I mean, besides the Arcee situation, could he be brought back in? I loved his run, honestly. What do you guys think? Snarky responses welcome, but I'd prefer some serious conversation.
No. He's pretty much become a hack, a shell of his former self. Infiltration era was solid but everything since then....
Give him a title to play with in the vein of TF/GIJoe, and keep him the fuck away from the proper IDW universe.
No, not for a long time. Why? Because he never seemed to update his writing style to better view the times/markets. Both his series [IDW G1 and ReGeneration One] ended up stretching over many subplots, build up a lot of suspense and get resolved in unsatisfactory ways. The guy has serious pacing issues in his writing. That's not to say that other writers are better at that, but at least they offer something in exchange for their pacing issues [eg MTMTE Issue 15, the Overlord fight is almost non-existent, which seemed like a waste of a build up, but that's backed by solid character development and exchanges]. His run was not that bad [although Maximum Dinobots is still one of my worst TF comics during his writing], it's just that much better and more imaginative things have happened since, which put everything into perspective.
I liked his -tion series, but I like the current two mains better. I could see having him do some side-books, or mid-war books or something, but not a main one.
He had some strong ideas that I wish the current writers would take notes. But the execution was lacking for much of his work especially Regeneration. I still don't know what the point of the Dead Universe was. Maybe a prequel to Infiltration, but otherwise I think it's best he stayed away.
I mean I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I'm not actively hoping for it either. But if he did return, it would have to be under the stipulation that the editor: a) keeps him away from the "mystical/comic threat" bullshit he loves cramming in his stuff b) keeps him away from fembots c) keeps him from doing that thing where he sets up millions upon millions of plot threads then only starts resolving them in the final issue(s) in a super anticlimactic fashion
The Dead Universe provided a cosmic threat without being Unicron. And a place for Galvatron & Nemesis Prime to be from.
No I am a huge fan of his work -tions series and maximum dinobots was a blast.ReGeneration One was also a great nostalgic storyline but see the thing is its time for new writers to have a chance.James Roberts and John Barber are doing a pretty solid run.Johns Continuity tracking skills and James world building is exactly what is needed ATM. Plus He really focuses too much on killing characters and less on the story.I was really disappointed how RG1 ended.Besides that He also doesn't like fembots,not that its a problem but We need a writer who happily handles both male and female characters in a story. So no
Not really. ReGen1 really felt like a writer at the end of his time with a story. It was tiring and fairly joyless. I also don't think his style quite gels with the current approach. Maybe give him a spotlight or a one shot, but not on a mini or ongoing
I think the brand has evolved beyond him at this point. There was a time there where it seemed like licensees felt he was the go-to writer for ANYTHING to do with the brand, but his many iffy reference- and guide-books are testament to the fact that Simon Furman is not a quantity you can just shuttle from one element of Transformers to another. His attempt at Animated in the UK was brutal. His last great work was the alternate-universe UK movie comics, I think, but when IDW put him on THEIR movie books, it felt like they were only doing so because hey, Furman has to be writing SOMETHING, right? RG1 seems an appropriate send-off.
I have a ton of respect for what Furman did in world-building for transformers, but the sad fact is that his writing tends to lean towards unnecessary mystical nonsense and has a tendency towards being really dry. The new IDW has reminded me what it was like to be excited for transformers related media in a way that Furman will never be able to match.
I wouldn't mind seeing him try his hand at a one-shot or mini within the current IDW verse, but otherwise I think Roberts and Barber are doing a great job without him. That said, I don't hate Furman at all, and I loved his early IDW stuff, i just think that a change of writers this far in would be detrimental to the story.
Wow, this thread is so heartless. I say: YES. I'm sure he has a few TF stories left in him, still unwritten. Whatever they are, in whichever continuity, I'd like to see them published, either as one-shots, or as mini-series. Don't put him on a book that is either an ongoing series, or has ambitions of being an ongoing, that sort of pressure stifles his strengths. The two War Within minis are still in my top 10 stories of all time. And the Armada/G1 crossover was excellent. As was Stormbringer. Interestingly, i wasnt fond of his -tion books or the Spotlights, but in his defence a lot of that may have also been an editorial mandate he had to follow.
I think he'd make an excellent editor. Imagine him at the helm, James writing one book and maybe Nick writing another. Perfection.
I still want a sequel to Genertion 2 if nothing else. That cliffhanger ending with the Liege Maximo needs to get resolved.
I think it's a shame that his last TF work was Reg1 because it left such a bad impression on the newer generations of fans that didn't read his Marvel work. I always loved his Marvel stuff and I was really enjoying his early IDW stuff before they pulled the plug too soon. I think it would be great to give him a shot to go out on a high note. I've always felt that the Spotlights should be made an ongoing with different creative teams contributing. I'd love to see Furman get a shot at writing a few more. I know Arcee was a major low point, but he also penned classics like Shockwave, Hot Rod and others.
Yes I too would set for that The cliffhanger is just annoying! We need a modern day continuation of that