Simon Furman Transformers ReGeneration One Interview
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 3:56PM CST
Category: Comic Book NewsPosted by: El Duque Views: 32,452
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IDW will be offering Transformers ReGeneration One 80.5 on Free Comic Book Day (May 5th). Transformers ReGeneration One 81 is scheduled to hit shelves in July.
Click here to read the full interview.
What can we be sure we *won't* see in the new continuation?
Addendum: Are there any Transformers concepts that you dislike enough to purposefully avoid when you are writing a story? If so, can we have a few examples?
SF) Well, and no offence to Bob B, there probably won’t be another round of Interplanetary Wrestling, and the Car Wash of Doom has closed its doors for the final time, a sad victim of the current recession. But otherwise there’s almost nowhere we won’t go, no story thread we won’t pick up, IF (and only if) it serves the ongoing story. Sagas like Headmasters, Underbase and Return to Cybertron are defining in and of themselves, and the repercussions of those stories will reverberate through RG1. But I don’t want RG1 to be a backwards looking thing. So, often these will be nods or footnotes. Our plan is drive forwards with the cast and storylines we already had, and lace those into new storylines developed wholly for RG1. So a lot of what I’ll be feeding off is contained in my run (#56-80) on the US book. That was kind of where the momentum was at the end, and that’s where we’ll pick up.
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Posted by Rodimus Prime on February 22nd, 2012 @ 4:50pm CST
Posted by Fearing on February 22nd, 2012 @ 5:23pm CST
Posted by Dean ML on February 22nd, 2012 @ 6:14pm CST
Rodimus Prime wrote: So far, the art has met my expectations, and is leaps and bounds better than what we've gotten in the last 6-7 years.
I'm glad you're looking forward to this book, but to say that this book has art that is leaps and bounds better than what IDW has given us thus far is grossly inaccurate. It is also a huge disservice to artists like EJ Su, Don Figueroa, and Nick Roche, to name just a few, who are not just great Transformers artists, but they are skilled and talented artists, period. They are expert draftsman with dynamic composition, design, and storytelling sensibilities. It's too bad they get pegged as just Transformers artists because they are as good as anybody working on the X - books, Spidey books, or any other major franchise. It seems to me one of the conundrums of drawing the TFs these days is that if an artist is too "old school" and draws the characters as the stack of blocks they were in the '80's and '90's he pleases many of the older TF fans but outsiders see the work as simplistic and outdated. If a TF artist injects modern design sensibilities into his TF work and draws the characters as complex and sophisticated, older readers are repulsed by intricate TF design work and lump it into the "Bayformers" design aesthetic (as if that's a bad thing) or accuse the artist of not being able to draw (which makes a fan sound terribly uneducated).
Posted by --B-- on February 22nd, 2012 @ 7:41pm CST
Posted by robotmel on February 23rd, 2012 @ 2:41am CST
Dean ML wrote:Rodimus Prime wrote: So far, the art has met my expectations, and is leaps and bounds better than what we've gotten in the last 6-7 years.
I'm glad you're looking forward to this book, but to say that this book has art that is leaps and bounds better than what IDW has given us thus far is grossly inaccurate. It is also a huge disservice to artists like EJ Su, Don Figueroa, and Nick Roche, to name just a few, who are not just great Transformers artists, but they are skilled and talented artists, period. They are expert draftsman with dynamic composition, design, and storytelling sensibilities. It's too bad they get pegged as just Transformers artists because they are as good as anybody working on the X - books, Spidey books, or any other major franchise. It seems to me one of the conundrums of drawing the TFs these days is that if an artist is too "old school" and draws the characters as the stack of blocks they were in the '80's and '90's he pleases many of the older TF fans but outsiders see the work as simplistic and outdated. If a TF artist injects modern design sensibilities into his TF work and draws the characters as complex and sophisticated, older readers are repulsed by intricate TF design work and lump it into the "Bayformers" design aesthetic (as if that's a bad thing) or accuse the artist of not being able to draw (which makes a fan sound terribly uneducated).
I am sooooo on board with this one!
Transformers has always been my favourite comic book (and toyline) for what seems like forever!
Furman & Wildman totally nailed it during the Marvel years and their subsequent work at Dreamwave was great.
Talking great Transformers art, has anyone noted that the super awesome renderings of alien mechanical robots is somewhat lost once it comes to the same artists drawing human characters?
By the way, what's Pat Lee up to these days...
Posted by gothsaurus on February 23rd, 2012 @ 10:56am CST
I DO think we've had really talented artists and writers in all iterations of the comic. BUT I do have to say it will be refreshing getting away from the human-centric stories (some comics that barely had robot CAMEOS)... and the Bayformer look.
I've hated the way those Bayformer "messy/cluttered" aesthetics have seeped their way into the comics and animated tv series. It's like a nasty oil spill you can't quite contain. I like to think of the movies as their own separate universe. Like it or not, from a design standpoint... those movie robots look like giant, gray junk piles walking around. (Megatron in particular.) There's just not enough color or large vehicle pieces to make each design distinct. Again, not knocking the movies or Bay, just viewing from a strictly art standpoint.
Back on point, IDW lost me for a while... but I'm slowly coming back around. Wreckers and the new ongoing series have been really good stuff, and I'm definitely on board for this regeneration one. I may have to start up a full subscription across the board at this rate.
Keep up the good work. You may re-convert me IDW.
Posted by gothsaurus on February 23rd, 2012 @ 10:57am CST
Posted by Rodimus Prime on February 24th, 2012 @ 8:24am CST
Dean ML wrote:Rodimus Prime wrote: So far, the art has met my expectations, and is leaps and bounds better than what we've gotten in the last 6-7 years.
I'm glad you're looking forward to this book, but to say that this book has art that is leaps and bounds better than what IDW has given us thus far is grossly inaccurate.
It's all a matter of opinion. You like the newer stuff better? That's fine. We have different tastes. The art and simple stories turned me off to the IDW stuff, way back in 2005. I tried getting back into it in the last couple of years with titles such as Last Stand of the Wreckers and All Hail Megatron. Both good reads, but still don't prefer them over the old stuff, art or story wise.
It is also a huge disservice to artists like EJ Su, Don Figueroa, and Nick Roche, to name just a few, who are not just great Transformers artists, but they are skilled and talented artists, period. They are expert draftsman with dynamic composition, design, and storytelling sensibilities.
Once again, a matter of opinion.
If a TF artist injects modern design sensibilities into his TF work and draws the characters as complex and sophisticated, older readers are repulsed by intricate TF design work and lump it into the "Bayformers" design aesthetic (as if that's a bad thing) or accuse the artist of not being able to draw (which makes a fan sound terribly uneducated).
You are speaking of the general fandom, right? You couldn't have gotten that out of my post. I have very little problem with the way Bayformers are designed. Also, as fr the above mentioned artists, I never said they weren't good. Just not as good as the old G1 stuff. From what I've seen so far in the preview art, ReGeneration 1 will go back to old school. Bring it on.
Posted by Rodimus Prime on February 24th, 2012 @ 8:32am CST
gothsaurus wrote: The old comics had a lot of depth, history, lore... and an epic quality about them.
Exactly.
Posted by Prime Evil on February 24th, 2012 @ 11:48am CST
--B-- wrote:the question is where can I get this, since I don't have a comic shop anywhere near me.
Well, we do have the Granite Run mall. Since the start of RiD and MTMTE, I've been making runs there again. Ya want me to pick them up for ya? We can meet up every so often an I can get you a few of them at a time if ya want.
Posted by Va'al on February 26th, 2012 @ 6:12pm CST
And Springer makes an appearance really early.
Posted by Rodimus Prime on February 26th, 2012 @ 6:47pm CST
Posted by Va'al on February 26th, 2012 @ 7:15pm CST
But it was Kup, Springer and Ultra Magnus.
JP also mentioned things along the lines of 'those who died remain dead, and some have died in the 21 years between issue 80 and ReGeneration One; their story will be revealed pretty soon'. I'm not paraphrasing or trying to be mysterious, this is all he told me!
Posted by Rodimus Prime on February 27th, 2012 @ 7:12am CST
Posted by Va'al on March 2nd, 2012 @ 10:53am CST
Really looking forward to the new stuff!
A tip, from both Simon and J-P Bove, regarding #80.5: it will come out for Free Comic Book day, and in no other form so far. So either get it put aside or go in early so not to miss out on it!
(I also got out of the library a couple of Budiansky volumes, will read those this evening.)
Posted by Rodimus Prime on March 2nd, 2012 @ 2:38pm CST
Va'al wrote:I've just received the Furman run collection by Titan books, and read them all in one go last night. Wow.
Yeah. The single most important reason I am a Transformers fan. Followed by Beast Wars. I remember when i started getting those TPBs, I bought them in backwards order. Stories don't get written like that anymore. Everything else seems so flimsy compared to that stuff.