The American publisher IDW have just released a chunky 100 page comic entitled Transformers: Best of the Rarities. Compiled by James Roberts it includes a bunch of Transformers UK strips from the Marvel UK days of the 1980s, a never-before seen Transformers newspaper strip try out that wasn't previously published, and much more, including a Robo-Capers full pager by Simon Furman and myself.
I was the creator and regular writer/artist on Robo-Capers but this one was written by Simon Furman as he wanted to tie it in with some other stuff that was going on in The Transfomers comic at the time. Robo-Capers usually featured robots I'd made up, but now and then I'd be asked to include Transformers characters, such as in this example.
Transformers fans might hate me saying this but I found drawing Grimlock and Dreadwind a bit of a chore. Their precise geometric shapes were just the opposite to the rounded, bouncy, flexible characters I usually drew. All the same, it made a change of pace and I was pleased with the result.
The reprint in this comic has been scanned from the original Transformers weekly and the colours have reproduced quite darkly. Here's a close up of the darkest panel that I've lightened a bit...
IDW have reprinted a few Robo-Capers before in their Transformers Classics books. Only the strips that featured Transformers characters of course. Unfortunately IDW don't send out complimentary copies and as I don't own the rights I didn't receive any reprint payment. However, I'd like to give a big thank you to my good friend Chris Ball for getting a copy of this comic and posting it to me.
Transfomers: Best of the Rarities is out now, priced $6.99 (or whatever UK comic shops are charging for it).
8 comments:
not the only time you've drawn them ^_^
luckly for all, IDW have lost the rights to Transformers so this is just them dealing with the last bits they can do.. hopefully the new license holder (there is some talk about a couple of different ones) will be able to do a decent job.. IDW have been quite lacking in quality for reprints and new stuff.. but that's besides the point here..
still, good to see some of your older stuff reprinted even if you get .. well, just the fact of seeing it being reprinted..
I didn't know IDW had lost the licence. Perhaps Marvel will gain it again?
they have been doing.. pretty rubbish stuff but only gotten away with alot due to being favoured by Hasbro.. then they got fedup ^_^
"Skybound" is the favourite to get the rights.. they were created by Robert Kirkman that did some silly zombie ripp-off stuff I gave up with after reading a couple of issues.. dull, just taking ideas from some more recent stuff and doing things that just have no interest for me.. one of these "Look, i'm soo smart for doing this for grown-ups" but quite childish.. but that's all just my personal take.. it's like when they tried to Bring Doctor Who back in 2005 (forcing the continuraton of the original series to be cut down to only one story and side-lined.. a shame really) and people like Billy Piper was boasting how she was playing the first female assitance that wasn't just a girl to get impressed with the Doctor and to be just a weak character, and she was a woman that would stand up for herself.. Cause there has never been a female Doctor Who assitance that was able to stand up for herself.. Like Barbara.. or Jo Grant, or Leela, or Tegan, or Ace, or... well.. I could go on ^_^ that kinda attuide just rubs me the wrong way..
anyway.. sorry.. ranting a bit ^_^;
I think Marvel is unlikely (and kinda hope they don't get a chance.. They got Conan back a while back so that meant they had to do 'Savage Avengers' where he was now one of the ORIGINAL avengers, and.. well.. they couldn't.. Transformers was always a bad fit into the Marvel Universe cause it just didn't work.. with Robots and robotic life being fairly common place, the Transformers weren't really anything new (even Transforming robots had been done before) and they quickly learnt and kept the Transformers on their own.. but again... Look at the mess IDW got into with there 'Hasbro-universe'.. There is a reason the one scene from the 80s MLP movie wasn't produced.. fun idea but TONS of reasons not to incldue it, and they learnt.. they don't seam to these days.. Anyway.. after all the stuff, Marvel tried to do with Conan, I believe they lost the rights again.. kinda.. Conan who is a modern day Character in the Marvel universe just doesn't work.. Suprised Micky Mouse isn't an Avenger yet... everyone else seams to be ¬_¬
Conan is still part of Savage Avengers. They just can't show or mention him on the covers. The Conan licence is complex. Titan have the rights to do Conan comics, but Marvel can still use him in Savage Avengers. He's not part of the retconed "original" Avengers by the way. They're a different team set in the stone age. Not related to Savage Avengers.
I actually enjoyed the first run of Savage Avengers. It was amusing to see Conan interact with Marvel heroes and the art was great. I'm not so struck on the second series though.
I thought it might be something like that.
Problem is.. Conan isn't the kinda character that SHOULD be a regular in something like the Marvel universe.. the odd 'team-up' like in the past maybe but... not like they would be that faithful to Conan anyway.. it's like I never liked the Marvel Godzillia comic.. It was okay at times but.. It wasn't much connected to Godzillia.. it was another character that can't really fit in the Marvel universe cause.. well.. the original Godzillia killed anyone near by due to being radioactive.. something which was removed from the second film.. over time the natural progression of how things went (with a kinda loose but following story arc) lead to Godzillia more being a hero.. but no matter what version.. It wasn't anything special in the Marvel Universe so.. pointless.
Having Conan modern day for a regular thing is.. kinda that.. there are tons of characters more and less powerful and some the same.. there just isn't a place.. that said, Marvel of the last 20 years have always been soo fast and loose with stuff.. You have characters like Hawkeye going around with his hearing aid (or have they scraped that now and forgotten he went deaf?) while at the same time, he has worked with characters who would be able to instantly cure that.. making it a bit odd.. Not that DC is any better.. they remove any harmful side-effects of the Lazrus pits so Bruce Wayne could get his paralysis healed while at the same time, once they decided to make the Killing Joke fit in the normal cannon, Barbera Gordon is stuck in a wheelchair.. despite having access to tons of cheap and easy ways to cure her.. when companies keep make up their minds if they are set in the real world or not, things just go to hell.. (probebly a reason i quite like New Universe.. unlike the Marvel universe which wasn't even ment to be set in anything close to the real world at that point, it was up to that one point.. though.. well.. due to the money being cut.. things kinda went bad.. but oh well.. nice try.. last time I can think Marvel made a good go at such a thing..
anyway.. I'm sorry i'm starting to rant a bit.. It might be fun for a bit to have some cross-overs but they are, or atleast should be, rare 'special treats'. I think Marvel kinda killed that idea when they started doing Marvel Team-up.. also.. problem with big team books.. the inferior five was a much better take on it..
Comics are just entertainment. Things go wrong sometimes but they still produce good comics. Conan in the M.U. is a bit of fun. We know it's not the "real" Conan of the books but it's still entertaining, as was Tarzan vs Groo that was published recently.
Here's an article from January announcing that IDW were losing both Transformers and GI Joe. Apparently a publisher called Skybound was in talks to take over, but I'm not aware of anything being announced on that front yet.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/idw-losing-g-i-joe-transformers-license-1235078466/
Thanks James.
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