the repair list"), but despite Starscream never looking like changing his spots, Megatron always leaves the door open - why bother even putting him in a CR chamber? No wonder the Decepticons always have this kind of back-stabbing shit going on, their Aerial Commander is allowed to wander around openly babbling about overthrowing their leader, and Megatron will even give an order to patch him up if his inept coup fails.

Have you watched Animated yet?

SPOILER! (select to read)

Megatron manages to kill Starscream, on sight, no questions asked, about ten times in one episode, and kills him a few times after that for good measure. He only considers not killing him when he is a decapitated head of great tactical worth. As soon as Starscream gets a new body, Megatron promptly blows him apart once again. And, just like your theory predicts, there's very little in-fighting and backstabbing with that particular batch of Decepticons.

the lovely bits of characterisation Ravage got from Furman (before, again, inexplicably bringing him back in Don Glut mode...)

Jeez, yeah. I'd forgotten about that. The McCartheys and Brad Micks of the franchise aren't the first ones to have been compelled to go back to the stinky well.

something slightly naff like a good Unicron (was it Cybertron they actually did that in? Idiots...)

I seem to remember the idea being mildly mocked in a letters page or two... but back then it was an eight year old who'd come up with the idea. I remember sending in a letter and a drawing of a Dinobot combiner, thinking that it was both the best and most original idea to have graced the mind of a child. But then, I suppose that is the sort of thing Hasbro ought to be pushing, so...

Ratchet gets a couple of Crowning Moments in Animated, by the way, but I deleted all my episodes for space reasons and I don't feel up to crawling through the damn wiki, so you'll just have to imagine.

I have a feeling Omega Supreme's bit in All Hail Megatron was supposed to be one of these, sadly.

[Cliffjumper]

From what I've heard, all of AHM seems to be an attempt to create these moments. The thing is, they only work when they a) come along rarely and b) have a halfway decent story around them. AHM sounds like a lot of monotony interspersed with the odd stage-managed set-piece.

But then, to be fair, DW's entire output (including the ultimately unsatisfying War Within books, and especially the G1 ongoing) seemed to work on this idea. It's why so many recent TF comics have sucked so badly - it's like bad fanfic, they've got the badass poses and moments of violence all worked out, and just write any old toss to try and tie it together.

It's a shame that we're never going to see a universe get the time and consistent development Marvel's did. Obviously, it was very far from perfect, but the depth and layering that just builds up over best part of ten years just gives so much scope... Furman's recent failures have been down to trying to put that sort of groundwork into the odd half-dozen issues, resulting in a lot of unfocused, vaguely pretentious and ultimately rather boring comics. Personally I think it was a mistake to use the Spotlights as extensions of the main book, rather than as slightly peripheral stuff... it burdened the main book with even more glacier-slow plot threads, while also bogging down the standalone aspect of the Spotlights themselves.


Anyway, robots thumping each other and the like.

Prime v Bonecrusher, the Movie: It did exactly what it was meant to, showing Prime to be one double-hard bastard, and it was brilliantly choreographed. Bonecrusher was ace too - it doesn't really matter that his role lasted only two minutes, people are going to remember him for years from that little showing.

Bluestreak v Skywarp and/or Thundercracker, Man of Iron: I think it was both of them... But Bluestreak's ice-cold tailgunning for Jazz and co. was superb. He simply pulls up, transforms, takes out two powerful Decepticons in style, and fires off a glib comment to Jazz, and IIRC disappears. Plus I do love it when someone turns up to perform the exact function on their tech spec, which sort of ties into the following...

Scourge & Cyclonus, Fight or Flee: The pair were a good double-act in the comics, also doubling up as a quality indicator - if they were in it, you were in for a good story. It generally didn't work like that in the cartoon, where Cyclonus was Galvatron's punch-bag and Scourge could never quite decide if he wanted to be the new Starscream or the new Long Haul. Apart from when the pair of them invaded Paradron, finding Sandstorm's crowd to be so pathetic that not only did they invade the place without any help, but they did so while fine-tuning their sardonic one-liners.

Windcharger superpowers Megatron, Raiders of the Last Ark: Windcharger should be the most powerful weapon the Autobots have, what with Transformers being made of metal and his power of chucking metal around... The only time it really came through (I half remember something in a storybook as well, though...) was when he had a brief moment in the sun, violently ejecting Megatron through the roof of the Ark. His uneasy alliance with Ravage was great too. Sadly, someone somewhere seemed to realise he could win the war in a week and he was barely seen again...

Omega Supreme, Command Performances: The Decepticon cast on Earth had basically been stable for 20 or 72 issues, bar Megs and Shockwave swapping places from time to time and the Constructicons hanging around a bit. Until they attack Omega Supreme and he decimates their Earth-based army simply defending himself. Unlike Windcharger, instead of being forgotten about Omega just turns into a muppet, getting taken down by Buzzsaw. Oh dear.

Optimus Prime, Dark Awakening: I said it was probably more of a heart-tugger than an awesome, but thinking about it two things really were fantastic - firstly, the high-powered panel-beating he gives Hot Rod is great fun if you don't like Hot Rod much (best part - "I don't want to hurt you!" while delivering a flurry of two-handed punches to Hot Rod's torso... Unconvincing, Op), and secondly the unflinching piloting of the shuttle as it's blown from underneath him and he loses body parts left, right and centre. Another reason to hate TRoOP, really...

[zigzagger]

Just from the top of my head. This will do for now.

Scorponok in Marvel TF #74 (US): No, not the issue he dies in, the one before that. #74, I thought, had some of Scorponok's strongest characterisation. Mind, I still absolutely adore the campy vaudevillian Scorponok from Maximum Dinobots, but Marvel Scorponok is a surprisingly multifaceted character in the later Marvel stuff, and he shines particularly well in this issue. My fist-to-the-air moment was when Scorponok leapt to Prime's aid after much internal struggle. It’s one of my favourite moments in Transformers history.

Optimus Prime vs. Jhiaxus: Prime gets smacked around (and even eaten alive) an awful lot in the G2 books, doesn’t he. In their final confrontation, Prime attempts to entreat with Jhiaxus only to get the living tar beat out of him, narrowly escaping when the Swarm arrive….it comes for Prime, anyway, and has its way with him. A real dire moment.

Galvatron vs. Ultra Magnus Marvel (UK) #86: I will agree, it was a pretty nifty moment. The issue’s conclusion with Galvatron standing over Magnus, protruding kneepads and all, is just fantastic.

Galvatron and Megatron vs. Everyone in Marvel (UK) #202: Mayhems and Wreckers alike get smacked around a bit. More of a “yikes” moment than anything, but still memorable.

Optimus Prime vs. Megatron in Escalation #5: Mind, while I will agree it is more of the same ol’, Su depicted a really nice and devastating battle here. It was quite exciting to read the first time through. Though, come to think of it, it is a bit reminiscent to Prime/Megs scrap in the G2 book, right down to Megatron delivering the odd Furman-esque speech before finishing Prime off (e.g. “They say the moment of another’s passing…”, “Hush. Darkness comes.”).

Scorponok vs. Shockwave Marvel/IDW: For me, it’s always a treat to see these two bop each other around, especially since it doesn’t happen as often as other clashes. Then again, though the reasoning differs between the Marvel and IDW versions, it usually consists of one attempting to prove their superiority over the other, hence placing these encounters together. Still, there’s just something I find fascinating about the dynamic that occurs each time these two go head to head.

Shockwave walking through the hall of Autobot corpses in Marvel US #5: What the title says. Along with the conclusion of the previous issue, which Cliffjumper already mentioned, this moment for me established Shockwave’s character nicely for the rest of that arc.

And, in the same vein….

Ratchet (sort of) becoming Megatron's nemesis in #5-8, 78 (US): For sentimental reasons, of course. Too much to say really. But what really stands out about this is that Ratchet, in a way, became Megatron’s nemesis at this point. That’s just neat. It makes his death in the final Marvel issues all the more significant for me (if not a little upsetting come G2).

[inflatable dalek]

Good picks... I always like dhte Unicron/Primus thing, just because first time around you expect Primus to be something slightly naff like a good Unicron (was it Cybertron they actually did that in? Idiots...). Instead he's this out-of-touch clot who possesses possibly the most physically crap Transformer still alive. It's the way it's not even a fight...

What I always find interesting is how Prime and Scorponok's reactions to his death is the reverse of what you'd expect, Prime calls out for Primus rather than his old friend and Scorpy's first thought is for Xaron despite the fact there's no indication they'd ever met or even been aware of each other before Primus brought everyone to Cybertron. I can never decide if this is trying to say something subtle and cleaver about their characters or if the speech bubbles are just the wrong way round.

In fact, sod it, lets just go for the obvious and have:
Marvel US #75-The whole sodding issue: Furman's probably done story arcs in general that are more satisfying (I'd pin Legacy of Unicron as his best multi part story) but this is the best single issue of any Transformers comic ever. Every page has a crowning moment of awesome on it, from everyone's first reaction being to run away terribly fast via Galvatron being mistaken for a great hero (albeit by someone who really should recognise him...) when all he wants is to get even through to the beautiful shot of everyone watching bits of Unicron fall. Even the Matrix use is wonderful, both because it's a cathartic moment for Prime rather than just opening the can but because it was really the only time the Matrix was used like that in the comics (Legacy they just used explosions, and the dark future stuff was more of a mental battle between Rodimus and Unicron, though a ill defined one) and they're allowed it once.

Blitzwing Goes All Noble Warrior On Us In The Five Faces of Darkness Part 5: Arguably hugely out of character for the American football loving moron of the previous season (though the twenty year time jump allows for a [i}Educating Rita[/i] style transformation), but it doesn't matter because the way the script makes him a decent likeable character without turning him into a Autobot goodey twoshoes wannabee is wonderful. "Sometimes it's better to be known for ones enemies" is pretty much my workplace motto.

In fact, FFOD is full of brilliant bits, one of the few original cartoon episodes to work on action/fun level for the kids and include some more sardonic stuff for the parents watching with them ("Let us...chuckle" "It must be a different model to the one I learned on" "We just like to watch").

Roller Saves the Day in Escalation Issue 4:

Not only because it's laugh out loud funny to see Roller blast the crap out of Blitzwing, not only because it's a sensible use of a often forgotten ability Prime has but also because the use of Roller and the Combat Deck remind the reader of them and their link to Prime just before it becomes important in a way that doesn't scream "This is Checkov's gun!!!". Actual proper plotting instead of having Omega Supreme fall out of the sky in a random fashion.

Trailbreaker comes to borrow a cup of sugar in Spotlight: Kup:

Kup's mad, Outback is half the Autobot he used to be and the Autobot rescue team keep getting beaten to death with various body parts, and worse than that Kup's about to explode. Who can possibly contain this explosion and keep everyone safe? It's nicely set up (mention of a expert being called in is made early in the issue) and logical (who else you going to call) which helps it avoid the falling Omega Factor, and goes to show that even though Trailbreaker has only managed to do two things in twenty five years at least they were both groovy.

Death's Head Gets Shockwave's Head in Marvel UK 147: The best moment from the best multi part story the comic ever did may well make this the greatest moment of the entire Marvel run. At turns tense (the cat and mouse hunt amoungst the dummies) and funny (Scourge and Cyclonus having a panic attack as Menasor starts bashing on the door) before becoming even a little sad as Shockwave ultimately falls to someone who really doesn't want to be doing it. With both a excellent use of continuity in crushing the brain module to emphasise "He aint coming back" and the perfect pay off in DH walking into the throne room with Shockwave's head and bluffing (or is he?!?!) about the explosives in his sled. With Soundwave's reaction being the icing on the cake. True the idea of the Decepticons using actual mannequins of the Autobots for target practice might seem a little quaint (unless you're Brad Mick homageing Rebirth) but that's more than made up for by the frankly terrifying sight of Shockwave with half his guts hanging out after he gets shot.

[Halfshell]

I don't have time to go all out, so I'll just throw in one for the moment, which seems quite obvious but that's part of the point, isn't it?

The Agenda, Part III
It had been obvious from the beginning of Beast Wars that this Megatron was a completely different animal to the original, when he responded to Dinobot's ill-judged tantrum by unceremoniously booting him out of the gang - I mean could you imagine that ever happening to Starscream prior to Infiltration? And the series proceeded to take an entirely unprecedented shape with the presence of a villain who was not only competent but also able to remain in charge of his troops (think how much Shockwave or Megatron could have accomplished in the comics without the need for a constant battle over who was in command).

My vote could go to the climax of Other Voices, where Megatron actually saves the day by having the foresight to manipulate Tarantulas' treachery into a weapon, inadvertently coming up with the same plan as Optimus Primal, albeit with a minor variation which resulted in the Maximal leader's death. You can guarantee that G1 Cartoon Megatron never would have thought to remotely seal the pod.

But no, the series managed to outstrip even that cliffhanger. How do you one-up a season finale that ended with the charismatic villain defeating the evil alien threat by assassinating the hero? You up the stakes even further. Season 2 ended not only with a peelback to a much grander picture with the addition and defection of Ravage and the revelation of The Ark... but in doing so put the threat itself on a much bigger scale. His plans to manipulate the future gradually falling apart, his loyal minions defeated and the odds stacking up, he goes for the ultimate gamble: Seeming to cut and run, he easily escapes the Maximals, breezes into the Ark itself, monologues like a transmetal Hans Gruber and - good guys helpless to prevent it - proceeds to shoot the dormant Optimus Prime in the head, thus changing the entire history of the war. For the second successive year, Megatron has won. Time itself is destroyed, the Maximals start to blink out of existence... "The Autobots lose! Evil triumphs! And you... you no longer exist!"

Cut to black.

[EDIT]
Bonus mention goes to most of Bludgeon in G2.

After years of sitting in the background watching the Leader of the Month faff about, he quietly assumes control with no fuss whatsoever. His first action? Disappear for a bit, build a spaceship the size of a planet and return with the simple and straightforward plan of "kill Prime and get the Matrix."

So far so cliche, debatably, but it's the ruthless pragmatism and efficiency with which he goes about the plan which make him stand out. Rather than wasting time and energy going to Prime, he simply decides to completely obliterate a city on Op's favourite planet, making the mountain come to Mohammed. Job not only done, but it automatically elevates him immediately into an elite club of Decepticon leaders who don't just know exactly what they're doing, but are willing and able to do it without hesitation. I genuinely like to think that if not for a new Megatron toy to sell, he would even have gotten away with it. I mean even Starscream managed to get his mits on the Matrix...

[Blackjack]

Well, most of those that came into my mind have already been stated (Meg and Galv in Time Wars, Omega Supreme in Command Performances, UM vs Galvatron in Target 2006, Optimus Prime in the movie, Megs in Infiltration)...

So here are some others...

The entire TPB of Stormbringer- The entire arc is filled with action and death. Thunderwing's redesign is badass, and, despite having no personality whatsoever, he made more of an impact on me compared to all the characters in AHM combined. Thunderwing's sheer power as it is potrayed in the comic (come on, he shrugged off nearly everybody's attack bar Prime) is really impressive. The art and pacing's nice, the story doesn't collapse at the end, and there're the Wreckers. The final battle with the Wreckers against Thunderwing is my fave.

Oh, and the Wreckers just blowing up everyone in Bludgeon's base is cool as well.

Megatron kills Ramjet; Spotlight Ramjet- Poor, poor Ramjet. He spent so much effort into his intricate plans, and it took Megatron all of seven seconds to kill him, behead him and spread his body all over the world. This defines Megatron's no-nonsense shctick in the IDW continuity (which is sadly upset by AHM.)

Transquito commenting that Rartorata looks like Injector; Beast Wars the Ascending- the throwaway line that Transquito says actually cracked me up. Never have I seen before a reference to repainting toys as entirely different characters. In this case, the Injector toy is repainted as Rartorata, a herald of Unicron. Rartorata came to earth, and the first thing Transquito does? "Injector, iz it me, or doez our foe look familiar?"

Swoop and Divebomb; UK comics- one of my all time favourite stories (and the reason why I prefer Swoop over Grimlock). Forgot the title of the issue, but I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. Swoop has been a well-developed character under Furman, and aside from the 'Icarus Theory', this is one of his brightest moments, fighting Divebomb for the umpteenth time.

shockwave defeating the Dynobots- in Spotlight Shockwave, the old one-eye finds himself outnumbered and outgunned, without a logical way to win. So he shuts down his higher functions and 'evolves', beating the crap out of Grimlock and his team. Thanks to Nick Roche's wonderful art, this scene had been etched into my mind everytime I read about Shockers.

Soundwave scapegoats Wildrider; Earthforce comics- I feel like I should include this. I like UK's manipulative Soundwave, and him remorselessly gaining Wildrider's trust before leading him to his death is just so sick it's cool.

Dinobot's death; Code of Hero- "The rest is silence." Dinobot stands his ground against the entire Predacon army to defend a group of protohumans. While the protohumans might be annoying, this would be the greatest display of honor in Transformerdom. A nice exit for Dinobot.

Beachcomber lamenting; Golden Lagoon- Beachcomber had been one of my favourite characters due to his pacifism. This episode, notably his lamenting at the end, brings about his characterization nicely.

Broadside slamming Devastator; Carnage in C minor- the only good thing in the episode is Broadside transforming into aircraft carrier mid-air and landing atop devastator. Best use of size-changing ever.

Rampage and Depthcharge; Nemesis part 1- two lifelong enemies. Rampage cannot be defeated except by energon, while Depthcharge is a Maximal consumed with vengeance. The two literally fought each other to the death while the Nemesis powers up and flies up. Depth Charge's death only killed Rampage and didn't do anything to stop the Nemesis rising, but it's still damn cool.

Starscream's coronation; TFTM- one of the best scenes, and it's nice to see that Galvatron avenges himself instead of letting Screamer grovel away. Besides, this is a 'crowning moment', so to speak.

Hardhead headshots Nightbeat; spotlight Hardhead- Unlike Blaster, whose idea of getting back a mind-controlled comrade is to give a speech, Hardhead simply shoots his pal in the head. Pure, undiluted awesomeness.

Thundercracker transforming, GI Joe crossover- the scene is rather well-written, with Ace's disbelief and one of the few dynamic poses in the entire sorry series.

Trypricon; FFOD- Come on, Trypsy's awesome. The Constructicons changed a city into a Transformer overnight, and when Trypticon transforms, he destroys the entire city. Then, he proceeds to beat up the Minibots (poor Swerve) before blowing up the Ark, Mt St Helen and proceeding to smash Metroplex. To top that, he had an army of Decepticons inside him that he releases to make life difficult for Blurr and Wheelie. It's a shame the Trypticon-Metroplex battle is really badly animated.

Grimlock descending, the War Within- it's kinda cute seeing Grimlock going "Hn. Hm? Fh! Tt. Ff! Hn." Also, his earlier line- "Me, Grimlock, badass!" Is also memorable.

Megatron kills Jazz; 2007 movie- no fusion cannon blasts, no shoulder strike, just ripping a tiny Autobot into two pieces. Very badass. Jazz trying to do a little damage to Megs while being torn apart is very nice as well, characterizing Jazz's determination.

[Neuronutter]

Megatron doesn't care - The second half of Infiltration - I suppose this is turning out to be a Megatron counterpoint to Cliffjumper's Prime post, but from the moment he appears and utterly disregards Adventure Kid Verity Carlo, Megatron strides purposefully across the United States, ripping the guts out of Starscream's rebels and then Starscream himself with only any hint that he gives the slightest shit of what anyone has to say or do about the matter. Oh, and he only pauses to order the destruction of his home planet over the phone, which was brilliantly cold in the E.J Su staging and all stupid and grinny in the Don version.

Megs ordering the destruction of Cybertron was pretty awesome. His cold and business like manner in Infiltration was also well done.

Hardhead shoots Nightbeat in the face (Spotlight: Hardhead): So it looked like all my picks involved someone doing the practical thing and killing, or attempting to, someone with little fuss or pretence. After 25 years of coming to these moments from time to time, Furman nails it in Spotlight: Hardhead, where a mind-controlled comrade is not reasoned with or coaxed out of enemy control, but cleanly shot right through the brain. Also, the quick-wrap of Revelation and all the 'brand new direction' euphemisms at IDW mean that Furman probably won't be able to go back and pick at this particular scab, leaving the moment perfectly preserved in an amber of editorial about-turns.

This was my favourite moment in a great issue and one of the high points of the IDW run. Hardhead’s quick and clean assassination of Nightbeat and the statement that it’s not the first time he’s had to do that gave him a realistic and gritty feel. An excellent moment in Revelations.

Optimus Prime vs. Megatron in Escalation #5: Mind, while I will agree it is more of the same ol’, Su depicted a really nice and devastating battle here.

That was a nicely done tussle with Megs coming across as really enjoying ripping the guts out of Prime, while Prime was only saved by a bit of foresight.

Roller Saves the Day in Escalation Issue 4:
Not only because it's laugh out loud funny to see Roller blast the crap out of Blitzwing, not only because it's a sensible use of a often forgotten ability Prime has but also because the use of Roller and the Combat Deck remind the reader of them and their link to Prime just before it becomes important in a way that doesn't scream "This is Checkov's gun!!!". Actual proper plotting instead of having Omega Supreme fall out of the sky in a random fashion.

This made me laugh when I first saw it. Blitzwing being scrapped by Roller! Heh!

Trailbreaker comes to borrow a cup of sugar in Spotlight: Kup:
Kup's mad, Outback is half the Autobot he used to be and the Autobot rescue team keep getting beaten to death with various body parts, and worse than that Kup's about to explode.

A scraggly Kup battering his would be rescuers with Outback’s arm is brilliant, in fact the whole issue is great.


Other moments I really enjoyed:
Shockwave hitting it out of the park (Spotlight: Shockwave) Despite the Dinos battering him he picks himself up and uses Sludge to slug the Dino’s into stasis lock. Highly amusing!

Too much in Animated to mention so lets just go with Shockwave reducing Ultra Magnus to a shell and stealing his Hammer and Megs being a genuine threat throughout the series. Yay Animated!

[inflatable dalek]

Trypricon; FFOD- Come on, Trypsy's awesome. The Constructicons changed a city into a Transformer overnight, and when Trypticon transforms, he destroys the entire city. Then, he proceeds to beat up the Minibots (poor Swerve) before blowing up the Ark, Mt St Helen and proceeding to smash Metroplex. To top that, he had an army of Decepticons inside him that he releases to make life difficult for Blurr and Wheelie. It's a shame the Trypticon-Metroplex battle is really badly animated.

For me the Trypticon/Autobot headquarters moment is something that, on paper should be on this list. He destroys a entire volcano! Plus niffty little character bits for the minibots. But in exectution I've always found it to be one of those moments ruined by bad animation/direction (neither of which would usually bother me if the script is good enough but it's such a visual moment). Pretty much the whole sequence is done in long shot when what it needs is big close ups of the ship itself getting smashed into bits. All said though, I'd like to add:

Trypticon As Noel Coward: War Within The Dark Ages:

An excellent subversion of the usual cliché that the bigger a Transformer is the more stupid they are, which is somewhat baffling as if taken to its logical conclusion Rumble would be a criminal mastermind. Instead Tryp goes around quipping and metaphorically wearing a elegant silk dressing gown as he completely owns everyone, and gets to join the elite club of people who've done bad things to Skids. Only let down by the stock "I shall now kill you my great foe... Ah bugger I've been called away by my superior and must go immediately rather than just take five seconds to kill you" seen in places as diverse as Target: 2006, Devastation and King of the Hill (the later suggesting it's a Trypticon speciality).

[Rossum]

Trailbreaker comes to borrow a cup of sugar in Spotlight: Kup:

Kup's mad, Outback is half the Autobot he used to be and the Autobot rescue team keep getting beaten to death with various body parts, and worse than that Kup's about to explode. Who can possibly contain this explosion and keep everyone safe? It's nicely set up (mention of a expert being called in is made early in the issue) and logical (who else you going to call) which helps it avoid the falling Omega Factor, and goes to show that even though Trailbreaker has only managed to do two things in twenty five years at least they were both groovy.

The page where Kup opens the door on Trailbreaker is one of the top memorable moments of IDW for me. It looked amazing even before I had a good grasp on who the characters were.

Roller Saves the Day in Escalation Issue 4:

Not only because it's laugh out loud funny to see Roller blast the crap out of Blitzwing, not only because it's a sensible use of a often forgotten ability Prime has but also because the use of Roller and the Combat Deck remind the reader of them and their link to Prime just before it becomes important in a way that doesn't scream "This is Checkov's gun!!!". Actual proper plotting instead of having Omega Supreme fall out of the sky in a random fashion.

I don't know if that alone is officially a Crowning Moment of Awesome to me, but I love in general the way Blitzwing gets to be a tough guy for all of 5 minutes in Infiltration before spending the rest of the arcs either being thoroughly beaten or haplessly terrified.

[zigzagger]

Okay, here's three more.

Galvatron in “Webworld”: Not everyone's cup of tea, but would still be an episode I wouldn't mind convincing others to watch. So, Galvatron is crazy and poor Cyclonus is just beside himself. Following a friendly suggestion provided by the Quintessons, Cyclonus leads his beloved leader to the planet-sized mental ward, Torkulon, under a phony pretence, where we watch Galvatron’s go through ineffectual therapy to cure him of his madness. The planet’s residents try to get him to “talk about his feelings”, cobble together external objects to “repair his damaged psyche” (which he shapes into a gun), and put him through “exo-drama”, something that involves a bouncing, screaming alien-thing. And when he didn’t behave, he’d receive a nice electromagnetic prompt before being wrapped up in mysterious purple goo and carried off to his next session. It's such a strange affair, this one. Oh, and it also answers the important question – why is Galvatron such an inept leader? Because he’s crazy. Yeah, it’s simplistic, but considering the source, it works well here. I still love it.

Ratchet and Sixshot’s game of cat and mouse – Devastation #3: Now, I will admit Devastation didn’t quite come together as well as it probably should have, but just hear me out. What I really appreciated about this moment is the concept of using characters that generally don't interact with each other, place them into a unique situation and then watch how things develop. And by interacting, I mean “trying not to get killed by the giant doomsday weapon”. True, this is probably a side-story that ultimately should've been cut from Devastation to provide breathing space, but I sure did enjoy the chase. The moment that really stood out to me, of course, was Sixshot’s method of flushing the good doctor out from hiding through the process of elimination – by blowing up a row of ambulances. Ratchet even attempted to stand up to the six-changing bully knowing full well he didn’t stand a chance….only to have his hide saved in the end, of course, but it was a fun ride.

Rampage in “Transmutate”: A filler episode, perhaps, but it really is quite touching. Rampage portrayed as a dark but sympathetic character was nice a touch, and you almost feel sorry for him at the end of the episode
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[inflatable dalek]

Optimus Prime Vs Megatron in Heavy Metal War: Perhaps a very obvious choice but still a personal one, as a wee child the Heavy Metal War/The Girl Who Loved Powerglide tape was the first Transformers video I ever had and I can still quote both episodes backwards, obviously I'm not the sort of sick puppy who would claim the second episode has any awesome moments (though just between you and me the "Energise the forcefields!" "What forcefields?" exchange is brilliant).

Even without this familiarity though Heavy Metal War is full of moments of genius, from the Constructicons casually ripping up a powerplant to Starscream's fourth wall breaking moment of pointing out Megatron's always does the same thing every week through the Dinobots casual reaction to new Decepticons ("You no see again either because we dinomite them to pieces!"). But above all that it has the best Optimus/Megatron fight of the entire original cartoon. Forget your Sherman Damn, here we have Optimus valiantly trying his very best but constantly being outclassed by a Megatron who toys with him whilst making sarcastic gags. As best shown by Optimus struggling to pick up a giant boulder (complete with heroic Optimus Prime Theme) and chuck it at Megatron only for his foe to gleefully teleport out of the way. Even Starscream's "Look what toys have these powers kids!" commentary can't ruin it, and Optimus having to let Huffer take his trailer before ordering everyone to "Transform and roll out... perhaps for the last time" is one of only two genuinely emotional moments the cartoon ever did (along with Dark Awakening).

Armada Megatron's a Tank, But G1 Galvatron's a Space Cannon, Who's Best? There's Only One Way To Find Out... World's Collide Part 3:

Dreamwave's Armada comic was the very definition of dependable. With little fuss or fanfare nearly every month it delivered a good solid entertaining kids comic. Even though the wheels came off at the change over from Armada to Energon it did achieve one moment of brilliance towards the end, the only one of the entire Unicron Trilogy in any media.

World's Collide was a Unicron initiated crossover with a G1 Universe, so far so a predictable attempt to boost sales by getting the older fans to buy the book, and possibly a doomed one as any of them likely to do so would have been already for Furman. However, as well as the wonderful idea of Spinster being the last Transformer alive in a Universe we have the money shot moment of Armada Megs facing up against he G1 predecessor. Some stunning art from Don Figueroa (in what in retrospect was probably has last real moment to shine) makes for a gorgeous battle but what really makes the scene is that Galvatron beats all expectations of a fight between those two written by Furman and actually loses. Though a cynic might think this was mandated by Hasbro not wanting the guy with a toy in shops looking second best it's still a genuinely surprising moment, probably the last such one Furman has managed to date. And the full page cliffhanger of Megatron merrily forcing the star sabre through Galvatron's chest is one of the most iconic images a company driven by "What would look good as a poster?" ever did. 'Nuff Said. [Is struck by the Ideon sword].

[Cliffjumper]

DAMN YOU INFLATABLE DALEK!

[Blackjack]

Yeah. Sadly, FFOD's animation sort of fell apart in the Trypticon/Metroplex sequence. It would've been better if the scene where Trypticon transforms had been done properly, and with more casualties and collateral damage. (a whole city just folded up, fer cryin' out loud!).

Here's a few more...

Hardhead venting his anger, Escalation 6- A superpowered Megatron had killed Prime (really), and the Autobots are outgunned and weakened by Megs' tin troops. Megatron goes all monologue and tells Jazz, Wheeljack and Hardhead to kneel and worship him. Hardhead's response? "Kneel my a-" before blasting Megatron pointblank in the face. Didn't hurt him (much), but still, it's one of the better lines.

Prime comforting Iguanus, Stormbringer 3- a really touching moment. Despite Prime witnessing, and even taking part, as the Wreckers blew up Bomb-Burst, Skullgrin and Finback, at the sight of the Bludgeon-mutilated Iggy Prime throws down his gun and comforts the enemy. Never mind that lguanus' group had just unleashed a world-destroyer. One of the more touching moments in the comics.

Cliffjumper turning a boat into glass, Dinobot Hunt- Windcharger, Cliffjumper and Gears have been dispatched to a swamp to find a rampaging Sludge. A patrol of angry humans, mistaking them for Decepticons, ride boats up to greet them. Cliffjumper promptly turns a boat into a glass, before remarking that humans like glass bottomed boats. Cute.

"Cake is Fuel?", Marvel US- Good ol' Prowl. Jazz says "getting fuel is a piece of cake." Stuffy ol' Prowl goes on to "Cake is fuel?"

Springer clunking a bomb at Devastator; TFTM- Yeah, I know this is tiredand very fanboyish, but Springer's "I've got better things to do tonight than die" line is just so memorable. Against all odds, the triplechanger just refuses to give up.

[Halfshell]

Actually sod it, I'm throwing out a nomination for Megatron Saves The Day! Fatality! aka "Other Voices, Part 2". For the reasons mentioned earlier, really.

[Commander Shockwav]

RATCHET VS. MEGATRON in REPEAT PERFORMANCE
Never will be a better story in Transformers that Marvel US #7-8.

OPTIMUS VS. THE DECEPTICON ARMY in Marvel US #12. After a freakin year of inactivity, it was cathartic to see Prime kick the ass of every Decepticon, topping it off by throwing Shockwave into a swamp. Loved it. And I'm a Shockwave fan!

BLASTER VS. STRAXUS in Marvel US #18. Only took two issues to hate Straxus, and after he got fried in the space bridge, only two issues to fall in love with Blaster.

THE DEATH OF SCROUNGE in Marvel US #17. Poignant. Even twenty five years later.

MEGATRON THUMPS THE PREDACONS in Marvel US #25. If there was ever any doubt in my mind how badass Megs truly was, his brawl with the Predacons ending with Predaking (and Megs faceplate) on the ground erased it.

NIGHTBEAT vs. THUNDERWING in Marvel US. It had been too long since Repeat Performance since we saw an Autobot outsmart his more powerful opponent.

MAGNUS VS. GALVTRON in Marvel UK. Sweet bejeebies, these guy define "battle", don't they?

IMPACTOR VS. FLAME in Marvel UK. Showed that even zombies have a heart.

MEGATRON MEETS UNICRON. Probably my favorite part of the animated movie. So many awesome one-liners, I still toss em out today. "Proceed....on your way to oblivion."

ONE SHALL STAND, ONE SHALL FALL, the death of Optimus. Okay, it's overly cliche, but still, for it's time, it hit home.

OPTIMUS VS. DEVESTATOR in DW Prime Directive. Like the moment Prime took out the whole Decepticon army in Marvel #12, this provided a similar moment of badassery. We see what Prime is capable of.

SHOCKWAVE VS. DINOBOTS in IDW Shockwave Spotlight. Pure nostalgic fun with ace artwork. Doesn't get any better than this.

KUP GOES MAD One of the most creative TF comic stories of all time.

E.J. GOES MAD in Revelations #4. As in "mad skills". Su puts on an artistic performance for the ages in this one. Too bad the story couldn't keep up.

BLACKOUT BASE ATTACK in the movie. For me, that was the best part of the movie, and really set the tone.

PREDAKING VS. BRUTICUS in DW. Don Fig's rendetion of these titans going at it was sweeeeeet.

JETFIRE vs SUNSTORM in DW One thing DW gave us was some pretty memorable battles. For me, this was one of them, ending in Jetfire's/Sunstorm's demise.

[S_Windell]

KUP GOES MAD One of the most creative TF comic stories of all time.

BLACKOUT BASE ATTACK in the movie. For me, that was the best part of the movie, and really set the tone.

PREDAKING VS. BRUTICUS in DW. Don Fig's rendetion of these titans going at it was sweeeeeet.

You are referring to the Kup spotlight, right? I would agree. You don't see too many TF stories set in that particular tone. (Reminded me of A Rose for Emily for some bizarre reason.) Trust me, it takes a lot to get me to like a story featuring Kup (not a personal fave) and involves Outback (a personal fave) dying! Again!

The Blackout bit in the movie was indeed great! (To think that he was considered to be Soundwave at one point and a lot fanboys- who'd apparently forgotten Machine Wars, or the simple fact that the movie is NOT G1 or any other previous series for that matter- whined about Soundwave not "supposed" to be a helicopter. To think what is widely regarded as one of the cool moments in the movie could've been SW! And, no, getting shot in the gaskets by Lennox is NOT what did him in!)

The phrase "Predaking vs. Bruticus" alone gets my attention! And fortunately, yeah, it was orchestrated pretty well.

[Nevermore]

So Cliffy, you're a TV Tropes addict too?