Transformers Mosaic: "The Farm Report."

A mexican/spanish twist on Blaster, I like

Also shows his other taste in music

I've always been fascinated by non-U.S. and non-Japanese versions of the Transformers. Very cool - although I thought Salt-Man X was an Autobot?

Now I can't get the idea of Blaster doing The Mexican Hat Dance with Optimus Prime out of my head...

Ok so Blaster likes music from the Americas...so does Soundwave like J-Pop?

Reminds me of my rpg character on this forum, the Decepitcon Jumpstarter named X. He was a bounty hunter. Didn't get to play him for long as I quit the rpg.

It's not Blaster, it's Radio-AM Robot!

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Radio_AM_Robot

Diem wrote:It's not Blaster, it's Radio-AM Robot!

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Radio_AM_Robot

Wow, good call Diem. That page also states Salt Man was released as a G2 Decepticon, which would explain the G2 logo.

Me Gusta!

So these guys were active in South America in G2, Malignus and Optimus were likely slugging it out somewhere not too far away during G1, major skirmishes between the forces of Thunderclash and Skyquake broke out in Europe in the power vacuum after the disbandment of Earthforce but before the appearance of the Cybetronian empire and revival of Megatron, possibly spreading briefly to Japan in the final stages of Operation Combination...no, wait, that would mean they didn't resurface in Asia until around 2030.
(Someone who knows the dates better, please correct me on any or all of this)

Say, has there been a mosaic with an in-canon explanation of how Knock-Offs fit into the mix, geographically? They're mostly associated with China, but ever since reading "The Deadly Paradise," I've become convinced that Madame Cee is still cranking them out on Carob Island...which might be near Dinobot Island, hmmmmm...

Well, anyway, AWESOME Mosaic! Great artistic talent used to bring some of THE most obscure of the obscure to life. Too bad Radio-AM's chest door seems to house his battery, preventing him from having any cassette buddies. Were there any cassettes strongly associated with Latin America? If not, perhaps he could hang out with Kabaya model kit cassettes?

Nifty. Unexpected. Well done in all aspects.

I enjoyed it. Now I want to see all the minibots that are Argentinian, Mexican, and Venezuelan repaints have some fiction!!!!

Muy caliente, muy bueno!

Prowl Pants wrote:I've always been fascinated by non-U.S. and non-Japanese versions of the Transformers. Very cool - although I thought Salt-Man X was an Autobot?

Salt-Man X was an Autobot...but I think this is Robot-Man X. He was another repaint, but this time as a Decepticon.

Always cool to see obscure characters or knockoffs used in an interesting way!

I don't know much about the characters but this is pretty cool.

Diem wrote:It's not Blaster, it's Radio-AM Robot!

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Radio_AM_Robot

...and one of my favourite items on my 'oddities' shelf. Top marks Pablo, much appreciated!

Very nice mosaic. Be nice to see more obscure guys like the Robotmasters or G2 Stormtroopers.

So, we have Radio-AM Robot and Robot-Man X...anyone know the identity of the other decepticon?

Good story it is fun to see characters that i have never heard of before. Also i think it is Robot-Man Z. I am guessing because of the tfwiki page.

i'm not spanish or american but i think it's about time some non english language gets thrown in the mix.

The artwork is well done, no problems here.

The writing itself could use some help, however. There's very little characterization done to make these guys anything more than stock characters or region exclusive figures. Sure, making them speak a different language is great, but what's stopping these robots from simply taking what they want? The use of language here seems excessive. Moreover, who are these robots before and after the battle? What's at stake here? As far as I can tell, these Argentinian Decepticons are amateur at best and probably won't be receiving a second take after this mosaic.


1.5 out of 5

zer0das wrote:The artwork is well done, no problems here.

The writing itself could use some help, however. There's very little characterization done to make these guys anything more than stock characters or region exclusive figures. Sure, making them speak a different language is great, but what's stopping these robots from simply taking what they want? The use of language here seems excessive. Moreover, who are these robots before and after the battle? What's at stake here? As far as I can tell, these Argentinian Decepticons are amateur at best and probably won't be receiving a second take after this mosaic.


1.5 out of 5

Excessive use of language but more backstory? To quote John Heard in Big: I don't get it! I don't get it!
What i do get is that you demand a lot out of a five panels.
What's at stake? What's always at stake for Decepticons: energon.
You would prefer them to just take what they wanted silently, and have no witty line as the Decepticon gets his comeuppance?
That would be a boring mosaic.
There's an arrogant tone in your final sentence, but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
This mosaic may not be the best any of us have ever read, but the art is great, and it led to some fun facts.
You want more backstory and character development: buy a comic.

I really liked this
I love to seeing Autobots/Decepticons in other parts of the world other then the U.S.
Surely there are A/D bases in other countries? I want to see them.

Sweet obscurity, thank you for this Mosaic! Although I have spent a lot of time on the Transformers Wiki, I never knew of these character/ toys.

heltskelt wrote:
Excessive use of language but more backstory? To quote John Heard in Big: I don't get it! I don't get it!
What i do get is that you demand a lot out of a five panels.
What's at stake? What's always at stake for Decepticons: energon.
You would prefer them to just take what they wanted silently, and have no witty line as the Decepticon gets his comeuppance?
That would be a boring mosaic.
There's an arrogant tone in your final sentence, but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
This mosaic may not be the best any of us have ever read, but the art is great, and it led to some fun facts.
You want more backstory and character development: buy a comic.

To elaborate:
The use of different language, Spanish, for instance, does nothing in this mosaic. We can have "Latin America" or "Argentina" as a line to denote location--having the radio broadcast be in English will not change the meaning of the piece, having it in Spanish, Arabic, or any other language won't change anything--although I'd challenge you to prove otherwise.

Hemingway wrote a short story in six words (entitled Baby Shoes, I suggest you look it up); in contrast, five panels is a lot.

Clearly, energon is at stake, bravo, you win. Except, I ask this to the point of seeing what is at stake for these characters outside of this mosaic, beyond this very moment. Of course energon is at stake, but there is no reference to an existence outside of this piece--which makes this piece singular and short of depth. To reference Hemingway's piece, baby shoes are being sold, which of course is similar to the effect of energon being taken. Yet, what Hemingway does (which the writing in this mosaic does not) allude to, is death of an infant. The story functions on multiple levels, while "The Farm Report" remains superficial.

The idea of what is witty is subjective. You can try to convince me that making jokes based on auditory functions are funny because Radio AM-Robot is, well, a radio, I get it. Is it witty? For me, no. It seems perfunctory. Does it need to be silent? No, but can there be a better way to make this joke? Certainly.

Take for example this Mosaic:
http://transformers-mosaic.deviantart.c ... /#/d39ii0u
This is a great example of multi-level story telling.

But let's focus on this for the sake of paralleling obscure characters:
http://transformers-mosaic.deviantart.c ... -147023719

Under-3, among other McDonald's toys are characters in this mosaic. One receives the interiority of Under-3, which not only characterizes him but also serves to break down the action sequences of the story. Further, Under-3 alludes to the relationship between he and Blackarachnia beyond the scope of this fight. Not exactly the most brilliant script either, but it's better executed and gives more meaning and life to these characters. One has a glimpse of how and what happened prior to this scene. There's tons of story here.

Finally, the point and purpose of the mosaics, seen on the TF Mosaic FAQ states: "All Mosaics must be self-contained on a standard comic page (more about exact dimensions later). Each piece must tell a coherent one-page story." Just how coherent or complex this story is depends on the author. "The Farm Report," as it were, is not that complex. Does it make it a bad story? Not necessarily, but for me it doesn't make it all the more compelling. The story starts on that one page and it ends there. Where "Meals of Sin" succeeds is that there is a life before it starts and after the Mosaic ends.

Given that the restriction of one page to combine art and script is a difficult endeavor, there are people who can certainly place huge amounts of significance without exhausting a single page. Yet, there are masterpieces that span hundreds of pages. Is this a great mosaic? To me, it can be done better. To you it might be the most brilliant thing. By all means, stand by that, but there are greater examples out there.

You're reading too much into things. Here, have a cookie. It's chocolate chip

Seriously though, the Spanish language is used in full to accent the language barrier between the Decepticons (who assume English is Earth's only language I think) and the farmers in Argentina who don't speak English. The fact that it's merely a moment in the life of non-US canon Transformers just tickles my fancy. As it's a mere moment, they don't need characterisation, at least for now.

btw If you guys need names:

Red and white Twin Twist: G2 Robot-Man X
Green and white Top Spin: G2 Robot-Man Z

In short, Salt-Man were (presumably) G1 Autobots, and the Robot-Man were their G2 Decepticon counterparts

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:You're reading too much into things. Here, have a cookie. It's chocolate chip

Seriously though, the Spanish language is used in full to accent the language barrier between the Decepticons (who assume English is Earth's only language I think) and the farmers in Argentina who don't speak English. The fact that it's merely a moment in the life of non-US canon Transformers just tickles my fancy. As it's a mere moment, they don't need characterisation, at least for now.

Suppose I am taking this too seriously, I never really saw the importance of a monster, much less a giant robot, asking a lesser being for something rather than just taking it. Language, in this instance, seems all too superfluous (like a villain revealing his plot in great detail so as to give the hero enough time to recover...). In such a way it makes this story cheesy. A real life example would be that a hunter would never ask its prey for its meat, he would just kill it.