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Megatron Print From Acid Free Gallery Today

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Acid Free Gallery wrote:MEGATRON by Jesse Philips - $50.00

Limited Edition Licensed Screenprint

18x24 - 5 color screen print (with Metallic)

Paper: Domtar Lynx Opaque 100lb

Run Size: 200

Markings: Numbered

Trading Card Certificate of Authenticity – Numbered

Printed by D&L Screenprinting – Seattle WA

Produced by Acidfree Gallery

Officially Licensed by Hasbro, Inc.

Acid Free Gallery wrote:MEGATRON (Variant) by Jesse Philips

Limited Edition Licensed Screenprint

18x24 - 5 color screen print (with Metallic)

Paper: Domtar Lynx Opaque 100lb

Run Size: 84

Markings: Numbered

Trading Card Certificate of Authenticity – Numbered

Printed by D&L Screenprinting – Seattle WA

Produced by Acidfree Gallery

Officially Licensed by Hasbro, Inc.

Mars Attacks: The Transformers Creator Commentary

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Q: How did you all come to be involved in the MARS ATTACKS: THE TRANSFORMERS crossover?

SHANE MCCARTHY: It was all a bit out of the blue actually. I got an email from [IDW Editor] Carlos Guzman asking if I’d be interested in doing the book. The idea seemed so crazy I couldn’t pass it up.

MATT FRANK: I had been working primarily on Godzilla stuff for the last two years, and somebody must have said “Hey, this guy sure can blow stuff up real good!” and I was asked to make the SDCC exclusive cover for the first issue of the new Mars Attacks series. Apparently it caught on, as I was asked to do a few more covers... and I had also been doing more TRANSFORMERS stuff recently, so I was lucky enough to be asked to do this!

JOSH PEREZ: I brainwashed everyone into thinking I should have a part in this book! Man, I shouldn’t have squandered that wish on that… NAH. Seriously, I think Matt and Carlos wanted me on this book, and I’ve worked with Matt before on Godzilla covers AND Shane before on the DRIFT mini-series.

Q: What were your approaches to working crossover of this nature? Was it something that you found difficult to do?

SHANE MCCARTHY: It wasn’t too difficult once I found the tone I’d like to use when approaching the story. It could have gone a few different ways but I really wanted to go for all out fun. The only stipulation that was given to me by Carlos was that it would be set in the G1 universe, so I figured we could take that a step further and make it a real Mars Attacks Saturday Morning Cartoons. Mixing the two properties was a gold mine for humor, so it was a real pleasure to cut loose and find the fun in all of this.

MATT FRANK: Shane did all the heavy lifting, so it wasn't all that hard for me! Actually, it presented an interesting artistic opportunity – the universe is most emphatically based on the Generation 1 cartoon, so the Transformers and the world around them are relatively simple with that ’80s-animation-style. On the other hand, the Martians are a bit more graphically diverse, so their crazy over-saturated aesthetic is “invading” the cartoon world of the TRANSFORMERS! Thankfully, with Josh’s coloring, they don't look aggressively out-of-place, so it all meshes very well.

JOSH PEREZ: I approached this with glee and smiles. I LOVE that the style of the writing AND the art (both of which are really great in this issue!) were that “’80s G1 Transformers cartoon” style. Rendering the Transformers using their cartoon palettes was fun and made a lot of the work go by quickly! I always love doing cel-shaded books when and where I can, so this issue was fun and easier than the more rendered-looking stuff I do elsewhere—and Matt/Shane gave me a TON of space creatively to do all kinds of fun stuff with the book!

Q: Obviously you all knew about TRANSFORMERS, did you have to do much research on Mars Attacks to prepare yourself for working on this story?

SHANE MCCARTHY: I did a lot of research in finding the right tone and taking elements from the Mars Attacks universe that would suit that. I went right back to the original trading cards and used that as a launching pad for the whole project.

MATT FRANK: We got some nice design documents from Topps, and I had already done some boning-up when working on the earlier covers, so there wasn’t much of a transition for me. A few things I DID research were some of the TRANSFORMERS I had never drawn before... which turned out to be most of them! I had never drawn Prowl or Astrotrain, for example, but thankfully I was gifted a copy of The Complete Ark recently by Chris Mowry, so I had plenty of reference material!

JOSH PEREZ: I always love working with the Transformers brand, and have been for some time now, so I know most of these guys inside-and-out; but the most I knew about Mars Attacks was the movie Tim Burton worked on. I’ve known about the old cards from ’62, but I never really got to look through them, nor have I ever had the chance to work with the Mars Attacks Martians and all that goodness. After receiving some nice references from Topps and IDW, I went CRAZY and ordered a set of the old cards; those are GREAT to look through! I would love to do something with Mars Attacks that’s “painted up” all nice and pretty and graphic like the cards from the ’60s!

Q: What lessons did you take from the previous books you’ve worked on into this one?

SHANE MCCARTHY: Like any project you need to find what interests you and what you think will interest the artist first, especially given we’re the ones that need to feel that excitement to transfer energy onto the page. Once you’ve done that it’s about having a lot fun. The real lesson I took into this was to just enjoy it.

MATT FRANK: For a while I've been struggling with how to differentiate my own TRANSFORMERS “style” from the greats, and several folks began to mention how much they liked the expressions I had been giving these giant robots. So I definitely try to push that as much as I can without making them over-the-top comedic. I had also learned a lot from the previous one-shots I’d worked on, such as busting my hump for tight deadlines without letting the work suffer. The key is a lot of energy drinks and to sleep in 4-hour increments!

JOSH PEREZ: I got to use cel-shading! I actually used it a lot differently for this book than I have in previous; I tried to make my cel-cuts feel similar to those of the cartoon. I watched the G1 series a lot (like I really needed an excuse to do that) to try and match the value shapes that the cartoon used. Again, I absolutely love it when I get a chance to cel-render a book.

Q: How have you found collaborating on the book to be like, and also with IDW editor, Carlos Guzman?

SHANE MCCARTHY: I was thrilled to work with Matt on this. I hadn’t seen his work before so when the first pages started coming through I was blown away. He really captured the spirit of the humor and went a long way to making everything I did look a whole lot better. I’d certainly love to work with him again. Josh is always a pleasure to work with as his colours just escalate any project into the stratosphere. Carlos was another new variable for me and, no surprise, he was fantastic to work with. I need boundaries when I write but hate when someone tries to do my job for me; Carlos was brilliant in setting the parameters and pointing out potential problems but letting me do the fixing. He’s a great team leader.

MATT FRANK: I’d worked with Carlos on Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, and he’s a fine editor with a good head on his shoulders (maybe he can use that quote for his autobiography). He also does a good job of keeping me on track when the deadline’s rushing up to meet us! Josh and I have collaborated since God-Knows-When, and our first major work together was Godzilla: Legends issue 1, so I was thrilled that he was stepping in to help. This was the first time Shane and I had crossed paths, and it was quite an honor—I’m a big fan of All Hail Megatron and I’ve found his work to be reliably snappy and natural in its storytelling structure.

JOSH PEREZ: Let me just say that IDW’s editors are amazing. I’ve worked with Carlos before, but since sometime last year (towards the end of 2011), I’ve been lucky to work with him as often as I do now. As Matt said, he definitely knows how to keep a crew on track—even if we (read: me, myself, and I) can be a pain to deal with sometimes. It’s because of Carlos that I had the insane pleasure to work with two very fun brands: TRANSFORMERS AND Mars Attacks. Thanks man!

Q: After everything is in place, how pleased are all you with the final product? Did you get the same feeling what you saw you’re any of your previous published work?

SHANE MCCARTHY: I’m very pleased with it. I think the whole team did a fantastic job and were all on the same page with how it should be done. It was an effortless pleasure and I hope the fans get a good laugh out of it.

MATT FRANK: It was a riotous good time. My only real caveat is that I’d love to have more time to polish things up or make certain scenes look juuuuuuust right, but deadlines are saviours just as much as they can be destroyers—without them us darn artists will just tweak stuff into oblivion. Overall, I’m QUITE pleased with the final product and am adding it to my personal lexicon of favorite projects!

JOSH PEREZ: While I really do love how the whole book turned out (Shane and Matt are amazing people!), I will always look at my work once it’s all done and see different ways I could have approached what I did… but that’s what it’s like doing anything artistic! You always want to do better than you did before—or at least you should, anyway. I think this book turned out fantastic and I certainly hope everyone will find it enjoyable!

Q: Will we be seeing any of you again on more Transformers books in the near future?

SHANE MCCARTHY: Who knows! I’m doing a lot of creator-owned work these days but I’ll always make time for a journey back to Cybertron whenever possible.

MATT FRANK: I’m actually in the middle of doing a new story for the Transformers Collectors Club, and the subject matter is something I’ve been dying to do for a good while now...but you’ll have to stay tuned, as I’m unsure when I can really talk about it! But it’s gonna be AWESOMELICIOUS, which is not a word! [Editor’s note—plus the just-announced TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: TRAILCUTTER from IDW and Hasbro, out in April!]

JOSH PEREZ: You can catch my digital-crayon skills in the ongoing Tranformers comic book series: in interiors for TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE and on covers for TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. And hopefully on whatever-else Transformers-related!

Mars Attacks the Transformers Preview

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Mars Attacks the Transformers
Shane McCarthy (w) • Matt Frank (a) • Ray Dillon (c)
The weekly invasion continues: AUTOBOTS vs. DECEPTICONS vs… MARTIANS?! The invaders from Mars take advantage of the colossal Cybertronian’s conflict and begin their assault on Earth in full force. It’s Martian vs. Machine as the audacious Autobots and the devilish Decepticons begrudgingly join forces to repel the inhuman invaders and save the planet!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:
Variant “Mars Attacks Spike” cover by Franco Urru!
Variant “Mars Attacks Strangers in Paradise” by Terry Moore!

IDW April 2013 Transformers Solicitations

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Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter #1
James Roberts (w) • Matt Frank (a) • Frank, Livio Ramondelli (c)
STEALTH ATTACK! Trailcutter has a problem: the Lost Light has been taken over by the Decepticons—and no one else seems to have noticed! Can the Autobots’ defense strategist singlehandedly see off an army of infiltrators? And even if he does, will it convince his crew mates that he's got more to offer than kind words and forcefields?
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio

FC • 32 pages • $3.99


*Variant Covers:
Clayton Crain variant cover!

Bullet points:
An all-new tale set in the midst of the ongoing More Than Meets the Eye series, written by MTMTE’s James Roberts!
Art by Mars Attacks Transformers’ Matt Frank!
The Spotlights build toward the biggest event in Transformers comic history… coming in 2013!

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #16
James Roberts (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Milne, Nick Roche (c)
AFTERMATH! The battle for the Lost Light is over. As the survivors bury the dead, one Autobot begins a secret journey that will change everything. This special issue marks the beginning of “Remain in Light”—the game-changing finale to the first More Than Meets The Eye mega-story arc!
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio

FC • 32 pages • $3.99


*Variant Covers:
Marcelo Matere variant cover!

Bullet points:
Drift no more!
The calm before the storm—but on the starship Lost Light, nothing is ever very calm!
“Remain in Light” —the story everyone’s been waiting for—begins here!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #16
John Barber (w) • Andrew Griffith (a) • Griffith, Casey Coller (c)
FINAL BATTLE! The leadership of Cybertron will be decided once and for all! It’s all-out war against the forces of MEGATRON! Will the Autobots wrest control from their attackers—or will the DECEPTICON flag fly over Cybertron forever? Heroes will fall, and nothing will stay the same.
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio

FC • 32 pages • $3.99


*Variant Covers:
Marcelo Matere variant cover!

Bullet points:
The soul-shattering conclusion to the story began in RID #1!
The beginning of a powerful new direction—if anybody survives this issue!
Heroes will fall—and one shall lead!

Transformers Regeneration One #90
Simon Furman (w) • Andrew Wildman (a) • Wildman, Guido Guidi (c)
TOO LITTLE—TOO LATE! As Scorponok’s Dark Reign comes ever closer to spreading right across Cybertron, Grimlock launches a desperate counterstrike, in the face of almost innumerable odds. Does the Dinobot commander really have one last ace up his sleeve, or does his “plan” amount to a glorious—but doomed—last stand?
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio

FC • 32 pages • $3.99


*Variant Covers:
Geoff Senior variant cover!

Bullet points:
The story of the original TRANSFORMERS comics continues in full force!
Non-stop action as only the classic team of Furman & Wildman can deliver!

Transformers: Robots In Disguise, Vol. 3
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli, Brendan Cahill, & Guido Guidi (a) • Tim Seeley (c)
Orion Pax—the former OPTIMUS PRIME—follows a rogue group of DECEPTICONS into one of the greatest mysteries ever to face the AUTOBOTS! Also, The mysterious Metrotitan arrives on CYBERTRON—smashing into the ruins of the legendary Crystal City! Meahwhile, Tensions ratchet up between AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS as violence breaks out in the heart of the city… and PROWL looks for someone to blame. Is DIRGE a convenient target—or the key to what comes next?
TPB • FC • $17.99 • 104 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-626-1


Bullet points:
• Collects issues #10–11 and the 2012 Annual.

Transformers: The IDW Collection, Vol. 8
Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Mike Costa, & James Roberts (w) • Ulises Farinas, Guido Guidi, Brendan Cahill, Alex Milne, E.J. Su, Livio Ramondelli, & Casey Coller (a) • E.J. Su (c)
The re-presentation of IDW's Transformers Universe continues in Volume 8! Includes "Heart of Darkness" and issues #19–31 which starts off with the "Chaos Theory" storyline and leads into the final "Chaos" arc of the ongoing series.
HC • FC • $49.99 • 384 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN 978-1-61377-627-8

Transformers Classics: UK, Vol. 4
Simon Furman & Ian Rimmer (w) • Geoff Senior, Will Simpson, Dan Reed, & Jeff Anderson (a) • Andrew Wildman (c)
Classic TRANSFORMERS tales from the UK continuity! These vintage TF stories are presented in order, many published for the first time in the United States! Writer and life-long TF fan James Roberts provides in-depth historical perspective front matter in each volume, and TF UK artist Andrew Wildman provides new covers!
TPB • FC • $24.99 • 296 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-517-2

G.I. JOE/Transformers, Vol. 3
Tim Seeley (w) • Joe Ng, James Raiz, Alex Milne, & Andrew Wildman (a) • Brendan Cahill (c)
The G.I. JOE vs The Transformers saga continues as the AUTOBOTS return to earth and with the help of G.I. JOE plan on destroying all Cybertronian technology. But Serpentor has other objectives.
TPB • FC • $24.99 • 208 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-620-9


Bullet points:
• Collects "Art of War" and the following series "Black Horizon."

Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter Coming in April

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Transformers Spotlight: Thundercracker Creator Commentary from John Barber

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PAGE 1- Thundercracker is with a group of Decepticons who appear to be looking for Metroplex. What was your motivation to tie this story into recent events involving Metroplex from TRANSFORMERS: AUTOCRACY and the MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE and ROBOTS IN DISGUISE Annuals?

JOHN BARBER: Well, as much as this story is a nice, self-contained war-era Thundercracker story, it also plays into the bigger picture of what’s happening in the ongoing ROBOTS IN DISGUISE and MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE stories. It was important to writer James Roberts (who’s writing three of the other SPOTLIGHT comics) and I—and Nick Roche, when he wrote SPOTLIGHT: MEGATRON—that these stories have an impact on the continuing Transformers comics—and to each other.

This story in particular continues a thread that James started in the SPOTLIGHT: ORION PAX comic last month–that Thundercracker and a few other Decepticons on Metroplex’s tail. Except now they’ve had it confirmed that Metroplex is real. You don’t have to have read that other SPOTLIGHT—I mean, you should, it’s a good comic—but you don’t have to read it. There are just some threads that will weave in and out of all of the spotlights. This page, in particular, was also an opportunity to sort of line up some of the things we’d learned about Metroplex and the other Titans, from various comics. Clarify everything, to some degree, and make sure everybody sees how it coheres.

Also, it was cool to get to see Chee draw these guys crawling around, looking for stuff. Chee and I worked together on an issue of TRANSFORMERS: SECTOR SEVEN a few years ago, and it was great to work with him again. He’s a master of clear storytelling, and I love the visual quality he brings to the ’bots. They’re not shiny and smooth—they’re kinda scraped-up and lived-in.

PAGE 2- Thundercracker and the Decepticons continue their search for Metroplex. How’d you find the challenge of writing Thundercracker, a Decepticon who necessarily doesn’t want to be one?

JOHN BARBER: I think that reluctance is a defining characteristic of him, yet we know he goes on to remain a loyal Decepticon for millions of years after the end of this issue. What I wanted to show here was a key moment of decision for him—when the doubts start creeping in about the Decepticon methods, if not the ultimate goals. He tries to tell himself the mission is more important than his own morality, but I think it’s eating at him a little. It’ll eat at him more as the story goes on.

We see him looking at Autobots and Decepticons as individuals throughout the story—like, he bristles a little at his commanding officer, and during the story he gains a grudging respect for at least one Autobot. I think that’s the key to him—he sees the two sides as made up of individuals, some good and some bad, and over the centuries that wears away his allegiance to a symbol or a movement.

PAGE 3- Back story on Metroplex and the Metrotitans, along with a link to SPOTLIGHT: ORION PAX. How much trading/give or take did you have to do with James Roberts (SPOTLIGHT: ORION PAX writer) to tie your story’s together and potentially have then read as a single narrative?

JOHN BARBER: That was the plan from the beginning. He used a couple characters in ORION PAX that I thought would be good to use here, picking up on their lives after some time had passed. And there were a couple characters that had shown up here, that wound up in Orion Pax. It was a pretty natural collaboration. We were each building forward and back from ideas we each had.

PAGE 4- More backstory on Metroplex and what happened to him after AUTOCRACY. With all of this new information we are getting on the Titans, is there still plenty more to tell with these giant race of Cybertronians?

JOHN BARBER: Yeah—definitely more to come with the Titans. As you may guess, something big is on the horizon with them… They’re huge and dangerous and mysterious and lots of people seem interested in them. So, yeah, there’s definitely more to tell, and more to be revealed about what’s happened in the past.

PAGE 5- Thundercracker heads back to his home base. We haven’t seen him appear in either of the ongoing comic book series, since the “Chaos” storyline in 2011. Any chance he could reappear, and will his choices in this issue have lasting consequences?

JOHN BARBER: Thundercracker didn’t return to Cybertron with most of the other Cybertronians—and this is something we’ll see a little of in SPOTLIGHT: BUMBLEBEE in March. So what he’s been doing, how he’s been keeping busy… all of that hasn’t been revealed yet. I say “yet,” so, yeah, I think his story is far from over.

I will hint that there’s a character in SPOTLIGHT: THUNDERCRACKER who isn’t Thundercracker (or an obvious pick like Bumblebee or Metroplex or Bludgeon) who’s going to play a pretty big role in the Transformers comics in the next year or so…

Transformers Spotlight: Thundercracker Preview

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Transformers Spotlight: Megatron Exclusive Retail Incentive Cover Revealed

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Alex Milne wrote:well this was a special cover i got the chance to work on. The owner of the comic shop i go to asked me if i was interested in doing a cover for and store exclusive book. this was something that we had talked about many times in the past but there hadn't been a transformers one to do....until now
the owner pitched the idea to me about doing a cover, but was unsure about doing it since he wasn't aware about where the books fit into the main stories. i asked what books he was offered a cover for. he mentioned a G.I.Joe one, then a tf comic about megatron. i was like ok.....then i was like, wait, what, megatron? do you mean spotlight megatron? then i was like OMG i want to do that
so after a discussion that day, i came up with some roughs. the owner and i went over them, and then i whipped up the cover. it was a blast to do. i love drawing this design of megatron. i know its not the most loved design, but i do enjoy drawing it. i added the store logo in the bottom cover plus a couple extra decepticons that i knew the owner liked it was a joy to work on
so this will be a store exclusive comic. i will have a few copies that people will be able to get from me at the various conventions i will be at, but other then from me, stadiums comics will be the only place you'll be able to get this cover of the book
here is a like to there store [link]
here a link to there facebook for the in store signing i will be doing [link]

the fabulous colors were provided by the ever so talented Josh Perez. i think he out did himself on this cover. it really turned out well
it was a joy to work with him on this project. i always wished when i was working on the ongoing comics that i would have gotten to do an issue or 2 with him.
i love all the textures he has going on in the image.

well , back to work for me
enjoy

TFCC Magazine #49 "More Than Meets The Eye" Hero Optimus Prime Bio

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In his home universe, "Hero" Optimus Prime was the sworn protector of Earth and its super energy source, forestonite. Along with fellow Autobots Electro and Volt, and the human boy Junpei, the Autobot Leader was able to repel Megatron and the Decepticons' attack. Although Megatron promised he would return to conquer not just the Earth but the entirety of the Milky Way galaxy, Prime stood vigilant, ready to thwart him at every turn!

Following the theft of the Rarefied Energon from the Classics Universe, chaos spread and soon found its way across the multiverse, threatening existence everywhere. Optimus Prime was selected by certain members of TransTech to leave his universe and travel to Axiom Nexus to be inducted into the newly formed group known as The Convoy - a collective of high-ranking Autobots from across the multiverse.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise Ongoing #13 Creator Commentary from John Barber

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PAGE 1- Starscream is talking to the comatose Megatron, who was heavily blasted by the Autobots in the previous issue. Given these 2 have so much history between them across the Transformers franchise, how do you go about putting another spin or direction with them, showing us something brand new between them?

JOHN BARBER: I think there’s been a conceptual change in their relationship. It isn’t that Starscream is trying to usurp Megatron, or trying to fill Megatron’s shoes anymore—it’s that Starscream has found more of a Starscream-way to get what he wants. The problem is that he knows Megatron will bring in the old status quo of Autobots versus Decepticons—and Starscream knows neither of them will win that way.

In next month’s TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: MEGATRON comic that Nick Roche wrote and drew, we see them at an earlier point in their history—not long before the start of the current ROBOTS IN DISGUISE and MORE THAN MEETS THE EYES comic book series, The relationship then is very different. I think comparing the two comics really makes the changes that occurred to Starscream over the last couple years.

PAGE 2- Starscream continues talking to Megatron, until he sees him smile. Right now, does Starscream really believe in the whole peace concept, or could this just be another one of his games that he plays?

JOHN BARBER Starscream is a complicated fellow. This whole issue is from Starscream’s point of view—and it’s the second of those in a very short amount of time. So despite the fact that we, as readers, really get to see in Starscream’s head… I don’t think the answer to what Starscream really believes in is clear yet.

I think he’s being pretty honest in what he says to Megatron, though.

PAGE 3- Starscream reacts to Megatron’s “smile” as rioting continues on Cybertron. When planning out RID, was this scene something you thought up very early and worked on from that point?

JOHN BARBER: Well, Megatron’s return was part of the story from day one, and the impact that return would have on Iacon was planned from the beginning. Starscream’s relationship with Megatron—or his relationship with the idea of Megatron—was definitely key to the whole story of RID, so that was pretty solidly in place.

The idea of Starscream trying to talk Megatron out of what Starscream assumes he’s doing… that came a little bit later. I mean, the series wasn’t constructed to work toward this scene; this scene came out of what the story was working towards.

PAGES 4 and 5- Chaos continues on as Needlenose continues to lead the rioting and Starscream reflects on what happened the previous year and where he stands. Is the established peace about to literally blow up in its face from this point? The planets future is starting to look dark again.

JOHN BARBER: I don’t know if it ever looked that bright. But you’ve hit the question right on the head, so to speak. There are enough Decepticons—and we’ve definitely seen enough Autobots, too—that, at some level, want the war to continue. It’s the only life they’ve known, and there are also millions-of-year-old resentments that don’t die easy. The Decepticons have been pushed to the side for the entire run of RID. There’s only so far you can stretch them before they break.