>
>
>

Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound

Posted by william-james88 Oct 4, 2023 at 11:02am CDT 72,011 views
We had the pleasure to talk to the writer and artist of the new Transformers series from Skybound, Daniel Warren Johnson, to get to know more about what to expect in the coming months along with an explanation for the big spoiler moment. Below is a summary of what was discussed.

Firstly, it was interesting to see that while Johnson grew up with the Transformers brand and was heavily influence by Geoff Senior for his art style, he has been removed from the modern Transformers content and discussion. So don't expect new characters to show up, even those which have retroactively become part of "G1" fiction, like Drift, Barricade or Windblade. The stories will instead have characters he is ore familiar with, though there may certainly be some G1 deepcuts.

The first issue had a passing remark regarding Megatron's absence and Johnson was not going to tell us more about that. BUT he did explain to us why he picked Bumblebee as the character to bite the dust in the first issue. At a basic level, the scene was made to establish to both new readers and the human characters in the story who were the good guys and the bad guys and how ruthless the bad guys are. Plus, since this comic is meant to be as accessible as possible, Johnson wanted to have well known characters, including the one who dies. This had nothing to do with Bumblebee's overexposure in the past 15 years, though it is interesting to note that Johnson never had a great affinity to Bumblebee growing up.

While the book has a very familiar premise for anyone who grew up in the G1 era, the book is meant to be accessible to all and Johnson asks us to leave everything we know at the door. The story he will be telling is fresh and new. It will be written as a series of arcs, with no end planned at the moment. At the same time though, Johnson is adamant to make each issue feel satisfying in its own right, as we saw with the first issue, with a full character arc for Jetfire. This is something extremely important to him.

A change we felt was significant was the talk of time. In most Transformers fiction, eras are measured in "millions of years" be it the Cybertronian war or the time between the Arc crashing and the bots awakening. Johnson changed that to "hundreds of years" in the dialogue since it felt more logical, but the impact story wise is minimal. It wasn't that big a decision for him and Hasbro had no notes on it. Speaking of Hasbro's involvement, they did give him feedback about the way he draws Optimus' hands. While they would want them to look less human, Johnson is sticking to the Geoff Senior school of robot hands, which are simply human hands with some rings drawn on the fingers. It is also less taxing for him, since he does have the double duty of being the writer and artist.

Speaking of that double duty, it gives an added layer to what we see in the comic and which characters appear. For instance, the cassette Soundwave chooses to deploy is Ravage. Johnson, as a writer, wanted to include this character that he loves and Johnson as an artist really wanted him in the story because it adds a different kind of element to draw. Him being an animal makes him fun to draw and adds contrast to the more blocky shapes of the other bots.

Those were the main parts of the interview, if you want to watch the full interview, you can do so below. But please be aware of some issues with framerate and the interviewer going on some random rants/tangents.

Watch video

More Bots. More News. More Awesome.

Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by ScottyP Oct 4, 2023
I thought it was average. Plenty of good stuff, plenty of stuff that wasn't for me.

Really liked the war not being ancient/on an insane timescale, felt the balance of human drama to robot stuff was done well and some of the small nods like Prime's trailer having a real purpose were neato.

The art is not to my taste overall, but the only part that seemed actually bad to me were the attempts at using Geoff Senior-style action. That only works for Senior because his entire style is like that, it's really awkward and jarring here. The tone also gets too edgelord for my liking by the end, but I think a lot of people will like that and not view it as a negative point.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by AllNewSuperRobot Oct 4, 2023
Just seeing the preview, I wasn't interested in this. It's been nearly 40 years since G1 and that doesn't make seeing the crashed Ark or dormant occupants as anything other than an 80's throwback. As much as I loathed IDWverse post-Furman. At least they had the guts to be different.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by william-james88 Oct 4, 2023
ScottyP wrote:I thought it was average. Plenty of good stuff, plenty of stuff that wasn't for me.

Really liked the war not being ancient/on an insane timescale, felt the balance of human drama to robot stuff was done well and some of the small nods like Prime's trailer having a real purpose were neato.

The art is not to my taste overall, but the only part that seemed actually bad to me were the attempts at using Geoff Senior-style action. That only works for Senior because his entire style is like that, it's really awkward and jarring here. The tone also gets too edgelord for my liking by the end, but I think a lot of people will like that and not view it as a negative point.


I get all your points (except for the edgelord stuff, I didn't feel that), but I think the wholesomeness and accomplishment of a G1 reboot made me look past them. I don't really care that it's a G1 reboot, but I like that it is done well. Some fans wanted that and I am happy for them. I hated the IDW 2.0 stuff, especially in terms of pacing, so by comparison this issue felt like a great read.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by ScottyP Oct 4, 2023
william-james88 wrote:I get all your points (except for the edgelord stuff, I didn't feel that)
Gonna keep it vague since I think this will show in the news story view comments where spoiler tags don't work - what I'm mostly referring to is the final panel of the issue. Made me roll my eyes. In a vacuum it doesn't bother me but as it is, it felt like the definition of a first issue trying way too hard to be serious/grim/important. Move that scene to a later point in the story, heck not even much later, and I think it has more impact.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by william-james88 Oct 4, 2023
ScottyP wrote:
william-james88 wrote:I get all your points (except for the edgelord stuff, I didn't feel that)
Gonna keep it vague since I think this will show in the news story view comments where spoiler tags don't work - what I'm mostly referring to is the final panel of the issue. Made me roll my eyes. In a vacuum it doesn't bother me but as it is, it felt like the definition of a first issue trying way too hard to be serious/grim/important. Move that scene to a later point in the story, heck not even much later, and I think it has more impact.


Ah right, I get it now. While I felt it was in line with the way the character was portrayed through the comic, I won't disagree with any of that.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by sol magnus Oct 4, 2023
There was plenty to enjoy, but there were some things I have...opinions on. There's something in there I felt was making a point that didn't really need to be made, but we got the truest version of a character I've ever seen in fiction due to that plot decision.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by Supreme Convoy Oct 4, 2023
Transformers #1 is one of my most anticipated comics this year and it did not disappoint! It really is the perfect mix of DWJ sensibilities mashed up with the Transformers.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by william-james88 Oct 5, 2023
Supreme Convoy wrote:Transformers #1 is one of my most anticipated comics this year and it did not disappoint! It really is the perfect mix of DWJ sensibilities mashed up with the Transformers.


Yeah, I know people here aren't really feeling it, but the reaction online has been positive overall. While I'm indifferent on it being a G1 reboot, I think it accomplishes what it sets out to be.
Here are some more words of excitement I found for this issue:

We are so fuckin back, I knew DWJ wouldn't fail us.

The art's pulpy and fresh, the human and cybertronian characters are both interesting, it's got the signature robot-ultra-violence. 9/10, wish it was longer. Great start, hope we got years ahead of us.


What a fantastic read with some interesting twists to the formula. You can also already tell DWJ gets these characters.


I enjoyed it. How nice it is to see the 'compassionate warrior' take on Optimus Prime again as opposed to angry and vengeful in other media.
Welcome back, Caring Warrior Dad G1 Optimus


Just read the comic. I have to say this is the best TF comic I've read for a very, very long time. Feels good to be excited about Transformers comics again!


Really enjoyable. It is a pretty fresh look at the Sunbow Pilot Episode MtMtE with a ton of hooks for new story.


Listen, you there. That’s right, you reading this. I want you to read this carefully and picture these words in your mind. You understand? Good. Pick. Up. This. Book. It’s everything I wanted in a new Transformers series, going back to the core strengths of the franchise, the mechanical lifeforms learning and changing through their interactions with humanity, with amazing artwork and engaging writing and pacing. Pick it up. ‘Nuff said.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by Big Grim Oct 5, 2023
I rather enjoyed it, though I don't remember Cybertronians ever feeling as fragile as they seem to be here. Maybe I'm just used to how hard to kill they were in the IDW days. It certainly looks like two deaths in this issue alone.

~ Grim
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by ScottyP Oct 5, 2023
Big Grim wrote:I rather enjoyed it, though I don't remember Cybertronians ever feeling as fragile as they seem to be here. Maybe I'm just used to how hard to kill they were in the IDW days. It certainly looks like two deaths in this issue alone.

~ Grim
Gotta get that shock value in or something. Tbh, characters dying in a premiere issue is probably more predictable now than the opposite.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by Stormshot_Prime Oct 5, 2023
And Thundercracker missed being a part of the main Con cast by *that* much.

That aside, I am so stunned and excited by this first issue! I’m loving all the reimaginings of the human characters, I love Carly and her van so much already (hope Ironhide becomes her van, they had a great dynamic in the G1 cartoon.)

One thing that seems new(ish?) that I’m VERY interested in is the duration of the war. It appears to barely have gotten started, so we’re going to see some interesting “early days” of the war that other series (looking at you IDW2019!) didn’t manage to grasp.

It’s going to be hard waiting for #2 is all I have left to say!
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by AllNewSuperRobot Oct 5, 2023
Post-Furman IDW didn't even grasp the war to begin with. Let alone how to "end" it in a logical and satisfying narrative way.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by Hero Alpha Oct 5, 2023
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Post-Furman IDW didn't even grasp the war to begin with. Let alone how to "end" it in a logical and satisfying narrative way.



War rarely ends in a logical and satisfying narrative way. I thought IDW handled it quite realistically, as far as giant space robots go. Both sides losing, trying to move on, even the "bad" guy, kinda getting away with it, for a time, with plenty of the other side backing him. Pretty good grasp on war to me.

As for the new comic; I liked it a lot. Carly should be blonde though.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by william-james88 Oct 5, 2023
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Post-Furman IDW didn't even grasp the war to begin with. Let alone how to "end" it in a logical and satisfying narrative way.


The war under IDW post Furman was always nebulous to me. It only ever made sense, time wise, when Roberts made this beautiful 2 page spread explaining how the leaders would over-strategize to the point of taking 100 years to plan one battle.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by snavej Oct 6, 2023
The whole idea of Teletraan-1 was SO 1950s, when computers were huge. It's redundant now. I'm glad that Image Optimus blew it up.

It's 'good' (realistic) to see Starscream & co. casually killing humans, who Decepticons would see as offensively inferior and an obstacle to progress. Maybe they will start a programme of human eradication this time. Given the increasing use of drones in real-world war, the Decepticons could unleash self-replicating attack drones against human civilisation. That way, the genocidal process would be automated, leaving the Decepticons free to strengthen their positions and fight the Autobots.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by sol magnus Oct 6, 2023
snavej wrote:The whole idea of Teletraan-1 was SO 1950s, when computers were huge. It's redundant now. I'm glad that Image Optimus blew it up.

It's 'good' (realistic) to see Starscream & co. casually killing humans, who Decepticons would see as offensively inferior and an obstacle to progress. Maybe they will start a programme of human eradication this time. Given the increasing use of drones in real-world war, the Decepticons could unleash self-replicating attack drones against human civilisation. That way, the genocidal process would be automated, leaving the Decepticons free to strengthen their positions and fight the Autobots.


Re: Starscream, - this is the truest take on the stated characterization of Starscream going back to his 1984 file card we've ever gotten. He was probably the best character in the book, and while I don't think his other major action was needed whether or not for overexposure - it made me feel something, so on that level this book is a success in my eyes.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by william-james88 Oct 6, 2023
The first issue of Daniel Warren Johnson's new Transformers title is a success both critically and in sales. Many fans who have wanted a modern take on G1 are saying they finally have it. So the anticipation for issue 2 is pretty big. Below you will see preview images for the second issue. Some are in black and white while others are in colour. We see Optimus killing a deer by mistake, realizing how fragile creatures of Earth are and saddened by his action (a direct contrast to the way the first issue ended) and we also see Cliffjumper, who will be a main player in this series. Enjoy!

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by ScottyP Oct 6, 2023
Optimus stepping on a deer is so entirely unnecessary. Someone needs to check this writer's basement, that's some deranged, twistedly cruel stuff to put on a page. Might not be sticking around for much of this series!
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by sol magnus Oct 6, 2023
ScottyP wrote:Optimus stepping on a deer is so entirely unnecessary. Someone needs to check this writer's basement, that's some deranged, twistedly cruel stuff to put on a page. Might not be sticking around for much of this series!

Seems completely on-brand for Kirkman's comics in general, though.
Re: Spoiler Filled Interview with Daniel Warren Johnson on new Transformers Comic from Skybound (view post)
Comment by bluecatcinema Oct 6, 2023
Wow, they're referencing the Matrix already. That's got to be some kind of record.
Patreon
Charge Our Energon Reserves. Join the Seibertron Elite.
Support SEIBERTRON™