TRANSFORMERS @ 20 I: TFORMERS SUMMER SPECIAL

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Get ready for Reload, Dreamwave-style. 2004 marks the 20th anniversary of the Transformers property. Dreamwave, having taken the comics world by storm two years ago with the debut of Transformers: Generation One, written by Chris Sarracini with art by Dreamwave head honcho and art maestro Pat Lee, has so far reengineered the Transformers for the new millennium, with comic books projects such as G1 (now in its third volume), Energon (previously Armada), The War Within (now in its second volume, The Dark Ages) and the character profile books, More Than Meets The Eye.

January was a big (think giant robots big) month for the publisher and things are about to get even bigger and hotter this summer. Dreamwave's media communications manager Candice Chan informed Newsarama that the Toronto-based publisher and the Transformers are now ready to take over the universe. Get ready for the comic book debut of Beast Wars and Robots in Disguise in the pages of the Transformers Summer Special in May and a four-issue Micromasters limited series in June.

In the first of a four-part daily focus on Transformers, it’s time to learn about the return of an all-time fan favorite Decepticon leader as well as Dreamwave’s plans for the property. There’s definitely more than meets the eye here.

[Updated 5/3/2004: Related articles:
TRANSFORMERS @ 20 II: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE
TRANSFORMERS @ 20 III: BEAST WARS
TRANSFORMERS @ 20 IV: MICROMASTERS]

But first, the big picture scenario… Transformers Summer Special, which will be a combo of several TF titles packaged into a 48-page one-shot in May, features the everlasting and the original Generation One characters by ongoing series writer Brad Mick and artist Pat Lee; the first comic book appearance of Beast Wars by Mick and DW’s Transformers character designer Don Figueroa; writer Adam Patyk and artist Rob Ruffs take on the Robots in Disguise; and last but not the least, veteran TF writer and The War Within’s Simon Furman teaming up with artist James Raiz in an Energon tale.

June’s Micromasters miniseries is handled by co-writers Adam Patyk and Brad Mick with Rob Ruffs on art.

“The Summer Special is ideal to give people a flavor of what's to come,” Pat Lee told Newsarama. “Many TF fans have been asking for Beast Wars and DW's take on other Tranformers titles, so the Summer Special will showcase or at least give a glimpse of what DW's up to with the Transformers property.

The format will be four nine-page stories based on the Beast Wars, Energon, Generation One and Robots in Disguise Transformer franchises. “The stories will actually tie into their respective titles and mythos, but will be completely accessible and self-contained; ensuring that any fan can come in and get a taste for each version without having to be an expert in Transformers history,” Dreamwave’s Creative Director James McDonough explained. “We’re also including an intro page that will give the fans the 411 on each particular incarnation. And similar to our new policy on “zero” and “half” issues, this will be the only place that you’ll ever be able to get these stories, because they’ll never be reprinted in a trade or any other format. I’m a big fan of the old school annuals and event one-shots from back in the day, and I’m hopeful that if the Transformers Summer Special is successful, fans will see more and more of these types of projects from us in the future.

“Ah…but the really big news about the Transformers Summer Special is a huge contest insert that will allow readers to not only win a slew of cool Transformers gear provided by us and our various licensing brethren, but also the chance to pick the next big-budget Transformers mini-series from Dreamwave. The series will debut in 2005 and the results will be announced this summer.

“For the most part, the Summer Special is to introduce Beast Wars and RID to the fans and show the spin that DW will put on it,” DW’s Art Director Rob Ruffs added. “There will be bits and pieces from the original TF continuity with a DW twist. Kinda like the same as was done with G1. A bit of old and new!

“I don’t want to give anything away here, what I will say is that the Summer Special will be a treat for all TF fans as well as appeal to new fans, we can give something to our loyal G1 and Energon fans with stories of each.”

A project of such scale and imagination requires the most experienced Transformers experts to tackle and Lee is confident that the creative teams assigned to the task have the competitive edge to carry the project through. “Our TF team has a great understanding of the property, Mick and Patyk live and breathe the world of TF and it's awesome to have these guys tackle the TF universe with their knowledge on the property. Ruff and Don have been working on multiple TF projects for DW and it's no surprise that they were given the Summer Special to work on.”

“These guys have continually put it down when it comes to Transformers. Look at the G1 ongoing series, War and Peace, and Generation One: Transformers MTMTE if you have any questions about the quality of their work,” McDonough added.

This year being the 20th birthday of the property, Lee is not about to close the year with a whimper of a celebration. “We have a lot of interesting and exciting books slated to come out shortly. Unfortunately, we don't want to give away too much but we do have a lot of things planned for TF fans,” he assured.

McDonough: “We have some really big plans scheduled for the end of the year. One of which is to constantly surprise our fans with “little extras” such as the bonus Megatron story in issue [Transformers: Generation One] #4, as well as several contests and fun events for this year’s convention circuit. Another, and probably the most exciting, treat for the fans will be a much lengthier collaboration between Pat Lee and Brad Mick scheduled for the end of this year. Also, expect the Transformers 20th anniversary banner to grace all of our covers for the rest of the year.”

Generation One

Brad Mick on the G1 tale in the Summer Special: “Following the events of the Megatron bonus story from G1 #4, we’re going to follow that loveable tyrant as he heads to a tropical world looking to kick back and work on his tan — yeah right! Megs is on a mission to rebuild the Decepticon army and is proceeding to dredge up as many new recruits as possible. Unfortunately, some of these “recruits” may not be too gung ho about signing up.”

“Megatron amassing a new army before heading back to Cybertron can only add up to one thing… and that’s Trouble with a capitol “T!”

Energon

Moving on, Simon Furman believes that Energon has the potential to be the next big thing. “For me, [my favorite TF version]'ll always be G1. As much as I enjoy Beast Wars, Armada and Energon, there's something pure and exciting about the original characters in their original forms. That said, Armada/Energon is building nicely into a little G1 of its own, and I'm glad to be at the forefront of that. With G1/The War Within, there are a certain number of limitations. Some things just can't happen. But with Energon... anything can happen. And will.”

One of the highlights of his run will be, as teased upon earlier, the return of the one and only Megatron in the pages of April’s Energon #22.

“At the end of Armada, he's blasted point-blank by some fairly ticked off Autobots and subsequently consumed by Unicron (just before he's blown through a black hole),” Furman explained. “His body is 'digested' and his Spark (lifeforce) absorbed into Unicron's own (heavily-shielded) Spark Core. 'Burp'.”

“[In Energon #22], ten years [have] passed, in which time Megatron (still a conscious entity) becomes aware again. He doesn't like being there on little bit. By the time we reach Energon, he's grown powerful all over again, and now he wants out. Even if it means striking a deal with Optimus Prime, who he contacts telepathically.

This is the same Megatron. “But with a whole slew of new powers and abilities, mental and physical. His new body not only runs on but can manipulate pure energon,” the writer added.

“Megatron's still one step away from actually getting out of Unicron. That'll happen around issue #26. But when he does, his first target is pretender-to-the-throne Scorponok. Oh, and Starscream's coming back too, did I mention that. He and Megatron are bound to bump bumpers!”

The Energon story for the Summer Special is, however, different in a lot of ways, the scribe said. “For a start, it's out of continuity. It's set a little further into the Energon continuity (than the corresponding issue of the monthly) and so yes, Megatron is back... in all his badass glory. Another difference, the whole story is told from the bad guys' perspective, so we really start to see what makes them tick.”

Expect to also see “triumph/tragedy, war/peace, appearance/reality, blood/thunder... the usual stuff.”

“Since I’ve joined the Dreamwave crew, the goal has been to apply some manner of consistency and quality control to not only the Transformers line, but all of DW’s future projects. It’s taken a bit longer than I would have liked (due to several previous commitments, deals and other assorted nonsense) but I am confident that we will be on-track by mid 2004. Just take a look at the Transformers titles from two years ago and compare them to what we’re releasing today… I’d say things are starting to move along quite nicely. Over the course of the coming year, we will continue to work on defining each and every brand that we tackle and will eventually focus on separating DW into several separate wings of publishing. As we continue to trim away a lot of the fat and apply more of a focus and goal set, I think fans will be pleasantly surprised by what Dreamwave will have to offer when it comes to the Transformers franchise,” McDonough concluded.

More on Beast Wars, RID and Micromasters in the next few days.

[Jeffbot]

DW can't crank Beast Wars out fast enough for me. Looking forward to the summer special and subsequent BW title (hopefully).

[DCON]

I like it....I like it alot!.... lol ... cant wait!

[Lex]

I really like how DW is exploring pretty much every aspect of the Transformers universe with their license. I'm amazed at how much energy they've been putting into this property. It just makes me discover my love of Transformers all over again.

[scan2001]

Wow! I can't wait.

[MicroZone]

a contest to pick the next TF mini-series...?!!

:::uncontrollable joy:::

[Michael Norton]

I agree with Lex. I'm glad they're exploring all aspects of the TF Universe. And here's the big reason why.Variety.Choice.

I personally will always love G1 more than any other but I'm glad others can enjoy Beast Wars,RiD and Energon. Heck, with Simon Furman having written "War Within" which I liked alot I may even check out Energon.

What kept me away from it previously was that awful cartoon.

Anyhow, I'm all happy now. This really brightened what was becoming a downer day.

Michael Norton

[FIG]

The coloring is awesome.

[Charles RB]

MICROMASTERS! WOOOOOOOOO!

[KingStalin]

The new G1 title is aweosme, still can't believe sunstorm is in it. I can't wait to try beast wars and micromasters, yet not a big fan of Energon. The kiddie angle is just not for me.

[www.Decepticon-Matrix.com]

This Summer Special is sounding better everyday!

Really looking forward to Beast Wars, RID, and MicroMasters.

G1, Energon, and War Within have all been excellent titles so far.

Cory K

[starvenger]

Originally posted by Michael Norton
I agree with Lex. I'm glad they're exploring all aspects of the TF Universe. And here's the big reason why.Variety.Choice.

I personally will always love G1 more than any other but I'm glad others can enjoy Beast Wars,RiD and Energon. Heck, with Simon Furman having written "War Within" which I liked alot I may even check out Energon.

What kept me away from it previously was that awful cartoon.

Anyhow, I'm all happy now. This really brightened what was becoming a downer day.

Michael Norton

The couple of episodes of the Energon cartoon that I've seen are better than the first few eps of Armada, I'll give it that. Still don't like the look of Optimus Megazord though. Which is odd, since I like Optimus Prime and I like Megazords.

Anyways, I guess that BW will, like the cartoon, be in G1 continuity, unless they ignore the framing sequences in MTMTE.

[Aquaboy]

Any chance that some of the Beast Wars/Machine cartoon writers are being tagged for the comics? I really enjoyed what Bob Skir did with BeastMachines... well under the constraints of Hasbro of course.

[Pariah]

I always seem to be behind in my Transformers continuity. What is distinctive about Robots in Disguise from G1?

[Cmdr_Y]

Originally posted by Jeffbot
DW can't crank Beast Wars out fast enough for me. Looking forward to the summer special and subsequent BW title (hopefully).

Same here! I loved the Beast Wars Cartoon AND I still have the complete run of toys. True, they are all packed away in stryo peanuts and rubbermaid containers, but they're still there! I think I'll have to break them out by Summer.

I really hope they can put together an on-going for Beast Wars.

[www.Decepticon-Matrix.com]

Originally posted by Pariah
I always seem to be behind in my Transformers continuity. What is distinctive about Robots in Disguise from G1?

Robots in Disguise (RID) was a distinct line of Transfoerms toys and cartoon in the US. It was produced following Beast Machines, but before Armada. See the following links for a quick catch-up on the line. Great toys, highly articulated. Good but not great cartoon.

http://www.transfandom.com/rid/main/
http://www.Decepticon-Matrix.com/ridnews.html

[Benjamin Ong]

Originally posted by Pariah
I always seem to be behind in my Transformers continuity. What is distinctive about Robots in Disguise from G1?

Decepticon-Matrix.com has given some much-needed links to RID inof... OR you could check in again later for part two of our special focus on Dreamwave's Transformers projects where we'll reveal all about DW's RID

[ramberk]

Originally posted by Pariah
I always seem to be behind in my Transformers continuity. What is distinctive about Robots in Disguise from G1?

UGH, headache time!

Continuity wise, Robots in Disguise has no connection to G1. Fans make up connections, but thats just fandom. The storylines between the two toylines do not intersect or connect or anything.

Robots in Disguise is just a new iteration of the Transformers idea with no connection to any prior cartoon. Its a stand alone series.

Similarly Transformers Armada is a restart of the Transformers idea with no connection to any prior cartoon. Transformers Energon is a sequel or continuation of Transformers Armada.

The remainder Transformer cartoons belong to a single continuity. Except that the G1 episodes "Rebirth" did not 'happen' in Japanese Transformer continuity.

Wooh. Any more questions? As far the article, yes, I am very excited about the DW and TF. I will be picking up all of the new titles. Kudoes to the writers (Furman and Mick) and all of the great DW artists.

[AlexLothos]

Whoooooo! I don't know which title the cover goes to, but I'll be buying that one with the original Predicons on it!!!!!!!!!!

Bring on the Beast Wars!!!!!!!!! Lots of it! Come on, DW- make this an ongoing series!!!!!!!

[Benjamin Ong]

Originally posted by AlexLothos
Whoooooo! I don't know which title the cover goes to, but I'll be buying that one with the original Predicons on it!!!!!!!!!!

Um, that's the cover to the Transformers Summer Special, which features stories from G1, Energon, RID and Beast Wars.

[ZacWilliam]

To give a little more detail on RiD:

Officially a seperate continuity (although as said some fans have invented conections to G1) RiD is an adaption of the "Transformers: Car Robots" Anime that was shown here in the US between BM and Armada. It has a very strong Comedy side to it compaired to other TF shows (along with the requisate serious action and adventure) and while it is officially seperate from G1 it made LOTS of references to/borrowed lots of plot points from G1 continuity.

For more specific info on RiD head to:

http://bwtf.com/tfrid/


-ZacWilliam, the breakout character from RiD was Skybyte who was probably has the biggest cult TF following since Waspinator.

[Big Grim]

Originally posted by starvenger
The couple of episodes of the Energon cartoon that I've seen are better than the first few eps of Armada, I'll give it that. Still don't like the look of Optimus Megazord though. Which is odd, since I like Optimus Prime and I like Megazords.

Anyways, I guess that BW will, like the cartoon, be in G1 continuity, unless they ignore the framing sequences in MTMTE.

hmm, he looks more like Voltron to me. Read the Energon comic, it kicks so much more ass than the show. I do believe that they'll follow the framework from MTMTE, to do otherwise would be disappointing. Can't wait to see Don's renditions of the Maximals and Predacons, and I'm looking forward to seeing how James Raiz's artwork looks now. As for Rob Ruff, never seen his stuff, so it should be interesting. Can't wait to see what kinda stories they have for us. I'm looking forward to R.I.D., but I can't wait for Beast Wars.

[beta-ray]

Bring on the Beasts!!!

[utiti77]

Originally posted by ramberk
Continuity wise, Robots in Disguise has no connection to G1. Fans make up connections, but thats just fandom.

Originally posted by ZacWilliam
To give a little more detail on RiD:

Officially a seperate continuity (although as said some fans have invented conections to G1)

So now you have it, folks : when franchise-owners say they want to please the fans first and foremost... They lie.

I'm anxiously waiting for the 2005 summer special in which we will have ten new stories with their own continuities that will not only contradict each other, but also contradict the continuities of the comics they will be based on ! Niii-hah !! Fucked-up continuities, that's all we need in this industry !!!

u77

[pah25]

The sooner they get Simon Furman writing all the TF titles the better.