Simon Furman November Q&A

I disagree. I think "convoluted" is a good characterization of what was happening with the Infiltration universe... and it would seem to me that many of Furman's remarks in this Q&A confirm that in many cases, he was throwing half-baked ideas and side plots out there without really considering what he was going to do with them.

I would almost liken it to desperation... the notion that if he had enough irons in the fire, IDW wouldn't dare hand the reins over to anyone else. In the end though, I suspect that is precisely the reason that they did change direction.

I don't think he's bad... just mediocre by the standards of comics-writing outside the Transformers oeuvre. He earned his chops by being one of the first writers to really treat Transformers seriously... but I think he has many serious flaws as a writer that have only been magnified in recent years.

It also reflects a different style of writing... and so it's not surprising that fans are polarized. Furman writes events. He doesn't write characters. Most of his characters are just mouthpieces for the plot, and tend to speak exactly the same way... and when the plot gets too scattered (and certainly by his own admission, rushed), the whole thing hurts.

Interesting... the early issues of AHM I found the characterizations to be really weak, flat, cliches... but they're getting better and better, to the point that I was sort of taken by surprise.

I wouldn't say the PLOT of AHM is all that fascinating (though it's getting a bit more involved as it proceeds), but the character exploration is something I've really felt was missing from Transformers for a long time now.

Again, personal preference plays a role... I don't really give a crap about "cosmic space opera" as a genre... so Furman's plots don't grab me at all. If I want that kind of writing, I'll go to Grant Morrisson. The appeal of Transformers has always been the expansive cast of interesting characters, and so naturally the new focus of McCarthy's AHM is quite welcome.

I'm not going to say McCarthy's writing is fantastic... I found Spotlight Blurr to be pretty bland... but his work is noticeably steadily improving, and in a direction I like, so that's exciting. As opposed to Furman, who I feel is in decline.

Agreed. Like I said, I did like the Infiltration set-up. The idea of the "secret war between autobots and decepticons on contemporary Earth" is absolutely my favourite setting for Transformers storytelling. I don't need humans stealing the show, but I think they still need to be there because the juxtaposition of TFs and Earth culture gives them 90% of their interesting context.

So yeah... the main story of AHM, with the Cons subjugating Earth (presumably, though all we see is NYC) and by extension the entire universe, is pretty lame and poorly executed. But McCarthy is starting to dig himself out of those early pitfalls with some nice character writing. I hope he keeps it up.

See, I think there's a new generation of TF writers upcoming, who have the grasp of the characters that the old generation of G1 writers never quite had... because for them it was a job, and not a beloved chunk of their childhood (though at this point I have to pay customary homage to Bob Budiansky for giving us those characters in the first place... thanks Bob!). From the little bits I've seen, I like Forrest Lee's stuff, and Nick Roche has some potential as well. I'm interested to see what happens when we get out from under the Furman hegemony.

Though I hated Megatron:Origin and Spotlight:Ramjet, so it's not all sweetness and light.

Dunno. Because it gives me a pleasant feeling of closure and autonomy to type it at the end of each post?

zmog

An interesting read all round... Nice to see there was more to the Magnificence than just being an easy plot device, just a shame it wasn't played out more. And especially glad to hear that he'll be bringing Verity and Jimmy back into it somewhere towards the end.

It does bug me a lot though about his comments on AHM... If McCarthy was given full reign to go with his own story, and it was up to editorial to work it into the established fiction, who's more to blame? And although he says Denton is "keeping a careful eye on things", I can't see much fo that happening so far. But I'll hold and wait to see what Max. Dinobots brings up before passing too much judgement on them.

Just quoting this because, quite honestly, I disagree with Furman; I'd like to see TF go ongoing again, as opposed to having to wait a few months before the story resumes. Even if they get more than one writer on duties, if they can establish a running plot to focus on it could work out for the best... Anyone else agree?

I dare say the magnificence was just an all-plot-knowing device simply because he had to truncate and fit 12 issues worth of plot into 4 issues.

Wouldn't be surprised...

zmog

Some interesting discussions...

To the poster who loves AHM but not the Furman stuff, out of curiosity: is the cartoon series your favourite "version" of TF? Nothing derogatory implied, but it seems that the main fans of AHM (and Dreamwave's G1 stuff) are often those who see the original G1 cartoon as the "proper" mythos.

I haven't read AHM so can't comment, but from what I read it's kind of written a little similarly to Dreamwave; Dreamwave's output was very clearly geared towards fans who remembered the cartoon far more than the original comics, and based their characterisations, "in-jokes" ("Wow" Enter the Nightbird!" etc) and plotting on this.

So, I had to chime in on Furman. It's no secret that I consider the original Marvel US/UK decade-long saga my "definitive" TF storyline. As such, I rate 1980s-era Furman very highly, and will gladly defend him and Uncle Bob from any detractors. However, I am forced to agree with some on here that in recent years he's kind of lost the plot a little. I think he did start with IDW with the - perhaps slightly arrogant - assumption that he's "THE" Transformers writer (mainly because people like Mad Brick and Chris Sarracini proved so lousy), and will have as long as he likes to spin out the stories he wants to tell.

He just seems to have run a little off the boil. Furman needs some kind of restraint. In the 1980s, the restraint he had was having to fit in with whatever Marvel US was doing. Ultimately, this gave us some great stories. Marvel US' restraint - having to include the latest wave of action figures. Again, some good stories. With no restraint, it seems any TF writer gets a bit self-indulgent and plodding, ultimately giving us disappointment.

Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed most of the Furman stories I've read, and I look forward to any in the future (though I'd love some from him that weren't so continuity-heavy; you know, just some fun, exciting TF stories like wot we used to get). However, I'm also quite happy to have other writers take a stab at the franchise. I haven't read AHM (only collect TPBs) but will approach it with an open mind.

And although everything fitting in continuity is important to me, the MOST important thing is that I'm reading a good story. Therefore, that'll be the criteria I judge this - and any future TF comic series - on.

If you mean me, no... not at all. I'm a Marvel canon guy, or at least a Tech Specs hardliner. Before I saw the cartoon or read the comics, the original profiles were my guide to the world of Transformer, and are to this day. The cartoon continuity stuff I often refer to as "wrong".

It certainly felt that way from the outset... which is why I was less than pleased to see that was the way IDW was heading (especially with Matere's very cartoony art). Despite my frustrations with Furman's pitfalls, I still liked the more complex and mature tone his stuff had.

However, I'm really liking AHM now, probably because it's shifted away from obvious cartoon cliches, and has started to delve more into the individual characters and how they interact. As you can imagine, for a kid who memorized all the Tech Spec profiles, this is a big selling point for me. Not sure if it will keep up the pace, but so far I'm liking it.

(except for some reason they're playing Wheeljack as an eggheaded techie worry-wart... which is pretty much the exact opposite of his proper daredevil gearhead persona... a minor quibble.)

I couldn't agree more. This is the danger for almost any fan-favourite creator, especially in the comics medium. As soon as they get too self-indulgent, as soon as the usual limitations of the medium are lifted, the quality of the work often plummets. I'm not sure what it is about having to be creative under certain restrictions, but it seems to often yield some of the best work.

These days most, with most comic series being continuity nightmares, a good run with a good creative team, for as long as it lasts, is about the best one can hope for.

zmog