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To coincide with today's launch of the popular TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS game on iOS devices (iPod, iPad, and iPhone), the folks behind the TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS took some time to answer a bunch of our questions regarding this game. The responses are from Tom Hess, DeNA Producer of TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS.
Seibertron.com: How long was the development process on this game? Did Hasbro approach DeNA or did DeNA approach Hasbro about the idea?
DeNA: It has taken almost a full year since the idea was born. We were looking for a strong intellectual property (IP) that would work great with the card battle game design system. Both myself and other members of the team are huge Transformers fans and we felt that we could make a great card battle game with the Transformers license. So we approached Hasbro about the idea, and thus TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS was born.
Seibertron.com: Can you tell us about your experience working with Hasbro? Maybe tell us a little bit about the approval process, etc.
DeNA: Our relationship with Hasbro has been fantastic. Both companies are very excited about the game. Our team at DeNA comes up with the characters we want to make and the themes of the Episodes. We then send those ideas to Hasbro so they can help make sure everything is authentic to the Transformers Universe. It's great to have access to such a valuable resource. Once the theme and characters are approved then we start creating the art.
Seibertron.com: Are there any other games that the development team used as inspirations for the Transformers Legends game?
DeNA: We’re fortunate at DeNA that our parent company in Japan is an established leader in developing mobile card battle games like the popular title Blood Brothers. The TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS development team is based in DeNA’s San Francisco office, and it has been great to leverage our Japanese colleagues’ expertise in mobile game design with our San Francisco-based team’s knowledge of making games in the West.
Seibertron.com: The artwork of the Transformers is beautiful. Can you share some information with us about the artists involved with the game such as their names, backgrounds, past experience, other games or projects they have worked on in the past?
DeNA: Our internal art team has quite a diverse background with experience in developing PC/Mac, AAA console, and of course mobile games. Here are some quick bios of the internal art team:
Steve Abeyta (Art Director) DeNA: Eliminate, We Rule, We Farm, Quests and Sorcery, TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS
Bungie Software: Oni, Halo, Halo 2
Worked freelance for quite a few years as well as an Animator/Artist
Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from UC Berkeley, but quickly switched industries and started at Bungie as an Animator
Sunghoon Kim (Senior Artist) DeNA: We City, Quests and Sorcery, TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS
Highimpactgames LLC.: Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter
Graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, majored in Animation
Hongik Univ. in Seoul, majored in Industrial Design
Brian White (Senior Artist) DeNA: Quests & Sorcery and TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS
Perpetual Entertainment: Star Trek Online
Linden Lab: Second Life
EA: Sim City, The Sims2, etc.
Fisher-Price Toys
Graduate of RISD: Industrial Design
We're also very lucky to work with some excellent external sketch artists including Transformers comic veterans Guido Guidi and Dan Khanna. They were instrumental in helping develop the new angle on the Transformers robots. Additionally, we work with some extremely talented painters. It was a challenge to get all the different parts of the pipeline to create a cohesive look but we're happy with the results and excited about some new twists we have coming up.
Seibertron.com: Are there any plans to have a book tie-in that showcases the artwork from the game? I'm sure a lot of Seibertronians out there would be very excited about a Transformers Legends book.
DeNA: Stay tuned to find out!
Seibertron.com: For the programming and computer geeks out there, can you tell us a little bit about what's going on behind the scenes programming wise? What programming language was the game developed in? Anything cool from a programming perspective that the developers would like to share or rave about? Any brand spankin' new technologies being used that the programmers are excited about implementing?
DeNA:TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS is entirely developed using javascript - Client and Server. Game clients are using a cross platform game engine called ngCore (https://developer.mobage.com/en/resources?set_sdk=ngCore). It enables us to create native quality mobile games for Android and iOS. The server is developed using node.js with mongodb, redis and memcached. The common language allows faster iteration times during development.
Seibertron.com: Will the upcoming iPhone version be identical as the Android version or will there be some differences between the two? If there are any differences, what can you tell us about what to expect?
DeNA: They will be exactly the same. In fact you will be able to access the same account on both devices. So if you want to play on your Android phone on your way home from work and your iPad when you get home, you can!
Seibertron.com: Some of the character designs appear to originate with the toys. Some of the characters have not received a toy in modern times. Can you tell us about the design process and where the character designs came from? Maybe provide a few examples to demonstrate various sources ...
DeNA: We use as much reference as we can but get our key elements from the toys. When developing a look for a character we follow one guideline - the character must be instantly recognizable. So even though we will adjust proportions and levels of articulation, the character must have the identifying features that define it. We may do a new angle on those features, but the original integrity of them must be kept in tact.
Seibertron.com: From what I've seen so far, Transformers Legends is very G1 based. Are there any plans to integrate popular characters from other series such as Blackout (Movie/Animated), Barricade (Movie), Jolt (Movie), Strika (Animated/Beast Machines), Obsidian (Beast Machines), Bulkhead (Animated/Prime), and other popular favorites?
DeNA: Right now we are really focused on G1. There are so many great story lines that we can still explore, but that doesn't mean we can't start incorporating different characters and styles of Transformers. That is one of the great things about the brand; the Transformers Universe is so broad.
Seibertron.com: Are there any plans to roll out other versions or editions of the game such as Beast Wars or the live action Movie universe?
DeNA: We have been exploring ideas around Beast Wars. You’ll have to stay tuned for upcoming Episodes to find out. As for the movie universe, that is an interesting idea but we're focused on G1 for now as there are so many interesting storylines to explore. The movies are great on their own of course, and I personally can't wait to see Transformers 4.
Seibertron.com: Is there any hint or suggestion about the game that the developers would like to share with everyone? Maybe a tip for something that they think players might be overlooking or something.
DeNA: TRANSFORMERS characters are already very powerful by nature, but you can push their strength to even much greater heights by following these tips:
Upgrade your cards to make them more powerful. Use redundant cards you collect throughout the game to upgrade your favorite cards. The redundant cards are converted into XP, which is used to level up your selected card. With every next level the stats of your card increases. Maxed out cards also receive an extra bonus in battle.
Trans-Scan is an excellent way to increase the power of a TRANSFORMERS character card. Trans-Scan is the process of combining the Alt mode and the Robot mode of a character card. If you upgrade both the Robot Mode and the Alt Mode to Max Level before performing the Trans-Scan, you will get the largest stat increase - a 10% bonus per card on all stats! Cards that have been Trans-Scanned also receive a bonus during combat.
Weapons are cards that can be equipped by TRANSFORMERS character cards. Every TRANSFORMERS character card has a Specialization and Class. By equipping weapons that match these roles the power of the character card gets boosted. But every TRANSFORMERS character card from rarity 3 and up also has its own unique signature weapon card. Matching the character with its unique own weapon card boosts the stats of character cards significantly, over 150% and more. Obtain the matching weapon card that belongs to your strongest character cards to unlock the full potential of your deck. Some weapons also have special abilities that really put the power in your card’s punch; triple attacks, increased critical strikes or increase card’s attack power by a multitude!
Recommend is an easy and quick way to make sure you have the strongest deck possible. When you hit recommend the game selects and equips the most powerful character and weapon cards available. Checking the Deck Power stat is an excellent and easy way to monitor the increase of your deck’s power.
Rarity determines the power of a card; the higher the number on the card frame the stronger the card. Try to collect as much high rarity cards as possible to make your deck stronger.
Always make sure you not only have the strong Team, but also make sure you put your strongest cards in the AUTOBOT and DECEPTICON Squads. These squads are used for boss battles and by winning boss battles you can capture it’s weapon. You don’t want to miss out on these opportunities by losing the battle - so always bring your strongest cards with you!
Seibertron.com: Will DeNA be attending BotCon (the official Transformers convention), San Diego Comic-Con or any other events where fans can interact directly with DeNA? I'm sure everyone at Seibertron.com would love to see Transformers Legends represented properly at BotCon.
DeNA: We're always excited to meet our players and get their feedback on the game. We are still in the midst of planning our events presence for this year, but San Diego Comic-Con and BotCon are definitely on our radar. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or suggestions on other events we should bring the game to, please feel free to leave us a note on our feedback page in the game: https://transformerslegends.uservoice.com/forums/188000-transformers-legends-1-0
Seibertron.com: Are there plans to release the game for other Android based devices such as the Kindle?
DeNA: There are no plans at this time. But I've passed the suggestion along!
Seibertron.com: Does the Transformers Legends team have a consensus on a favorite character? What about their favorite allegiance: Autobots or Deceptions? Why?
DeNA: There is no consensus. We all have our favorites. Below are the team’s answers to the last two questions.
Tom
Character: Skywarp. He was my favorite toy as a kid.
Faction: Decepticons all the way. I always wanted them to win just once in the cartoon and I like fighter jets as well.
John
Character: Soundwave
Faction: Decpticons hands down. They have the cool tech.
Scott
Character: Jazz. I always like him in the cartoon.
Faction: I root for the Autobots on the show, but my initial selection in the game was Decepticons. Being a jet is way cooler!
Vince
Character: Ravage
Faction: Decepticons, because 'good is dumb'.
Max
Character: soundwave (me love gadgets)
Faction: Decepticon (muhahahaha)
Maximiliano
Character: Optimus Prime
Faction: Autobots... sanctimoniousness.
Bert-jan
Character: Without much doubt that would be Devastator. He is this incredibly powerful Gestalt, and his combined physical power is only rivaled and surpassed by a few. Mentally though, that's a different story. His limited psyche is quite primitive and he only really gets anything done when all parts agree, which is rare, and so more often then not he's a giant of uncontrolled rage and fury. For the most part he's as dumb as a box of hammers and only capable of destruction and little else, but considering how Decepticons go, that's not much of a problem.
Faction: Decepticons. They got the cool jets. They've got Devastator. How many more reasons do you need?
Appie
Character: Have to agree with Bert, I think Devastator is pretty cool because he literally ate a pyramid in the 2nd movie and sometimes I'm that hungry too
Faction: Whichever has more girl ones
Fabian
Character: Laserbeak: As a Chilean I have to choose Laserbeak. He can transform into a Condor, the national bird of Chile, which is really awesome and beautiful.
Faction: Decepticon. Being the good guy is too easy, and Decepticons always had the best transformations (in my opinion).
Sunghoon
Character: My favorite character is Autobot Jazz and it is transformed from the car, and cars are my best interest.
I painted the car version and I was very excited while I was painting.
Faction: however, I love the most characters in Decepticon because many of them have strong personality in style.
Sam
Character: Grimlock
Faction: I'd have to say the Autobots. They're working to protect the universe, which is a plus, and they have some of the most memorable members: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, and of course Grimlock (technically). Oh, and Daniel Witwicky. Never mind lets go with Decepticons.
Cameron
Character: Steeljaw. He was the toy I could always carry with me wherever I went, and he's literally a magnetic cassette tape that turns into a lion. That's either ridiculous, awesome, or a little of both. I'm not qualified to judge.
Faction: Autobots. Evil is only fun when it's competent.
Ken
Character: Unicron. Go big or go home! Unless you live on Unicron, because you're already home. But you probably have a very short lifespan.
Faction: Decepticons. Evil is only fun when it's INcompetent.
Jason
Character: Grimlock
Faction: Autobots because red > purple
Nathan
Character: Jetfire. He came in this huge box, and you could only buy him one hour away from where I lived. I spent all my allowance on him and even though he repeatedly bruised my finger when I popped open the metal front landing gear, he was always my favorite Transformer.
Faction: Autobots
Seibertron.com: From all of us here at Seibertron.com and from Transformers fans around the world, thank you to DeNA for taking this time to answer all of our questions about TRANSFORMERS: LEGENDS. Keep up the great work!
The people over at Comic Book Resources have sat down with IDW Transformers' writer extraordinaire and fan-favourite James Roberts, discussing the upcoming May titles, the MTMTE Remain in Light arc, his relationship with John Barber and the future of the IDW ongoings.
Roberts said the "Transformers: Hoist" & "Trailcutter" one-shots stand alone but are also "firmly rooted" in the "MTMTE" Universe
This May, writer James Roberts presents two "Transformers" stories from IDW Publishing, "Transformers Spotlight: Hoist" drawn by Agustin Padilla and "Transformers: More than Meets the Eye" #17, kicking off the "Remain in Light" storyline drawn by Alex Milne. Earlier this month "Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter" was released with art by Matt Frank.
Roberts has been busy carving out his own corner of IDW's Transformers Universe after orchestrating the popular "Death of Optimus Prime" storyline with co-writer John Barber. After that story's success, Roberts launched the popular ongoing series "Transformers: More than Meets the Eye" alongside Barber's own "Transformers: Robots in Disguise."
Roberts spoke with CBR News about his upcoming "Transformers" titles, dishing details on what goes down in "Spotlight: Hoist" and "Trailcutter," as well as expanding on the "Remain in Light" story and the next "Transformers" event, "Dark Cybertron."
Roberts describes the "Trailcutter" one-shot as "Home Alone" meets "Transformers"
"Spotlight: Trailcutter" is basically "Transformers" meets "Home Alone." Trailcutter is part of the crew of the Lost Light, an Autobot starship looking for the legendary Knights of Cybertron.[...]
It's a sitcom in space. [...] "Spotlight: Hoist" is more of a bottle episode.
There's a metaphorical ticking clock for the Transformers appearing in the "Hoist" one-shot
John Barber said it very well: "The 'Transformers' comics are about people. Metal people, sure -- and metal people whose problems frequently involve the fate of the world being at stake -- but they're relatable people with real emotions acting like people act."
"MTMTE" #17 begins the "Remain in Light" storyline where Roberts says the series moves up "several gears" and "we go widescreen."
My plans for "More Than Meets The Eye" stretch far into the future. Coming later this year is the first proper crossover event since John and I started writing the two ongoings. It's huge, involving hundreds of characters and -- like the end of the war -- it marks another turning point in the Transformers Universe.[...]
One last thing: things are coming full circle as John and I are collaborating -- I'm talking plot and script -- on the next huge "Transformers" event: "Dark Cybertron." It all kicks off in the autumn, with the countdown starting in May.
"Transformers Spotlight: Hoist" and "Transformers: More than Meets the Eye" #17 are due this May. "Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter" is available now, and we here at Seibertron have previewed and reviewed it!
The official Transformers Facebook page has uploaded a five page commentary to today's Transformers: Robots in Disguise #16. For those of you without Facebook access, we've mirrored the interview with writer John Barber below.
TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE #16 hits the stands today, courtesy of IDW Publishing and Hasbro! This is it—the climax of the first big ROBOTS IN DISGUISE story. The fate of Cybertron’s leadership is decided, as Bumblebee and the Autobots battle Megatron’s forces in the city of Iacon. Artist Andrew Griffith—along with inker Brian Shearer and colorist Josh Perez—pulled out all the stops on this one; and we sat down with writer John Barber to talk about this monumental issue. TF:RID #16 is available at comic book stores everywhere and at https://transformers.comixology.com/ or via the Comixology and iBooks apps on your computer or mobile device!
PAGE 1- The might against Megatron continues with Bumblebee and his team. Considering the different factions trying to live together on their home world, was there ever a right or wrong in the decisions he took? Or was it simply that he wasn’t strong enough to hold them all together?
JOHN BARBER: That’s a good question. Bumblebee was trying to do what was right, and here—battling Megatron—it’s clear what needs to get done. But would Megatron have had support, would the Decepticon masses have followed him, had it not been for Bumblebee’s policies? He locked them up, he put in the Identification/Deterrence chips, and even once those were gone, he still clearly didn’t welcome them with open arms. I mean, Bumblebee had reason to be angry at the Decepticons, and reasons to not trust them. So maybe he never had a chance.
There isn’t really a clear-cut answer, as to whether Bee was right or wrong, and that’s one of the big themes of the series. I hope the readers will argue about it.
Was Bumblebee too weak? That’s how he sees himself, and how some of the others see him. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, though. Could anybody have accomplished what he set out to do? Again—I don’t mean to evade the question, it’s that the question is the main thing about the series. I don’t want to cop out on anything, but the question is more interesting to me. And hey, if I had the actual answer, I should be ruling the world myself.
PAGE 2- Megatron, Devastator and the other Decepticons pile on the pressure. You think right now Starscream is regretting the things that he has done prior to this issue, and not done what might have previously done before?
JOHN BARBER: Starscream thought he was playing everything correctly for a while—up to issue 11—then he had a crisis of… well, not “conscious,” as this issue will demonstrate… but a crisis of faith in himself. I’m sure that, in his head, he’s running through every action he’s ever taken, but I don’t think he has Bumblebee’s capacity for self-reflection. He’s more likely to see any failure as a failure of circumstance, not of himself. But this was a big fall—he was about to gain control of the city, and then Megatron showed up and ruined everything, so it’s a crushing blow.
Anyway—he definitely doesn’t have Bee’s capacity for beating himself up over his decisions.Actually, his ego probably protects him a little here (like Prowl’s does).
What is why, at this point in the story, even if it doesn’t look like it, he is actively looking for any opportunity amidst all the action.
PAGE 3- Arcee and Sideswipe do their best to carry on the fight back. With Arcee, was the plan always to make her as ambiguous as possible until she was forced into making a decision on where she truly stood?
JOHN BARBER: Yeah—Issue 18 is where we actually get into her head, and see how she thinks. She just approaches things from a way that other Cybertronians don’t. Her worldview is skewed by all the events in her life—I mean, everybody’s is; it’s just that her event are just a little more unusual.
So, yeah, she was definitely keeping quiet about what she knew, who she would side with, all that—until she had an opportunity to strike most effectively. Which, I don’t think exactly worked out—she definitely didn’t want out-of-control Prowl-Devastator running around, so it’s not like she actually succeeded in her plan. But things could have been worse.
Nevertheless, from my perspective, she’d have been better off going to Bumblebee in issue 4. But she didn’t think he’d trust her, and Bee definitely didn’t act like he was looking to trust Prowl’s secret warrior. So she didn’t think that was a legitimate possibility. And now, hey, look what all that mistrust has sown.
PAGE 4- Ironhide and the Dinobots pile in to provide reinforcements? Considering what is happening to his friends, do you think Ironhide is certain that the visions of the future he saw are going to come true, despite the devastation around him? They seem to have been driving his recent actions.
JOHN BARBER: Ironhide has come to realize that, even if he believes what he saw, there are multiple ways of looking at “fate.” He can just sit back and let the future happen, or he can take an active role. And if he takes an active role, he has to be himself. Beyond that—well, there’s more to come.
PAGE 5- Ironhide literally tries to knock some sense into Prowl/ Devastator’s head, and Bumblebee can see the tide of battle turning. This issue marks the end of the current arc in the series. In the grand scheme of things to come, how important are the issues we’ll find within these pages?
JOHN BARBER: Very. I mean, this issue is the close of the first big RID story arc. The story of Bumblebee versus Starscream versus Metalhawk struggling for control of Iacon comes to a close this issue. And however it works out, any one of them (or none of them) “winning” control of the city will change the face of Cybertron. There’s a lot going on in this issue, a lot of stories coming to a close, and it all matters a lot.
But it’s not the end of the series, and there are still going to be big, pointed questions looming. Where’s Shockwave? Why did what happened to the Aerialbots happen—and what’s the status of them now? Not to give anything away, but how does Starscream justify his actions? What’s up with Ironhide’s vision of the future? What does Jhiaxus want with Gorlam Prime? Lots and lots of other questions…
Not everything ends here—we’re back with another issue in a few weeks—but all that comes will be built on what we’ve done here. And there will be impacts felt in our sister series, TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE, too. But I can’t talk about that without spoiling anything. I can say, that events from MTMTE spill into RID next issue… but if you’ve followed what MTMTE revealed about Shockwave, I don’t think that will be a surprise. Anyway—this comic, RID #16, will have repercussions in the comics—and maybe beyond—for some time to come.
But I do want to thank all the readers who’ve read this series—and read MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE, and all the other Transformers comics, too—from the beginning, or who’ve come in during the run, or who are just joining us. Thanks for being there, hope you’ve enjoyed the ride so far, and it just gets better from here on out.
The wonderful people over at the Transformers Official Facebook page have interviewed Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter artist Matt Frank! The interview is mirrored below for those of you without Facebook access.
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: TRAILCUTTER breaks into comic book stores and digital platforms,thanks to IDW Publishing and Hasbro! Written by TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE scribe James Roberts—and set firmly in that series’ timeline—SPOTLIGHT:TRAILCUTTER delves into the world of an oft-overlooked TRANSFORMERS character… and lays the groundwork for this fall's big TRANSFORMERS event. We sat down with artist Matt Frank to talk about the issue—available today at comic book stores everywhere, and at https://transformers.comixology.com/ or via the Comixology and iBooks apps on your computer or mobile device!
Q: Hi Matt. How was everything for you in 2012?
MATTFRANK: 2012 was a pretty incredible year. No continental shifts or exploding suns, so we’re ahead of the game! I’ve been lucky to have a near-constant flow of work with TRANSFORMERS and other projects.
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself. How you got into drawing, were you a comic book fan, who has influenced you in your career.
MATTFRANK: As a kid, drawing seemed to be a natural result of the sort of stuff I was a fan of. Dinosaurs and monsters and robots and all kinds of goodness. I just wanted to recreate the stuff that gave me so much excitement.I’m definitely a pretty big comic fan, although my interests are kind of all over the place (though many still chart a course through the same thematicelements). I’m a big fan of guys like William Stout, Art Adams, Ricardo Delgado (Age of Reptiles!), Dan Brereton, and more recently I’ve discovered the glory of books like Blacksad and Scott Pilgrim. Of course, I’ve always loved the TRANSFORMERS comics, be they G2, Dreamwave or IDW!
Q: Were you a fan of Transformers right from the very beginning?
MATTFRANK: Depends on what “very beginning” is...I’m a ’90s kid, so I wasn’t there for the G1 boom. Eventually I got a hold of TRANSFORMERS: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE by Simon Furman, and that definitely opened up a few more doors!
Q: Having done work on MARS ATTACKS THE TRANSFORMERS recently, how did it feel to come back and work with James Roberts in the MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE world on SPOTLIGHT:TRAILCUTTER?
MATTFRANK: Ironically, I made the TRAILCUTTER comic several months BEFORE the crossover! So it actually provided a nice warm-up for when I had to tackle MARS ATTACKS THE TRANSFORMERS in an even SHORTER time frame! But I'm a big fan of James’s work, and it was a real thrill to compliment our respective comedic styles for this book.
Q: Did you have to do much research and catch up with events/characters designs before drawing SPOTLIGHT:TAILCUTTER?
MATT FRANK: My existing issues of MTMTE were scattered around my studio and workspace, each opened to a particular page that proved useful, especially for Trailcutter’s relatively short exposure up to this point. Beyond that, I was pretty familiar with the lore... although I actually got to DESIGN Killmaster, which was wonderful.
Q: Spotlight Tailcutter is part ofthe recent wave of SPOTLIGHTs. How’d you feel knowing that this comic is going to be packaged with a toy, and could be someone’s first ever TRANSFORMERS, or any, comic book?
MATTFRANK: One of the first TRANSFORMERS projects I ever tackled was the pack-in comic, “The Rise of Safeguard,” sold alongside Jetfire and Jetstorm from TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED. So the feeling is a familiar one!
Q: What advice would you give to someone if they were drawing TRANSFORMERS for the first time?
MATTFRANK: It would definitely be to find your own style... or at least put your unique stamp on the characters you draw. There are so many amazing TRANSFORMERS artists out there, try and make yourself stand out!
Q: What tools of the trade do you use whendrawing the characters? Do you do lots of research before hand?
MATTFRANK: Besides good ol’ pens and paper, I have a ton of reference material, which I cannot stress enough. THE COMPLETE ARK is a godsend (or a [Transformers writer and letterer Chris] Mowry-send!) and I have quite a few of the IDW trades. Beyond that there’s definitely the internet. My own TF collection is somewhat limited (gotta make room for all my Godzilla toys, after all), but they’ll provide good reference in a pinch!
Q: Autobot or Decepticon? Who gets your allegiance?
MATTFRANK: “Me Grimlock no Autobot... Me DINOBOT.” (rips off Con’s arm).
Q: As we head deeper into 2013, whatare your aims for this coming year? Any burning ambitions you would like toturn into reality?
MATTFRANK: I’ve got a few other very exciting TRANSFORMERS projects coming down the pipe. I’m also doing even more Godzilla stuff... and then perhaps a little creator-owned goodness? Maybe something original to spice things up? Stay tuned, kids!
Hi Seibertronians! I think that once a month is an opportune interval to take a break from the flurry of Transformers news and shine more light on the awesome members of our community. When I initially planned to interview this Autobot, he was only a normal, hard-working maintenance 'bot. However our reigning Magnus has promoted this 'bot to the rank of Prime, so please give a warm welcome to my newest interview experiment subject and coincidentally, newest staff member, Va'al!
[START TRANSMISSION]
Blurrz: HiVa'al! Iwilltrytoslowdownmyspeechsoyoucancomprehendme. Before we dive into deep and thought provoking Transformers talk, let us give our fellow Transformers fans a little information on Spotlight: Va'al. Where are you from? Who is your favorite Transformers character? And lastly, why 'Va'al'?
Va'al: Hi! Well, this is nice. I've never really been interviewed before -- is this going to be my 15 minutes of fame, and then back to obscurity? You know, fame over, finished. Where I'm from is an easy question, it's the answer that's a bit trickier: I'm half-Tuscan, on my dad's side, half-Yorkshire, on my mum's - that's half-Italian half-English, for non-Europeans! But there's Turkish, French, Dutch and Irish blood in me. Grew up in Italy, and moved to the UK in 2008. My screen name is actually a blend of my second name and my first (Alex), and I'm quite proud of it. It gets annoying when websites don't allow apostrophes though. I have to stick an 'h' in there instead. As for my favourite Transformers character... this one's a pickle, I've been trying to figure it out. I always thought it'd be Soundwave, and my collection seems to prove that. But reading the recent More Than Meets the Eye comics series, I discovered Vos. A linguist, a sadist, a Decepticon. After my own spark. Literally. As an afterthought, though, I think The Fallen, deserves an honourable mention. He's a part of the background mythology of the other characters, and he's modelled on various mythemes from different cultures, something I'm particularly interested in. Plus, he's on fire, baby.
What got you into Transformers? Do you remember your first toy?
I wrote about this in my collection thread, but I'm still trying to locate things in time really. As I was born in 1989, in Italy, I didn't catch a lot of original stuff. First series I remember watching, and following, was Beast Wars; it stopped airing after the last episode of season 1. I was extremely disappointed. I'm sure it was on TV after that, but I never found it again (I finally caught up three years ago).
The thing that really got me back into the toys (I had a few as a kid, especially Beast Wars, though, were the three recent Michael Bay films. When the Revenge of the Fallen toyline came out in the UK, I fell in love with Sideways and Sideswipe, and it just kept going from there.
My first toy, on the other hand, was a present my dad got me during one of his business trips: G2 Sideswipe, known to me as 'Freccia' ('Arrow'). I loved it, but have no idea where it went. I think my fondest memory of a Transformer toy was Beast Wars Optimus Primal, which my mum bought me on a surprise trip to the toy shop for one of my birthdays. He's still alive and kicking, although missing all his missiles bar one, and only has half a sword left.
That's an interesting point you bring up, as I believe a fair number of us Transformers fans were brought back into the hobby from the Transformers Movies! For those who have yet to dive into your collection thread, what is your favorite Transformers line that you have collected? And why so?
For a while, the only line I was collecting were the movie-related ones: Revenge of the Fallen, Hunt for the Decepticons, Reveal the Shield, Dark of the Moon. Then some Generation started appearing across the UK. I can't remember which one I picked up first, but some of them were absolutely stunning! So different from the movie lines!
Then Power Core Combiners showed up. That was a troubled relationship, to say the least. I bought the Crankcase and Destrons 5-pack on a whim. Played around with him, then decided to give him to my brother for Christmas. As I was wrapping the figures, I had a strange feeling of regret. I put them to one side, and got him something else. The following day I found Bombshock and the Combaticons on sale. I bought a couple more after that, didn't like them that much, sold them again. Then missed them, horribly, a couple of months later. You know where this is going...
I've said this before, PCCs are not only desirable, they are adorable.
Well, as long as you have your kidneys! It is interesting to get the perspective of fans who aren't exactly in the heartland of the Transformers fandom. Do you feel like the Hasbros in Europe are providing enough content for the fans who want to keep up with their fellow fans in North America or Asia? If there is one thing you could change about the way the company works in Europe, whether that be distribution, toy content or something else, what would that be?
I've spoken to several other European fans, from Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands and, of course, the UK. And no, I don't think there is a particularly good service. Entire waves not arriving, surplus of earlier waves at the cost of later ones, store exclusives, even distribution within the same country! And the prices are pretty ridiculous too.
If I were to change something, just magically change it, I'm not considering any real-life application here, it would probably be distribution. I'd like to ensure that the different branches across Europe have similar stock at similar times, rather than the current situation: if I go visit my girlfriend in Manchester (north of England), I will find a lot more selection than here in Norwich (south-east). As soon as I go back to Italy to visit family, they're still a series or two behind, even.
However, I only realised all of this once I joined Seibertron.com. Had I not been wanting to keep up to date with the franchise, I never would have known, and possibly never cared, either.
I'll have a go at what you said though: do you really think that the "core" of the fandom is in the US or Asia? For the toys, maybe, but in terms of comics... Simon Furman, Andrew Wildman, John-Paul Bove, Nick Roche, Livio Ramondelli (although he now lives in L.A.), Guido Guidi, James Roberts. All from Europe, and at the core of the current, and in my opinion, extremely successful, three series!
Good insight! I think it would be incorrect for fans in general to underestimate the European contributions to the Transformers brand! Let us get one more toy-related question in before we head into more comic-heavy discussion. What is your Transformers toy holy grail?
Ah. Er... Hm. I'm not actually sure I have one, as of now. I'm getting to a point where I feel like quitting collecting the toys for a bit, to save some extra money while I'm still getting some for my studies. And that thought tends to push out most of the others!
I really like the mythology currently being explored by both the animated series Transformers: Prime and the comics series, and the focus on the different origin stories of Cybertron and its inahbitants. It's not really a grail, more of a "I'd like to see a figure of...": Nova Prime and The Fallen, and possibly the Decepticon Justice Division.
(Although I am patiently waiting for Maketoys to deliver their stand-in for The Fallen... and it's PCC compatible! Double win!)
There's a Transformers fan who has yet to read IDW Transformers comics. What issue or series do you hook them with, and why?
How did you guess I'm into the comics? The easy thing would be to start with the "official" jumping-on point of the two most recent series, Robots in Disguise and More Than Meets the Eye. Maybe even The Death of Optimus Prime, to get some pointers about how previous stuff ended and the series begin. And a lot of fans seem to prefer either one or the other, whilst still reading both (and they do call to each other, every now and then). The problem with recent IDW stuff? It's all connected. The writers are quite explicitly trying to patch up some continuity troubles from the previous series, and most of the Spotlight comics are set back then too. So if you haven't read any of the IDW stuff, I'd cheat, and suggest the IDW Omnibus reprint of Dreamwave's The War Within, published as Transformers: War Within. Simon Furman, Don Figueroa and Andrew Wildman shaped a really good prequel to pretty much the whole story we all know. Shame it was never finished (although I do have the first three issues of the third part of the story, plus the scripts and summary of the ending). It does introduce The Fallen, though.
Good ole' Dreamwave! So lets move along to the current side of Transformers comics, mostly looking at Robots In Disguise and More Than Meets The Eye. I'm rather sure if we started discussion on the series itself we'd end up writing a novel, so sadly I guess instead off looking at each series at a whole, I guess I'll just rephrase this question, first focusing on RID, what was your favorite issue in RID so far, and why?
These may contain spoilers, if reader's haven't caught up with the series yet!
As much as issue 14 contains a gigantic turn of events, I still think that issues 12 and 13 work, on a different level. The build-up is insane: Prowl is recovering from being blown up, disappears and reappears beefed up; Wheeljack is trying to keep everything under control, unsuccessfully (and he quotes Ghostbusters); Megatron returns, gets almost blown to pieces by the Autobots, then is taken in for recovery by Wheeljack and Jetfire; Starscream gives a heck of a speech, only to find out that no one cares, especially not the Decepticons; Arcee reveals herself to Blurr and his bar clientele (including a Sky-Bite/Jazz spoken word-music double act). And that's just issue 12!
Special mention goes to the Annual, especially for the flashback sequences drawn and coloured by Guidi. Wow.
(As an aside, and I know not everyone will agree, but I really enjoy how Griffith is trying to give characters their toy counterpart look, where possible.)
RID's sister comic, More Than Meets The Eye. Favorite issue so far, and why?
For this one, there are three big contenders: issue 6, with the introduction of the Decepticon Justice Division; issue 12, exploring the various relationships between the characters on the Lost Light; issue 13, because it's stupidly fun. Oh wait, 7, too. But Shadowplay is amazing as well. Blast.
Ok, focusing on just one issue. I'd say 12. It expands on Tailgate, Cyclonus, Whirl, and especially Chromedome and Rewind. It was really moving, and I'm not embarassed to say it, the way in which Chromedome talks about Rewind's past and how he found him. Really good character development. And useful to the plot, in the light of issue 14, which I've only just read.
But Shadowplay - That's a story by itself. That is something that needs reading. Takes up from where Chaos Theory left, and wow, does it have a kick and a half.
(Again, special mention to the Annual, for its further look at the mythology behind Cybertronian culture.)
They are certainly a series that fans can get into! This is probably not talked about much, despite him being such a dynamic character - with Megatron's resurrection/reappearance in our two Ongoings, what role do you see Orion Pax/Optimus Prime playing in the near future? Is he a character that belongs back with the rest of the cast, or should he remain an outcast? In a related note, any comments on the art of Ramondelli?
Ah, yes. I was initially disappointed with his return so early in the series, but I do like that he's doing his own thing at the moment! He's chasing Jhiaxus and Bludgeon, dangerous characters, who are chasing Shockwave's plans. That's three of the sharpest, most dangerous Decepticon minds he's after. I think he has his hands full as it is, to be honest. Having said that, his stories do appear in the same series as Megatron, but with Overlord back again in MTMTE, the Decepticon leader also might have his hands full.
Ramondelli's work is something very different from the rest of the artistic cast. His cover art is superb, Autocracy was executed brilliantly, and I enjoyed every moment of it, and I'm really looking forward to the Monstrosity TPB. Chaos, on the other hand, was a bit confusing at times. He does shine on spreads and splash pages though, and he's excellent at talking with fans. And he does all his work on paper (then scans it and colours it)!
We touched on this prior, so let us say you get a cushy job at Hasbro R&D, you are assigned character selection for 2014 Generations Waves 3 and 4. We already know you love the DJD, so they're Wave 3. Who is in Wave 4?
Hmm.
So we have Tarn, Vos, Helex, Tesarus and Kaon (with The Pet!) as wave 3, with Vos and Kaon as Deluxe, and the other three as Voyagers. I think we need some love for Rung, Swerve, Tailgate and Rewind. But throw in Metalhawk and Jhiaxus, too, from Robots in Disguise. And I suppose Prowl, at this point, is a must.
But for some real fanservice, you want Overlord. Deluxe size tank, Deluxe size jet, Voyager(ish, probably a little bigger) robot mode.
Do it Hasbro!
Time for word association, I give you a phrase, name or a word and you respond with one word of your choice!
-2009-2011 Ongoing Series
Preperation
-Power Core Combiners
ADORABLE
-Holomatter Avatars
Spot on
-Transformers 4
-Hasbro Masterpiece Soundwave w/ 5 Cassettes
..if only
Looks like this wraps things up. Thanks for sitting in on this one Va'al. Any last words for the community?
It was fun! Thanks for the opportunity.
Last words: Read the comics - love Power Core Combiners.
Seibertron.com podcaster and voice actor jON3.0 recently had the opportunity to interview the legendary Garry Chalk. Garry Chalk has appeared in a multitude of roles both on-camera and off as a voice actor, which include Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime. Enjoy the interview in the embedded video below.
On this Microphone Monday, I interview the incredibly talented, amazing and down-to-Earth Garry Chalk - voice of Optimus Primal, Optimus Prime in Transformers Armada, Energon and Cybertron, Sky Marshall Wade in Voltron Force, Slash in Reboot and countless other characters in cartoons such as Exosquad, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, GI JOE and many others. He has also portrayed dozens of characters ON-camera in movies and TV shows like The Fly II and Stargate SG-1.
If you're a fan of IDW Transformers Robots In Disguise, Transformers More Than Meets The Eye, or both, then you might be interested in what Multiversity Comics has cooked up. Chad Bowers was able to get a very detailed interview in with John Barber, writer for RID, and James Roberts, writer for MTMTE. It has been roughly a year since both series started, and this interview provides insight on what their creators have planned for the future, and what they've thought about the past. Check out an excerpt below, while the entire interview is available at Multiversity.
Congratulations, guys, on an amazing first year! But before we gush too much about the here and now, let’s start at the beginning… or the end of the previous series, rather. Walk us through the close of the last Transformers ongoing series — essentially, why was it time to end it and launch two new titles in its place?
John Barber: Well, I wasn’t involved yet. I was a freelance writer in New York at the time — I’d just written the Transformers: Dark of the Moon prequels and adaptation for then-Transformers-editor Andy Schmidt. Andy asked me to pitch on a new Transformers series, and showed me a document that James had written, which was an outline for what basically became The Death of Optimus Prime, the debut issue we co-wrote and that spun into the two new ongoing series. It wasn’t until after we started working on those that I wound up getting hired to replace Andy (when he started working at Hasbro) and moving out to San Diego and becoming the Transformers editor at IDW. So I wasn’t there for the decision, but I think the previous series had run for almost three years at that point, and writer Mike Costa was ready to move on. So the idea of winding down the mostly-Earth-based comic and starting up with a new number one and a new creative team and direction made sense. Plus, that ongoing ended with a story called ‘Chaos’ that had two components–one taking place on Earth and one on Cybertron, and they came out biweekly, alternating stories each issue. The success of that suggested there was a market for more Transformers comics, so I think the idea of doing two ongoings came into being.
James Roberts: I don’t have much to add to that, I’m afraid! I remember that a second ongoing had been planned for some time, and that it was going to launch after ‘Chaos’, but it wasn’t until relatively late in the day — perhaps at the point that Mike decided he wanted to move on — that the decision was taken to actually close down his ongoing and launch two new titles, both from issue 1. I think there was even talk about The Death of Optimus Prime being numbered issue 125, and the numbering carrying on from there. A ‘clean’ relaunch was better, in the end.
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