IDW Transformers: Regeneration One #100 Review

RIP G1.
It finally ends. 30 years in the making. The conclusion to one of the greatest epics in popular culture reaches its end with The Transformers ReGeneration One issue 100 (in a four issue limited series)
I would have loved to have drawn the whole series but had to step away for a while. Great to have Guido Guidi step up to the plate for the rest of the series and great to have Guido, Geoff Senior and myself team up to pencil the final issue. Many thanks for Simon Furman's words, Stephen Baskerville's inks, John-Paul Bove's colours, Jason Cardy's cover colours, John Barber's patience and to all the fans for making this project happen in the first place and for coming along for this amazing journey.
And as a little treat, here is me pencilling my final page. Yes, I really am that fast.

But something's a little off, here. I can't exactly place my finger on it, but discussing it with other reviewers we all share the same sense of ..something not quite right.

DaRonin wrote:Im really not sure who is too blame for this debale. Furman says he planned this all out and is satisfied with the finale. Then frankly, I'm glad hes been relegated to tertiary projects cuz his planning skills are degrading. I'm not even sure how the furmanites can defend this.

hinomars19 wrote:

DaRonin wrote:Im really not sure who is too blame for this debale. Furman says he planned this all out and is satisfied with the finale. Then frankly, I'm glad hes been relegated to tertiary projects cuz his planning skills are degrading. I'm not even sure how the furmanites can defend this.

I haven't read a lot of his stuff in a long time, but if nobody minds I'd like to put across an (educated) theory; It seems to me Mr. Furman is perhaps a concepts man. The man has them in spades, but that does not technically make him a writer in terms of comic books. Writers are people who tell a story, not think them up. I say this because I worked (rather irritatingly) with a guy who had good ideas, and pulled concepts from out of nowhere that should have worked, but in his own hands they simply didn't. He had no idea of pacing or storytelling. I worked with him on creating the story boards, then tweaked them myself after. It was never going to be great, and I'm certainly not putting myself forward as the best man for this job,but I had to improve it somewhat to get it to a more acceptable and coherent level within the workings of comics. sadly he had too big an ego. I cannot compare this man to Mr. Furman. But, maybe there is a chance that that is what is happening here. Furman is double dipping on what maybe needed a 2 man job.

DaRonin wrote:In the end, Furmans passion for the story cant be disputed, but his objectivity and editing skills can. The guy seems to need people around him to keep him on point and call him on his BS in order to end up with a great story. The guy's put out good stuff before, most of G2, War Within and Worlds Collide being good examples. But this, was a big fumble on his part. hopefully next transformers story he writes, he gets stuck with an editor that can keep him in line.

So there we are. The end. The End? They always said ‘It Never Ends’ and for Transformers that seems to be true. But for the Original Transformers storyline/continuity it very definitely has. Issue 100 of that seminal book final hit the stands on Wednesday 19th March. A very significant day for all those legions of people who, over the last thirty years, have enjoyed the ups and downs of the world of Autobots and Decepticons. After the hiatus of some twenty years it was a privilege to be involved in the continuation of The Transformers (not sure when the The was dropped) With the IDW book, Transformers Regeneration One. When it all finally ended I thought it would be great to write a piece about what it has been like for me to be involved in the book. After all, for many it is who I am. But rather than write one final farewell – which I did for issue 100 – I thought I would get some thoughts down as and when they occur. This is the first of those;

For me it started out as just another comics gig. A book that I knew nothing about and that only felt like a stepping stone onto other books. I wanted to draw Superheroes. This is something that I have mentioned in many interviews and Q&As. I was happy to be working for Marvel Comics but I didn’t want to do toy books. I wanted to draw Spider-Man and all the other characters that I had grown up with. At that time I guess I had been reading comics for, say, 20 years. When I consider that that was about 26 years ago it really does create context. Transformers have been a part of my life for longer than Marvel had at that point. Transformers has been there for all but a couple of years of my professional life as a comic artist. Its fair to say that without Transformers I would probably be yet another casualty of the big comics crash in the mid nineties. Many of us working in the comics industry back then were hanging on by our fingernails as we saw title after title get cancelled. Same happened to me. My final book for Marvel was the final issue of Force Works. I felt like it was unfinished business at Marvel but it was time to get out as the empire crumbled around us all. That is when I moved – sideways I guess – into Computer Game design and TV concept work and storyboarding. Things have been great for me in those areas but it is as a result of working on Transformers for Marvel and more recently for IDW that has enabled me to have a presence at some amazing conventions and that is great. So Transformers, it was very definitely time to move on. Time to draw a line under that work. But I salute you. Without you I wonder what life would look like now.

crazyfist wrote:I've re-read issues 80.5-100 back to back. I tried to like this series but I could not. I just feel like this whole series was rushed and the planning was way off..

Some of you may have heard the Transmissions Podcast where - among many other things - they discuss Transformers Regeneration One #100. Its always interesting to hear what readers and aficionados make of the work one does. They really get under the skin of the whole issue with story, art etc. They mention right at the end that I am going to be saying more about my thoughts and feelings around Transformers. And I will. As much as they discuss the content of the book and also acknowledge the fact that we all had a chance to say something in the extra pages that the book had, they don't discuss what we said. Maybe at some point they may or maybe that will be covered elsewhere. For those of you who have not read any of that extra material, below is my piece. Slightly different from what you will have read in the book though. This is the unedited piece. Hasbro asked for some changes to be made to what I had written before it went to publication. Some of you may spot them. I am happy with the changes that they asked for but I thought it might be interesting to show exactly what I wrote, grammatical errors and all...
As you will see, as far as I am concerned it is all very great to read, enjoy and discuss all the events of the story but with Transformers there is definitely More Than Meets The Eye.

It Never Ends?

There we are then. That’s it. All done and dusted.

It seems amazing that we ever got to this point. This comic book that has - in one form or another - been there for so long. As many of you will know I first drew Transformers back in the dim and distant 1988. at the time I was working on whatever anyone was throwing at me. I was young(ish) and had a growing family to feed. At that time Transformers was just another paid gig. It very rapidly became more than that as it became the thing that opened to the door to Marvel Comics. Once in that door Transformers suddenly became a victim of Marvel’s decision to not do toy books anymore. No matter, I was in and had the opportunity to move through the ranks at Marvel and the pleasure of working on some of the characters that I had grown up with such as Spider-Man and the X-Men. Those jobs came and went but after all these years it is still Transformers that comes knocking at the door. When something is that insistent and becomes for many the thing that defines you it is always worth having a look under the hood. See what’s really there. What is it about this book that it seems to have attached itself to me?

Then I saw it;

When IDW asked me if I wanted to do some interior art for a Transformers book I said no. When they asked me what it would take to get me to do some interior art for a Transformers book I pondered the question and responded that I would only do it if I could work with Simon and if we could have the opportunity to do something that really had some weight to it. Out of this and Simon’s parallel conversations with IDW the idea for RegenerationOne was born.

I am going to break the flow here to give out a few acknowledgments. We have gathered a great team together for this journey. Guido has done a great job stepping in when I had to step away, JP Bove’s interior colours have perfectly captured that synthesis of being a bit like the old stuff but definitely new and fresh and I think now stand alongside the amazing Mr Nel Yomtov for the amount of uninterrupted output of pages. Jason Cardy’s cover colours have given cinematic impact that have pulled readers in like a movie poster outside your favorite multiplex. Stephen Baskerville, what can I say. A consummate professional. No matter what I throw at Stephen he unfailingly does his thing and makes these books look the way they ‘should’. As for the words, well a huge acknowledgment to Jim Shooter and Bob Budiansky for creating this beast. Without them we wouldn’t be here. We may well be creating a book about battling robots but for sure it wouldn’t be this one. And lastly, Simon Furman. My long time partner in crime. The man who not only brought me into the Transformers hold but who, as a result of that opened the door to many a subsequent opportunity. Thanks Mr F, my acknowledment and respect to you.



So there we were. The idea to finally complete the Transformers story was not only an opportunity but a privilege. What needs to really be gotten here is that this book is the conclusion of the definitive Transformers storyline. Let me just emphasise that. THIS book is THE CONCLUSION of THE DEFINITIVE TRANSFORMERS STORYLINE. It is not possible to over emphasise that. Back in 1983 something huge that has become part of popular culture began. At Marvel Comics Jim Shooter and Bob Budiansky wrote a treatment for Transformers. There was nothing before that other than some ill defined toys. That treatment became the Marvel Transformers book and that storyline - the definitive one - fell silent in 1991, reared its head again in 2012 and the no kidding, final conclusion of that whole storyline is what you now hold in your hands.

But what really makes this concept resonate and give it its longevity is the fact that this is NOT a book about robots. quite the opposite. The term 'robot' was first used in the 1921 play ‘R.U.R. Rossum's Universal Robots’ by the Czech writer, Karel Čapek. But these were human clones devoid of emotion. Transformers are if anything the opposite of that. They are sentient beings. They may be mechanical in their structure but they contain very human emotions and concerns. They are also from one source, The Matrix (later called The Allspark). This original singular source is what binds them and gives a unifying purpose to their lives. These themes are key to the popularity of Transformers in that it is an expression of much of what defines us as human beings. It has its roots in Hinduism, Buddhism, Enlightenment, Pantheism and subsequently many themes of Modern Philosophy. And that is what made me want to do this book. That is why we love it. A book about cool robots? yes, but about so much more. Its about us. About you and me. About the human condition. Its about separation, loss, pain, conflict and the pursuit of unification and oneness. Throughout its long life its always been there in that now familiar mantra; ‘Till All Are One’.

And here we finally are.



Namaste



AW 2014

Rodimus Prime wrote:As I've said before, Wildman's art is wonderful. Too bad it couldn't be matched by a decent story. This was the definitive ending? It should have been left at #80.

WiseMan wrote:Why does there seem to be a conscious decision by everyone NOT to mention Generation 2?

Beginning on Easter Day will be an eBay listing to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Transformers.

I am Bagging and Boarding 30 copies of the Convention Variant cover of Transformers Regeneration One #100. Each of the backing boards will have a sketch on the back. The 30 issues will be divided into 6 releases of five. There will be five sketches of Optimus Prime. Five sketches of Megatron - ya get the idea- then Ultra Magnus, Galvatron. Rodimus Prime and Bludgeon. The Optimus Prime sketches begin on Easter Day at 8pm UK time and runs for seven days.

The idea behind this is to not only commemorate the 30th anniversary but to enable those who can't get to UK conventions that I am attending to be able to get a copy of the comic and a sketch. Those of you who have seen me at conventions know that I do sketches but there are, needless to say, many Transformers and comic conventions that I won't be at. Below are the five Optimus Prime sketches that constitute this release. It's pot luck as to which bidder will get which sketch but that's part of the fun.



As you will see below I have decided to donate all the proceeds from the fifth winning bidder to the Make-A-Wish foundation. this is my favourite charity and the one that we support as Draw The World Together. Anyone not familiar with the activities of DtWT click the link and take a look. We don’t have a lot of time or facility to do much with DtWT these days so it is nice to be able to raise a bit of money for the charity.

So. set your alarm for the start of the bid and cross your fingers.

ULTRA MAGNUS sketch and comic

The auction for the next batch of five Transformers Regeneration One comics has now goe live, This time around each signed comic will include signed original ULTRA MAGNUS sketch.

Links for the five items are;

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?siteid=0&pub=5574891718&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.co.uk%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3F%20...%201365037344%3C%2Fa%3E%26

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?siteid=0&pub=5574891718&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F171365039497%3F%20...%201558.l2649%3C%2Fa%3E%26

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?siteid=0&pub=5574891718&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F171365041211%3F%20...%201558.l2649%3C%2Fa%3E%26

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?siteid=0&pub=5574891718&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F171365042883%3F%20...%201558.l2649%3C%2Fa%3E%26

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?siteid=0&pub=5574891718&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F171365044507%3F%20...%201558.l2649%3C%2Fa%3E%26

The Galvatron sketches are now up on eBay. As with the previous auctions there are 5 copies of the Convention Variant cover of Transformers Regeneration One #100. Each is bagged and boarded. The backing board has a sketch of Galvatron on it.
At the close of the auction all the proceeds from one of those lots will go to the Make-a-Wish foundation who provide amazing experiences for children dealing with life threatening illnesses.

So take a look at the auction lots HERE and see if anything grabs you. And if not, that’s fine but please also take a look at the work of Make-a-Wish. Very moving stuff.

Wolfman Jake wrote:Looks like they kind of "Ultimate Marveled" the G1 comic book universe.

Why is this considered "The End of Generation 1" anyway? G1 was more than just the Marvel comic series, which has always been its own beast apart from the original cartoon and animated Movie, Beast Wars and Beast Machines, and any of the additions and extensions made through Japanese media to the franchise.

Now that the Transformers Regeneration One comic book series is over and complete I thought it time to put up for sale a few of the pages of original art. I have sold a couple at conventions recently but it would be good to get them out into the wider Transformers world. I will probably pick a few pages from various issues and post them every now and then. To start with here are four pages from the end part of the run. Each page of art is signed, boarded and bagged and comes with a copy of the relevant script page.

Take a look at them here and if you are interested you can click on the images to check them out on eBay. The auction end at 8.30pm UK time next sunday 31st August.

Just started over on eBay is the next 30th Anniversary auction of Transformers comic/sketch packs. This time round… Bludgeon. Everyone’s favourite Samurai Pretender. Usual deal, five sketches bagged with five copies of the increasingly rare #100 Convention Special. You can see them below or pop over to eBay

The final batch if sketches in the 30th anniversary collection. This is one of my favourite of the whole lot.

It's finally happening. The auction of the exclusive, signed Transformers Regeneration One comics. There are 30 copies (it's the 30th anniversary) of issue 100. This is the release with the 'issue 1 homage cover' by artist, Guido Guidi and all the books are signed by a host of Transformers creators. A real who's who list.
What is really important about this auction is that all the proceeds will go to help Bill Mantlo. One of Marvel's writers who was responsible for some of their greatest titles. Not only did he create Rocket Raccoon but he was the first writer on the Transformers book. Bill was involved in an accident in the 90's and requires constant care. This is our way of saying thanks to him for his contribution to one of the worlds biggest franchises.
Check out the auction below and share with... everyone.