The Energon Pub

The amazing people over at IDW Publishing have set up a live streaming of a discussion panel taking place next Tuesday April 22nd, during which Transformers comics writers John Barber (Robots in Disguise), James Roberts (More than Meets the Eye) and Mairghread Scott (Windblade) will be answering questions sent by us, the readers and fans! To get your question into the discussion, either comment on the IDW Facebook thread, tweet using the #TFDawn hashtag, or leave a comment below, and we'll make sure to send them along.

Attention TRANSFORMERS fans!

Join IDW's Transformers writers, John Barber, James Roberts, and Mairghread Scott on Tuesday, April 22 at 2:00 PM PST for a live panel discussion on the upcoming "Dawn Of The Autobots" event running through all three series; Robots In Disguise, More Than Meets The Eye and Windblade!

They will be answering questions from selected press, bloggers, and YOU! That's right! We will hand select a number of your questions and be sure to source you and your site during our discussion if your question is chosen.

Submit your questions on this FB thread or via Twitter to ‪#‎TFDawn‬.

To watch this amazing live panel, click this link on 4/22 at 2:00 PM PST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPQ_4P-Uuxs

Questions for everyone:

Mr. Roberts, Will there be any other Decepticons joining the Lost Light? Also will we see Toaster actually turning up in the metal? Will we see Thunderclash and his crew again?

Mr. Barber: Will we see Spike in Robots in Disquise?

Ms. Scott: Will any of the Fembots from the various cartoons (Elita One, Blackarachnia, etc) be turning up?

Question for Mr. Barber: We've seen Simon Furman and Larry Hama return to their original Transformers and G.I. Joe properties under the IDW banner. Is there a chance we may see other stories continued in a similar vein? Mini-series such as Transformer: The War Within or Transformers: Energon, specifically. I believe this question has been asked before, but I wasn't sure if the legal landscape for such an undertaking had changed over the last decade since IDW took up the TF Comics License.

Thanks for your time!

I don't think they can legally continue those stories, since Dreamwave went bankrupt, and they are now owned by the bank or something. Plus there's the ethics of the fact that many of the the artists, writers, letterers, colorers, etc., did not get paid for those final issues... and it becomes a touchy situation. As much as I loved the War Within, it's best to let those old Dreamwave days be.

Black Bumblebee wrote:I don't think they can legally continue those stories, since Dreamwave went bankrupt, and they are now owned by the bank or something. Plus there's the ethics of the fact that many of the the artists, writers, letterers, colorers, etc., did not get paid for those final issues... and it becomes a touchy situation. As much as I loved the War Within, it's best to let those old Dreamwave days be.

I just didn't know if the situation has changed. Never hurts to ask, eh? I couldn't really think of much else, anyways. No biggie.

Mr. Roberts: Are Snaptrap and/or any other Decepticons still in the brig of the Lost Light? And when can we expect the inevitable breakout?

Mr. Barber: Will you be running another parallel storyline with one part of your cast on Earth, and the other on Cybertron or elsewhere in the galaxy, as you did with the first year of RID?

Ms. Scott: Any other IDW or Transformers work in your future after the Windblade mini is done?

Thank you all for your consideration.

First off i wanna say i'm a long time reader, first time caller. My question is why go back to earth? Is it because of the 30th ann. Or Does prowl need to take care of loose ends, (police story).

Here are my Questions:

Mr. Roberts: Will Drift be returning from his exile with important news or is he already dead?

Mr. Barber: When WheelJack wakes up how do you think he will react to what's happened and Bumblebee's death?

Ms. Scott: Will Ironhide get a new vision now that his old one is contradicted or will the previous one be explained more in depth which un-contradicts it?

If you have any more questions, leave them here, and we'll send them to IDW before the panel tomorrow!

Earlier today, at 2 pm San Diego time, IDW Publishing rounded up current Transformers writers John Barber (Robots in Disguise), Mairghread Scott (Windblade) and James Roberts (More Than Meets the Eye) for their Dawn of the Autobots live discussion panel, chaired by IDW Marketing and PR Manager Rosalind Morehead and Coordinator Kahlil Schweitzer. The full hour discussion can be seen in the YouTube video embedded below, but some of the highlights are listed after that!



- All speakers summed up their current status, and where the books are heading for now, after the Dark Cybertron event. Also, Barber commented on the quality of the art, with Sarah Stone, Alex Milne and Andrew Griffith getting a mention and collaboration with Flint Dille, Chris Metzen and Livio Ramondelli.
- They commented on Windblade being the first of the three titles to launch the new status quo, and the cast choices that Scott made for who stayed on Cybertron.
- Weirder, stranger, more violent territory lies ahead for the whole of Dawn of the Autobots, and More Than Meets the Eye in particular.
- Reign of Starscream on Cybertron after Windblade concludes? It will definitely still affect the two ongoings, and RID is not done with Cybertron, there will be movement between there and Earth (focus of the first arc at least).
- Scott talks about the role of Starscream in Windblade miniseries: he is the ruler, the 'dog that caught the car' but has to act more democratically because of Windblade and Metroplex. Though he is willing to do anything to keep that power.
- MTMTE's repercussions of Megatron's side switching: Tarn and the Decepticon Justice Division *will* find out and the paths will cross, though not as readers might expect. All of season 2 is about fallout, about Megatron's change.
- What parts of the message of issue one of MTMTE have we seen and will we see? A lot. Soon.
- How much of the Transformers universe so far and future is plotted and planned? Barber helps keeping track of events, looks, qualities, while Roberts has a deeper knowledge of the Transformers lore from before IDW.
- Grimlock! Currently in the hands of Roberts, somewhere with the Scavengers in MTMTE - he will get attention, and he will show up soon, coming to the fore, and going deeper into what happened to him on Garrus 9.
- More details on Caminus from Windblade miniseries? Just a little more, not too much (but plenty behind the scenes).
- Likely to see crossovers any time soon? Not yet, definite connections, and casts can talk to each other now (as opposed to Season 1), also with Primacy, but letting each book do its own thing for a while.
- With RID set on Earth now, Barber (and Griffith's) approach has moved to Marvel or plot style, with Barber sending the plot to Griffith, layouts are made, sent back for dialogue to be added. The stakes are definitely higher for the characters, and the writing now.
- Level of heartbreak in MTMTE on a scale of 1 to 10: it's going 'to break your soul'. New recruits, new interpersonal relationships, a lot of opportunities.

There were also a number of personal questions for the writers, from favourite characters to cast choices for the new season ('everyone you haven't yet is quite probably on the Lost Light'), difficulties or dislikes in writing certain characters, the reaction to Windblade #1 ('extremely positive'), Starsaber's potential return in MTMTE ('maybe') and more information about Rung, confirmation that all three will be attending BotCon 2014 this summer, choices for hypothetical animated films from arcs or plotlines, and a plug for Robots in Disguise #28, out tomorrow, more teasers for MTMTE #28 coming next week, and a glimpse at what awaits in Windblade #2!

1984forever wrote:Thanks to Va'al for the cliff notes version of this interview. I can't sit and watch a Scoundrel, a Rascal and a Butcher fantasize about how they're gonna butt-rape my childhood for 58 minutes.

Dude, why do you keep reading news posts about IDW comics if you hate them so much? It's not like Barber, Roberts, or anyone else is gonna change the continuity into the Dreamwave G1 ongoing. There are far too many roots and elements already ingrained to work with, even after the fallout of Dark Cybertron.

So I really don't get it. We understand that you dislike IDW G1, so why do you constantly reiterate it? Why do you come to forums and read/listen to things that make you angry? Why not go to the threads where people talk about interests and opinions you share?

If you were offering genuine constructive criticism of the universe and the storyline, then I'd be thrilled to hear what you have to say. But "wah they raped my childhood" is something I'm really sick of hearing.

1984forever wrote:Thanks to Va'al for the cliff notes version of this interview. I can't sit and watch a Scoundrel, a Rascal and a Butcher fantasize about how they're gonna butt-rape my childhood for 58 minutes.

I suggest you start to learn a much more eloquent way of saying your childhood has been ruined rather than resorting to profanity.