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WE WERE SAFER IN SPACE

Transformers: Mosaic #580 - "Prime Factors - Part One"

Originally posted on February 14th, 2011

Story, Colours - John-Paul Bove Art - Ryan Button

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: This is the first of a mirrored pair of strips by Bove, serving to establish that when Optimus Primal took on Prime’s spark in Earth’s prehistoric past, there was some degree of interplay between their memories; Optimus Prime’s iconic ironic line from The Transformers: The Movie is thus made literal, as he knows the outcome of the battle is predetermined. On deviantART, Bove remarked: “I always thought it was a strange thing to say unless you KNEW that one of you wouldn't be coming back. After all, he's fought Megatron many times before and they both left standing at the end. Now we know why... ;)” Bove would explain the mechanics of this in detail on Seibertron: “Just to explain, the idea is that Prime has had these visions since waking up on Earth for the first time but that it is only now that he's able to start seeing the shape of what's coming rather than just a feeling, which is why he says "Then it hits me" at the point he does.” He further clarified that Prime was not remembering his own death firsthand, but rather has Primal’s knowledge of Cybertronian history: “Well Primal would know that Prime died, as BW characters come from a time at least 300 years after G1 and would certainly know the circumstances of it. It's more the idea that a fragment of Primal's knowledge stayed behind, in the same way that the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of previous leaders is supposed to stay within th [sic] Matrix. That may not have been enough for Prime to have crystal clear knowledge of the future but certainly would have enough to have premonitions and a sense of deja vu about the circumstances.” To one reader who pointed out that knowledge of Earth had been deliberately censored by the time of the Maximals and Predacons, Bove said: “I don't think that was the case but I'm happy to be corrected. The presence of the Matrix (and references to Unicron) implies the events of the Movie would be canon in BW continuity. Black Arachnia also mentions that Starscream was killed by Galvatron, so again the events of the Movie at least were known. BW Megatron does try to kill G1 Prime so that the Autobots never win the war that leads to the BW status quo. If the events on Earth had not mattered or the information lost then Prime would not have been important to the outcome of the war on Cybertron and not worth Megatron's efforts.” Bove’s grasp on Beast Wars continuity has always been, well, shaky. Again, I find myself baffled by the behind-the-scenes process of the Mosaic project, as Bove remarked that this story had been written “about 3-4 years ago” by the time of its publication! Clean colors below.

'Arise' by Ryan Button.

Officially licensed 18" x 24" fine art pigment print on 350gsm archival art paper, in a numbered limited edition of 75 for £34.99.