TALKING TRANSFORMERS WITH PAT LEE

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Pat Lee is Transformers.

Well, at least he’s the guy who made Optimus Prime, Megatron and the Transformers cool again in the new millennium.

Lee, who is also the President of Dreamwave Productions, has been drawing the Transformers since Dreamwave first secured the highly sought after Transformers license from Hasbro at the end of 2002. Since then, the art maestro’s work has graced the pages of Transformers: Generation One Volumes One and Two, one Preview book, issue #0 of Volume 3 and Transformers: Armada #6-7. And he’s drawn 45 Transformers-related covers from the Generation One series to The War Within, Transformers/G.I. Joe and MicroMasters, plus five to ten more coming up in the next few months.

Outside of Dreamwave, he’s done the Wolverine/Punisher: Revelations Marvel Knights limited series, Superman/Batman #7, X-Men Unlimited covers and more covers for September’s Marvel Knights 2099 fifth-week event. Not bad for Lee who made his debut at the age of 16 with Culture Comics’ Target, written by Dave Watkins. Quite an impressive track record for the guy who’s first major published work was Prophet #9 with Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Studios and then went on to work on WildCATs, Wetworks, various Maximum Press projects, amongst others.

Once again, Lee’s sets his creative sights on the one thing that made him a force to be reckoned with in recent years. This October, he’s adding another popular 80’s franchise (and now a fan-favorite comic by Devil’s Due) into the mix as he teams with writers James “Brad Mick” McDonough and Adam Patyk to produce Transformers/G.I. Joe Vol. 2, a six-issue limited series from Dreamwave.

This marks the first time Lee’s tackling the Transformers after Transformers: Generation One Volume 3 #0. Most recently, he’s drawn the Devil May Cry miniseries, also from Dreamwave. It's very clear that these guys have a very special place in Lee’s heart. How does it feel to come back to his favorite big robots? “I am super hyped about this project,” Lee told Newsarama. “For this series, I'm mixing different styles, partially linear with some heavy black inks dropped and also with a semi-painted feel. It's a new look that I'm bringing to the series. It will have a taste of my G1 style and it will be my first attempt in drawing some Joe characters which I'm extremely excited about. All in all, it's great to be back on a Transformers title.”

“The one thing I love about drawing [the] TF characters is that I've memorized most of the G1 characters so I rarely look at reference. In the beginning, I had to use so many references, but now it seems to just flow out of my mind. I've never gotten tired of drawing Transformers, although some times it's nice to draw humans again, which is why I took on this project. I get to draw humans and robots in one book! Can't get cooler than that,” Lee said.

Even after all these years, his “ultimate” favorite remains Sideswipe. “My favorite car is the Lamborghini 25th Anniversary series, my first TF toy was Sideswipe and I really like how the toy transforms. I have over 30 Sideswipes, in box, loose and variations of him. It's weird, I can't get enough of the toy!”

And the Joes? “I have all the Snake Eye versions. I collected G.I. Joe at the same time as TF. I think I've watched all the G.I. Joe TV episodes and my favorite character has and always will be Storm Shadow. I'm a huge fan [of the character].”

What is the definitive Pat Lee-style, if any, when it comes to the Transformers? How does he add his personal touch to these robots? How does he stamp his own mark on these characters? Re-making the Transformers in his own image, perhaps? “Well, when we first got the license, I had some difficulties figuring out a style for the series,” Lee admitted. “Even when we were doing our original pitch to the big "H" I was going through a lot of changes in my tech/mech illustrations, style and design. Just looking at some of the toys (small heads, huge hands, big rubber tires) gave me the idea to just give the look and feel of a soft plastic style design that portrayed the general look of the TF toys. That, combined with a mix of the cartoon design, I built up a style that people enjoyed. I wanted to take the best from the cartoons, box art, and toys to develop a unique style that would please TF fans and also give a distinctive style that I could continuously illustrate. A lot of fun. That's what I love doing with any property. Even doing covers with Marvel, it gives me an opportunity to take established characters and give it my own flair.

“If you look at Jae Lee, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Adam Hughes (some of my favorite artists), they bring a certain uniqueness to characters and they bring a sense of emotion to the viewer. I have had a lot of great mentors in my career in comics and I always felt it was important to always try something different. Many people have come up to me asking why I always switch styles. Well, to simply answer that question: Depending on the character, genre and storyline, I try to establish what I feel is most suited. Whether it be stick figures, animation cell style coloring or dropping heavy blacks, the most important aspect is an artist's ability to execute the overall look and feel to pull emotions out of the reader. All in all, my goal is to be innovative and to find new levels and heights within my artistic ability.”

In the pages of The War Within: The Dark Ages, Lee introduced a new Transformer in the form of The Fallen. Will he be introducing a new Transformer this time around? “Quite possible,” he teased. “I guess we’ll just have to wait till the book comes out.”

Story-wise, it’s safe to say that it’s a happy relationship in the Dreamwave family when it comes to ideas, input and all that. “It's pretty cool. Usually James and I will throw things back and forth until we've come up with a cool concept for a story. With this particular series, I just let James “Brad Mick” go loose. I try to give our creators as much freedom as possible,” he said.



“I will be providing the majority of the covers for this series, penciling all the main covers. It was great to see Joe Ng's and Don Fig's versions of Joe/TF. Overall, I'm totally hyped about the launch. The triple gatefold cover I did for the first issue took me about a week to pencil and color. Man, it took long but at the same time, it went by pretty quick since I had a ton of fun working on it.

“There is a lot coming around the corner. We have a lot of cool news that we are flashing for 4th quarter ‘04 and 1st quarter ‘05 at San Diego Comic Con, so check us out over there. I'm definitely having a lot of fun working on all these Marvel and DC characters since throughout my 12 years in comics, the only thing I really touched from Marvel was Wolverine and Punisher back in the day. Batman/Superman #7 was my first DC book and the first time I ever touched Superman and Batman. To top it off, it was with Jeph Loeb! It was a ton of fun. Yes, I'm totally excited about doing more stuff with Marvel and DC mainly because I'm just a silly fan boy and enjoy doing my own spin on the look of the characters.”

[algertman]

Is Cobra Commander still a used car salesman?

that's what i wanna know

[pah25]

I'd like to see artwork in the style of the Wizard poster!!!

[Pariah]

Is Cobra Commander still a used car salesman?

As much as Destro still sells guns to hookers on the street corners.

[FIG]

That Snake Eyes sketch kicks ass. That is all, back to your regularly scheduled program.

[Kolimar]

Originally posted by algertman
Is Cobra Commander still a used car salesman?

that's what i wanna know

That's excellent material for world domination.

[beta-ray]

Although I can't say that Pat Lee's rendinition of the Transformers is my favorite (I really don't like the way he does Optimus' chest area), he is certainly skilled.

I am glad he is happy doing what he does. More good fortune to him!


P.S. Lee wasn't responsible for making Optimus cool again... Optimus NEVER STOPPED being cool.

[Cartoon Jay]

most useful "how to" ever...

1. Draw a perfect Optimus Prime head.
2. Add details
3. Add more details.
4. Add yet more details.

[tyopot]

don`t you think it`s time to put a stop on these 80`s revival thing?it`s getting out of hand and predictable and boring.

[deathmasterj]

Originally posted by tyopot
don`t you think it`s time to put a stop on these 80`s revival thing?it`s getting out of hand and predictable and boring.

i agree... and while we are at it we should stop this 60's thing and get rid of spider-man, x-men, fantastic four and avengers... and then get rid of the 30's and 40's stuff... start with that batman guy, he's boring now, and then superman and work up to the flash, green lantern, JLA.....

[tyopot]

Originally posted by deathmasterj
i agree... and while we are at it we should stop this 60's thing and get rid of spider-man, x-men, fantastic four and avengers... and then get rid of the 30's and 40's stuff... start with that batman guy, he's boring now, and then superman and work up to the flash, green lantern, JLA.....

i agree on the 80`s stuff,but on the 30`s,40`s stuff or the classic marvel characters.

these are the icons.

[deathmasterj]

i was being sarcastic....

to some of us this "80's stuff" is classic and iconic. We grew up with GI Joe, Transformers, He-Man etc and to us they are the same as Spider-Man, Batman etc

if you don't like it: don't buy it. It's that simple

[Diatribeeq]

Hey, I freakin' love this stuff! Pat Lee's the reason why I'm starting to get back into Transformers comics! After what? A 10 years (or so) break! lol

Dia

[Supreme Convoy]

Lee's run on the first G1 mini-series didn't really win me over. But he did a great job on the TF artwork on the Wizard's Big 80s article that had him as a dream choice for the book.

I forgot which issue it was, but when Devil's Due and Dreamwave teamed up for GI Joe/Transformers pin ups in their books, Pat Lee's Cobra/Decepticon rocked! I'm looking forward to his take on GI Joe.