The Energon Pub

Greetings All,

I may sound like a broken record and I apologize, but I was just wondering what most of you fans thought about the Transformers Profile Books in the past, and why perhaps IDW has been resistant to revisit them?

For me, back in the 80's, I was all into the animated series, and not the comics so much. I had a few random issues, until the Transformers Universe came out. I eagerly got all 4 issues and must have read them countless times, which inspired me to go back and get the back issues I was missing up until that point.

When DW set out to do new versions in 2002/03, I thought they were amazing. I have both the individual 8 issues, and IDW reprinted volumes for quick reference. I also have the 3 issue Armada MTMTE from DW & the 4 issue BW Sourcebook from IDW.

While there are some mistakes, and personal liberties given, I really enjoy these books. I know probably some of the resistance would come from how drastically different IDW interprets many characters, and how fans of IDW would like to see profiles in this way, and non-fans would not.

Personally, I don't think we have to reinvent the wheel. I like what has been done so far, what I would like to see is NEW profile books for characters and series that have no previously existing one. Such as for most of the Japanese and European characters from later in the Original Series. Also Profile books for Car Robots/RiD , Energon/Cybertron...etc...

I know also we have TFwiki which is a nice comprehensive website, but to me, there is just something satisfying about having such a guide on your shelf for reference. The artwork varies, but for the most part I enjoy it. So what about YOU? Despite the possible problematic nature of "how" a character is interpreted, would you like to see new profile books of characters that previously have not been featured? I know I would.

I remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when I bought the Marvel comics, the 1st thing I would do is look through the book to see whose profiles were included. I loved reading them. I bought the original 4-volume set a long time ago, even though it doesn't include all of the profile pages. It's been a while since I read them, it might be time to take them out again.

I also have DW's MTMTE sets, both for G1 and Armada. I bought them but only read some of the G1 books. I LOVE the art. It seems like Furman put a lot of thought into the profiles, even if the originals were written by Bob Budiansky and Simon just built on them. They're all fun reads.

On a somewhat related note, I also have the 15-book set of Marvel Universe profile books that have the Marvel comics heroes and villains in them, and those are pretty great as well. Did DC ever come out with profile books like these? I never thought to check.

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Furman that wrote the profiles for the DW MTMTE...I believe it was a collaboration of authors, but yes, the art is pretty amazing for most of the entries.

o.supreme wrote:I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Furman that wrote the profiles for the DW MTMTE...I believe it was a collaboration of authors, but yes, the art is pretty amazing for most of the entries.

That's definitely possible, I was just writing from memory. I haven't pulled the books out in a couple of years. I was basing it on the memory that Furman wrote everything back then.

Rodimus Prime wrote:That's definitely possible, I was just writing from memory. I haven't pulled the books out in a couple of years. I was basing it on the memory that Furman wrote everything back then.

I look at the 2 bound volumes on a pretty regular basis. Writing seems to have been done by Adam Patyk & Brad Mick. I actually enjoyed the lack of Simon Furman in most of DW. I know he did the War Within stuff (and parts of Armada/Energon). But for the original 2 mini series, and ongoing, it was totaly left to others, which I appreciated.

o.supreme wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:That's definitely possible, I was just writing from memory. I haven't pulled the books out in a couple of years. I was basing it on the memory that Furman wrote everything back then.

I look at the 2 bound volumes on a pretty regular basis. Writing seems to have been done by Adam Patyk & Brad Mick. I actually enjoyed the lack of Simon Furman in most of DW. I know he did the War Within stuff (and parts of Armada/Energon). But for the original 2 mini series, and ongoing, it was totaly left to others, which I appreciated.

Yeah they were good series. **** pat lee had to mess it up for everyone...

I do enjoy them. I keep them in my desk for quick reference, as I like to write.

The G1 books are great for reference, especially with all the fan fiction that I write. I haven't used the Armada books because I'm not writing in that continuity. The BW books are equally good. It's a shame that some of the BW characters have stupid names. Also, some of them are over-powered while others are pathetic.