PTSD is a very real condition that many people have. As stated in the video, I am not a licensed therapist, this is only a look into the characters battle with his past. If you, or someone you know, struggles with PTSD, please know that there is help.
Sparkplug was such a unique character in this comic run, from losing his men on the fields of war to losing his son in an accident would really be tramatising to anyone. You could always feel his pain when he spoke about his past and how he still regrets it, how he hides in bars and can’t even look at his own son is just emotional. His final act was just heroic.
I honestly loved Sparkplug and how much he connected with Optimus in such short time. Humans within the TF stories usually don't have a positive reception and Sparkplug was such breath of different air as a character and managed to show that regardless of race, Cybertronians and humans are more similar that they let on. Another reason why Skybound is such breath of fresh air. Looking back, his name "Sparkplug" felt like a foreshadow on his future. To Transformers, Spark is equal to a heart and by giving his life to the Matrix, a tiny light that reignated Optimus and guided the Autobots against their darkerst hour. Amazing analysis once again man! 👍
Making Sparky a modern version of Hi-Q and his resulting symbiosis with Optimus is brilliant. Now, Optimus has a greater connection to his adopted homeworld, in the vast legacy of the Matrix, where heroes go to rest, there is now a human soldier, who’s deeds might seem “small” compared to the legendary sagas of the Primes but he stepped up when it mattered and Sparky was deemed worthy to stand alongside metal kings from beyond the stars. “More than meets the eye” indeed.
Great summation of this arc. Daniel Warren Johnson deserves serious kudos for this entire arc for Sparky. He basically took a character who was basically a shell of his former self, and was circling a serious drain of despair, and in five issues, turned him into a heroic figure that rivaled Optimus Prime. And the way he arrived there was so organic. One of the most underrated lines of this arc was Sparky's answer to Optimus' question about how long his war was: "Just one tour. It was enough." Nothing else needed to be said.
I have cptsd and my dad has ptsd. This video is actually quite accurate and expressed this comic in a beautiful way with a fresh perspective. I nearly cried watching this fantastic video essay on a fantastic comic. Thank you for making what you make
Thank you for the kind words! I debated back and forth when writing this video if I should go through with making it. PTSD is a very real thing that I personally do not have experience with, and so I felt nervous to tackle to conversation. I took a lot of care and time to make sure I didn't make any assumptions or incorrect statements about the condition. I do think Sparky's story is great. He may not fully defeat his PTSD, but he is able to overcome it and be a hero.
@@DeltaTrion Yeah I can understand why you would be nervous, it's a difficult topic. I really like what happened with Sparky's character too, it was a pretty ingenious take on him imo
When I first saw Sparky I felt the same way you did and I was even annoyed at him because I thought he wasn't even making an effort to be well for his remaining son. But then I saw his reaction when Spike was hit, his interactions with the other Autobots and the things he said as he sacrificed himself to the matrix and I was like..........damn. Had to sit down for a few minutes and process that. This was a great video. Instant Sub.
I remember when issue 6 came out, I saw a lot of people focused too much on the "macguffinness" of how Sparky going into the Matrix restored it. But that sort of thing has kind of ALWAYS been going on with this franchise...so when you focus on that, you miss what you were meant to focus on. Which, as you put it so well, is Sparky's character and the ultimate culmination of it. Great video essay as always! 👏
I feel like Optimus and Spike should have been flipped on the thumbnail, maybe its just me but it took me a minute to figure out it didn’t say ‘mignty’
The Skybound Transformers comics remind me of The Boys, because they have as much grit as they do deep meaning. These comics deserve to be adapted into a movie, but it's unlikely to happen. The idiocy of Hasbro is that they did not want to make a single franchise where movies, games, comics, series, cartoons would be combined. Ever since Bey, they've been repeating the same mistake. Yes, they did Transformers One, but it's not a direct prequel to a rebooted franchise. But I've had a question for a long time, if the process of creating movies and games is long, then why in all 6 years of the existence of the rebooted franchise, Hasbro didn't release a single comic that would be canon to the new franchise? So for the movie Bumblebee there were two comics, one prequel and the second sequel. But they were made in the context of Bumblebee being a prequel to Bay's films, so they're not canon. And the comics from Skybound are a fresh breath for the franchise.
I think I can confidently say that these comics have some of the best human characters in Transformers. And I know that's not exactly a high bar to clear; the Bay movies were criticized for focusing too much on the humans and not enough time on the Transformers, and while that is true, I'd argue that if the humans were better written (and more tied in with the Transformers), they wouldn't stand out as much as an issue. These comics I feel strike a really good balance of having human characters who have arcs and agency in the story without overshadowing the giant robots we're all here for.
Fantastic I mean your content my friend is fantastic keep going I love Transformers I love void rivals I love GI Joe I love all of these stories are coming from skybound up but in this whole energon universe. Thank you for being the Energon universe evangelist
PTSD is a very real condition that many people have. As stated in the video, I am not a licensed therapist, this is only a look into the characters battle with his past.
If you, or someone you know, struggles with PTSD, please know that there is help.
Sparkplug was such a unique character in this comic run, from losing his men on the fields of war to losing his son in an accident would really be tramatising to anyone. You could always feel his pain when he spoke about his past and how he still regrets it, how he hides in bars and can’t even look at his own son is just emotional. His final act was just heroic.
I honestly loved Sparkplug and how much he connected with Optimus in such short time. Humans within the TF stories usually don't have a positive reception and Sparkplug was such breath of different air as a character and managed to show that regardless of race, Cybertronians and humans are more similar that they let on. Another reason why Skybound is such breath of fresh air.
Looking back, his name "Sparkplug" felt like a foreshadow on his future. To Transformers, Spark is equal to a heart and by giving his life to the Matrix, a tiny light that reignated Optimus and guided the Autobots against their darkerst hour.
Amazing analysis once again man! 👍
Making Sparky a modern version of Hi-Q and his resulting symbiosis with Optimus is brilliant. Now, Optimus has a greater connection to his adopted homeworld, in the vast legacy of the Matrix, where heroes go to rest, there is now a human soldier, who’s deeds might seem “small” compared to the legendary sagas of the Primes but he stepped up when it mattered and Sparky was deemed worthy to stand alongside metal kings from beyond the stars.
“More than meets the eye” indeed.
Great summation of this arc.
Daniel Warren Johnson deserves serious kudos for this entire arc for Sparky. He basically took a character who was basically a shell of his former self, and was circling a serious drain of despair, and in five issues, turned him into a heroic figure that rivaled Optimus Prime. And the way he arrived there was so organic.
One of the most underrated lines of this arc was Sparky's answer to Optimus' question about how long his war was: "Just one tour. It was enough."
Nothing else needed to be said.
I have cptsd and my dad has ptsd. This video is actually quite accurate and expressed this comic in a beautiful way with a fresh perspective. I nearly cried watching this fantastic video essay on a fantastic comic. Thank you for making what you make
Thank you for the kind words! I debated back and forth when writing this video if I should go through with making it. PTSD is a very real thing that I personally do not have experience with, and so I felt nervous to tackle to conversation. I took a lot of care and time to make sure I didn't make any assumptions or incorrect statements about the condition.
I do think Sparky's story is great. He may not fully defeat his PTSD, but he is able to overcome it and be a hero.
@@DeltaTrion Yeah I can understand why you would be nervous, it's a difficult topic.
I really like what happened with Sparky's character too, it was a pretty ingenious take on him imo
5:34 gives me chills, love this series so much!
When I first saw Sparky I felt the same way you did and I was even annoyed at him because I thought he wasn't even making an effort to be well for his remaining son.
But then I saw his reaction when Spike was hit, his interactions with the other Autobots and the things he said as he sacrificed himself to the matrix and I was like..........damn.
Had to sit down for a few minutes and process that.
This was a great video. Instant Sub.
I remember when issue 6 came out, I saw a lot of people focused too much on the "macguffinness" of how Sparky going into the Matrix restored it. But that sort of thing has kind of ALWAYS been going on with this franchise...so when you focus on that, you miss what you were meant to focus on. Which, as you put it so well, is Sparky's character and the ultimate culmination of it. Great video essay as always! 👏
I feel like Optimus and Spike should have been flipped on the thumbnail, maybe its just me but it took me a minute to figure out it didn’t say ‘mignty’
Hahaha! Good point, I might swap them
Babe wake up, Delat Trion just posted
I see Jimmy as a representation of Bumblebee.
Sparkplug was so good and gone too soon!
o7
I love the smell of Energon in the morning.
Amazing video as always Delta. I gotta admit, I choked up when I first read through this, and saw how Spike reacted to his death.
Great job
The Skybound Transformers comics remind me of The Boys, because they have as much grit as they do deep meaning. These comics deserve to be adapted into a movie, but it's unlikely to happen. The idiocy of Hasbro is that they did not want to make a single franchise where movies, games, comics, series, cartoons would be combined. Ever since Bey, they've been repeating the same mistake. Yes, they did Transformers One, but it's not a direct prequel to a rebooted franchise. But I've had a question for a long time, if the process of creating movies and games is long, then why in all 6 years of the existence of the rebooted franchise, Hasbro didn't release a single comic that would be canon to the new franchise? So for the movie Bumblebee there were two comics, one prequel and the second sequel. But they were made in the context of Bumblebee being a prequel to Bay's films, so they're not canon. And the comics from Skybound are a fresh breath for the franchise.
Maybe we as fans should write to Hasbro about this?
KIDS DELTA TRION JUST DROPPED!!
I think I can confidently say that these comics have some of the best human characters in Transformers. And I know that's not exactly a high bar to clear; the Bay movies were criticized for focusing too much on the humans and not enough time on the Transformers, and while that is true, I'd argue that if the humans were better written (and more tied in with the Transformers), they wouldn't stand out as much as an issue. These comics I feel strike a really good balance of having human characters who have arcs and agency in the story without overshadowing the giant robots we're all here for.
awh man i missed it
Another great vid and I’m great full for it 👍
The PTSD theme helped me.
Man you gotta do some full length void rivals videos like these
Sparky pulled an Independence Day.
Fantastic I mean your content my friend is fantastic keep going I love Transformers I love void rivals I love GI Joe I love all of these stories are coming from skybound up but in this whole energon universe. Thank you for being the Energon universe evangelist
2 days in a row yippee!
First