So my regular parter in crime Ed Pirrie aka http://kingoji.tumblr.com/ have a deep and special love for Beast Wars and we talked about homaging the MTMTE #1 cover (itself and homage) and getting to work with some of our favourite characters.
So here they are, the good guys. Bad guys to follow…
As it turns out, I’m still excited about Transformers Beast Wars art, especially with Kingdom coming out soon!
@artsy-hobbitses has a Humanformers AU and we got to talking about what the Beast Wars might have been like in it.
More info under the cut.
When the Quintessons played about on planet earth, they left behind a swathe of land off the coast of Northern Canada terraformed to an immense degree. The island is divided into no less than 5 distinctive biomes, and it’s literally possible to step out of a desert and into a blizzard.
The entire setup is held in a tenuous balance by a massive vein of energon that runs underground.
…And the Predacons want it.
The island, dubbed ’No-Man’s Land’, is barely inhabitable. It’s only residents are local wildlife, and the beast-men who are hardy (and expendable) enough to be posted there to study it.
Axolon Base hasn’t had active personnel there in a while. With the growing Predacon threat, other questionable experiments, and all outside communication cut off, the Maximals posted to defend No-Man’s Land will have their hands full.
Chase Dutoit (aka Cheetor) is a young recruit - the army identified him as a beast shifter when he enlisted. He was offered the chance to enhance his shifting abilities and primed for combat… only to be shuttled off to No-Man’s Land, a quiet posting far, far away from active conflict zones. He’s a potent mixture of teenage rebellion and immaturity, but with the right guidance, this kid could be somebody.
“Mickey” Mikoshiba (aka, Rattrap) really thought he was going to catch a break in No-Man’s Land. Having lived through multiple deadly skirmishes, he has enough conflict to last a lifetime. He’s got more self-preservation than charm, but he’s also a world-class sharpshooter and tactician. He’s prickly, but his heart’s in the right place.
Mickey is the only beast-man in a human family (inheriting the mutation from a great aunt, allegedly). He’s had a rough time growing up, and isn’t keen on going back to Brooklyn anytime soon.
Dean Branagh (aka Dinobot) has funky dinosaur hands, plenty of byronism, and a degree from the Juilliard performing arts programme. Due to beast-man discrimination, he struggled to find his footing in L.A. and the West End. Later, he’d wind up joining a branch of the Decepticons on a wild and very dangerous mission. He intends to fight for a future he wants, or die trying.
Beast Wars: Transformers 4-panel gag strips I scanned out of a Japanese guidebook to the series. At this point I’m not actually sure which one it was - BW got a ton of ancillary books in Japan compared to what we got here and I have a pile of them.
Terrorsaur’s design here seems to be specifically referencing the conman character Iyami from Fujio Akatsuka’sOsomatsu-kun, which didn’t have a TV show at the time Beast Wars was airing (but was presumably well-ingrained in Japanese pop culture at that point).
The original Maximal crew on a jungle adventure–or hopelessly lost, depending on whose point of view you ask for XD! A belated art piece for @jupiterscallie!
Just keep telling yourself it’s a test of patience, Dinobot. Cus if you don’t these two are gonna drive you so far up a wall you’ll probably pass out from being so angry.
