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The official Transformers facebook page has posted the Creator Commentary for today's release, Transformers: Regeneration One #85. Artist Andrew Wildman gives shares some of his thoughts on this issue in the session mirrored below for those without facebook access.

PAGE 4: We’re starting a little late in the issue with this commentary, so as not to spoil a shocker earlier on… we get to Optimus Prime and Megatron fighting it out, just as they’ve always done. Did you find it hard to get back into drawing the classic characters like them again? Did you have to re-teach yourself how to do it?

ANDREW WILDMAN: No. I have been drawing these two guys a lot over the years in the form of sketches at conventions so they still feel very familiar. Cool bit about this scene is that I had the opportunity to start knocking chunks off of them

PAGE 5: How much free reign are you given to draw a particular panel? Do you always follow what is specified in the script or break away from that if you feel it would look better?

ANDREW WILDMAN Simon and myself have had a long creative relationship and we understand each other’s way of working. It is always clear to me that Simon has this all very well worked out in his head. It is rare that anything is not clear in the script. That said, occasionally I feel that something needs to be staged slightly differently. We discuss it and just work out what is the best solution. Our experience in TV is showing up a lot as well. Simon’s scripts often read more like a TV script and my art is looking more and more like a series of storyboards. But I like all that. I think it is giving it a more cinematic feel.

PAGE 6: With Kup struggling as the battle continues—how long would this page have taken you to draw? And did you go through many revisions on it before you came to how it looks now?

ANDREW WILDMAN: Very few revisions. Don’t have time for that. As soon as I read it I get an image in my mind as to what the page will look like. I then do a quick thumbnail on the script itself and then just draw it up full size. The majority of these pages take the same amount of time i.e. two pages a day. I often find that if you ponder a page for too long it loses life. trust your instincts and get it down quick. That way it retains more life and vibrancy

PAGE 5: Prime and Megatron continue their battle while Auntie poses a bigger threat... Did you go back and look at all of their previous fights to get an idea of how to approach this one?

ANDREW WILDMAN: Nope. Just piled in.

PAGE 6: At this stage, can you see yourself penciling every issue in Regeneration One or having some other input if another artist should come in?

ANDREW WILDMAN: I have been asked that a lot. Will have to see. Couldn’t possibly say

So I just finished reading the issue, and I'm somewhat disappointed. It was definitely a clever way to kill Megatron, and save Optimus's honor and life at the same time. But the fight itself was just average. I was expecting a lot more ass-kicking on both sides. Oh well. 1 thing did make me happy, though: Springer got offed by Megatron. I never liked him. Good riddance. Can't wait until Grimlock's story starts up. Should be more exciting than this 1st arc was, not that this was bad. Just average. At least Galvatron is back. Now, hopefully it will be explained what happened to Shockwave.

Rodimus Prime wrote:So I just finished reading the issue, and I'm somewhat disappointed. It was definitely a clever way to kill Megatron, and save Optimus's honor and life at the same time. But the fight itself was just average. I was expecting a lot more ass-kicking on both sides. Oh well. 1 thing did make me happy, though: Springer got offed by Megatron. I never liked him. Good riddance. Can't wait until Grimlock's story starts up. Should be more exciting than this 1st arc was, not that this was bad. Just average. At least Galvatron is back. Now, hopefully it will be explained what happened to Shockwave.

Yeah I just read it and actually enjoyed it. I was not keen on Springer biting it though.

I kind of had a feeling that was why Megs was Keeping Ratchet around and also was the reason he was able to access the Ark and have the knowledge to lobotomize the Decepticons like he did. I was wondering when Galvatron would be coming back and now that question is answered.. I am VERY curious as to how Scorponok is back though unless it had something to do with the Last Autobot causing the rebirth of Cybertron (as was explained) back in issue 80.

Maybe this can also usher back in Fort Max in some shape or form??

Cyber Bishop wrote:I kind of had a feeling that was why Megs was Keeping Ratchet around and also was the reason he was able to access the Ark and have the knowledge to lobotomize the Decepticons like he did. I was wondering when Galvatron would be coming back and now that question is answered.. I am VERY curious as to how Scorponok is back though unless it had something to do with the Last Autobot causing the rebirth of Cybertron (as was explained) back in issue 80.?

The real Scorponok never died. Lord Zarak did. The real Scorponok's head was stored away on nebulos, along with Max and the others who went there, and all had to be done was getting a new body built for himself. Just like he built Grimlock his original transforming body to lure him into the deal. Hopefully this will be told in a flashback or something in the next few issues.

Rodimus Prime wrote:So I just finished reading the issue, and I'm somewhat disappointed. It was definitely a clever way to kill Megatron, and save Optimus's honor and life at the same time. But the fight itself was just average. I was expecting a lot more ass-kicking on both sides. Oh well. 1 thing did make me happy, though: Springer got offed by Megatron. I never liked him. Good riddance. Can't wait until Grimlock's story starts up. Should be more exciting than this 1st arc was, not that this was bad. Just average. At least Galvatron is back. Now, hopefully it will be explained what happened to Shockwave.

I have to agree with you. I picked up the issue only because I was expecting more from Furman. But instead, I felt it was mediocre to the point it has put the upcoming story arc at risk for me - Especially since I do not want to pay $4 for something that does not even give me the same excitement that I get from Transformers: All Spark.

But I must confess... I liked how Scorpinok was drawn in the end. So we will see.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The real Scorponok never died. Lord Zarak did. The real Scorponok's head was stored away on nebulos, along with Max and the others who went there, and all had to be done was getting a new body built for himself.

Oh yeah.. Duh...

I bought this wednesday and felt it was good end to the story and was very glad to see Galvatron return at the end.

The part with Ratchet was also very well done, glad they did something with that where as in Generation two they totally ignored it completely.

The real question is will the zombie decepticons come back to life as Galvatrons new army? I really do hope that he does have a fight with Optimus Prime in the end he should do.

Scorponok I was kinda hoping he wouldn't come back again as his time has passed for good and did have a really good death scene with Unicron burning him alive whilst defending Cybertron.

norwichchris wrote:The real question is will the zombie decepticons come back to life as Galvatrons new army? I really do hope that he does have a fight with Optimus Prime in the end he should do.

The answer is no. If you recall Megatron retained the knowledge he shared with Ratchet, when it came to both reanimating and controlling the Cybertronian zombies. So when Ratchet was killed by Kup, it is assumed that the general knowledge and control was lost. Meaning that unless Galvatron wanted to control them, he needs to undo Ratchet's death.

norwichchris wrote: Scorponok I was kinda hoping he wouldn't come back again as his time has passed for good and did have a really good death scene with Unicron burning him alive whilst defending Cybertron.

Once again, the real Scorponok never died. Lord Zarak did. The real Scorponok's head was stored away on nebulos, along with Max and the others who went there, and all had to be done was getting a new body built for himself.

I thought the issue was pretty good. I was sad to see 3 characters bite the big one, and I can't quite accept that the remaining 15 issues will not feature Megatron in some shape or form. But why did Prime kill Megatron when he didn't know that Auntie was beaten? He could have easily subdued him, seeing as he kept ripping bits of him off. He took a punt that Megatron was bluffing, or he just didn't care about obliterating the earth and all his comrades? Is he that jaded?

Also, I get the feeling that Starscream may still be alive, seeing as he had some concept of what was going on. Otherwise, that whole sub-plot was a red herring. Hopefully we will see more of him. I'm irritated that Spike survived as well, and was hoping that he would have died destroying Auntie. Circuit Smasher sucks.

I think it's amazing that in 5 issues not a great deal has happened, IMO. I guess that is modern comic techniques for you; lots of decompression everywhere. Still, it was a decent story arc and I can't wait for the next. The trade paperback is now up for pre-order as well.

Banjo-Tron wrote:I thought the issue was pretty good. I was sad to see 3 characters bite the big one, and I can't quite accept that the remaining 15 issues will not feature Megatron in some shape or form. But why did Prime kill Megatron when he didn't know that Auntie was beaten? He could have easily subdued him, seeing as he kept ripping bits of him off. He took a punt that Megatron was bluffing, or he just didn't care about obliterating the earth and all his comrades? Is he that jaded?

Also, I get the feeling that Starscream may still be alive, seeing as he had some concept of what was going on. Otherwise, that whole sub-plot was a red herring. Hopefully we will see more of him. I'm irritated that Spike survived as well, and was hoping that he would have died destroying Auntie. Circuit Smasher sucks.

I think it's amazing that in 5 issues not a great deal has happened, IMO. I guess that is modern comic techniques for you; lots of decompression everywhere. Still, it was a decent story arc and I can't wait for the next. The trade paperback is now up for pre-order as well.

I am guessing that the missiles would have flown had Megatron been subdued. Maybe that would have been part of the "stalemate option" Megatron mentioned? I interpreted that to mean that if no one killed the other *and* it didn't look like that was going to happen then launch away.

norwichchris wrote:I bought this wednesday and felt it was good end to the story and was very glad to see Galvatron return at the end.

The part with Ratchet was also very well done, glad they did something with that where as in Generation two they totally ignored it completely.

The real question is will the zombie decepticons come back to life as Galvatrons new army? I really do hope that he does have a fight with Optimus Prime in the end he should do.

Scorponok I was kinda hoping he wouldn't come back again as his time has passed for good and did have a really good death scene with Unicron burning him alive whilst defending Cybertron.

From the solicitations, 'the dark reign of Scorponok' will be brutal. I mean Rodimus and crew will be forced underground as a resistance and Autobot dominance will end. I got in a debate where people said 'This will be Maximum Dinobots all over again'. Guess they were wrong given what we know.

That said, I view that as Zarak's arc rather than Scroponok's proper arc. We will find out what happens to the original Scroponok and see if or any influence Zarak had on him still lingers. Scroponok is like the inverse of Optimus Prime. Hi-Q definitely had an impact on him as he was reborn from him.

burning_sirius wrote:...see if any influence Zarak had on him still lingers.

There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

Rodimus Prime wrote:
There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

Both use binary bonding.

burning_sirius wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:
There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

Both use binary bonding.

OK, I'll give you that 1. After further thought, I also wonder how Zarak's and Spike's bonding were different. They were both Headmasters, but while Spike and Max struggled to coexist, Zarak was in complete control of Scorponok's body. Did the entirety of Scorponok's consciousness remain on Nebulos, unlike Maximus? Is that why he had no trouble re-emerging so easily? Hopefully this will be explained in the upcoming issues.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

burning_sirius wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:
There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

Both use binary bonding.

OK, I'll give you that 1. After further thought, I also wonder how Zarak's and Spike's bonding were different. They were both Headmasters, but while Spike and Max struggled to coexist, Zarak was in complete control of Scorponok's body. Did the entirety of Scorponok's consciousness remain on Nebulos, unlike Maximus? Is that why he had no trouble re-emerging so easily? Hopefully this will be explained in the upcoming issues.

My thoughts were always that Spike formed Cerebros's head which in turn then formed Fort Max's head so even without Spike you have Fort Max's head albeit incomplete. You can look at it two different ways, either Cerebros makes a full Fort Max head comeplete with brain module or Spike would need to be at the centre.

I'm of the opinion it's the former as you remember Fort Max was shown with a head with Spike on his shoulder wearing his helmet and even talked, so perhaps he did not need Spike to form his head for him to have some independent thought and action?

The difference with Zarak was without him Scorponok had no head whatsoever, and even referred to himself as Zarak rather than Scorponok so it could have been Zarak did literally make use of Scorponok's body.

Guess we need SF to actually address this in the upcoming story

skyshadowprimus wrote:My thoughts were always that Spike formed Cerebros's head which in turn then formed Fort Max's head so even without Spike you have Fort Max's head albeit incomplete. You can look at it two different ways, either Cerebros makes a full Fort Max head comeplete with brain module or Spike would need to be at the centre.

I'm of the opinion it's the former as you remember Fort Max was shown with a head with Spike on his shoulder wearing his helmet and even talked, so perhaps he did not need Spike to form his head for him to have some independent thought and action?

I think it's the latter, that's why Spike needed the helmet. It put him in control of Max, even though he wasn't attached to Cerebros physically. Otherwise, Max wouldn't have responded, even though his head (Cerebros) was actually in place. It wasn't complete, because Spike wasn't transformed into Cerebros' head.

The difference with Zarak was without him Scorponok had no head whatsoever, and even referred to himself as Zarak rather than Scorponok so it could have been Zarak did literally make use of Scorponok's body.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. Also, IIRC, Cerebros didn't become part of Max until Galen had Max's body enlarged on the trip from Nebulos to Earth. Thus the need for a head-enlargement, because Galen (and later Spike) would have been too small by himself as Max's head. Thus the double headmaster.

Guess we need SF to actually address this in the upcoming story

Yeah, I hope he puts a little meat on the bones in the new stories, instead of just using the next 15 issues to tie loose ends up. Even though the quality and pacing of the story is subpar to the original Gen 1 stuff. Still better than anything else I've seen so far.

Rodimus Prime wrote: Yeah, I hope he puts a little meat on the bones in the new stories, instead of just using the next 15 issues to tie loose ends up. Even though the quality and pacing of the story is subpar to the original Gen 1 stuff. Still better than anything else I've seen so far.

I've said on some other forums that I think the problem with Regen is that 20 years ago when we were children once you bought the comic and read the letters page, aside from friends at school you had very little exposure to anything to keep your attention on the story. Now with the internet and forums and the like everyone is talking about the issues building up the hype of each issue which I always feel will be an anti-climax.

I agree the pacing has been a little slow but I'm a firm believer that had I read issues 81-85 as a child after the Marvel run I wouldn't be nearly so critical now and on the same note I hold the original comics in some kind of religious esteem as they are my treasured childhood memories and it's hard to review them objectively as an adult.

I think SF will come good on the story, his style has always been a slow burn on laying the threads and plots, then some twists and turns with the last 1/3 of the saga always filled with exciting plot twists and developments with a huge pay off.

Think of the UK stuff with Fallen Angel back in Feb 1987 that plot spanned two years finally culminating in Time Wars in 1989, it's what SF does best

skyshadowprimus wrote: I hold the original comics in some kind of religious esteem as they are my treasured childhood memories and it's hard to review them objectively as an adult.

I'm the same way. I'd put the Marvel G1 story up against any other TF continuity (especially Furman's run) and have it come out ahead.

Think of the UK stuff with Fallen Angel back in Feb 1987 that plot spanned two years finally culminating in Time Wars in 1989, it's what SF does best

Never read the UK stuff. I tried to, but the art is hideous, it put me off too much.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

skyshadowprimus wrote:

Think of the UK stuff with Fallen Angel back in Feb 1987 that plot spanned two years finally culminating in Time Wars in 1989, it's what SF does best

Never read the UK stuff. I tried to, but the art is hideous, it put me off too much.

Really depends on the Artist, Jeff Anderson's gentle pencils always made for a good story, then moving onto Bryan Hitch for a bit grittier, Dan Reed's was a bit bendy and weird but enjoyable and then you have messers Senior and Sullivan with very aggressive and high energy scenes, but this is not everyone's cup of tea.

It's like anything if you grew up with it you're a lot less critical of it as a child, but either way start with Fallen Angel and try reading the main issue of:

Fallen Angel
Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive
Burning Sky
Hunters
Fire on High
Ancient Relics (crossover with Action Force/GiJoe)
Headhunt
Ladies Night
Legacy of Unicron
Enemy Action
Salvage
City of Fear
Legion of the Lost
Meltdown
Wrecking Havoc
Space Pirates
Time Wars

In that order, the art on all of these stories is pretty good (IMO) and you've got a rich 2 years worth of plot threads that really showcase all the future characters.

Course if the art isn't your thing I appreciate you won't get the enjoyment out of them but I think you're missing out on some classic stories here

Yeah, I heard about Space Pirates and Time Wars. But, ironically, the blocky art doesn't appeal to me much. I'm too accustomed to Wildman's stuff and the US version of Marvel.