Shortpacked! by David Willis

Discussion (52) ¬

1. 
   Jen Aside

   February 11, 2011 at 12:02 am | # | Reply

   Good assumption…
2. 
   General Tekno

   February 11, 2011 at 12:09 am | # | Reply

   Oh, god.

   I am ashamed that, though it took a minute, I got the joke. Oh, 3H.

   • 
     OtakuX

     February 12, 2011 at 8:13 am | # | Reply

     I’m MORE ashamed that it DIDN’T take me any time to get the joke.
3. 
   Trae Dorn

   February 11, 2011 at 12:12 am | # | Reply

   …man, I feel super geeky for not needing that context link in the first place…

   • 
     landbasered

     February 11, 2011 at 12:20 am | # | Reply

     got it instantly too
     And I have never read any of the comics
     I spend way too much time on the wiki…
   • 
     Batman

     February 11, 2011 at 12:21 am | # | Reply

     Me too.
4. 
   Salt-Man Z

   February 11, 2011 at 12:17 am | # | Reply

   Ha! I got it instantly. Is the box set news true? I recently got the BM DVD set, and I’ve been checking out prices online for the BW ones. Holy hell, are those expensive now.

   • 
     David Willis

     February 11, 2011 at 12:20 am | # | Reply

     http://tformers.com/transformers-shout-factory-to-reissue-beast-wars-cartoons-on-dvd/15107/news.html

     http://tformers.com/transformers-shout-factory-to-also-release-japanese-transformers-series/15113/news.html

     • 
       zodconvoy

       February 11, 2011 at 1:15 am | # | Reply

       Please tell me the Japanese series’ in question are Beast Wars II ans Neo because I already have Headmasters, Victory, Masterforce, plus Scramble City and Zone.

       Plus, still no RiD or even season 3 Animated? WTF?
     • 
       Stormrunner

       February 11, 2011 at 2:22 am | # | Reply

       Even though I have the Rhino DVDs if these are a decent price I may just rebuy them, especially if they are better quality and more extra content.

       Guess it is just a wait and see.
     • 
       Undrave

       February 11, 2011 at 9:13 pm | # | Reply

       Awesome! I’m going to buy it. I only had enough budget for season 1 of the Rhino sets and when I got the money I couldn’t find the other seasons anymore :/
     • 
       OtakuX

       February 12, 2011 at 8:15 am | # | Reply

       Japanese serieses?!!? I know Beast Wars Neo and II are unlikely (I already have all the G1 stuff downloaded), but any new Transformers-ing is awesome!
5. 
   David Herbert

   February 11, 2011 at 12:26 am | # | Reply

   I’m probably going to go out and buy this when I see it. Still love this series, even though I’m no longer ten.
6. 
   Cassidy

   February 11, 2011 at 1:23 am | # | Reply

   i am drew.

   LOL

   • 
     Beyla

     February 11, 2011 at 6:32 am | # | Reply

     Same here. My eyes just glaze at all this Transformers stuff. I’m just a big gay Batman fanatic with a customer service job, and if the comic feels like it was written just fr me 80% of the time, well that’s really good.

     Besides Willis still makes it funny even if I don’t know any Transformers lore.
7. 
   Sarah

   February 11, 2011 at 1:36 am | # | Reply

   So, when does *Ethan* do something that *Drew* likes? Does Drew even have a personality besides “not that into toys”?

   • 
     aydr

     February 11, 2011 at 3:23 am | # | Reply

     In bed.
   • 
     Undrave

     February 11, 2011 at 9:15 pm | # | Reply

     I’m guessing he likes cartoons too :p I bet they watch Friendship is Magic together!

     • 
       Mel

       February 13, 2011 at 1:40 am | # | Reply

       Oh.. my.. GOD.. I want to see this so badly now
8. 
   lost_limey

   February 11, 2011 at 1:44 am | # | Reply

   Ethan does something Drew likes in the privacy of the bedroom.
9. 
   Cinder

   February 11, 2011 at 1:45 am | # | Reply

   I kind of get the feeling it won’t work out between those two. Drew just doesn’t understand Ethan’s obsession with toys. He may be able to look the other way now, but how much longer can he tolerate it?

   • 
     Matt

     February 11, 2011 at 2:09 am | # | Reply

     Depends on how good the sexings are, I suppose.
   • 
     Abjuron

     February 11, 2011 at 11:26 am | # | Reply

     As a man, I will most likely never understand many women’s obsession with shoes. However, with the right woman, I can put up with such things indefinitely.

     • 
       Sosusk

       February 11, 2011 at 2:50 pm | # | Reply

       My husband is a big toy fan, too. He loves transformers, toy cars, etc. In our living room, there are several cupboards displaying spaceships, robots, tanks, etc.
       I never thought of it as something to “put up” with, it’s just his hobbies and I like it because it’s something that makes him happy.
       He doesn’t interfere with my hobbies either nor disapproves of them.
       (and concerning shoes, he has trice as much as me)
10. 
    turkishproverb

    February 11, 2011 at 2:57 am | # | Reply

    Is it bad I find that level of understanding in that relationship adorable?
11. 
    hanzo

    February 11, 2011 at 7:16 am | # | Reply

    Hopefully we’ll get the boxset in the UK eventualyl aswell as ive been waiting for a boxset for beast wars since the vhs days and all weve had thus far were a couple of crappy singles and 2 beast machine boxsets, im also hoping the japanese series are the beast wars neo stuff coz weve already had the other japanese stuff awhile back and its not that good.

    • 
      Abrogate

      February 11, 2011 at 9:12 pm | # | Reply

      If you think Japanese G1 is “not that good,” Japanese BW is even worse

      • 
        Abrogate

        February 11, 2011 at 9:13 pm | # | Reply

        (that’s not a TRUKK NOT MUNKY comment, that’s a “Headmasters sucks and BWII sucks even more”)
12. 
    T Campbell

    February 11, 2011 at 8:00 am | # | Reply

    Fair points others are raising about the apparent imbalance of activities between these two. Ethan showed Drew an enjoyably bad movie on one of their dates, but there’s little sense that he’s adopted new activities that he wouldn’t have before.

    By contrast, Robin started watching sci-fi shows a lot more regularly when she started getting close to Leslie, and even Amber was as willing to do some things Mike enjoyed as to manipulate(?) him into more traditionally coupley activities.

    It’s early, though. Despite some meaningful decisions on Ethan’s part, it feels like their relationship has yet to be fully tested, or even explored. Maybe we just haven’t seen that scene yet.

    • 
      Lesharo

      February 11, 2011 at 12:39 pm | # | Reply

      I think it’s most likely we just haven’t seen the scenes yet, mostly due to the other two relationships (Mike & Amber, Leslie & Robin) being more “interesting”, at least having more major drama.

      We’ve seen snippets of Drew going along with Ethan’s stuff while they’re at Leslie’s, but for the longest time they were always at Drew’s, so we don’t know what they did there.

      I tend to think that this (Ethan & Drew) is a fairly normal relationship, so in terms of a comic that tends to be over the top, either with wackiness or drama, it might make for rather boring strips. They’re our slice of normalcy in the see of craziness.

      • 
        T Campbell

        February 13, 2011 at 8:14 am | # | Reply

        Forgot about the period Ethan was more often at Drew’s than at his place. Yeah, we just don’t have enough information to say whether this conflict will get serious or not. If Ethan starts feeling judged and/or Drew starts feeling like Ethan’s closest emotional ties are things he just can’t share, then it could become an issue. But this sort of aggravation also shows up in rock-solid couples like the post-resurrection Joyce and Walky, or my own parents, whose thirty-year-long argument about being late for events has simply become part of their relationship’s charm.

        • 
          Lesharo

          February 14, 2011 at 12:14 pm | # | Reply

          Yeah, it really does seem to me like this would be their “well, you’re crazy, but I love you anyway” thing. Every relationship has something like this.
13. 
    Andrusi

    February 11, 2011 at 9:09 am | # | Reply

    Personally, I want one that looks like the Matrix of Leadership but is colored entirely gray.

    Though in my mind this works out to be the same thing anyway.
14. 
    begbert2

    February 11, 2011 at 10:53 am | # | Reply

    So what, Drew just assumes that any reference he doesn’t get is super-geeky and makes a rather critical comment about it? That’s a touch passive-aggressive, methinks.

    • 
      Beyla

      February 11, 2011 at 3:48 pm | # | Reply

      He does know it’s about collectible packaging for a Transformers DVD box-set. Ultra-geeky is a fair assumption to make.
15. 
    Mak

    February 11, 2011 at 1:20 pm | # | Reply

    Honestly, you guys, I think it would be impossible to date Ethan without teasing him sometimes. Unless he dated someone just as obsessed as he was. Which would probably be a terrible idea.

    • 
      Kamino Neko

      February 11, 2011 at 7:10 pm | # | Reply

      Even if he was dating someone as obsessed as he was, he’d likely get it. Most major geeks I know quite enjoy teasing each other about being geeky. Hypocritical humour is big with us…

      • 
        Mike S

        February 12, 2011 at 12:52 pm | # | Reply

        This, right here, is pretty much the definition of this entire web-comic, isn’t it?
16. 
    Rasputin Varez

    February 11, 2011 at 3:21 pm | # | Reply

    daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!
17. 
    deskelf

    February 11, 2011 at 5:01 pm | # | Reply

    Ah. So it’s just me who read that last line thinking, “Well, Drew… What about everything that goes *in* his mouth?”
18. 
    PedanticJerkass

    February 11, 2011 at 5:52 pm | # | Reply

    So far, the most we’ve seen of the Ethan/Drew relationship is Drew acting dismissive or disdainful of Ethan’s choice of hobby (or, at best, being barely tolerant of it if it leads to sex, e.g. the Batman/Riddler thing). When do we get to see Ethan acting dismissive or disdainful of Drew’s choice of hobby?

    • 
      Lesharo

      February 14, 2011 at 12:18 pm | # | Reply

      What *is*Drew’s choice of hobby, anyway? I don’t think I’ve seen him over-the-top about anything…except maybe Ethan.
19. 
    ColdFusion

    February 11, 2011 at 6:55 pm | # | Reply

    I love that mistake.. that basically means whoever was storyboarding that episode had an optimus prime masterpiece (or whatever) toy to use as a reference, and assumed that he had a spark chamber, despite beast wars being the originator of visible sparks.. and hadn’t seen the movie where they showed what the matrix was for..
    It’s like one of those anime dubs where they were apparently given all the character names in katakana, instead of actually listening to the existing audio, and royally confused some Italian or German names..

    • 
      David Willis

      February 11, 2011 at 7:47 pm | # | Reply

      There wasn’t any Masterpiece Prime toy at the time, nor were there any Optimus Prime toys that had Matrixes or Matrix chambers. They were undoubtedly working from Transformers: The Movie.

      • 
        ColdFusion

        February 12, 2011 at 1:39 pm | # | Reply

        Seriously? That just raises FURTHER questions about how they could confuse the matrix of leadership for a spark chamber.. Then again I guess it makes sense since what happened to Primal and Megatron was roughly equivalent to what happened to Rodimus..
20. 
    lead sharp

    February 11, 2011 at 8:05 pm | # | Reply

    I finally made it, I’m up to date.

    I love this comic, now I’m going to bed.

    Thank you from a new reader.

    • 
      aydr

      February 11, 2011 at 8:50 pm | # | Reply

      Ah, but did you read all the prequel series?

      • 
        lead sharp

        February 12, 2011 at 3:53 pm | # | Reply

        I hate you and all who sale in you.

        *trudge trudge trudge…*

        I am going to actually but this was a good place to start. It’s damned high in my in my ‘webcomic box’ favourites folder
      • 
        gwalla

        February 14, 2011 at 11:39 am | # | Reply

        There are no prequel series, there are only precursor series. A prequel is a story that is written later than the original but set before it.</analretentive>
21. 
    Xoer

    February 15, 2011 at 6:23 am | # | Reply

    actually it’s funny that you reference that i saw a Rodumus prime/cyconus 2 pack (at walmart) that has a silver chrome matrix that LOOKS like it might actually fit inside Rodimus’ chest

    • 
      David Willis

      February 15, 2011 at 8:40 am | # | Reply

      It absolutely will not: http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/blog/battle-in-redundancy/
22. 
    Professor Doctor Mister Woodchip

    July 22, 2011 at 4:12 pm | # | Reply

    A guy with black hair talking about something really obscure. Not really much to go on but I’ve still got deja vu.