This page contains affiliate links. We may earn commissions when readers interact with or purchase items through these links. For more information, see our affiliate disclosures here.
Toonzone caught up with Tranformers Prime writer and producer Jeff Kline at Botcon 2011 and sat down for an interview. He talks about his work on both Prime and G.I. Joe Renegades and suggests that we might see Unicron in Tranformers Prime at some point. Below is the Transformers Prime excerpts from the interview. You can read the whole thing here.
Toonzone wrote:Saturday at the 2011 BotCon at the Pasadena Convention Center, Toonzone News was able to catch up with Transformers: Prime and G.I. Joe: Renegades writer and executive producer, Jeff Kline, to talk about his work on those shows as well as the future of G.I. Joe: Renegades . A veteran of animated shows, Kline has previously worked on such projects as Men In Black: The Animated Series, Godzilla: The Series, and Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot.
TZN: In Transformers: Prime, it was an interesting decision to put Megatron out of action for about half the season. But it did open up a lot of character development for Starscream. Why did you decide to go that direction?
JEFF KLINE: Quite honestly, that's the exact reason we went that direction. It was to allow for more time to develop characters that maybe hadn't been as well developed, especially our new characters that hadn't been introduced before in the universe. When you have Megatron and Optimus together, it's really hard not to focus on that relationship. We spent a lot of time with them. It almost required that we get rid of one of them for a little while to spend some time with the other characters.
TZN: At the Transformers: Prime season premiere event you noted that you wanted to keep the Autobot cast size small to give the advantage to the Decepticons. At the same time, it did not make much sense to me for Wheeljack to come and go from the Autobot team while the Autobots are in the middle of a war and need as many troops as possible. Why have Wheeljack leave when the Autobots need him more than ever?
JEFF KLINE: Because we thought that was true to Wheeljack's personality and then we could bring him back. We're like the Native Americans. We waste nothing of the buffalo. Everything that you've seen up to this point will eventually be used again. The most time and cost extensive part of CG is the upfront builds. If we built it, we're going to find a way to re-use it.
TZN: How does the collaboration and writing process with Duane Capizzi, Bob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman work, and how involved are Orci and Kurtzman in the writing process?
JEFF KLINE: Kurtzman and Orci are so much more involved than I ever thought they would be. The way it really started when we first got together to do Prime, there wasn't really a Hasbro Studios. There was some executives that had been hired and there was this need to be on the air a year later but there wasn't any other infrastructure. So for the first month or so, literally Duane Capizzi, myself, Therese Trujillo (our animation producer), [and] Dave Hartman were working out of Orci's and Kurtzman's lobby on the Universal lot. We would literally just spend at least a couple of hours a day sitting in a room just throwing around story stuff with them and some of the other people at their company. And that continued for quite a while and then we brought on four full time writers that first season: Joe Kuhr, Nicole Dubuc, Steve Melching, [and] Marsha Griffin. That was kind of the next step. We spent a lot of time and continue to spend a lot of time in writers' rooms breaking story. Most animated series do not have the luxury of a writing staff. It's mostly maybe one or two story editors and freelancers. But because the mythology of Transformers was so deep, there's twenty five years of it – the little book they handed me was six hundred pages of “These Are The Rules” – we had the movies and we didn't want to contradict anything. It really required everybody who was going to be involved sitting around at the beginning really talking through where we want to go, what we want to do. [Orci and Kurtzman] were involved in every step of that process. And the main involvement – they approve all the artwork, they are much more involved than I ever would have believed when someone first told me that they were going to do the show.
TZN: Hasbro is now producing their own shows in terms of the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises. What is this process like now compared to when you've worked on other big franchises like Men In Black and Godzilla? Is it different at all?
JEFF KLINE: It's more similar than not. I would say the one place it's different is—and I'm not a toy expert—it would seem that Hasbro for a number of their brands has created this mythology behind them that pre-exists me or pre-exists anybody buying the toy. When you buy the toy, you already get kind of story whether it's on the back of the package. There was so much more stuff to pull from on Transformers than there had been on even on some of those other franchises. Part of that is those twenty five years, but I would say the biggest difference to me as opposed to some of the other shows where the toy company is really only involved in making toys, these guys have lived with the brand for a lot of years. They are an incredible resource for us. Whenever we have questions, whenever we run big concepts by them, because they know them better than us: which characters the fans tend to associate with, what are they hearing on their e-mail chains. So they're more partner than probably any other toy company I've ever worked with.
TZN: In Prime, a new interesting character is the human antagonist Silas voiced by Clancy Brown. Going forward what can we expect Silas involving himself in the Autobot and Decepticon conflict?
JEFF KLINE: You are definitely going to see more Silas. I'm not going to tell you where it's going, because it's definitely pretty cool. But again, if we built it, we're using it. And if they turn into a zombie, we're going to use it again.
TZN: What writer gets credit for the Ghostbusters references in Prime?
JEFF KLINE: I believe Marsha Griffin actually wrote most of that riff, and I believe Duane [Capizzi] re-wrote a little bit of it. But I believe he would throw that to Marsha.
TZN: Regarding the Unicron references and the “blood of Unicron,” does that mean there is a CGI model being built for Unicron that we could ever glimpse at some point; in a flashback maybe?
JEFF KLINE: Hmm, let's see; we talk about it. I would say that we try to pay off almost everything that we talk about in some way, shape, or form.
TZN: I thought it was a great choice to begin with a five part miniseries which was evocative of a lot of cartoons in the 1980's, especially Transformers in the 80's. What was it like, basically starting with a feature length movie for the show at the beginning, and is it something you would like to do again with the show moving forward?
JEFF KLINE: I think Kurtzman and Orci came on maybe around Labor Day 2009, and the idea was to get on the air before the end of 2010. Most CG shows, even a lot of simple one, have a two year production cycle – Kung Fu Panda's of the world and such. So we had half the time to do a CG show – the most complicated one ever attempted for television, quite honestly. So knowing we had to get on the air in 2010, the idea of getting on with 13 episodes was impossible. We decided if we could get on with a miniseries—maybe it will be three episodes, maybe it will be five—and then pick up the series a month or two later and give the other studio time to catch up. Again, a lot of your initial expensive time is spent on that upfront buildup. I think literally the day before the first part of that miniseries aired was the day the network got it, maybe three or four days before. Polygon is our Japanese [animation] studio, and they're incredible. They're the only guys that could have pulled this off. But the miniseries grew out of both necessity, but then once we had it we were like, “Oh, let's really blow it out. Let's make it five. Can we do five by the end of the year?” “No, but let's try anyway.”
TZN: And you did it.
JEFF KLINE: And we did it, which means now they expect it from us every year. That was stupid.
TZN: So would we see another miniseries again at some point?
JEFF KLINE: I don't think we'd do five episodes, but you are definitely going to have multi-parters coming up. Already, if you look at the storytelling there are groups of episodes you could put together and that are thematically related. It's important that each episode live on its own. You want people to be able to come to the show as new viewers at any point during your airing and be able to catch up and be interested. But we like telling complicated stories. We like showing growth of character over time. We like turning a really important piece of Transformers mythology into something more than a one-off. So I think within the body of the season we build toward in our minds, something of a miniseries at the end of every season.
TZN: As a writer and producer, what do you prefer: a longer season of twenty six episodes where you get to tell a fuller, longer story arc but is more work or a more lean and abbreviated thirteen episode season?
JEFF KLINE: I always prefer more. It's the thing where once you're in the middle of it, you're damning yourself for wanting more, because those last couple [episodes] are always the hardest. But knowing you have twenty six, you can actually roll character stuff out slowly and actually grow relationships; that's always better. Also, it's easier to get the best crew because you are offering more episodes. It's easier to work a slightly better deal with your post house because you're guaranteeing them more episodes. Every penny is onscreen. The more episodes you know you are going to do up front, the better you are going to be all around.
We have a couple of new Transformers DOTM interviews courtesy of MTV from Sunday's MTV Movie Awards.
First we have Transformers veteran Shia LaBeouf who had this to say about the action in DOTM and the possibility of returning for a fourth film:
I'm not coming back to do another one. I don't think Mike will either. It still is a hot property, I think, especially coming out of the third one. So I imagine they'll reboot it at some point with someone else
It's the best action, in terms of the geography. In the second one, you get confused as to who's fighting who and where you are, because it's such a big landscape," he said. "This one is 'Black Hawk Down'-ish. It's one location, and the geography is simple to understand.
To check out the rest of the interview which features video click here.
Second we have newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Click here for the full interview which also features video.
I met Michael Bay back in 2009 on a Victoria's Secret commercial, and we've always gotten along," she said. "The guy has a great sense of humor, he has a really tough work ethic, which I do. He works really hard, and he expects his team and his cast to be professional and work hard. That's been my work ethic all along, so we get along fine.
A little while back we told you about an interview The Allspark held with Transformers comic legend Simon Furman about the possible publishing of Transformers #81 to continue the original Marvel continuity.
Well our good friends have published the second part of this interview that goes a little more into detail about the actual continuation, we have a short run-down of all the major points for you:
The reason Optimus is oblivious the "big army of pissed off Decepticons massing" is because he's so shaken by his own death.
The carnage on Earth "makes All Hail Megatron look like the teddy bears’ picnic"
Return of Bludgeon, Galvatron, Megatron, Soundwave, Prowl, Grimlock
Characters killed by the end of #80 are still dead
Subplots: Grimlock goes off the rails trying to cure his Action Master condition. What happened to Scorponok's original head? What is the fate of Spike/Fort Max? What happened to the likes of Circuit Breaker and GB Blackrock?
Sticking to US continuity, BUT wants to bring Ultra Magnus into it and possibly the Wreckers
Simon envisions the characters close to their original 1980's G1 forms, but with Cybertronian alt modes
No Donny Finkleberg
For the interview in all of it's glory, please, use the following links to it on the Allspark.com: Part 1 Part 2
Also, don't forget to sign the petition to get this published!
L.A. Times' Hero Complex has published an interview with Shia LaBeouf regarding Transformers DOTM naturally. More specifically the article focuses on the new vibe that was brought to the set when Megan Fox was replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whitely. A couple of excerpts are quoted below, to read the rest of the interview click here.
“Megan developed this Spice Girl strength, this woman-empowerment [stuff] that made her feel awkward about her involvement with Michael, who some people think is a very lascivious filmmaker, the way he films women,” LaBeouf said. “Mike films women in a way that appeals to a 16-year-old sexuality. It’s summer. It’s Michael’s style. And I think [Fox] never got comfortable with it.
“Rosie comes with this Victoria’s Secret background, and she’s comfortable with it, so she can get down with Mike’s way of working and it makes the whole set vibe very different,” LaBeouf said.
Prior to the big summer event happening in the TRANSFORMERS comics, we here at Seibertron.com were privileged enough to be able to ask a few questions of writer Mike Costa, and new artist Brendan Cahill.
Ready to launch IDW's biggest Transformers event yet, these two creators share some of the insights in the creative process leading to CHAOS.
There may be some material ahead, considered SPOILERIFIC to some.
We opened fire on them with the biggest question we could think of...
Does “Chaos” refer at all to a certain CHAOS bringer in Transformers history? And if not, do you have plans to bring him in?
Mike Costa wrote:I can reveal that he won't be in “CHAOS”, unfortunately. As for later... that would be telling.
How has the development of the Transformers ongoing series gone for you? Is it going exactly as you laid it out and expected it to go, or have you had to scrap some ideas, in favor of others that you had not originally intended?
Mike Costa wrote:Well, I started writing the series nearly two and a half years ago at this point. So even though I had quite a few things planned out, of course several things have changed. New ideas have occurred to me in that time, or the work of other writers like James or Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have created new opportunities that I could not have forseen.
Some adjustments have been small (in my first-ever Q & A on the IDW message board, just as the first issue was coming out, someone asked if I had any plans for Brawn. I told them that issue #15 would make them very happy, but it eventually turned out to be #16 which had his big moment.) and a few major ideas weren't part of the original plan (I came up with Megatron's old body being turned into human-sized weapons very late into the development of that story-arc) but for the most part, it has stayed pretty-much on-track.
Who currently is your favorite character to write in Transformers Ongoing? Why do you like that character so? I am guessing Thundercracker for what I believe are obvious reasons, but one might say you've made your mark on many different characters--any of which could be considered your favorite to write--.
Mike Costa wrote:This is a hard question to answer. Obviously Thundercracker, because his journey has been so interesting. And both Megatron and Prime are very fun, if only because I can hear his voice so clearly in my head as I write his dialogue. If I had to pick favorites though, Ironhide is probably at the top of the list, and it might surprise some people to know this, but Bluestreak as well. I really like characters who simply speak whatever is on their minds, without any filter. Ironhide does this because he's a very direct, plain-spoken 'bot who doesn't have any interest in playing games. I admire that. And Bluestreak does it because he is a clueless doof seemingly devoid of self-awareness. So both of them, for almost opposite reasons, are both very easy and very interesting to write. (This is why Bluestreak is constantly popping up in scenes, even though he very seldom has anything important to say or d
What is James Roberts doing to help you tell these current issues? Is he doing the “Chaos” story, and you're doing the 'Last Story On Earth', or is it more complicated than that?
Mike Costa wrote:Well, the “CHAOS” story is an example of something that didn't exactly “change” from my initial plans, but certainly grew to a much more significant size than I had originally imagined. Two and a half years ago, when I first started thinking about it, “CHAOS” was the big arc that was going to end year two. I knew all the events from my stories (Ironhide's revival, Megatron's capture, Rodimus's exile from Earth, reclamation of the Matrix and subsequent journeys) that would lead up to it, but I could not have foreseen the work that Dan and Andy had done on Infestation and Heart of Darkness, because none of that had been planned yet. So after they came in, the story suddenly became a lot richer, and I had several more elements to deal with. Also, my plans for “CHAOS” itself were pretty sketchy: I knew the major characters involved, a couple of major plot developments, and how the story would end, and that was about it. So after Andy Schmidt (the Transformers editor) had brought in Dan and Andy, he realized that “CHAOS” had the potential to be a much bigger story than just yet-another arc in the ongoing. He decided to expand it into an event, and have both myself, plus Dan, Andy and James all come in like a brain-trust and use my skeleton to put together the biggest Transformers story we could. Unfortunately, Dan and Andy weren't able to continue working on it after an initial (but incredibly productive) meeting, so that just left James and I.
The “Last Story on Earth” was yet another story that had been planned for a long time, but since it didn't have the scope of “CHAOS” it wasn't given the same treatment. It's a relatively intimate story, so I took care of it myself.
What is the 'The Last Story On Earth' about besides Prowl, Jazz, and Bumblebee investigating Skywatch? We know Skywatch had shaky origins in relation to the group in Maximum Dinobots that Scorponok was running, etc., but what exactly worries the Autobots so much about Spike killing Scrapper and not telling them that the Autobots feel the need to investigate further into Skywatch? What do they really think that this version of Skywatch is keeping from them that they did not already have inklings about?
Mike Costa wrote:Well, they are definitely keeping some troubling secrets, and you'll find out what those are when you read the arc. But the Autobots are worried because Spike had made them certain promises, and he has clearly broken them. He is, in effect, lying to the Autobots, and possibly manipulating them. What's more, he went and killed Scrapper without any of his superiors knowing either, so he has performed a totally rogue operation, essentially betraying the trust of everyone he works with. It's clear that, despite being a capable soldier, he is a loose cannon. What the Autobots will do with that information, should they discover it, remains to be seen...
What are we going to see from Jazz in future issues? He clearly wants to get back into it, but what isn't clear is that he is feeling any guilt, or remorse for what he did. His character, and his judgment are being singled out by his comrades. Is he going to be a subject for human hatred and mistrust? Is this going to effect him in the way it would the Jazz many of us know as culture loving, Earth-loving Jazz? Or is this Jazz not really the Jazz we have on Earth in Ongoing?
Mike Costa wrote:It's still the same Jazz, and I thought the fact that he both loved the Earth, but also was a highly trained operative was an interesting contrast, and made him the perfect character to take the drastic step he did. But that does have serious consequences, and you will see exactly how Jazz deals with those consequences in the Last Story on Earth.
Was Jazz always the Autobot who was going to take that shot (TF #17--killing the human with the Megatron gun--)? Was anybody else even considered? Why was he chosen? Was there ever a problem passing that piece of writing off to HASBRO? Did they want it nixed, revised, told differently, or for it to be a different character taking that action?
Mike Costa wrote:Jazz was always the character I intended to perform that act, for the reasons I said above. Hasbro must have been fine with it, because they never suggested I use anyone else, or express any reservation whatsoever. At this point, I think Hasbro pretty much trusts me (or at least they trust Andy Schmidt) and it's very rare that I hear that they've vetoed something I want to do. In fact, I can't even think of the last time that happened.
Who is in charge of the Autobots now? As we have seen from upcoming covers, Bumblebee will be joining Jazz and Prowl to investigate Skywatch, but is he going to be the acting commander, or is Optimus Prime? Or is Ultra Magnus? Or is Prowl? Or is someone that we have yet to meet going to be in charge? Can you explain how the role of leadership has supposedly changed? Why is Optimus Prime so willing to take the reigns again, after he was so sure he did NOT want to lead way back in the beginning of ongoing?
MIke Costa wrote:Bumblebee is technically the leader... but yes, it certainly does seem that Prime is still the REAL leader, doesn't it? This is a question that will be addressed very soon in the lead-up to “CHAOS”.
Where is Don Figueroa? Do you feel that the group of artists you have (Alex, Guido, Brendan and Livio) are able to tell the story artistically as Don envisioned it?
Mike Costa wrote:Don lives in the Los Angeles area, I think. And I think that Alex, Guido, Brendan, Livio, Nick, Javier, Casey and EJ have all remained true to the collective vision that is Transformers. Don is a huge contributor to that vision, certainly... but I want Nick to draw like Nick, or Guido to draw like Guido. I don't want these guys aping Don's style, and I don't think Don would want that either. I think they have all created some of the most stunning and memorable work in TF history, and I am proud to have been a part of it.
(Wow. That is a really stunning line-up of TF-artist talent I've worked with when you really lay it out like that.)
Any Punch/Counterpunch or more Transformers espionage based work in your future similar to how you worked Chuckles in GI JOE: COBRA?
Mike Costa wrote:There are definitely plans for Punch/Counterpunch in the works. I'm not exactly sure when you will see them, but we have serious plans.
Any teasers for the future like, what is 'Issue #125 - encrypted' all about? Why should readers continue to read Transformers Ongoing? "According to Mike Costa, we should continue to read IDW Transformers comics because _______________________."(fill in the blank as you see fit).
MIke Costa wrote:You should continue reading IDW Transformers comics because “CHAOS” is probably the biggest event in TF comic-book history, and issue 125, when the details finally become unencrypted, is going to blow the mind of every TF fan who has read a comic in the IDW era. You guys will not believe it when you see what we have planned.
Thanks for your time Mr. Costa! We really appreciate you taking a few moments to fill us in on some of your creative ideas and processes.
Mike Costa wrote:Well it's my pleasure. Thank you
.
Next Seibertron.com was able to also ask new artist Brendan Cahill some questions about his experiences.
From the Transformers fans at Seibertron.com, welcome aboard, Brendan! We Transformers fans are a very fickle fandom. As you have probably read, we are quite passionate, and picky. How do you feel about the task ahead of you in illustrating Transformers Ongoing?
Brendan Cahill wrote:Thanks! I’ll try to live up to your expectations. In a way, the potential fan reaction is a bit daunting, but then I’m usually my own toughest critic, so in a different way just putting lines on paper is daunting. It sounds corny, but it’s true: I Just do my best and hope it’s good enough.
Despite the reputation you might feel the fans have, I think they’re willing to accept a lot of different styles and ideas. Each artist on the book has put his own spin on the characters. My main concern is not to be strict about adhering to visual preconceptions, but to service the core of who that character is, from the broadest identifiers of body color and eye-lens style, to how he walks, to facial expressions. For any character in any genre, I try to work from the inside out. Get the core right, and the rest follows. And that’s what I’m trying to accomplish here
.
We've seen a few examples of your work, you're off to a great start! What do you feel is your greatest strength as a new artist on this series?
Brendan Cahill wrote:I think my strength as an artist is in storytelling. When I approach any given panel or page, my main concern is how it reads: Do the backgrounds effectively establish place and time? Is the blocking clear? Is the “cinematography” internally consistent? Are the characters “acting” appropriately? The overall awesomeness of the image is a secondary concern--I’d rather a panel be workmanlike and tell the story effectively than be a smorgasboard of action that confuses and calls attention to itself. Besides, if every image shouts, then the whole thing gets really loud, and when you really want to pull out an incredible shot, it doesn’t rise above the din.
That’s a pretty general answer, I guess, but I think it’s the most important part of what I do. In bringing that to Transformers, I hope I also bring a sense of realism. The better the layouts and action read, the more immersive the experience is, and in sci-fi of any stripe--especially when you’re dealing with something as improbable as giant robots--I think it’s important that it be as real as possible. You start out with a significant challenge to suspension of disbelief (the unreality of the story), so it’s the artist’s job to remove as much friction as possible from that process of immersion. That’s not to say that a cartoony approach can’t work (clearly it can and does!), but my particular approach is to go for that realism.
Who are your influences in your creative style? Whose work do you love in comics (any) past and present?
Brendan Cahill wrote:There are many and they change all the time. My single favorite artist working in comics right now is Stuart Immonen, and I definitely try to steal as much from him (and his long-time inker Wade von Grawbadger) as possible technique-wise--while avoiding aping his style of course. Bryan Hitch, Olivier Coipel, Jim Cheung. Going back, I’ve always been a huge fan of Matt Wagner, Masamune Shirow, and Dave Sim. And that’s not even getting into writers and digging into process, which I love. As an artist, (and as a writer, which I also fancy myself) I feel like I have to pay attention to how a real pro like Mark Millar writes, because part of the visual quality of his books comes out of his scripts. It’s immensely fun and rewarding trying to figure out how much of what ends up on the page is an interpretation that Hitch or McNiven or whoever made, and how much was in there at the script stage.
Who is your favorite Transformer to draw? Who is your favorite character to draw from any company in any comic? Please give any details you can about why? What makes Transformers so unique a property and group of characters to draw compared to, oh, The X-Men, or Superman?
Brendan Cahill wrote:My issues of the book have centered a lot on Prowl, so I’ve formed the deepest connection with him--both visually and in terms of his personality. Drawing Transformers is challenging because each character has a very specific design. When you’re drawing humans, they all have the same basic parts and roughly the same shape--especially when you’re talking about superheroes. Sure, Wolverine is shorter and thicker than Cyclops, but that’s just a difference of scale. Draw a muscular male body at the right proportions and then put either claws or a visor on it, and you’re good. That’s oversimplifying, but you get the idea. In Transformers, each bot is different from the ground up. So since I’ve been drawing Prowl a lot, he’s the first one I’ve really internalized to the point where I can just lay him down on the page, rather than having constantly to check and recheck my design sheets to make sure I get all the parts right. That makes him easier for me to draw and it also lets me concentrate more on his personality as I draw him. Of course as I draw the others more, I find things to love about each of them. Ultra Magnus is fun because he’s just so darn big and imposing, Bumblebee probably has the most inherent personality, etc.
As for other properties (ignoring for the moment my own characters that haven’t actually appeared anywhere yet), I really love drawing the X-Men. I mean, who doesn’t? For a single character? That’s tough to narrow down, but Emma Frost might make the cut. Or Black Widow. In fact, the only complaint I have about drawing Transformers is the distinct lack of shapely women in spandex.
Are you new to the Transformers brand or have you been one of the 'loved 'em since I was a kid crowd?'
Brendan Cahill wrote:Of course I grew up with Transformers--I even saw the animated movie in the theater--but I didn’t keep up with the brand over the years. When I came back to it for this project, I didn’t know how much I’d remember, but the characters are so well-defined that I felt comfortable just jumping in and trusting in those strong archetypes to carry me until I got my footing. There was a weird moment where I was drawing Optimus Prime for the first time on this project and my muscle memory started remembering some of the details--the contour of his mouthpiece, that sort of thing--from when I’d drawn him when I was a kid! There’s definitely something enduring about these guys.
How do you feel about the story that Mike (Costa) and James (Roberts) are fashioning? What do you like most about working with them?
Brendan Cahill wrote:Terrible. Just awful. No, I’m kidding, of course. I have to admit that when I went into it, I was a little bit doubtful: Sure, these stories were cool when I was a kid, but would they appeal to me as an adult? So Andy sent me a bunch of issues and I sat down to read them and instantly I was relieved. As I’m sure you in the community can attest, the answer to my question is “of course.” I think Mike and James have nailed it. They didn’t start from “okay, I’ve got these big robots,” but from “okay, I’ve got these characters, and here are their personalities, their flaws, their internal conflicts.” I found it really easy to slip into the current story, even without knowing a lot of the backstory, and I found myself caring about it right away. That’s the biggest hurdle for a writer to clear, and the one where the angle of approach is so hard to identify: make me care. And these guys do it.
As far as working on it, I can only speak to working on Mike’s stuff. Aside from general quality of workmanship, which is there, one of his best traits is that he knows how to fill twenty-two pages with exactly the right amount of stuff. That’s a bigger challenge than you might think: Four to five panels a page, with an appropriate amount of dialog in each panel, comprising twenty-two pages that starts at a starting point and ends with a big reveal, and meanwhile each scene accomplishes something. Mike’s stuff is really consistent and really lean. Each scene has just the amount of dialog it needs and no more, which means there’s always space for the art, so layouts are really easy and enjoyable. And on the other side of that coin, I’m not filling in space, trying to support flabby storytelling with art that has to be forced to be dynamic. He’s very good at balance, which I think dovetails nicely with my own storytelling style.
Any bits you want to share with the community of fans at Seibertron.com about yourself, your work, or anything else? What famous Transformers moment/event would you love to illustrate, or re-create in comic form?
Brendan Cahill wrote:Well, I hope that just about everything I have to share is right there on the page. I’ve felt really accepted both by the editorial and creative team here at IDW, and by the fans who saw my work at WonderCon and reacted with an encouraging lack of jeers and hurled tomatoes. I’ve been wanting to work in comics for years and I held off even trying to get in, partly because it’s intimidating, and partly because I really didn’t think I was good enough until just recently. So now that I’m here, I plan to make the most of it. That’s the deal I’ll make with you: I do my absolute best to bring the characters you love to life, and if I pull it off, in return, you talk me up to anyone who will listen. And, you know, even people who won’t. With the Transformers fan base behind me, fame and fortune can only be a few short steps away!
As for a famous Transformers moment, I have to go back to the animated movie because at the time it blew my little mind. Unicron devouring planets, the emergence of Galvatron, the passing of the Matrix to Hot Rod, it was all grand theater--space opera in the best sense. Huge adventures with huge themes and huge reach. Any little part of something like that would be awesome.
"According to Brendan Cahill we should continue to read IDW Transformers Comics because ____________________________________________________________________________."(please fill in with your thoughts/word/words/etc, as you see fit!
Brendan Cahill wrote:Because if you don’t, Andy will cry. Seriously. And none of us wants to see that.
Thanks Brendan for all of your insights, and sharing about your role in Transformers lore today! We fans love it when we get to talk with you creators. Many of us are hacks at being comic artists or writers ourselves, and we really love the opportunity to pick the brains of those whose work has been granted status of 'approved' and have made it to 'the big show' to throw out a cliche or two.
Take care, and we look forward to hearing and seeing more from you!
Also, thanks and lots of appreciation to Transformers Editor and soon-soon-to-be HASBRO Employee Andy Schmidt for helping us to stay in contact with IDW, and getting us psyched for this summer's CHAOS! Best of luck to you Andy!
Fellow Transformers fan site The Allspark has had the chance to interview Simon Furman regarding the comic related bit of information that's been the cause of much excitement in our comunity for the past few weeks. The news of Simon Furman being interested in continuing where the Transformers G1 comic by Marvel ended, this new series would ignore the G2 comic and would start with #81.
There is, as you might know, a petition you can sign to show your support for this project, click here to sign it.
And if you're interested in reading what Simon Furman has planned for this project, click here to read the interview over at The Allspark.
Digital Spy had a chance to sit and interview Transformers: Dark Of The Moon game Director Sean Miller. They discuss the differences between DOTM and War For Cybertron games. They also discuss the working relationship between High Moon Studios, Hasbro and Paramount. You can see the interview here. It has also been posted below.
Digital Spy wrote:Last year High Moon Studios released the superb Transformers: War for Cybertron, which was the latest licensed game worthy of its esteemed source material. The team is now turning its attention to the official tie-in title for movie Dark of the Moon, with an original story leading up to the events of the film. DS sat down with game director Sean Miller to discuss the differences between this and its last game, working alongside both Hasbro and Paramount and its unique campaign structure.
The game fits into the canon of both the original Hasbro toy series and the Paramount movies. Was it it difficult arranging a prologue story between two parties?
"It was a little tricky but they were great to work with. They were actually very receptive to the creative ideas. We've been working with Transformers for a while, so we've done a lot of background with the lore, we know the characters, we know the Hasbro history with those characters. They allowed us to bring a lot of that into the story. We had took a look at what was going on in the firm, and we came up with things that fitted into the Hasbro cannon of the Transformers universe, and Paramount made sure it fits in with what they're doing, but doesn't spoil anything. If you play the game, it doesn't spoil anything in the movie, it gives you a background, a little of what goes in-between, and as a studio that's something we really like to do. I was actually really happy with the level of interaction they gave us and creative freedom, to be honest."
How does working on this movie tie-in compare to the mostly original War for Cybertron?
"What we did, we relied on what we know about the Transformers universe. Essentially, just as we've done with previous Transformers products, we look at the history, the back story, and we dig into what the fans are really enjoying. This just gave us another offshoot of fans that we wanted to take a look at. What was interesting about it, I'm a fan of Transformers, I actually like all of the universe, I like a little bit of everything, so it was unique opportunity to take look at what fans of the movies - they're not necessary direct crossovers to some of the fans of the original content, by that I mean the older content - so to bridge that gap, we relied on bringing elements of the lore that we know and love to help us understand what's going on in the films. But then we've got this backdrop of a tremendous amount of previous stuff that goes on in the films, and I've been watching all those movies, and it was about finding things that grow those characters and give you a little more background."
The campaign features a interesting structure where each level focuses on a different character. What does that allow you to do in terms of the story and how you play the game?
"What it allows us to do is create the missions and the objectives all about the things that make each of the characters unique. So using the same core gameplay mechanics we literally get very different experience with each character. So if a character is about blowing stuff up, we can make sure that those objectives are towards that. The story that we develop, essentially the idea was to craft the most accurate portrayal as possible within that story of the level. If we had gone with multiple characters, we would have had to genericise some of the things we had to do. Instead, we can give you something that's fun because you're that character. When you're Ironhide, we're introducing some of the new weapons that he's going to be using in the film. It's interesting because you can pull this giant weapon off your back that's as big as a whole motorcycle and mowing folk down, and that's something you get to do as him and not as anyone else."
How does the new Stealth Force gameplay - where players transform into a vehicle and fire weapons - change the way you approached designing levels?
"It actually opened up the possibilities in the kinds of encounters that we could have. So being able to move in stealth force in the same way that we could move as a robot, it opens up this ability to basically have moving cover, so you might want to use your vehicle form, because when you're in the vehicle form, you're covered more in your armour so the idea is that you have more protection. So in an area where you have lots of cover you might want to be a robot, when you have more open areas where there's not a lot of cover, if you go into your vehicle form you'll be more protected. You've got a lower profile so you've got to hide behind different types of things. But as a player, you now have just as a compelling reason to be a vehicle as you do a robot. You don't have to say, 'Well, I don't want to be a car because as a car I can't shoot', or 'In a car I can't move properly, I don't want to get stuck' - you'll never get stuck this way, you'll always be able to get in and out because it's just a button press, it's very seamless as you're going through, and it almost becomes second nature after the first level."
You can't talk much about multiplayer at this stage, but have you learned from War for Cybertron?
"I can't really talk about the multiplayer too much, because we have some announcements coming up and I don't want to spoil anything there, but we definitely looked at the experience that we had there and what the players there were doing, and we focused our development to work in those areas that we know players were having a good time and enjoying, but I can't talk any more about that."
Licensed games in the past have had this stigma for being poor products, but in recent years they've become better received by critics and players. Why do you think they're improving in quality?
"I think that finding studios that having a passion for the licence is an important thing. Like our studio is filled with Transformers fans. I can't speak to other licensed products, I just know what has helped us with this particular licence, which is that we love the back story and we love all those characters. So when we treat it, we treat it and we're making the game that we would want to play about our characters. I think that's an important element, because in a creative field like this, when you can marry someone's creativity with something they have a passion for, you're always going to get something that's better than it ever could have been."
Maxim Magazine's Most Beautiful Woman of 2011, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, recently appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and spoke about her experience while filming her first film Transformers DOTM. Check out the embedded interview below.
Gamespot has posted a new Transformers DOTM video game demo and interview with High Moon's Sean Miller. We learn a little bit more about the first level, which is set in South America. Bumblebee is described as more of a "warrior scout" than a guardian. Ironhide, who's level takes place in Detroit, is described as becoming "tank-like" in his "Stealth Mode".
"And of course, nothing will ever be the same again!"
Transformers: Ongoing has been kicking around for the past year and a half or so. We've seen our favorite enemies revived, and our dearest characters written off. Everything will be taken to the extreme, as explained by the fine folks over at Comic Book Resources. They got a chance to interview IDW Lead Editor Andy Schmidt about Transformers: Chaos. Chaos will begin in July, and with that we've got some tidbits of information, and some sneak peeks at the artwork of Chaos. Check it all out in the interview!
"Chaos" will represent the convergence of the ongoing series with the more galactic events of "Infestation" and "Heart of Darkness" -- both written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning -- but readers who have only been following the core book will not have to play catch-up. "The ongoing series has been taking place for the most part on Earth, while Dan and Andy's two series are really going on in outer space. With 'Transformers' #20 and 'Heart of Darkness' #4, we've got one scene that overlaps both books, as they come out in the same month. So readers who have followed one series but not the other are perfectly fine going into the 'Chaos' event. And all is made clear. From that point, everything 'Transformers' is in the bi-weekly ongoing series from July all the way through December -- I told you big stuff is happening!"
Keep it at Seibertron.com for the latest Transformers news on the net!
Goto Page: <<1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6>> 55 total news articles in this section, 10 per page.
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
![[Valid RSS]](/images/rss/valid-rss.png "Validate Seibertron.com's RSS feed"){kind=small}
