Transformers People News on Seibertron.com

Exclusive Seibertron.com Interview With Mike Costa

Date: Sunday, November 15th 2009 9:03pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Site Articles, People News, Company News, Interviews
Posted by: Tigertrack | Credit(s): Mike Costa, IDW Publishing

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 210,178

Mike Costa, writer of the new Transformers on going series set to debut this week is answering a few of the questions posed by Seibertron.com staffers i_amtrunks, Darth Bombshell, and tigertracks 24. Mike also contributed to the recently completed IDW title, G.I. Joe: Cobra, a book that surprised many fans with its seriousness, and more mature handling of this particular portion of the joe-verse.



Mr. Costa is living the dream that so many folks in our community would love to get to do...get paid to be creative with Transformers and have your work officially effect the Transformers mythos, effectively carving out your own little niche in our beloved franchise.

Speaking of your own little niche, Mr. Costa, here are some questions relating to your work with the upcoming Transformers ongoing series...

-- What direction are the Costa written Tf stories going to take? Will we be heading back to a universal scope of war ala what Furman was working up to, or will we be getting an Earth-centric style story? Will the ongoing feature one large, over-arching plot with several ongoing subplots set up along the way?

All great questions. I'll try to give them great answers.

Here's the thing - Shane literally blew up the world in his last storyline. That is a really, really tough act to follow. I mean, I can't really blow up the world again. So rather than try to top that with spectacle - I guess I'd have to blow up the galaxy or something - I'm going to start small again, and then gradually expand the canvas. That's not to say that there won't be big events - there will be. They'll just be big character-events at first. No less status-quo changing, but we're staying Earth-centric in the beginning. You're going to find out why Earth is such an important place for the Transformers - and it's probably not the reason you think it is.

We'll definitely be building to events that, currently, are pretty far-off in the future. But the template I'm trying to follow is the one set by Bill Willingham in his Vertigo book FABLES. What that book does so well is juggle big storylines with smaller one, two or three-issue vingettes in between. With a cast as vast as Transformers, I feel like that's the best way to give as many characters the opportunity to shine as possible. But every issue will build on the next, even if it doesn't seem to at first. There's no guarantee how long I'll be on the book, of course (so... please, tell everyone to buy it and write glowing reviews online!) but hopefully I'll get to do all the things I have planned. That'll take quite a while.

-- Will the series be easy to get into for those who may have only become fans due to the live action movies?

I hope so. But the fact is, it's not a total reboot, like GI Joe was. These are still the same characters in the same continuity we've been seeing at IDW, so obviously there are many differences from the movie. I think we've struck a good balance though, between honoring previous continuity and being new-reader friendly. It would be great if fans of the movie jumped on. I think they'd really like what they'd see.

-- How much work have you had to do to correct errors of AHM, or has the CODA done this job for you?

AHM was planned quite a while before we consolidated our ideas for this new ongoing, so rather than start monkeying with Shane's story and forcing him to change his ending to better dovetail into our series, we created the CODA series to tie up the loose ends that the ongoing wouldn't have time to get to in the first few issues, and to work as a bridge between the two series'. Obviously all the issues are out now, so you guys can tell us how successful we've been in doing that.

We all have certain characters we want to see, but overall, we really know we want good characterization of whomever is in the story. The next set of questions revolve mainly around characters in your new series.

-- Will there be any lesser known personal favorite characters that you plan to bring to the fore in the ongoing series? Will you be able to use more of the obscure generation one characters, or even characters that were previously known only to the Japanese G1 universe (such as Victory Saber, Overlord, or Dai Atlas)? Are we following the same characters as were used in AHM? Will the cast start out small and then expand? Will the cast focus on a small group of characters or will we be moving all over the place and get to see different perspectives from different groups of characters?

The cast will definitely have it's core characters whom the major storylines follow, but we will break away from them occasionally to focus on other characters in the universe. Also, the core cast will definitely be evolving, expanding and contracting. It's not going to be "Optimus Prime and the Same Five Other Autobots" every month, but you'll definitely be able to tell who the important characters are by the end of the first arc.

Most of those "core" characters will come as no surprise to Transformers fans, but I'm definitely throwing some curve-balls in there as well. One of the major characters of my run will be someone I've had my eye on for quite a while. Shane in particular gave him some really interesting development in AHM. His inclusion in my cast will be the logical extension of what happened to him there.


As for the Japanese characters. Hm. Not a bad idea...

-- Can you please kill Drift ASAP? (Note this is a question submitted that not everyone agrees with.) Along these lines, will we see any more new IDW and creator originated characters in the near future, or will you be pulling from only currently existing Generation One Transformers?

I have no plans to kill Drift. But... I have no plans to use him right away either. So, everybody wins. Also, I can't speak for Zander or Nick, who are both doing auxiliary books, my intention is to exclusively use currently existing G1 Transformers. Of course I'll be creating supporting cast members, but the core cast will be recognizable faces for the time being.

-- What kind of Starscream are we going to get in the series, the Starscream of Infiltration, the Starscream of late AHM, or AHM #13 Starscream? They all were a bit different, there seemed to be no consistancy, or it was not explained well enough why he suddenly changes.

Every writer is going to have his or her own interpenetration of a character, and now you've seen mine of Starscream. I can tell you guys he's my favorite character, and that's why I was very excited to make him the star of my first-ever Transformers story in CODA #1. (Clever readers with an eye for pretentious writer-gags might even have noticed that I made sure his name was the first word written on the first page.) I'll agree there are some differences in how the character has been portrayed, but in a hugely collaborative medium like comics, those core character attributes are all you really need for a character. Brian Bendis doesn't write exactly the same Spider-Man as Stan Lee, or Gerry Conway, or David Michelinie. But he'll always be smart, guilt-ridden, wise-cracking and heroic. And Starscream's core attributes are always the same - he's ambitious, treacherous, manipulative and often cowardly. Anything after that is just an artifact of the medium.

And now Mike, we would like to know a bit more about you, and your feelings about the titles you have been involved with. Answer as honestly as you want (or at least as honestly as you feel you can to these questions).

-- Who is your personal favorite TF artist of all time? And what is your favorite previous TF story arc (from any series, comic or show)?

Guys... that first question isn't fair. I'm going to be working with a lot of great artists on this title (and I have already in CODA) and I can't make that call. I will, however, say that working with Don on my first stroyline is like getting Spider-Man and having John Romita draw it. And the man does not disappoint. When I saw the art he turned in for the first issue, my mind was blown. I'd really never seen anything like it on a book I've written. I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

As for my favorite Transformers storyline... that's hard. Recently, I really did like AHM a lot. It had a lot of really great, fan-pleasing bring-the-house down moments. From the older, original marvel run, it's probably issue #13, written by the legendary Bob Budiansky, where Megatron temporarily loses his memory and is found by a criminal who uses him on a crime spree. That was over 20 years ago but the story - and the cover image - have stayed with me even though I was probably 7 when I first read it.

And from the original cartoon - not counting the movie, which is actually the first movie I ever saw in theaters - it was probably The Return of Optimus Prime. That Hate Plague really scared me as a kid.

-- What's your personal opinion on the Transformers stories IDW has written thus far? Good, fair, poor, lame... How do they stack up to what has been done in the past by previous companies Marvel, and Dreamwave?

Here's the thing: There are two legends in the Transformers comic book canon. One is Bob Budiansky. The other is Simon Furman. For the past five years, Furman has basically been the driving force behind IDW's Transformers universe (not counting Shane's AHM of course.) I think anything he did for us here is pretty equal to what he did for Marvel back in the day.

--- If given the opportunity to write for the Movie-verse, would you take it? What kind of story would you like to do?

At the risk of bouncing myself out of later work opportunities, I'm going to be honest and say that, though I actually do think some of the ideas underpinning the Movie-verse are good ones, I much prefer the continuity I'm in. More characters to play with, really. And I like our Spike better than Sam (sorry Shia!)

--- Having written a GI Joe tale (GI Joe: Cobra), which franchise can you say you enjoy writing more?

This is a lame answer, but I enjoy them both in different ways. COBRA is a really dark espionage tale that I get a certain kind of evil satisfaction from. Writing about the bad guys is not only fun, but cathartic. They do stuff the good guys would never do, and finding motivations for chaos and mahem is a really rewarding challenge. But Transformers was always my first love, and the satisfaction I get from that is on a totally different level.

Back when I was in college, Wizard broke the news that Dreamwave had gotten the license for Transformers after Marvel lost it. I sat down at my job at the college library, and over two days I typed up a full pitch for a new ongoing Transformers series, planned up until about issue 60. It was the first comic book proposal I'd ever written. Of course, I never heard anything back about it. Obviously they already had their plans made before the announcement, even if I wasn't some totally unknown 19-year-old punk.


But to think that now, less than ten years alter I am actually writing a Transformers ongoing, starting at issue 1... well, that couldn't be more of a dream-come-true type situation.

--- GI JOE: Cobra was a very gritty, mature tale. Can we expect Transformers to start heading into a similar direction? In other words, you aren’t going to pull any punches with these robots, right. Humans will get squished, Robots will get atomized and not return, etc.

Humans will be getting squished and robots definitely get atomized, but this is not going to turn into a dark, gritty book like COBRA. COBRA is a very specific tone for a very specific book - if I was given the chance to write the G.I. JOE ongoing, I wouldn't use COBRA's tone there either. That tone works in that franchise specifically because we're only looking at a small corner of it, and the main book exists to give it context. Now I'm handling the flagship of Transformers, and my job is to keep that ship steady so creators like Zander, Chee, and Nick Roche can party below decks if they want.

I'm very lucky to have spent the last year watching how Chuck Dixon handles those kind of flagship responsibilities on G.I. JOE, and I have learned a lot from him - specifically how generous he is to creators like me, who handle the smaller books. I hope I can do as good a job as he does of both writing the main book, and staying involved with the smaller ones.

--- Should the next Transformers cartoon have a similar style to the very popular G.I.Joe Resolute cartoon that saw airtime recently?

As long as they don't make me look bad by being better than the comic, they can do whatever they want.

(But seriously, I think it would be great if they aimed at a slightly younger audience than Resolute did. I discovered the Transformers cartoon at age 6. It would be nice to have something that could be enjoyed for people that age again, now that the previous series is over.)

--- Can you comment on your feeling of the use of humans in Transformers storylines? At times, the stories seemed to forget that we buy Transformers because they are books about huge sentient robots that have the same faults, and strengths that humans do, not to see how humans react to said robots upon interaction.

It's a difficult line to walk. Sure, the hard-core fans want to see robot action, but for your average reader, they're going to pick up the book and say "who cares about all these robots? I have no idea what's going on." In my opinion, having human characters is a way of grounding the story in a familiar world, and having an instantly relatable character.

That's why the Transformers movies make sure they have a major plot line involving Sam Witwicky trying to get with the hottest girl on Earth - because that's a lot more relatable to audiences than an interstellar war between talking cars. Whether you think those subplots are brilliant or terrible, I can guarantee you those movies would not have been as successful worldwide if they didn't have a kid, his car, and his girlfriend along with Optimus and Megatron.




That said, my stories are definitely going to err on the side of more robots rather than more humans. But humans are definitely major characters, on par with the Autobots, and we will definitely be seeing some stories through their eyes. Just not as many.

--- Simon Furman started this whole IDW Transformers generation of comics and wrote many beloved issues for Marvel, Marvel UK, and Dreamwave as well. How do you feel about what Simon has written in the past for Transformers? Do you think he really deserves all the credit that he gets for what people expect in a Transformers story? Do you love Grimlock as much as Simon does? Any pressure trying to follow up this force in the world of TF lore?

I have not met a die-hard fan that doesn't credit Simon as having written some classic storyline that established these characters in comics for them. He is a living legend, and he really did set a template for how to write Transformers comics, the way that Chris Claremont defined X-Men comics for a generation. The pressure to follow that is huge, certainly. I really hope I don't blow it.

--- Who is your favorite Autobot? ...Favorite Decepticon? Do your favorites change when you have to consider writing them in stories? For example, HASBRO may tell you, you can’t write your favorite bot that way, so you strategically decide not to include him/her in the comic book.

My favorite Autobot is Blurr, and I make sure I gave him at least one scene in the first storyarc. My favorite Decepticon, as I mentioned above, is Starscream, all the way. And though Starscream and most of the other big Decepticons are going to be benched for a little while, they will be back in a big way.

But this is the way the story is working out. I don't want to shoehorn in tons of scenes with Blurr or Starscream just because I like them. I don't even think about it, really. When they're needed, they'll show up. And luckily, Hasbro has not questioned this at all. So far, they're happy with what I've been doing, and have been very supportive and helpful.

--- Who are your favorite GI Joe and Cobra characters?

To write, it's Tomax, Xamot and Hawk. As a fan, it's Flint. Back in the old cartoons, I was always wondering why he wasn't kicking Duke's butt.

--- ‘Rise of Cobra’, or ‘Transformers Revenge of the Fallen’, which movie is better?

You guys are just intent on getting me in some kind of trouble. The honest answer is, I have not yet seen GI JOE, so I can't say. But a friend of mine just got it (and REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) for me on Blu Ray, so definitely own both.

--- GI JOE and Transformers crossover, are you interested in writing/planning one especially now that IDW has both licenses?

If the right idea struck me, I’m definitely interested. But even though (or maybe because) I write for both sets of characters, their universes feel totally different to me. It would be like crossing Mickey Mouse over into the JLA. I'm not a good enough writer to make that work. We definitely have people out there who are though, so I suppose it is always a possibility.

--- Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, or Megan Fox?

I never kiss and tell. I'm a gentleman of the old school

--- Does gender exist in Transformers? Can you share where you stand on the whole fembot issue?

Gender definitely does exist. And where I stand on the fembot issue is this: A Cybertronian robot should have the right to marry anyone he or she desires, provided that they are consensual beings.

--- Who would be your ultimate Transformers comic book production crew? Artist, Writer (I would assume you would write it), inks, etc.? What might this ultimate story be about? Who would be featured?

Other than the book I'm working on (duh)... I'm going to say that the ultimate Transformers comic book would be anything that Nick Roche is working on. I first met him at BotCon this year, and I have learned so much from him, not just about who these characters are, but how to tell stories with them. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is no writer/artist double-threat working right now who knows and cares as much about Transformers as Nick. I will follow that guy anywhere. I am really, really lucky to have him as support on this book.

And finally, what can you tell us about Supreme Convoy that members of our community should know about him? He talks about you guys ‘geeking out’ together, what exactly does this involve?

I've known Supreme Convoy for probably two years now. He's a cool guy and part of the very cool circle of the writer/comic book fan friends I've made since moving out here to the Los Angeles. As for what our "geeking out" entails... once again, a gentleman never tells.

Seibertron.com would like to say thank you to Mike Costa for answering our questions about the new Transformers ongoing series, and our questions about Transformers comics in general.

Be sure to check out Mike’s work in the new Transformers ongoing series, starting this November!!!

*TF Ongoing is set to be released this Wednesday, you can pick yours up at your local shop. Not sure if you want to or not, check out First Gen's review here, or the 8 page preview here.

Seibertron.com for all of your Transformers news and resource needs.

Vector Sigma Database
Comprehensive Photo Galleries
Most Recent Transformers News

Josh Nizzi's story of how he got to work on Transformers ROTF

Date: Monday, June 29th 2009 8:06am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Dead Metal | Credit(s): Andrea Nizzi

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 46,251

We at seibertron.com received an e-mail from none else than Josh Nizzi's mother! Yes the woman that gave birth to the artist that is responsible for Transformers Revenge of The Fallen Long Haul design has sent us an e-mail. We feel very honoured.
Now she gave us a link to her son's homepage and the link to an interview with Josh.

Read it by clicking here or right here on seibertron.

ore than meets the eye? The motto of "Transformers," whose sequel, "Revenge of the Fallen," is opening at midnight tonight at both Champaign's Carmike Beverly Cinema and the Goodrich Savoy 16, could also describe Champaign native Josh Nizzi, a 32-year-old freelance artist whose designs of transforming alien robots such as Megatron will grace big screens around the world.

Nizzi, who now lives in Cary, N.C., tapped into a more typical machine to tell The News-Gazette how he broke into film, and how a Transformer goes from sketch to screen.
Advertisement Ten Thousand Villages

What is your connection to the Champaign area?

Josh Nizzi: My parents (Patrick and Andrea Nizzi) live there, I was born there, went to the (University of Illinois), my first job out of college was at Volition, I met my wife at Vineyard Church, and had two of our three kids at Carle.

How did you first get involved in "Transformers?"

JN: I have been a fan of Transformers since I was a kid. After seeing the first movie, I loved how the robots were brought to life and wanted to work on the sequel. But breaking into any industry is hard, especially films – there is like no information on the Web about how to do it. So I decided my best bet was to design a robot that would likely be in the sequel and put it on the Web. I figured that Devastator would probably be in the next film so I designed one of the robots that combines to create him – Long Haul. I put the image on the Web and got a lot of nice fan feedback.

Freelance artist Josh Nizzi, a Champaign native and University of Illinois graduate who now lives in Cary, N.C., is the designer behind several of the robots featured in 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.'

Then a few months later, I got an e-mail from the design director of boys' toys at Hasbro, Aaron Archer, asking if I wanted to do concepts for "Transformers 2." After dancing around the house a bit and talking with my wife, I signed on. Soon after that, (film director) Michael Bay's studio hired me on and I was making trips to L.A. to work on site as well as remotely.

N-G: What are the robots you designed and what was your design process like?

JN: The robots I'm primarily responsible for are Megatron, Jetfire, Power Up Optimus, and Long Haul.

The design process usually goes something like this:

– Brainstorming/rough sketches.

– Refine a few roughs that are most promising.

– Pick one and do a finished painting.

– Do a rear view.

– Do a close-up of the face.

Depending on how fleshed out a character is in the director or production designer's mind, this process can be quick or there can be a lot of iterations. For example, Long Haul, the design I did before I was hired was the first design approved for "Revenge of the Fallen"; there were no iterations at all. Megatron had many iterations because Michael was still figuring out what to do with the character as I was working on him.

N-G: What kinds of machines can the robots you designed morph into?

JN: Megatron transforms into a Cybertronian tank. Long Haul is a giant dump truck. Jetfire is an SR-71 ("Blackbird" reconnaissance aircraft). What happens with Optimus is one of the big plot points in the movie, so I don't want to give that away.

N-G: Have you worked on other movies, and if so, what have you done?

JN: I've worked on "G.I. Joe," "Robot Taekwon V," "Tarzan" and other movies that don't have titles yet. But I also do a lot of work in other entertainment such as video games, comics, toys and theme parks.

N-G: How did you get into this field?

JN: I've always loved drawing. My parents did a great job of nurturing my interests and talents. I went to the U of I and got a degree in graphic design. After college, I got a job at Volition and worked on a number of games there. I went to work at Day 1 Studios in Chicago before going freelance and expanding into films and other areas besides video games.

N-G: Have you seen the final cut of the new "Transformers" movie yet? How does it compare to the first film?

JN: I have not seen the final cut. I'm probably more excited than anybody to see it, though. From what I have seen, it looks like the movie is going to be a lot like the first one, but with more of everything – and I like more.

Stay tuned to seibertron.com for all your Transformers related news!

Transtopia Newsletter - April

Date: Thursday, April 16th 2009 11:43am CDT
Categories: Site News, Toy News, Site Articles, People News, Transtopia
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Dead Metal

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 257,362

Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Transtopia Newsletter. Sadly Stormrider who's usually in charge of the Newsletter is not with us for this issue, he is currently moving home from one country to another and has left it in my hands to take over till he comes back.

Remember, to check out the Transtopia forum for the latest action.


How to Showcase Your Work
The newsletter is your opportunity to show off your work and talent. We rely on your articles, artwork, and customs to make it interesting. Entries will be reviewed on a monthly basis. You can submit your work here:
Repaints, Kitbashes, Scratchbuilds
Fan Art
Fan Fiction
Guides


Make a Difference, Join the Newsletter Team!
Want to contribute to help out with the Transtopia newsletter? Join our team. We have a couple roles to fill. Duties require a few hours each month. PM Dead Metal if interested: Dead Metal


Newsletter Credits:
Design - Flix
Formatting - Stormrider
Fan Art/ Guide - Mykltron
Interview - Burn
Editing - Stormrider, Dead Metal, hellkitty



They're the curse of every TF collector's life. I often keep things, just in case I can find a use for them one day, and boy am I glad I do this! Here are three uses I've found so far for these troublesome little blighters:


1) DRY LAUNDRY

My washing line was sagging under the weight of bed linen and trailing on the grass so I took a garden rake that has a hole at the end of the handle. Using a twisty-tie I secured the middle of the washing line to the handle so the line could be held high enough to keep the laundry clean without danger of the line slipping off.


2) HOLD TF PARTS WHILE APPLYING PAINT

If the part has a convenient hole it helps keeps fingers clean and paint finish smooth.


And now the one I'm particularly chuffed with:


3) FULLY ARTICULATED HANDS FOR DELUXE FIGURES





Using a 1/100 gundam hand and twisty-ties I have made a new hand for Universe Sunstreaker. This size is also suitable for Prowl, Cliffjumper, Voyager Megatron and Ultra Powerglide, maybe others too! This is my first attempt and I have an idea that will make it look slightly better and easier to pose.





As can be seen, this hand can make a pretty good fist:







It still fits inside his car mode:





Of course, it can still hold a gun but I forgot to take a photo of that.


So, anyone got any other ideas of how to use those horrible twisty-ties?

Do you have modeling or art tips to share with other members? Why not write a guide? Feature tips from - repainting, kitbashing, drawing, sculpting, and even computer graphics: Send an email to Transtopia.Guide@gmx.de for details.



This months repaints section brings us some more great work from resident Transtopian omega666. Here he treats us with his versions of Classics 2.0 Shockwave and Soundwave:



omega666's version of Soundwave holds a very sweet third alt mode G1 enthusiasts will definately get a kick out of:



Our next Transtopian repainter flix brings us a custom Movie Soundwave:









Flix also gives us a good look at his take on Movie Swindle too:













What would custom work be without Kitbashes?! This month features some amazing work by Transtopian L_K, the same kitbasher that brought us the custom Unicron of Lightfigure. Here he gives us his take on Arcee of the Transformer Movie, both of them that is:









Newsletter contributor Mykltron also added to the mix with a more movie accurate version of Barricade:











Even Frenzy got the treatment:







Sitting down with us and breaking his interview virginity is zero-kaiser, who, for the record, volunteered willingly for this and I didn't have to stalk or harass him for it. (In fact he was so enthusiastic he was bordering on harassing me!)

Burn - So tell us a bit about yourself.

zero-kaiser - Well, as of the 15th of February I'm 24 years old. Originally I'm from the south of England but I've lived in the northwest since I was about 4... yet I've somehow managed to keep the 'posh' southern accent--make of that what you will.

When I'm not wandering around Seibertron.com or looking for a job, I can usually be found playing either my Wii or DS lite; reading; painting either Warhammer 40K models or Transformers; shooting TF video reviews for my YouTube channel; or spending time with my wonderful fiancee

...good to keep yourself busy right?

B - I'm finding myself too busy to work on my own kitbashes, unfortunately! Now tell us how you got into Transformers and a little about your own collection.

z-k - Like most fans I had some of the older toys when I was a child and foolishly gave them away.

Back when I was in college I stumbled across BWTF.com and saw photos for some of the Robots In Disguise toys. The designs and detail on the Autobot Brothers alone are probably the main reason I got (back) into Transformers. That summer I picked up the Super (blue) repaint of Prowl and I was hooked. It took some time for my collecting to really take off though, mostly due to only working part time whilst I was at college.

As it stands my collection stands at just over 100 TF's ranging from RiD right through to the current Universe and Animated lines.

(Photos of my collection are here if you're interested)

I can honestly say there isnt really one single character I go for above all others…it depends on the mold and the line. Classics 2.0/Universe/Henkei is really impressing me at the moment; there’s very few characters from that line that I wouldn’t pick up. That said there’s a couple of TF's from past lines that I wouldn’t mind hunting down someday...mostly from the Cybertron range and a handful from RiD.

B - So give me at least five toys and characters you like the most.

z-k - In no particular order what so ever....

Toys:

1• TF Cybertron Leader Class Optimus Prime
2• Primus
3• Henkei Convoy
4• Movie Leader Class Optimus Prime
5• Masterpiece Optimus Prime

Characters

1• If it wasn’t obvious from the above list: Optimus/Convoy. Which continuity? Probably Cybertron, I'd say.
2• Galaxy Force Starscream: his Japanese voice is brilliant and he goes toe-to-toe with Primus—if that isn’t cool I don’t know what is!!
3• Kup: I had a newfound love for that character after reading his IDW Spotlight.
4• Grimlock: him king, got it?
5• IDW Galvatron: it’s as if that’s the way he should have been all along—a brooding badass .

B - What would you consider to be "holy grail" for you to obtain for your collection? Aside from Fortress Maximus, because everybody wants a Fortress Maximus.

z-k - Ha! Besides Fort Max? If I had to pick just one...RiD Omega Prime. That thing is awesome beyond words.

Besides him? RiD Rail Racer and the Classics Devastator Giftset. I'd be pretty chuffed if I could find any of those without killing my wallet

B - Moving onto your creative side, when did you first start churning out your creations and where did you learn to do what you do?

z-k - I suppose it was about 12 years ago now. When I started high school I made friends with someone who got me into the Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 range. It took me a long time to get any good at painting but one thing I did a lot were conversions—think of them as kitbashes for 40K. Twelve years later and I still have a lot of the miniatures I have made from various bits and pieces I had lying around.

As for where I learnt to do the things I do? Trial, error, practise and patience. Even if I did something 'wrong' or it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, I learnt from the experience. I like to think that something is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.

Band-Aids/Plasters have proven invaluable over the years, too, but that’s just me occasionally being a bit ham-fisted.

B - You mention band-aids/plasters: tell me more about your injuries you've sustained kitbashing over the years! I have a lovely bump on one of my fingers where I kinda missed the plastic and found finger instead….

z-k - Well…there’s a nice deep scar on the tip of my left index finger. I got that from trying to cut a Space Marine arm in half. The blade snapped and plunged straight into the side of my finger. I didn’t realise how deep it was until I ran it under a tap to wash it and saw the bone…yeah, that needed stitches. Still don’t have all the feeling back in it either.

On another occasion I managed to saw the skin on the knuckle of my thumb off…which was pretty stupid of me.

Most of my other injuries are minor cuts or burns where I've tried to pull freshly dremeled plastic off, forgetting that it’s red hot.

I guess you could say I suffer for my art.

B - With the amount of TF-related artists there are out there, who has influenced/inspired you the most?

z-k - I guess my inspirations come from a lot of places really. E.J Su is amazing. I picked up Infiltration issue 0 a while back and was fascinated by the interview in the back, especially the technical drawings he had done.

I was equally blown away after reading Stormbringer and seeing Don Figueroa's amazing artwork. Same goes for Alex Milne and Nick Roche; I love their styles and can spend hours looking over their work.

Yoji Shinkawa is name that definitely springs to mind, too. He did the concept artwork and designs for the Metal Gear Solid series of games, as well as Zone of the Enders. With the exception of Metal Gear Rex, his blending of organic and mechanical is really quite awesome.

One other thing I will mention when it comes to inspirations, is my fellow Seibertronians who submit their work to the Transtopia section. If I named names I would be here all day, but suffice to say there are some extremely talented people out there and the caliber of their work is something I kind of aspire to.

B - When looking at the creations of others, do you prefer to see their takes on a canon character or a fan-made character?

z-k - I'd honestly say it’s half and half. Seeing people’s takes on a well-established character is always fun and can sometimes take more planning and thought than some might think! On the other hand I have a lot of respect for people who create their own characters. With such a diverse and rich roster of existing characters, it’s hard not to come up with something that’s not similar to an existing TF.

B - You draw, but you seem more inclined to kitbash a figure. If you could do this sort of thing for a job, what genre (kitbashing, drawing, scratch-building) would you prefer?

z-k - Man, that’s a tough one to answer, Burn. To be honest I love creating things in many mediums, but given the choice of the three I would probably say scratch-building. Over the years I've had so many ideas that so far I've only been able to commit to paper. Some day I'll hopefully have the skills, funds, and parts to give them form.

A job where I spent all day in a workshop building things? That would be awesome! (More so if it was building TF's!!)

B - And what would be your dream design if you could pull it off?

z-k - Thats easy: a scratchbuilt combiner. I love combiner teams and I don’t so much as have a problem with Hasbro's efforts, but I have always wanted to try my hand at it. Truth be told I've been wanting to get my hands on the ROTF Constructicons that have individual robot modes so I can see if there’s a way of getting them to combine.

Failing that I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at making a Headmaster from scratch. I drew up some designs a couple of years ago that I might revise and have a go at.

B - So the one question that everyone is dying to have you answer: how did you stumble across Seibertron.com?

z-k - Believe it or not, kitbashes and repaints. Doing a Google image search for them one afternoon kept leading me back here. After that, I came to the site to look at what is now the Transtopia section on a regular basis. Eventually I registered and started posting. Almost two years have fallen off the calender and here we are.

B - So out of all your creations, which one would you consider your favourite?

z-k - I would have to say one of my recent pieces, a Rodimus Major custom...

He's been a headache to work on in places -coughlegscough- but as soon as the whole thing was together and working I felt very very proud of myself

His rifle looks wicked, too. lol..

B - So let's wrap this up with a couple of games, first up: Word Association!

B - Machine Men/GoBots - z-k - That annoying scooter thing.
B - Starscream Fangirls - z-k - caution.
B - Unicron - z-k - "Hunger" - Spectre General
B - Machine Wars - z-k - Tiny Megatron..
B - Action Masters - z-k - 'They're alive ALIVE ALIVE!!'
B - Michael Bay - z-k - Lolsplosions!!!
B - Simon Furman - z-k - ..likes ending things with -tion.
B - Stalker - z-k - Loud.

B - And now for something a little different: VERSUS!

B - Megatron -vs- Optimus Prime - z-k - Optimus.
B - Starscream Fangirls -vs- Jazz Fangirls - z-k - Ack!! Damnit, Burn. Er,…Jazz Fangirls? (Hell my mum’s one after the first movie.)
B - Mini-Cons -vs- Micromasters - z-k - Mini-Cons.
B - Animated -vs- Generation 1 -vs- Beast Wars - z-k - Man, that’s a tough one.. I'd probably have to say Beast Wars..

B - Well, I just have to say a big thank you to zero-kaiser for a great interview. I hope you all enjoyed it. For those of you who haven't seen z-k's work, here's a sampling!

Animated Galvatron
Classics Nightbeat (WIP)
War Within Ironhide (WIP)
Scourge/Nemesis Prime Fan Art
Un-named Female Cyborg (WIP - non-tf)

And if YOU are interested in being interviewed, just drop me a pm, otherwise, I'll just have to start stalking people!

Transformers ROTF Defiance #4 Cover Revealed

Date: Monday, January 19th 2009 7:12pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Movie Related News, People News
Posted by: First Gen | Credit(s): Josh Nizzi

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 66,821

Transformers Artist Josh Nizzi took time out to notify Seibertron.com of a new image that's been posted over at Comic's Continuum.

This first look shows us the cover for the upcoming story arc Transformers Revenge of the Fallen: Defiance #4 with the leader of the Autobots engaged in battle with a familiar foe. WARNING!!! Possible spoilers follow:













Here's the scoop on the next installment to this story arc:

Written by Chris Mowry, art by Dan Khanna and Andrew Griffith, covers by Josh Nizzi and Alex Milne.

The explosive conclustion to the official prequel to this summer's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film! With their forces united, the Decepticon army prepares to leave Cybertron on a mission of galactic conquest. But the Autobots and their leader, Optimus Prime, plan to do the unthinkable in order to defeat the increasingly-powerful Megatron.

32 pages, $3.99.

You can view the original posting on this by clicking here.

Simon Furman Q and A.

Date: Saturday, December 6th 2008 1:20pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Dead Metal | Credit(s): Bassbot

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 88,460

Transformers comic writer of past, present and future Simon Furman has answered questions that fans have asked.
The first 15 questions and their respective answers can be found here on the idw boards.
The other 5 questions - yes he answered 20 questions don't pretend I didn't mention that before - can be found here on his blog.

Oh if you're too lazy to click those links here they are:

1. Victory Saber -Would you please disable the Magnificence possessed by Autobots in IDW/verse? If they still hold it, they will get the answers to so many puzzles so easily.

SF) One story angle I just never got to cover properly in the four-part Revelation arc was the ‘price’ that comes with using the Magnificence. A bit like the Monkey’s Paw scenario, the Magnificence does give you exactly what you want/need, but the information or what information precipitates mostly turns out to be a poisoned chalice. That side-story got sidelined, I’m afraid. Originally, there was going to be a Hot Rod payoff, in which he goes well and truly through the wringer as a consequence of his mining of the Magnificence. There’s an element of that in Maximum Dinobots, though. Also, at some point, I was aiming to get into where the Magnificence comes from and who created it. Hopefully, down the line, I’ll still get to do that.

2. Zaku Prime: Are the Quintessons and the Magnificence connected somehow? Both involve ancient civilizations on alien worlds, so…?

SF) I did consider making it a Quintesson artifact, but ultimately rejected that. The Quintessons do have a big role to play, but I imagined the Magnificence as pre-dating even them, coming from a time when BIG universal forces were in play. Between The 13 series and another thing that’s in the pipeline that’s too early to talk about yet, we’ll get to understand more about where/how the Quintessons fit in to the new IDW/TF-verse, and maybe what those ruins were all about on LV-117 (from Spotlight Wheelie).

3. Quickswitch - There have been some incredible insights and development of Sixshot in IDW. The last time we saw him, he was under the now-dead Jhiaxus' neural control, and now I wonder, who 'has' him, and what's going to happen in his story now that he doesn't seem to have the Decepticons or the Reapers anymore--anything we couldn't see coming?

SF) Again, I would have liked to follow up on the status of the various ‘big guns’ post-Revelation but there just wasn’t the room. All of the ‘guardians,’ Sixshot, Thunderwing and Monstructor were pretty much inactive, mentally, when appropriated by Jhiaxus, and he did little more than artificially animate them with a preset series of commands and responses to certain situations, so the assumption is that once that control is gone they lapse back into that ‘offline’ mode. I quite like the idea that Banzaitron manages to hold onto Monstructor and the Autobots put Sixshot and Thunderwing somewhere safe… like the nearest black hole!! Given that Devastator seems to be active in All Hail Megatron, we have to assume that somewhere along the line the Combiner tech is refined and gets into Megatron’s hands, so it makes more sense that the Decepticons have Monstructor.

4. Praul - Hello! Just spinning off from a debate we were having in another thread - Was Prime getting beat against Sixshot or were things pretty much even when they finished fighting? In other words 'oo's 'arder!!!!

SF) I reckon honors even, just about. Sixshot’s very powerful but Prime’s a Prime, and would fight on to the bitter end. Things were just getting warmed up in Devastation, and because of the proximity of bystanders, we can also figure Prime was holding back some. And we know that Sixshot’s not indestructible, just very, very adaptable. My money’s still on Prime in a straight fight with no collateral to worry about.

AND –
5. Zaku Prime - What were you planning to do with Straxus and Grindcore? All the other Dead Universe guys got some characterization, but these two just seemed to be generic heavies. Care to give some back-story/thoughts on these two?

SF) I’d have loved to do more, backstory-wise, with both Straxus and Grindcore, and here I admit a bit more culpability than simply using my “I didn’t have enough room” get out of jail free card. Both were a wee bit on the padding out the Dead Universe numbers side, especially Grindcore, as he wasn’t really a reinvention, more just a cool name (IMHO) and the team ‘big guy.’ But what I originally intended to happen was to have more of the Dead Universe cast survive Revelation and roll onwards into Expansion, and Straxus I’d have definitely kept around. Did I have his character and backstory all mapped out? I’d love to say yes, but the truth is I’d have probably just worked harder to drop character ‘seeds’ into Revelation and then, er, expanded on them in Expansion. I have a great affection for the old Marvel version of Straxus, so I would have definitely striven to make him a little more than just the extra body he turned out to be.

PLUS –
6. ROSSUM asks: “If they don’t happen to show up in Max Dino’s, what may have been Jimmy and Verity’s fate?”

SF) I realise events in the real world have kind of overridden the Verity/Jimmy story thread, but I promise to at least bring them back before Maximum Dinobots wraps, so we know how/where they are. It’s pretty important, as I doubt Shane has plans for them, to get them back to Earth, where they belong, hopefully in good health. But no promises on that score! There’s a big development for Hunter at the end of Maximum Dinobots, which kind of touches upon another dangling story thread. I know, I know! It’s my own fault there’s so much stuff to tie up! I’m a child of the Claremont X-Men era, when there were always a dozen or more story threads running concurrently.

7. Simon, quite a few people (Brett_bass, Commander Shockwav amongst others) have asked if there has been any collaboration or communication between yourself and Shane McCarthy, regarding All Hail Megatron and December’s “Maximum Dinobot’s” – so, I guess one of the big questions is – has there?

SF) The short answer is “no.” Shane’s taken his leap forward and pretty much rolled from there. My job has mostly been to tie up my own storylines, though I will be leaping back into the fray for another more ongoing Spotlight soon. In the end, apart from tying things up in Maximum Dinobots, Revelation and maybe another arc, it’s down to IDW editorial (that’s you, Denton!) to make sure the two bits stick together with minimum join showing, and Denton does seem to be keeping a careful eye on things.

8. Second Cybertron, huh? Out of curiosity, is “our” Cybertron the real one, or is it a copy of a “true” Cybertron like Gorlam Prime is of “ours”?

SF) That’s a very good question. And here’s another: was Cybertron once something else? Did the evolution we saw happen on Gorlam Prime happen, in some shape or form, in Cybertron’s past? Could it be that there’s a ‘Cybertron Prime’ somewhere, the original world, and that the dead one we’ve seen in Stormbringer and other issues is simply another Gorlam Prime-like world given an evolutionary push? I know what you’re thinking, is there an answer coming anywhere in all this? Sadly, no, because I don’t even know yet how this is all going to play out. Maybe in the G2-ish way there’s a whole other Cybertronian empire that’s been ticking merrily along all this time the Autobots and Decepticons have been at war. See, that’s what I love about the big, sweeping sci-fi strokes of the Transformers saga, the story possibilities are virtually endless.

9. What’s your favourite TV show right now?

SF) That’s a tough one. There’s a lot I think is good on TV right (and a lot that’s bad). The things I watch fairly religiously are: Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Mad Men, The Wire, The Shield and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I also really enjoyed Rome. And I desperately wished Deadwood had been continued into a fourth season. Here in the UK I’ve been watching a brilliant series set in the English civil war called The Devil’s Whore and a re-tread of a 70s series called Survivors. My favourite? It’s hard to say. What I admire most of all, unsurprisingly, is great writing, and I think The Wire, Dexter and Mad Men are head and shoulders above the others in that respect.

10. What’s your most embarrassing Transformer-related memory?

SF) Probably my first Botcon, which was in 1997 in Rochester. It was a total eye-opener for me. Tucked away over in the UK, I didn’t even know Transformers conventions existed, or that there was an enduring fan base at all. Didn’t even know, until I was asked to do the convention comic, that there was a reinvention in the shape of Beast Wars! I was SO out of touch, and that became apparent in one particularly gruelling Q&A. I’m ashamed to say, having wrapped Transformers twice I’d consigned it to my ‘distant memory’ cupboard, and when people in the audience started asking me specific questions on this issue or that scene, I was floundering, and often had to resort to a lame ‘sorry, I don’t remember.’ It was a nightmare. I could see I was losing any/all support/accolade I’d had at the start of the session. I made damn sure that by the time the 1998 Botcon rolled around I’d re-read/revisited practically everything I’d ever written, Transformers-wise.

11. There’s always one in the bunch(j/k) - Cerebros had some Beast Wars related questions, so I thought we’d better check in on probably the most important one (yes, it is double-barrelled)! What is the next arc in the Beast Wars series? Is it a lead-in to Beast Machines?

SF) The good news is, there is a Beast Wars series in the works right now, but sadly it’s more or less on the back burner for the time being. 2009, being a movie year, is just packed with stuff, other stuff, and it looks likely (nothing is set in stone right now) Beast Wars v3 will get moved back to 2010. Is it a leap forwards towards Beast Machines or a more retrospective piece? Well, let’s just say that it goes backwards in a forward kind of way. How oblique is that???

12. Captain - Mr. Furman, are you designing all new character's to be the "13"? Or is it with character's we all ready know?

SF) Right now, because Hasbro are very involved in The 13 (in a good way, both conceptually and character-wise), there’s still no definitive, locked in line-up. When I did the original pitch, way back it seems, I did come up with a ‘cast’ document, one that I even started to expand upon for Nick Roche, who was the artist attached to the project at the time (and may well be again, who knows). But right now though we’re all hanging fire, though I expect I/we will know more soon. It seems pretty likely that Vector Prime will be amongst the 13, the Liege Maximo too, and possibly Alpha Trion. But nothing’s set in stone here yet. Great pains are being taken on everyone’s part to make this series the absolute best it can be, something that comprehensively underpins the whole TF-universe in a very major and enduring way, so that’s got to be worth taking time over.

13. Oracle1984 - What do you potentially have coming down the pike in IDW's Transformers beyond Maximum Dinobots and The Thirteen?

SF) Well, I’m currently working on the 4-issue comic book adaptation of Transformers 2 – Revenge of the Fallen. And that’s pretty much all I’m allowed to tell you about that. Except to say that I’m enjoying the process immensely. It’s the first film to comic adaptation I’ve done, and it’s stretching me as a writer in interesting ways. Can’t wait to see what people think about both the film and the adaptation. After I wrap Maximum Dinobots, the next thing, Transformers-wise, is a series I pitched to Denton that is suitably epic and sweeping but doesn’t clash with what Shane is doing over on All Hail Megatron at all. It’s still core continuity, spinning out of characters and situations in my ‘ongoing’ run, but kind of has its own distinct framework. It also promises to introduce a character in the IDW/TF-verse I honestly didn’t think we’d get to, but fits here. Oh, and I have a new Spotlight tentatively scheduled as well, though sheer volume of work has meant that I haven’t really had a chance to pitch it properly to IDW.

14. World Prime - How much of what you have planned for the future has been approved by The Powers that Be? Approximately when are we going to start seeing these plans (The Thirteen and beyond) in print?

SF) The folk at Hasbro, like the rest of us, are pretty busy with the whole new movie/25th anniversary thing, so stuff tends to filter through in a steady drip-drip, rather than a torrent. But honestly that suits me. Finding the time to pitch new projects is always an issue, as there’s a fair old volume of ongoing stuff and other projects (TF-UK, Terminator, Starcraft, books, movie scripts) to keep me busy. It’s spinning plates, and right now it’s very much one project at a time. Scheduling is IDW’s end of things, and it’s not an exact science. As I mentioned, the 13 series has shuffled quite a bit, and may shuffle more, so there’s just no point throwing random dates at you only to disappoint down the line. Right now, what’s set is that Maximum Dinobots is Dec 08-April 09. I’m sure Denton or just the Diamond solicitations will apprise you of other on sale dates.


15. World Prime - Which is your favourite issue that you've worked on? Which one came together the closest to what you originally envisioned? And on that note, which issue DIDN'T come out how you expected but was still a pleasant surprise? (add "and why?" to the end of each of those for some elaboration please)

SF) I was hugely pleased, probably out of all proportion, with the way that Infiltration #0 came out. I really didn’t know EJ’s work, so I was a little on edge about how it would play, but I needn’t have worried. We set out to do a kind of Ultimate Transformers thing, the almost complete antithesis of the original Marvel Transformers #1, in which everything happened in 22 packed pages (the whole origin, every character introduced, the first big engagement). We wanted to move stuff through more slowly, gradually build up/ratchet up (no pun intended) the suspense and focus entirely (at first) on the human perspective, casting the Transformers as something huge, mysterious, alien and rarely seen. EJ’s realistic, real world, unflashy (and I mean that in a good way) style/framing was right on the money. I can honestly say, apart from maybe Transformers (US) #68, I’ve never been truly disappointed with the way an issue or series came out. That’s because, as a general rule, I’ve worked talented and often passionate (about Transformers) artists. If there’s one issue that blindsided me, art-wide, it’s Transformers (US) #75, as Geoff (Senior) just turned in the job of a lifetime. It still blows me away even now.

16. Any particular characters you’d like to write Spotlights for in the future?

SF) Plenty. There’s characters I’d have liked to have given the Spotlight treatment to but never got the chance: Jetfire for one (but he was so involved elsewhere it seemed vaguely redundant) and Fortress Maximus for another (but that would have been post-Arcee, post-Revelation). I had an idea for Getaway at one point, but events have maybe superseded the framework I had in mind. Right now there’s a couple of more viable potentials. The first (which is tentatively scheduled) will probably come as no great shock to anyone, the second is a little more ‘out of left field,’ and ties into the ‘big’ pitch that’s with Denton/Hasbro right now. Of course, I may not get to do that latter one (I can see Denton reading this, going “wh-?”), but as and when a slot appears, I’m ready.

17. How do you want to see the Transformers line progress in the future? Continue with mini-series and the spotlights or for it to become an ongoing series with minis that crossover - showcasing work from people not doing the ongoing series? We have had a few months in 2008 with hardly any comics out per month.

SF) Personally, I still think the interconnected but self-contained four or six issue miniseries work best. It’ll be interesting to see if the sales on AHM hold up decently over the whole 12-issue run. That might be the best indicator yet of what works best, TPB-sized chunks of story or something more traditionally ongoing. I suspect those months where little or nothing came out had more to do with blown shipping dates than anything. IDW are pretty good at making the publishing plan work, on paper at least. But there are so many more random variables. Yknow… artists.

18. Are the beings in the beginning of Spotlight Galvatron any relation to the quintessons pictured in the end of Spotlight Wheelie? And are they a hint for something just about to come ie. post AHM or a far off future tease…?

SF) I very rarely tease just for the sake of it, so the fact that there’s a foreshadowing of the Quintessons in Spotlight Wheelie does suggest there’s more to come. Can’t completely guarantee when or even if it’ll happen, but I do have definite plans (and even a role in the grand scheme of things) for the Quints in mind for the next batch(es) of storylines. Maybe it’ll even tie into The 13. We’ll see. In answer to your other question, no the aliens in Spotlight Galvatron are no relation.

19. Is Arcee the only female, or just the first? I mean are thier others hiding underground?

SF) Megatron: Origin notwithstanding, Arcee is the only ‘female’ Transformer we know of. Currently. That’s not to say Jhiaxus didn’t try, try again, and another ‘female’ character is yet to make ‘her’ presence felt. But Arcee was certainly the first. And maybe the last. Only time will tell.

20. You previously mentioned that we’d see Ultra Magnus vs Galvatron. Is this still going to happen?

SF) This was where my plans for Revelation/Expansion really did change, and not just because of the shift in format. Originally, I really wanted to have an Ultra Magnus/Galvatron smackdown in the tradition of the one from Target: 2006, but once I’d arranged all the players in Revelation I realised it just wasn’t going to work. I do have plans for Galvatron, though. And Ultra Magnus for that matter. But whether the twain shall meet in upcoming storylines very much remains to be seen.

Stay tuned to seibertron.com for all your Transformers related news.

Roberto Orci Talks Transformers 2

Date: Tuesday, July 15th 2008 8:02am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): Johndoe4880, sci-fi.com

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 37,145

Roberto Orci, one of the writers for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, recently spoke with Sci-fi.com about the Transformers movie sequel, scheduled for release on June 26th 2009. He speaks briefly about the Transformers presence in the film, including Arcee and Soundwave (who have both been confirmed via both official sources and leaks).

Read the interview by clicking here.

:

Roberto Orci said in an interview at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 14. " that the movie will feature more of the giant robots and more of a science fiction storyline. The sequel will also offer a better balance between humans and robots, Maybe there's less humans," he said. "The first movie was predicated on the structure of a mystery, at which point, at the midpoint, the Transformers are revealed. This movie is structured differently in that you now know there are Transformers in the world, and therefore you can get right to them. As a result, there's kind of more Transformers throughout the movie." what new Transformers audiences will see. Arcee, the female Autobot who transforms into a motorcycle, "was in an early draft of the first movie, and she may make an appearance," he said. "We'll see." But expect to see Soundwave, the Decepticon who was cut out of the first film. "Yes," Orci said. "Soundwave's in it." It's unclear whether he will transform into a tape deck, as in previous incarnations, or into something else. Orci also declined to comment on rumors that the film will spend a bit more time on the Transformer homeworld of Cybertron. But Orci promised that fans won't be disappointed. "If you liked the first one, you'll like this one," he said. "But if you were a genuine fan of what Transformers was and felt a little bit left behind by the first one, I think this one's going to be more for you." Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is in production now with an eye to a June 26, 2009, release.

Simon Furman Q&A Online!

Date: Friday, December 14th 2007 8:24pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Raymond T. | Credit(s): simonfurman.wordpress.com, www.idwpublishing.com

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 179,016

Last year IDW gave fans the chance to submit questions for Transformers writer Simon Furman. The best 20 were picked out of the litter and were answered by the Transformers guru himself. This year, fans were again able to ask the writer their burning questions. The best 20 questions were put together and are online in the second Simon Fuman IDW A&Q session. The first 15 on the IDW forum and the last 5 on Simon Furman's Blogpage.

The following 15 questions have been taken directly from the IDW Forum:

1) Character-wise are there any aspects of a character ie: role, alt. mode, character that you haven't had an opportunity to explore but you still would like to either through an original character or through the expansion on an existing one?

SF) What I feel I used to do well but (in the new IDW/TF-verse) haven’t done much of recently is take a little used character and really kind of escalate/advance them into terms of motivation, role and overall story impact. I’m thinking of the likes of Bludgeon, Thunderwing and Carnivac, where characters with little or no depth ended up virtually carrying whole story arcs. The closest I’ve come of late is with Razorbeast, in Beast Wars (Gathering/Ascending), where a toy/character who otherwise came and went without much of ripple has become quite pivotal (even collectable!). So far, with the Spotlights, I’ve largely focused on already A-list characters (or the likes of Nightbeat, a character I'd already got to grips with in a previous incarnation). Moving forwards, what I’d like to do is bring in a character or two from the ‘B’ or ‘C’ list and really go at them from scratch, bring them thundering into the ‘A’ list in terms of the IDW/TF-verse. Sixshot more or less fits those criteria, but I found there were limitations with a ‘living weapon.’ I’m looking forward to doing more with the likes of Doubledealer, Banzaitron and Jhiaxus. Right now, I’m searching for ways to confound expectation, so pretty much every character I tackle in an IDW comic comes with a fresh coat of paint, so to speak. Whatever established profile/tech spec/biog the characters already have, I’m using that as a loose template and taking it in different directions, without necessarily reinventing the wheel. It’s a very exciting way of working, as it seems to really let the creative side of me loose.

2) In your years working in the comic industry how much does it differ today to when you broke into the industry (art, story and the general production of a comic)? How do you see it in the years to come? And what is your favourite part of working in that industry?

SF) For me, the main difference is structure. Everything now is about the trade (paperback). With that in mind, stories are pretty much always arcs, be they four or six or more issues. I kind of miss the more rambling, unfolding nature of an ongoing comic. When we came to do the Titan reprints of the Marvel Transformers series, it was a challenge to break up the storyline(s) into cohesive (vaguely standalone) volumes. And, in fact, it often didn’t work. If you look at All Fall Down and End of the Road, there’s a distinct ‘To be continued…’ at the end of the first of those volumes. And I think because of distinct story arcs, there’s a natural tendency not to make single issues as self-supportive as they used to be. Which is also a shame. It’s why I love the Spotlights so much. They seem to hark back to a different era, where, as well as being part of a larger structure, each single issue also had to be semi-complete in and of itself. What I don’t miss about the ‘good old days’ is thought bubbles. It’s weird how old-fashioned they seem now. I much prefer narrative captions. They seem, to me, more grown-up (in a good sense of the word). Because, and this is a shame, comics are just no longer pitched at (or as accessible to) kids. Even ‘kids’ comics are just more sophisticated. I think back to the (Marvel) UK Transformers stories and compare them to the (Titan) UK stories of today, and there’s a big creative gulf. The one is not necessarily better than the other, just different. It’s no point getting misty-eyed with nostalgia, as a writer you have to move and evolve with the times, which I hope I’ll continue to do (wherever, and in whatever form comics go/take). The best bit is just being IN the industry. They’ll have to take me out in a box!

3) What one change would you make to the Transformers history you've created? (eg. do you wish maybe you hadn't made Magnus quite so scared of Galvatron? Do you wish you hadn't killed off Cyclonus? Not used Unicron in a particular story, etc).

SF) It sort of depends which Transformers history is being referenced. And even then, the only places I’d maybe want to go back and change/revisit are where external circumstances (such as imminent or sudden cancellation) dictated that either a story not go the way it was originally intended or not be completed at all. Certainly, the IDW/TF-verse is too new and still evolving to be the subject of retroactive second-guessing. New opportunities and avenues to explore are plentiful and ongoing there, and it’s probably the most well thought out/cohesive long-term structure I’ve ever had the luxury of working within. If I had to pick points to revisit, it’d be: with the original Marvel UK stories, I’d have loved to be able to play out the Ultra Magnus/Galvatron ‘rematch’ as originally set up. But the imminent change to black & white 5-page stories meant that Time Wars pretty much had to wrap up everything (and with two Primes in the mix, Ultra Magnus kind of got sidelined). With the Marvel US stories, I’d love to have been able to do the full post-Unicron storyline I had mapped out, with wasteland Cybertron and the quest for the Last Autobot unfolding over multiple issues (instead of, like, one). But again, it wasn’t to be. Once I knew issue #80 was our last, everything had to be condensed/accelerated (to an ultimately unsatisfying degree). I wish I could have continued Transformers Energon, I wish I could have wrapped up War Within v3, but really these things were just not meant to be, I guess. Largely, I try not to look back, only forwards. What’s out there already is out there, end of story. Truthfully, I’m not sure I’d want to tamper even if I could.

4) Will we be seeing more of the Micromasters in the future? (ie. why they are small and such and related to the Dead Universe?)

SF) Definitely more Micromasters in Revelation (and beyond)! This time around, in the IDW/TF-verse, I’m trying to apply thought and logic to concepts that previously were maybe just thrown into the mix without much due care and attention. If it’s Pretenders, it’s well why would Transformers need an outer shell? As a disguise element it always seemed slightly redundant to me in the original storylines. If it's Headmasters, what is it about a human/Transformer hybrid that makes them special? Why bother unless the end product is markedly better, and it cuts both ways (after all, it’s a kind of symbiosis)? I’m asking myself all the tough questions that were maybe skipped over in the rush of new product lines, and the same applies to Micromasters. Why is small better? What new, interesting abilities do pint-sized Transformers bring to the mix? And, as always, who is responsible? What’s their bottom line? The whole Jhiaxus/Nemesis Prime/Dead Universe storyline is about to explode, big time, and Micromasters are an integral part of what’s to come.

5) It's a very loose term, though. Can you define "brothers" in a TF sense? Is it merely some trivial notion of 'created around the same time' or 'somewhat looky-likey designs', or that they share some E.S.P., or what?

SF) What defines a ‘brother’ is going to feed into and be explored in two ’08 storylines. In the ‘ongoing.’ Sideswipe is about to step up and make his presence felt, most notably when he meets Sunstreaker again and realises he’s no longer just Sunstreaker! There is a bond between lots of characters, it’s just that in some cases it’s more pronounced, and the pair (or more) of characters in question are aware of it (even if it’s purely subliminal). Then, in a kind of standalone (but, of course, very connected) series, we’ll start to understand exactly where that link/bond came from. It’s connected to the lineage idea introduced in Spotlight Optimus Prime and to the eventual concept/realization of Combiners. Whatever it is, in some Transformers the bond is very strong, almost like in twins, in others it’s so watered down they don’t even know it’s there. A lot of ‘fundamental’ stuff, in terms of what makes a Transformer tick, is planned for next year.

6) If you were to radically reinvent the concept, allowing you to disregard anything and everything, for a one-off ‘Evolutions’ type story, what would it look like?

SF) It would probably not be terribly different to what we’ve done for the IDW/TF-verse. In many ways, it’s a reinvention/update of the classic G1 era, cutting out some elements, making others more contemporary, dropping in new ideas/designs/rationales, etc. So if I was handed carte blanche to do an Evolutions-style story, I’m not quite sure what I’d do with it. Even with Beast Wars, where I thought the abrupt leap into Beast Machines missed major storytelling opportunities, I got to drop The Gathering and The Ascending into that mix (and maybe more to come). The idea of just taking a different era and setting Transformers (G1) there doesn’t greatly appeal to me. Trying to re-do or re-style classic G1 stories doesn’t greatly appeal either. I feel (strongly) Transformers (as a whole) needs to keep moving forwards, evolving, in a way that doesn’t limit it to hardcore fan appreciation. That’s why I was so pro the new movie makeover. The quickest way to kill it dead would have been to make it a retro G1 piece, harking back entirely to the 80s (either in look or sensibilities). What I did enjoy recently was doing the ‘classic G1’ mini-comic for Madman’s DVD release of the entire animated series. That, in essence, ‘plugged a hole’ if you like, between the end of the animated show and the animated movie and felt more pertinent. Mostly, though, it’s my preference to keep looking upwards and onwards.

7) Given that you're well-known for taking obscure characters and breathing new life into them (Bludgeon, Nightbeat, Thunderwing etc.), are there any underdeveloped Transformers you'd like to give the same treatment in future?

Yes. And, assuming the Spotlights continue, I hope to do just that. The IDW/TF-verse is just so brimming with potential right now, I feel there is this vast pool of characters waiting for their chance to shine, to step out from (often limited) profile/tech specs, or simply just to be completely re-thought/re-made from the ground up. I think it's important that the main players have been established, either as the title character in a Spotlight or the main supporting character in a Spotlight (such as Ultra Magnus/Scorponok), but that done it’s time to move other, maybe more minor characters into major roles. After the trio of Blaster, Arcee and Grimlock Spotlights, I’m involved (rather than outright writing) in one more Spotlight (in what will be volume 3). That one definitely feels more in the spirit of minor character given due credit, gravitas and screen time. And, as always with the Spotlights, it plays into something much bigger. Can’t say any more at the moment, but I think it’ll surprise a few people.

8) What exactly does it take to kill a Transformer in IDW continuity? The amount of damage a TF can take before dying has always seemed to be fairly inconsistent to me, and so I'm curious as to what your take on the matter is.

SF) I think if I have played fairly fast and loose so far in the IDW/TF-verse, it’s with the actual mechanics (literal and otherwise) of how much injury a Transformer can sustain before it becomes critical. The two key elements to me are neural processor (brain) and Spark core (‘soul’). Take out either one of those, and you’re dead, gone, etc. Mind you, both are heavily shielded. Even a headshot (such as in Spotlight Ultra Magnus) might not necessarily destroy the processor. In Escalation #5, Megatron digs his hand into Optimus Prime’s chest cavity and squeezes his Spark core, meaning to crush it. Had he followed through, Prime would be dead. We have to assume that when Megatron shoots Starscream (in Infiltration #6) he misses (or fails to destroy) his spark core. EJ made it more graphic (and a much bigger torso hole/wound) than I’d maybe anticipated (in the writing), and so a certain degree of dramatic license may have to be applied there (especially if we ever actually place the Spark core specifically in some kind of internal cross-section). Though presumably there’s some room for manoeuvre here, what with different sizes and shapes of Transformers and all. Though we haven’t shown it as such, in the case of disembodied heads (such as Sunstreaker in Devastation), I’m working on the principle that the head is still hooked up to the Spark core (which has either been removed to a place of safekeeping or the original body preserved). The one can’t function without the other. I do mean to pay stricter attention to the physical limits of Transformers in upcoming arcs and series.

9) Now that IDW has the licence to produce Doctor Who comics, do you want to write for the series again? If you could, what elements would you explore, like in Axis of Insanity you explored the Doctor's curiosity and the dynamics between Peri and Erimem.

SF) I’ve always had a soft spot for the Doctor. Over the years I’ve done a fair few Doctor Who stories, whether in Doctor Who Monthly/Magazine (in the 80s) or in audio drama. And I’m currently doing some new (junior) Who for the UK (more details on my blog as and when I can trumpet this officially), as well as some Torchwood comic work (again, watch my blog for more details). So the short answer is yes, I’m always up for more Who. And, in fact, I have talked to Chris Ryall about doing some IDW-Who. But if I do, it’ll be later rather than sooner in 08, as story arcs (by other creators) are already in progress or upcoming (and I’m snowed under right now). What would I do, story-wise? I’d like to put the Doctor in a situation where he’s just totally and utterly out of his depth. Sometimes I feel the just always seems to know what’s what and what to do about it. I think if I get to do an IDW arc, I’d put the Doctor completely out of any kind of comfort zone, in a situation where he’s got to more or less think/act on a wing and a prayer. I loved the Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter in series 3 of the new TV show. It showed the Doctor in a refreshingly new light. It’s that kind of thing I’d like to tap into any story I might write. Beyond the companionship, why does he have a companion? It’s for situations exactly like that.

10) What are some of the best experiences you’ve had working with artists? Any particular issues, old or new, where you were especially blown away?

SF) Too many ‘blown away’ experiences to list. Some notables would include: my very first strip work (a ‘Library of Death’ story in UK comic Scream), drawn by (of all people) Steve Dillon. What a way to start out. Story was truly dire, by the way, but hey, it looked good! Transformers UK #113: Geoff (Senior) was forever blowing me away with his artwork, and in fact #113 isn’t his best TF work (I’d reserve the likes of Target: 2006 pt 8 and Edge of Extinction in US #75 for that distinction), but it was inspirational inasmuch as it pretty much pushed me into rethinking what was supposed to be a minor (disposable) supporting character (Death’s Head) and turning him into what’s become, I guess, my signature creation. For all the wrong reasons, I remember a Dan Reed UK job where he was so late with the pages I thought I was going to have to run with a reprint filler story. He had to physically bring the pages (from Paris, where he was living at the time), at which point he lost the splash page (in customs) and had to redraw it with me standing over him looking at my watch. I still shudder to this day. The first page of Transformers (US) #56 is another of what I’d call personal landmarks. It wasn’t just my first page of Transformers US, it was my first work for Marvel US (something I’d always dreamed of). Good, bad or indifferent (art-wise), that page was always going to be special. My collaborations with Andrew Wildman have always been memorable, not least because we actually developed our own IPs. Some of the ones that got away, like the (proposed) Neo-Knights series, I remember vividly. Again, for all the wrong reasons, I remember working with Pat Lee and how kind of disappointed I was to find how little of the art was actually him. He gave me an original art page of Armada, and there’s so little art on it! The good side of Dreamwave was my first collaboration with Don Figueroa on War Within v1. His art blew me away (in terms of its amazing detail and dynamism) and then blew me away again (because this was when I first realized that the new generation of TF artists were utterly passionate about the work).

11) In 2008, are there any plans for a mini-series of Primus and Unicron story and fit the core continuity?

SF) I shall restate categorically what I’ve said before. No Primus. No Unicron. I’m just not going there (outside of Beast Wars, and then not directly). BUT, that’s not saying we won’t at point start poking and prodding around the pre-history of the Transformers and begin to ground what’s happening in the present with stuff that goes all the way back to the very beginning. There’s stuff I’ve laid into the IDW/TF-verse already that pays into the timelost roots of the Cybertronian race and I don’t intend to let that mystery drag on too long. The Dead Universe wasn’t always dead. That’s all I’ll say for the time being.

12) Marvel G1 question: whatever happened to Professor Morris? I believe the last we saw of him was when Centurion was beheaded by Galvatron. Later, when Wheeljack rebuilt him, Morris was never mentioned again. So was he trapped in his underground bunker when Centurion was sent to the bottom of the Thames or what?

SF) OK. This question sent me scurrying back to my collected editions of the UK stories (and de-archiving the original issues that featured ‘Ancient Relics’ the Transformers/Action Force crossover). We last see Professor Morris (in person) in issue #102 (‘Fallen Angel pt 2’), when he mentally communicates with Swoop, asking permission to mind-share again (following on from events in The Icarus Theory in UK #45/46). We ‘assume’ that’s him communicating through Centurion later in ‘Ancient Relics’ (though I confess it’s not clear). However, it’s still something of a loose end, as we never really know if Morris was ever extracted from that bunker (after Centurion disappeared into the Thames… to be extracted later in ‘Salvage pt 1’ in TF-UK #160). Let’s assume so, eh? Maybe Swoop was feeling charitable and (after the events of ‘Ancient Relics’) freed him. Or maybe Triple III finally broke in or RAAT got involved. Whatever the case, let’s hope Morris got out somehow. He only had enough food and water for a year!!

13) Have you ever considered that maybe all the various storylines from all the previous companies (Marvel, DW, Club exclusives, etc) could be brought together in a huge storyline that could redefine the future of Transformers and use all the characters from all the comics, toys, manga and anime available (G1 to Galaxy Force, Beast Wars, and back), just like DC is actually doing in their Countdown comic series?

SF) Some kind of big ‘Crisis on Infinite Transformers’ was considered (and then rejected) when IDW first picked up the license. Chris Ryall and I discussed several options, of which that was one. Another was a way of running G1 and Cybertron comics in tandem, with a sort of crossover story that simultaneously launched both titles (the original pitch for which can be seen as an ‘extra’ in the Best of Simon Furman book). Both were ultimately rejected in favour of the complete reboot of the G1 line that now forms the IDW/TF-verse and I believe it was the right way to go. Even if we’d gone the ‘Crisis on Infinite Transformers’ route and effectively cleaned house, it would still have been a confusing and off-putting (especially to new readers) way to start. Though part of me still loves the idea of doing something on that scale I don’t think (this far on and in) it’d be something IDW would ever consider.

14) You have been involved with Transformers more or less since the beginning. How do you feel about how the line has grown and evolved since its inception? Has it improved, degraded, remained true to the original vision, forgotten it, reshaped it for the better?

SF) I think, as with all properties that have been around as long as Transformers has, there have been both highs and lows. The great thing about Transformers as a whole is how easy it is to ‘transform’ itself for each new generation (whether they be young kids or adults, fans or newbies) without losing the core concepts and ideals that underpin it. I’m not going to get into what I feel those highs and lows are, but I do think that even 23 years on from when it first hit toy shops in the west, Transformers is still delivering across a wide variety of media. Whether it's the IDW/TF-verse, the new movie franchise, Transformers Animated, the passion the creators and toy designers and moviemakers bring to each is undiminished by time. In fact, I’d go as far as to say we’re in something of a golden age right now, where the sheer momentum delivered by the first (new) movie is pushing everyone involved to be that much more on their game when it comes to new product. There will always be those who hanker for what they see as the original and best, the G1 of the 80s (be it toy, comic or cartoon), but clearly the main reason Transformers has survived and thrived is because things haven’t stopped still, haven’t remained stuck in the nostalgia era. The long-time fans are incredibly important, but it’s even more important that new generations are given an easy access point into what otherwise could be a daunting and off-putting 23-year (and counting) history.

15) When writing dialogue for the Transformers, do you imagine it being spoken by the voice-actors that played the respective characters in the cartoon?

SF) Sometimes, but increasingly not. I pretty much always write dialogue for Optimus Prime with Peter Cullen in mind as I do so. He’s just so completely attached to the character in my opinion. But when it comes to the IDW/TF-verse, I try not to go in with any vocal preconceptions, because it may subliminally make me write a given character as if its their classic G1 equivalent (which it’s not). However, when I write Beast Wars characters in comic form I absolutely do think of their voice actor counterparts. How can you not think of David Kaye (“Yess”) when writing BW Megatron or Scott McNeill with Rattrap? So it depends. The (new) movie voice cast didn’t really have enough screen time (or make enough impact on me) to affect the way I write any surrounding prequel/roll over movie comic material. So, strangely, those I do tend to base more on their original animated counterparts. (New) movie Starscream I write just like his G1 counterpart. I have Chris Latta’s whiny, shrill delivery in mind when I write him. Mostly, though, when it comes to writing dialogue for Transformers, I try to approach each character as I’ve previously set them up (with any accompanying vocal tics) and not be too influenced by ‘outside’ sources. That said, while writing Torchwood stories recently, I had each of main actor’s voices nailed to my subconscious.

The following last five questions were taken directly from Simon Furman's Blog.

16) How does the Matrix work in the IDW universe (i.e. power of Primus, souls of all the Transformers, sacred battery, etc)?

SF) Well, we’ve yet to actually meet the Matrix in the IDW/TF-verse. So we may be getting ahead of ourselves here. What do we know about it so far? Well, according to Spotlight Galvatron, the Matrix was (and maybe is) “carried” by Nova Prime, and he (Nova Prime) disappeared into the Dead Universe (along with the Matrix, we assume). Nova describes a bottomless well and a resonant tug on the Matrix. What happened next we don’t know (yet). But what is the Matrix (hm, that sounds familiar somehow)? Not telling. Not yet. But ’08 holds the answers: what it is, where it came from, what is does (then and now!). The Matrix (and what it’s become) will figure large in all that happens post-Devastation. The Matrix has been gone from the IDW/TF-verse for a long time, and its return will not necessarily be a thing of celebration.

17) Was it always the intention to introduce Acree to the IDW-verse, or was it as case of being suddenly struck with a workable idea? If so, what inspired the idea and story?

SF) I think once the nature of IDW/TF-verse Jhiaxus started to properly take shape, so the idea of doing an Arcee story became both workable and desirable (in the context of both a Spotlight and the larger story). To an extent, I wasn’t willing to go anywhere near Arcee (as a character) until I had worked out the whys and wherefores (in the IDW/TF-verse) of quote-unquote female Transformers and the whole issue of gender. Back when I was writing the first clutch of Spotlights, the idea of Arcee started to germinate. The Nightbeat Spotlight opened a door, and the involvement of Hot Rod just somehow made me want to get Arcee in there too, somehow, even though the two aren’t linked in the IDW/TF-verse. But even then I didn’t really have all the answers I needed (for myself) to properly introduce/write the character. I’ve been vocal about my resistance to the idea of gender in Transformers, so if Arcee existed (and she was a she), then I really needed to know exactly why that was (and how she and others react to that fact). Arcee, Combiners and Micromasters all have a common point of origin, in terms of forcing the evolution the Cybertronian race. Once I had that in mind, Arcee just seemed to work (and I had the motivation on both sides) as both a concept and a character.

18) As more people chip into building this new IDW/TF-verse continuity, are there any guidelines for what creators should/shouldn’t include to avoid clashing with other books?

SF) My main rule of thumb has always been (and remains), if it’s been done that way before, don’t do it again. It applies equally to me and, I hope, the other writers contributing to the IDW/TF-verse. Mostly, other than looking at what’s been established so far in the ‘ongoing’ arcs, the Spotlights and so forth and making sure new story elements don’t blow it all (in terms of the over-arcing story) out of the water, it’s just a matter of continually thinking outside of the box, and not falling back on classic G1 (knee-jerk) story/character traditions. Defy expectations. Turn characters on their heads. Assign them roles and functions that don’t necessarily match their classic G1 counterparts. And try and keep the story rolling onwards, rather than keep dipping back into what’s gone before (or if you do go back, make sure it has some present day/future resonance/pay off). On the IDW forums there’s a great thread, which painstakingly details who’s appeared, when and where. It’s very helpful, not least to me. The great thing about the way the IDW/TF-verse is set up is there are stories to tell that don’t necessarily have to be set on Earth. It’s been established that the war is spread out across many worlds, many frontiers, and that there are disparate groups of Decepticons (Infiltration units) and Autobots (Tactical Response units) involved, and that the ‘staged’ process established in Infiltration, Escalation and the like is underway on those other worlds too. So it’s reasonably straightforward to assemble a cast on some far-flung world and tell whatever kind of story you want to tell.

19) What goes into writing a new character who’s not been featured before? With, say, Sixshot was there a process involved in how he would act or did you look at tech specs or previous appearances in other mediums to get a basic idea?

I do at least start with the tech specs. Then, largely, I look for whatever it is in that character that interests or intrigues me, or seems to open the door to some kind of dramatic conflict (and if it’s not there, then I’ll start to rethink or flesh out the character more) and subsequent resolution (to a degree). With the Spotlights in particular I look for a way to give the reader an almost instant insight into what makes the character tick, and why we should care about or empathise with them. Good guy or bad guy, it’s necessary that the reader become involved with the character quickly. So if there’s nothing much there in terms of tech specs or previous appearances to start with, I’ll introduce something to lift the character out of a kind of template role. Taking Sixshot as an example, having divined that he’s this ‘living weapon,’ I thought, so what does that mean? (Both to us and to him.) Why should we care? How does he view himself? Is he happy being a living weapon? Might he, if given a way out, take it? And so forth. When addressing any character, I’m continually asking myself questions about them. First job really is to get myself interested. Once I am, it’s that much easier to get other people interested. Sometimes I actually prefer it when there’s little or nothing already there in black and white and I can just build the character from the ground up.

20) In Spotlight: Shockwave, did Shockwave beat the Dynobots or did he just destroy their organic covering forcing them into stasis lock? Any chance of a rematch?

SF) I think the answer to the first part of this question is that Shockwave beat the Dynobots by destroying their organic covering, at which point they went into stasis lock. Did he beat them? Yes. Would he, if they too had been resistant to the high levels of energon? Hard to say. Maybe, maybe not. Grimlock, clearly, had foreseen the possibility of losing and planned an appropriate no-win scenario before ever setting foot on the planet. So maybe he won. Either which way, we do have something of another grudge match in the offing. Only this time it’s the Dynobots versus… ah, but that’d be telling. Whatever the case, stuff is set in motion in Spotlight Grimlock that will have huge repercussions. Will Shockwave figure in any of this? Maybe. Are the Dynobots coming back in 08? Definitely.

Furman Update on U.K. Transformers #6

Date: Friday, July 20th 2007 12:35pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Hotrod | Credit(s): Simon Furman

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 23,870

Once again Simon Furman has updated his blog. In this latest entry Furman talks about finishing U.K. Transformers #6. Here is what Furman posted:

"Here we go again, and this time the topic for discourse (in as spoiler-free a way as possible) is Transfomers (UK) #6. This issue wraps up the first story ‘arc’, though as I’ve mentioned before each is a self-contained, single character-led entity. Here, the focus falls on Jazz, the last of those ‘lost in space’ after events in issue #2. I had two distinct things to accomplish here: one, present a story that draws out Jazz’s unique personality (like his G1 equivalent, he’s a culture vulture and wishes to experience as much universal diversity as possible), and two, bring the Autobots together again for a rousing, all guns blazing finale. The first, main strand revolves around a planet that seems too good to be true (and, of course, is), and its parasitic like effect on Jazz, who’s decided to hang up his guns for good as the story opens. This one also features a Cybertronian flashback and a guest star or two, one of which does appear in the movie, one of which doesn’t (but is in the toy line). The second strand involves the efforts of Ratchet to reunite with his comrades-in-arms, but will he and Ironhide be in time to save Jazz… from himself? This won’t be out until late November/early December, but trust me, it’ll be worth the wait. No word yet on artist. Keep an eye on whatever discussion thread this blog entry engenders. Once I know more, so will you!"

Remeber you can get new on the latest Simon Furman updates and other Transformers comic news in the Seibertron.com Comics Section.