SDCC 2014 is still underway, and with it comes news about the Transformers comic books from the IDW panel.
Included here is…
• More than Meets the Eye – info on story direction
• Robots in Disguise – info on story direction
• Combiner Wars – info on creative team and story details
• Transformers: Windblade – looking back on the series, which just wrapped up, plus the character’s future in RID and Windblade Returns
• Transformers: Primacy – story details and teases
• Transformers: Punishment – details on future availability
• Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone – creative team, premise, how it will tie into the other IDW books
• Angry Birds Transformers – creative team, why it’s being made, and story details
• Transformers v. G.I. Joe – creative details, inspirations, story teases, and how well it’s been doing sales-wise
• Q&A with other misc. info
Check out the full panel details after the jump! The Transformers-related panelists were John Barber, Mairghread Scott, Livio Ramondelli, Michael Kelly and Tom Scioli.
Trasformers: Robots in Disguise – John Barber still writing, Andrew Griffith still the main artist. Back on Earth with Optimus Prime in command, fighting new Decepticon leader Galvatron. Hunting for ‘mysterious object” on Earth. Everyone loves Thundercracker and Buster.
Transformers More Than Meets The Eye – James Roberts still writing, Alex Milne still the main artist. Rodimus and Megatron leading the Lost Light in search of the Knights of Cybertron. Teases return of old favorites, plus more horror and sci-fi elements in addition to personal drama, which will all come togerther to make for an epic story.
Transformers: Windblade – Mairghread Scott wrote it. Sarah Stone was on art. Character was introduced in Dark Cybertron; Windblade series itself just finished up her first adventure, but she will return in other stories like RID and Windblade Returns (which Scott & Stone will be working on). Stressed that the response to both the character and series has been extremely positive. Said issue #4 contained lots of twists.
Transformers: Primacy – Conclusion of the Cybertron war prequel trilogy (the first two being Autocracy and Monstrosity). Written by Flint Dille and Christ Metzen with art by Livio Ramondelli. Adds lots of crazy ideas and stories to the series, and the war will really start to heat up. One of the biggest battles! Livio had a hand in the story this time, co-plotting along with the other guys – he notes he was able to add things to the book which he thinks are really fun.
Transformers: Punishment – Digital series written by John Barber, with art by Livio Ramondelli. Currently available on Madefire (Windows 8) for free, but will be coming to other platforms too.
Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone – Written by Shane McCarthy and drawn by Guido Guidi, with covers by Alex Milne & Josh Perez. Will be a new story that is closely tied into MTMTE. Drift leaves after taking the blame for the Overlord incident and now, after one whole year, he’s on his own.
Combiner Wars – Unfortunately, details on this were a bit vague and sketchy. It sounds as if it will be a series that John Barber, Mairghread Scott, Sarah Stone, and Livio Ramondelli will all be working on. It will be a toy tie-in event. Seeds for this have been being planted for a while now in the comics. The war is over… but now it’s time for a new one to start. Things will escalate quickly. They noted that combiners are popular with fans.
Humble Bundle – Hasbro’s Michael Kelly detailed the previously-reported Transformers Humble Bundle, and its charity purpose. You can name your own price for the comics, and the proceeds will go towards charity – it benefits the Hasbro Children’s Fund, and in addition you will also get access to a catalog of comics. Many titles and series are available. Overall, it has already collected over $100,000 so far.
Transformers: Angry Birds – Crossover comic. Written by John Barber with art by Livio Ramondelli and Marcelo Ferreira. Covers will be by Livio Ramondelli, Casey Coller, John-Paul Bove, Guido Guidi, and Sarah Stone. A spin-off of the game and toys that are coming. The premise is that the Allspark falls to Piggy Island, and the Transformers’ personalities merge with the inhabitants. It’s meant to be a comedic comic – it is in fact very funny, the panel says. Should be a lot of fun. One of the Piggies might have Starscream’s qualities.
Transformers vs G.I. Joe – Written by both John Barber and Tom Scioli, the latter of whom is also on art duties. Trypticon will show up in issue 2! Meant to be classic and old-school and capture the look of the original 80’s comics. Tom created an outline detailing the first 4 years of the timeline. Issue #1 sold out before it was released, and the SDCC Rob Liefeld cover exclusive version also sold out. Barber was unsure if Scioli wanted to do the project in old-school style at first, but Scioli was on board. He told Tom not to get too excited, and that it wasn’t set in stone. Tom immediately began working up a 100+ page outline, which became the first four years outline as noted above. Scioli noted that the TF comics haven’t looked like this since the 80’s, and that it’s the best comic he’s made in his life. He drew the Diamond Edition cover, and the 2nd printing of convention edition cover.
Q: Is a Transformers vs. My Little Pony crossover possible?
A: No plans, unfortunately. Tom Scioli imagines the crossovers. He’s focused on TF vs. Joe, though everyone always asks him about it, even his sister.
Q: Are there plans for Grimlock and/or the Scavengers to appear again in the current ongoings?
A: Definitely, and Livio also notes that Grimlock will be in Primacy, and he was originally going to be in TF vs. Joe #2. Tom figured he’d replace him with Trypticon due to Grimlock’s appearance in Age of Extinction.
Q: Regarding Dark Cybertron – are Shockwave and Bumblebee really dead? Did James Roberts plan all of it?
A: Barber and Roberts met with Hasbro at RI, and had to put out some bad ideas in order to work them into being good ideas. Needed 15 minutes to brainstorm. They talked it over with the editors. Everything was thrown out onto the table. Barber jokingly blamed Mark Weber. We’ll see the aftermath of Dark Cybertron/Crystal City in RID #33.
Q: Does Hasbro dictate characters in the comics? Does Hasbro say “these are the toys, we want comics about them”, or is it that IDW says “these are the comics, we want toys based on them”?
A: There may be some guidance, but all stories come from creative teams, not top-down. Scioli denies the former dictation and says that business model was used moreso back in the 80s. Now, stories are from the creative teams.
Kelly says that these are living characters, with their own stories to tell. So, Hasbro doesn’t force things on them, and the story progresses naturally. Barber says that sometimes characters are used that haven’t been used before, but only if they fit creatively.
Q: Some of the Transformers characters are different ages. What about a TF character who doesn’t have the millions of years to fall on, and would that perhaps be an interesting concept to explore?
A: Scott says they actually did start to expand on that with Windblade, who had no prior knowledge of what it means to be an Autobot or a Decepticon. With Windblade #4, they wanted to open up the TF universe as much as possible. On the subject of breaking down the black and white of Bot vs. Con, we’ll see more characters with their own agendas and storylines. Scioli also mentioned the concept of some of the TFs in the original cartoon being built on Earth, and how that could also play into the aging perspective.
Q: Regarding Aerialbots, will we see the Joes make their own?
A: Scioli says that anything can happen…
Q: Why make Angry Birds Transformers?
A: Scioli gave a joking answer, and Barber said that having worked on Dark Cybertron, he wanted to do something fun for all ages.
Q: Regarding Ariel/Elita-One, will she show up in the new Robots in Disguise cartoon or in the IDW-verse?
A: Barber says she will have no involvement with the RID cartoon, though noted about Alpha Trion showing up again in the IDW-verse.
Q: Is there a possible conspiracy planned involving the Joes taking over the Transformers, or the TFs wanting to get rid of the Joes?
A: Scioli says to keep reading. The Transformers have been fighting for a VERY long time, while Joe team has been fighting for centuries, so it’s an interesting concept.
YoungPrime
Well you could say the same about Thunderclash who doesn't have a figure at all.
Adding a character to the IDW lineup due to Hasbro releasing a toy is not a crime as long is it's done right. And overall I haven't had an issue with it.
Plus Crosscut will be bought on sight!
(Actually he was pre-ordered on sight)
Anguirus
I think what they really mean is that Hasbro isn't really touching or dictating the use of the main characters. That was unimaginable as recently as Beast Wars, where DiTillio and Forward were dealing with Hasbro literally demanding which lead characters would live, which would die, and when.
In IDW, Shockwave can murder Bumblebee and then commit Suicide by Cop, Megatron can defect to the Autobots, Prowl can join Devastator, and we complain about side characters like "Shockwave Henchman #1" and "Starscream's Shifty Advisor" being inspired by planned toy releases. That's totally acceptable, it's not the tail wagging the dog like in the '80s. It's just synergy.
The "toy moments" in DC are annoying, but they really aren't hard to ignore. In contrast, the entire history of Transformers comics 1984-1992 can only be understood if you know about the toy releases. It makes no intrinsic sense otherwise who gets killed and why, who gets introduced and why.
BWfan86
So, will the new wave of deluxes still come with IDW pack-in comics in the future?
G.B. Blackrock
If that was his intention, he failed miserably.
While there's an undeniable "old school" vibe to this art, NO Transformers comic, of ANY era, ever looked like this.
GizmoTron
Skybyte debuted in RiD well before the toy.
It can work both ways. Skybyte, Swerve, Tailgate, Whirl, Skids, Brainstorm, etc. were all characters that the comic used first and they received a new toy because of it.
Hasbro's influence is obvious with the Spotlight issues, the random cameos in Dark Cybertron, and a few of the designs. But even though Hasbro has the "hey put this guy in here" authority, it seems like each of those is still used the way IDW wants to use them. Although I have my doubts that giving a whole miniseries to Windblade was entirely IDW's idea.
Splendic
Well, you're ignoring Crosscut, Ratrap, Tankor, Dreadwing, the Starscream upgrade, Jiaxhus "adaptive body armor", Skybite, Goldbug, Waspinator, Scoop and on and on…
Each one developed as a toy first, and then accompanied by some eye rolling moment/line/issue to help shoehorn them into a story/universe that had (up to that point) been evolving and expanding much more naturally.
Autovolt 127
In all honesty, I'm fine with this.
Though I wished Hasbro was more active with adding the current character in the cast who have yet to get a toy like Chromedome or a new Prowl.
Thelonicon
Megatron IS getting a new toy. That said, I'm certainly not expecting the others anytime soon. Maybe Getaway if they ever decide to make a new powermaster figure, but even then it will be an Earth mode toy like most of the recent MTMTE cast figures.
PredaconElder
Are you serious? Other than Nightbeat whose toy isn't even out the rest of the new cast (Megatron, Riptide, Nautica, Getaway, Silverstreak, Ravage) don't even have new toys. Really the only stealth advertising I could see is maybe the Protectobots, but their toys aren't even out and First Aid was put on the ship like two years ago. If they really did put more effort into toy advertising Sandstorm who we see in flashbacks with his toy form would have more presence and Black Shadow/Sky Shadow wouldn't have died like a chump.
Seripa
cofcofWindbladecofcof
optimusmegas
i felt that way about crosscut. he just shows up and you have swerve talking him up like the greatest autobot ever. he shows up out of no where and is apparently on the lost light the whole time and swerve dumps a whole backstory for the sake of a toy.
Technostorm98
Just when things were wrappin up: find the Knights of Cybertron, restore the planet. Find Alpha Trion, here wha he has to say. The Combiner Wars will probably start because of whatever Alpha Trion says, if they find Aplha Trion at all.
YoungPrime
Some of those Spotlight issues from last year that were later released with figures did feel kind of rushed.
I had more of an issue with Tankor's weak cameo in Dark Cybertron than any other character that was added due to it's upcoming toy. Especially when new characters like Tarn's toy I feel are way overdue.
But Tankor was more of an exception than a rule for me since I'm a collector anyway.
Most of the other additions into IDW were fine.
optimusmegas
well it's a good thing they're touching on the aftermath of dark cybertron a little more
YoungPrime
Livio's art did take some getting use to for me but he's a very cool guy!
One of the few artist/writers who makes an effort to interact with readers on IDW's site.
He's even spoken on the issues regarding the last 2 arc's aligning with current books:
http://boards.idwpublishing.com/3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16741&sid=da814826b796e0ca8381b925f027004d
That being said, I loved the first two arcs and I'm really looking forward to Primacy as well.
Splendic
Only thing I'm not buying is that Hasbro's not forcing "new toy" characters on the creative teams.
Dreadwing (fan favorite or not) felt a little forced, all the random "body swapping" never felt natural, very little explanation was given to the new Beast Formers (especially after story integrations for the Dinobots and cassettes having beast modes), Crosscut? Etc…
As much as I like (love) the comics, even MTMTE feels a little compromised with the cast additions seemingly being informed by who's currently on the TRU shelves.
I could have it backward, of course, but it sure doesn't feel that way.
And normally, it wouldn't matter much, but all these shoehorned characters kind of take away from the long (and previously unhindered) storytelling that went on with the original casts.
Mechafire
SDCC 2014 IDW Transformers Panel News