Tag Archives: IDW Publishing

Without You

This week I was treated to a massive dose of sanity threatening emotional issues.  Some were happening in real life, the rest happened in two of my favorite fandoms.  I won’t bore you with my real life issues that involve being pregnant and having to move.  However, I was rather surprised by the strength of my reaction to two different story plots.  It led me to wonder what causes us readers to become so emotionally invested in characters that we weep over them as though they were real.

The first thing I realized was that each story line was excellently crafted, the characters expertly fleshed out and realistic.  The fact that both subplots that emotionally devastated me were romantic ones is nothing short of ironic.  I am not a romantic person.  Ask anyone who knows me personally.  Typical romances bore me to tears.

So how did these characters manage to drag me into the narrative and hold me there over months?  Lets look at them.

Let Your Light Shine

First I will discuss Green Lantern: The Animated Series since that was the first blow to hit last Saturday when the final episode aired. Just the fact it was cancelled after one season was harsh enough.  Then I had to deal with the tragedy that was affectionately referred to by fans as Razaya.

Razer and Aya

Over the course of the season we watched Razor grow and change and fall in love with the ship’s AI, Aya.  Both characters started out seemingly one dimensional but very quickly we were treated to various aspects of their personalities.  Razor grew from being the angry Red Lantern to a multidimensional, complex and conflicted individual.  Aya quickly went from the ship’s navigation computer to a full fledged member of the team.  Both made misjudgments  said things that were taken wrong and just generally where adorable together.  All you have to do is search Tumblr for the tag #Razaya to see how much the fans loved this pairing.

There was a lot to love about it.  It was realistically portrayed and organically developed over the length of the series.  Even the creators were surprised at how loved the two became.  So how did they achieve it?

More on that in a moment.  Now on to the second source of my woe.

Never Let You Go

As many of you know, I am a huge Transformers fan and have been reading the current IDW Publishing series Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.    The past Wednesday the newest issue, #15, was released.  I had been dreading this issue.  Mostly because I knew the happy times were over and things were going to get bad.  People were going to die. And they did.  Horribly in some cases and horribly tragic in others.  (If you have not read the series, please go do so as from here on there will be major spoilers.  You can find the entire run on Comixology.)

One pairing I’ve spoken about before, Chromedome and Rewind pretty much took center stage this issue.  Mostly due to Chromdome’s involvement in the accidental release of the unstoppable and extremely deadly Overlord.  In a scant thirty minutes the entire crew of the Lost Light is subjected to his murderous rampage.  He is only slowed when Rhodimus utters a trip phrase that Chromedome had implanted in his subconscious.  Fortress Maximus, having been released from the brig by Rung, drags Overlord back to the temporal prison he’d escaped from.  It is at this time that Chromedome decides that having the Phase Sixer anywhere near them, even in a prison cell, is too close and goes to jettison the cell.  Except a sword is preventing the mechanism from closing.  Rewind, Chromedome’s life partner, sacrifices himself to get the doors closed and ends up trapped in the cell, floating in space with Overlord.

The phrase that will come back to haunt Chromedome forever.

It’s at this point that Chromedome realizes that Overlord is going to kill Rewind in the slowest and most painful way possible and does the only thing he can think of to spare his lover any more pain.

This panel still makes me tear up.  These two had a very long history together, had been by each other’s sides when they faced death, fought together, with each other and generally behaved like any other loving married couple.  The writer, James Roberts, skillfully wove their relationship into the narrative while developing their personalities and backstory.

Forever and Always

In both of these cases the writers took great pains to make sure the characters were realistic and relatable  None of the characters are human.  Yet we the reader/viewer find ways to identify with them.  Maybe it’s Razor’s rage and inability to control it or Aya’s need to be accepted as her own person.  Or it could be Chromedome’s desire to be useful.  Or even Rewind’s desperation to keep Chromedome safe and healthy when his line of work is so dangerous and mentally detrimental.  It could be all or none of these things.  Either way, most of us have faced something similar at some time in our life and it is by tapping into this that the writers help us to understand and sympathize with the characters.

They created people, not just characters.  Each of them had their own motivations, goals, dreams and flaws.  They each acted and reacted according to what happened around them, just as we all do.  They had emotional, sometimes visceral reactions that ended up leading them to make wrong and in two cases, deadly choices.

We as writers must always strive to give our reader as much emotional input as possible in our stories.  It would be a disservice to our readers to do other wise.  We owe it to them to help them not just empathize, but sympathize with our characters.  Too laugh and cry along with them.  In doing so we build not just an artificial world, but a reader who is capable of much greater sympathy out in the real world.

I’m Not Male, I’m Not Female, I am Me.

Our perception of gender is tainted by the media, by what we are told is feminine and beautiful and strong and masculine.  Strong and feminine aren’t supposed to go together just as beautiful and masculine should not.   Right?

Wrong.

Gender bias is just that bias.

bias

As recently brought out in the article Gender Dichotomy is a Fairy Tale We Have Been Telling Ourselves to Sleep at Night on The Mary Sue  Anika Torruella addresses the difference between being physically male or female and being mentally male or female.  Surprise, mentally there is little to no difference, other than things we are conditioned by society to think is gender appropriate.  She quotes a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “Men and Women Are From Earth: Examining the Latent Structure of Gender,” headed byBobbi J. Carothers and Harry T. Reis, who are from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Rochester.  Their goal was to “provide empirical evidence that sex and gender are not the same thing.”

So what did they find?

‘122 unique indicators from 13 studies comprising 13,301 individuals provided later, Carothers and Reis point out “clear empirical evidence to support the belief of researchers who see psychological gender differences in dimensional terms”. In other words even among those with strong and unambiguous gender identities, men and women do not exhibit all the characteristics and behaviors expected of their sex and “may also display some of the characteristics and behaviors associated with the other sex.”’

So in other words when physical gender is ignored men and women are remarkably similar.

Well I could have told you that.  And so could James Roberts, writer of the IDW Publishing comic series Transformers: More than Meets the Eye.  He’s done a masterful job at writing physically gender-less characters while still allowing them to have multidimensional personalities that either gender could identify with.  This was beautifully illustrated in Issue #13 as I will explain in a bit.

That Giant Gun Totting Robot is Female?

When you have no gender and do not identify with either gender having someone try to fit you into one role or the other can be infuriating.  So why do we do it?  Why must things that ‘look’ male automatically be male and vice versa?  Can we not choose what we feel best represents our psyche.  For myself personally, I have never identified fully with either gender.  Intellectually, I know what biology says I am but that has never affected my self-perception.

I am going to use the comic I mentioned earlier to illustrate this point.   I’m going to use two of the characters in Issue #13.   First will be Whirl, second will be Ultra Magnus.  If you are unsure why I am using Transformers, its for the simple reason that they have no gender.  They are not male or female or anything in between.  They do not reproduce sexually (at least not in the established canon, fan fiction begs to differ).  They are giant, non-organic, intelligent life forms.  (For more on their interpersonal relationships see last week’s post.)

A little backstory:

In issue #13 of IDW Publishing’s Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye the Autobots of the ship Lost Light are on shore leave on the planet Hedonia.  Being giant metal beings, they are not always welcome by the smaller organic beings who squish easily.  Sensitive to this, a few of them agree to adopt holomatter avatars in order to scout out locales where they will be welcome to come and unwind for a bit.  The program they install to adapt these avatars has been upgraded so that their avatar more closely represents their personalities.  Which makes sense because the risk for being misunderstood would jump considerably if you were uncomfortable with, or misrepresented by your avatar.

Rhodimus explains the new avatars (MTMTE #13)

Rhodimus explains the new avatars (MTMTE #13)

Probably the biggest shock to fans was the fact that the sometimes rather insane and violent Whirl had this for ‘his’ avatar.

Autobot Whirl’s holomatter avatar. MTMTE Issue #13

In case you are unfamiliar this is his actual form:

Autobot Whirl

That’s right.  That bot that the Transformers wikia describes as  ‘ . . .a rather reckless fighter and can take damage because of it. He’s okay with that, because he absolutely LOVES his job . . .’ has what looks to be a preteen girl for an avatar.  A very tomboyish girl who obviously loves her weapons, but that’s Whirl.    Honestly, I love the fact that his avatar is so fun.  It’s obviously a perfect reflection of his personality, forget anything about it being a girl.  He didn’t choose this avatar.  The program, after analyzing his personality, chose it for him.

On the other hand we have Ultra Magnus.  He is first and foremost a soldier.  His loyalty and self-sacrifice are tempered by his reluctance to form close bonds with anyone.  That and his strict adherence to rules and regulations to the point of being obsessive compulsive.  Magnus chose his own avatar.   He chose the likeness of the one human he felt closest to who just happened to be female.

MtMtE cover issue #13

Ultra Magnus is front and center of the cover looking quite sexy with his avatar.  (Love the power pose he’s got going on.)  Those who have followed the comics will recognize the woman.  For this post her identity is not important.  What is important is that Magnus respected her enough to want to use her likeness to represent himself.  He was not concerned that she was female.  I’d wager that thought never occurred to him.  To him she was simply a human he admired and called a friend.

Maybe They are on to Something

So why do we get so hung up on the male/female dichotomy?  Why does it matter so much in our daily interactions?  Why can’t we just see people as people instead of their gender?

It goes back to what I said in the beginning, we are conditioned to think this way.  We can, however, unlearn it.  And a good way to start is by realizing that just because I look a certain way doesn’t mean I’m going to behave a certain way.   Just like with the Transformers.

Transformers, Sex and Why Science Fiction is Socially Relevant

 

The Role of Science Fiction in Literature

I’ve been reading science fiction since I was very young.  I honestly don’t even remember the first sci-fi book I read.  I do remember the first one that made a huge impact on me.  It was a short story by Ray Bradbury called All Summer in a Day.  After that I couldn’t get enough.  Somewhere along the way I read I, Robot and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick and realized that science fiction wasn’t just great stories.  It was a commentary on our society and our place in that society.  The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge further cemented this in my mind.  Then I read Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.  My whole perception of myself and my world view changed with that one book.  It was profound thing for a young preteen to realize that other people, other beings, even those vastly different could have the same emotions.  They might not be expressed the same way or be overtly recognizable as such but they were there if you kept an open mind.

In the years since, I have read much science fiction.  Some of it was just fun others of it required a more cerebral approach. I also expanded my reading selection to include literary novels, mysteries and non fiction.  I discovered something.

Science fiction is our modern day fairy tale.

Its the morality story, the cautionary tale.  It serves as both entertainment, enlightenment and instruction.  It takes a social problem, stigma or perception and shines the light of truth on it in a way that is not always obvious.  Now this is not true of all science fiction.  Not every novel can be The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) or Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes).

Transformers, Sex and Intimacy

I was recently introduced to the IDW Publishing line of Transformer’s comics.  Among them was the title More Than Meets The Eye, written by James Roberts.  At first I was put off, nearly incensed by the story line, but I set aside my prejudices and allowed myself to be caught up in the story.  I would have deprived myself of so much, had I not.

The way Roberts writes these characters is fantastic.  As good as any of the sci-fi novel’s I’ve mentioned.  The stories are in turn funny and poignant and at times down right sad.  The issue that came out yesterday encapsulated all of that.

Issue #13 brought up some interesting discussions among fans about gender roles, sexuality and what makes a character identify ‘male’ or ‘female’ when their species has no gender bias.  The interpersonal relationships have been expanded upon in ways that I had only ever seen in fan fiction.  He treats these giant non-organic lifeforms as if they are actually people and not just giant weaponized automatons.

MTMTE #12

It is these relationships that intrigue me.  Much is implied, and in issue #12 it was even stated that they have a relationship status called conjunx endura that is sealed by a ceremony involving the two ‘bots in question.  Yet they are an alien race.  They do not have genders or a need for genders of any kind.  What they do have is a basic need for intimacy as any intelligent life does.  Intimacy does not have to equal sex.  Being intimate can be as simple as holding hands or as complex as taking care of someone with a chronic illness.  Both require trust, commitment and love.

MTMTE #12

This point was eloquently stated in the latest post by DorkDaddy.com entitled:  It’s Just Sex, Dammit!

“There are a thousand things necessary for a successful day and a successful life. Balancing the checkbook. Reading to the kids. Visiting your parents. Maintenance on the house. Laughing. Resting. Playing. Growing. Learning. These are the things of life. These are the things that determine whether we are fulfilled, whether we are successful in life. None of them require intercourse. And yet still we venerate sex as the ultimate goal in life, as if everything else is just a way of occupying time between sexual interludes. We high-five our friends when they “got lucky” or “got some” or “got some action” as if to say “Well done. You got that taken care of. Now you can move on to all the other stuff.”

Granted, there is no better way to foster intimacy with your partner than sex. It connects you and makes you vulnerable and draws you together with another person like no other way can. But when considering intimacy, it isn’t even necessary for that (blasphemy, I know). Imagine the potency of your partner gently running her fingers through your hair, or down your back. Picture those moments when you’re lost, looking into your partner’s eyes, and neither of you has to say anything. Think for a moment on the lasting rewards of gently holding hands, or on the way you can totally lose yourself in a deep, committed kiss. These too are the things of intimacy. Because of them, even if you never knew sex, surely you could still know intimacy.”

This is what I find so fascinating about this comic and the way Mr. Roberts has written these characters.  They are realistic, deeply thought out and interesting.  I care about them.  I relate to their struggles, their insecurities, their quirks in ways I have never related to ‘human’ characters.  They allow us to explore relationship dynamics without the added pressure of sex.  There is no sex for the sake of intimacy.  The intimacy comes from other means but is no less potent.

The Wordsmiths Forge on Livejournal lists multiple ways of displaying non-sexual intimacy.  Among the things she lists are personal care, spacial closeness including sharing the same sleeping space.  Living arrangements which include a measure of trust involved such as sharing passwords, bank accounts and/or living quarters and cleaning someone else’s room.  She also talks about urgent situations up to and including risking  your life or making medical decisions for someone.

Each of these things have been featured in the comic.

Comradewodka on Tumblr had some interesting things to say about the ‘married’ couple in the comic:

” . . . Chromedome and Rewind. I’m not sure what I could say about them that hasn’t been said, so— let me just say this. Any sentient race, regardless of whether they’re mechanical or actually capable of anything sexual or not, is going to feel emotions and form relationships, even to the point that they feel romantically about someone. Even to the point that they want to spend the rest of their lives with that someone. Every sentient race, if they find something pleasurable in life—even if that something is as innocent (and non-sexual by our standards) as fond, platonic or romantic touches—is going to seek out that pleasurable something with others. It’s biology.

Chromedome and Rewind aren’t “male”. They don’t have genders. They’re not unusual in considering each other “spouses” either, if everyone else’s reactions are any indication. But to a whole heck of a lot of people, they LOOK “gay”—and sometimes it’s almost easier for us humans to refer to them that way—so them being canonically in a romantic relationship isn’t just a big step for a franchise in which we’ve generally been given a grand zipola about how relationships work, it’s a big step for comics and media in general. One more pebble on the pile of change.

That being said, though I and many others really freaking appreciate Chromedome and Rewind for a number of reasons, I don’t think Roberts had some big overt gay rights agenda when writing them. Which brings me back to my main point— that he’s just THAT good at writing them as what they are—fully fleshed out characters that just happen to be giant gender-less robots. So they happen to look kind of masculine by human standards? Roberts don’t care. Roberts don’t give a fuck. He just write what he wants.”

-(http://comradewodka.tumblr.com/post/42373291213/did-someone-ask-for-a-big-post-gushing-over-gender)

 

Are all Robots Male?

She made a good point.  Just because something ‘looks’ male in our perception does that mean it is male?  Some fans had their worlds turned upside down by the appearance of holomatter forms of the Transformers.  It was stated that these new forms were an exact representation of the robot’s psyche.  So in other words, the human forms the program assigned them was based on their personality.  Not all of them identified as male or even adult.  Tailgate was an infant being carried around in a backpack by Swerve.

Comradewodka on Tumblr made some excellent observations on this subject as well:

“Yeah, most of them have features we associate with masculinity, and that’s fine and dandy, but they actually do not fall into any kind of gendered roles in their culture.

So why the hell CAN’T big warriors like Ultra Magnus or Whirl relate or identify, psychologically speaking, with representation as a human female—just so long as that human female still accurately represents who they are as a character?

Answer: there’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t. They’re a blank slate, gender-wise. They can have the biggest most “masculine” bodies ever, be called “he”, have what I assume to be masculine voices and features, and still feel like a human female body is a more accurate representation of their psyche.”

Assigning gender roles to gender-less species is like saying pink is feminine.  Pink is pink it has no gender.   A hundred years ago women would never wear pink.  Men did.  Pink is a color that societal norms have shifted into a different perception.  The terms male and female  differentiate sexual reproduction roles.  They do not apply to colors any more than they apply to a species that does not reproduce sexually.

The fact that giant robots might see themselves as better represented by a human female form should say a lot.  I will leave that topic for my next post.

This is why I love science fiction so much.  It allows us to explore themes that would be and are taboo in other forms of writing and it does so in a way that is digest able for the larger audience.  It illuminates aspects of society that might otherwise go unnoticed and in doing so educates us about being human.  Yes, we can learn from giant alien robots how to be more human.