I WANT (MORE) CANDY

My latest Comics Candy review column is now up at totalscifionline.com. Ten bright, shiny releases from October are scrutinized, including Daredevil #501, Planetary #27 and The Unwritten #6. You can check it out here.

SCRIPT (W)RAP — NEFARIOUS #1

Been a while since I did one of these post-script digressions, so here goes with issue #1 of the upcoming Transformers: Nefarious (6-issue) mini-series from IDW, a direct sequel to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (so set in the movie-verse). My aim is to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but if you’d rather not even be teased, look away now! Strictly speaking, Nefarious begins in Tales of the Fallen #5, which features the mysterious resurrection of Ravage (and his even more mysterious mission). But even if you don’t catch that one, issue #1 rolls full pelt into a global conspiracy of which even the Autobots and Decepticons have been blissfully oblivious… until now. Featuring Soundwave, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Sideswipe, Alice (yes, Alice!), a quartet of Autobot (toy) characters making their Earth-based debut and even four all-new, original Decepticons (you didn’t think Ravage was Soundwave’s only special agent, did you?), the first issue peels back some of the layers surrounding the mysterious (human) organization known as The Initiative and the (potentially) earth-shattering Project: Nefarious. Just how far and wide its reach extends into the warp of weft of recent Cybertronian history (and how much it’s about to influence their future too) will force Soundwave and then Optimus Prime into truly desperate measures (and a clash or two too) as they learn who’s really in charge of their destiny. And it’s not them! Issue #1 promises lots of intrigue, action, shocks and a final page that’ll leave you scraping your lower jaw off the floor. Do not miss this one!

WIN A COPY OF RAD ROBOTS

That totally fabulous book on all things robotic (from movies, TV, literature, comics and more!), Rad Robots (by someone or other) could be yours — for nowt! Yep, those good people over at totalscifionline.com have 5 signed and bookplated editions (courtesy of Kyle Cathie) to give away in a mind-blowingly simple competition. To find out what’s what, zip over to the competition page here. And if you don’t manage to win one… it’s well worth the cover price anyway, so go on — treat yourself!

I WANT CANDY

The second of my monthly Comics Candy columns, featuring reviews of September-shipping comics titles, is now up at totalscifionline.com. You can check it out here.

In other news, I’m still thundering through a bunch of Transformers and StarCraft scripts. Just wrapped issue #2 of Transformers: Nefarious, the IDW sequel to Revenge of the Fallen. Look for that starting in early 2010, but before that I’ll be sure to start bringing you some teaser-style ‘Script (W)raps’. Soon! Titan’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen mag rolls, with issue #5’s UK-exclusive strip pitting Skids and Mudflap against the one and only Ravage! StarCraft-wise, I’m now well into scripting the second story arc, which really ramps up the action and scale, featuring two of the StarCraft Universe’s biggest and baddest characters! And there’s more, of course, but nothing I can talk about right now. Keep watching for updates as and when!

TALES OF THE FALLEN

Spinning out of, though chronologically set before, the blockbuster movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Tales of the Fallen spotlights movie characters and delves a little deeper into what makes them tick. My first contribution to the series comes in the shape of Sideswipe, an Autobot in allegiance if not exactly ethos. Far from coming to Earth to answer Optimus Prime’s summons and protect humankind, Sideswipe is driven by a blinding quest for vengeance and an utter disregard for the organic life he finds teeming on the planet. So much so, he becomes the menace that the other Autobots must roll out and confront — not the massively destructive Decepticon he’s in pursuit of. Where does Ironhide fit in to all this? He trained Sideswipe. And now, he wants the job of stopping him! Tales of the Fallen #2 hits stores this week, September 9th in the US, 10th in the UK. Art is by Carlos Magno, a new talent and definitely one to watch!

UPDATES – FINALLY

Yeah, I know, another gulf of time and no updates. But, to be fair, I have been busy/travelling and there’s not actually been much in the way of Transformers new releases to comment on. But, finally, I do have some news that’s fit to (virtually) print:

Item 1: last month saw the release of Transformers: Generations 2009 #3, a Japanese magazine published by Million Hero. As previously reported, it contains an exclusive 2-page manga strip written by me and drawn by Guido Guidi, and marks my first work on a purely Japanese strip. I mentioned previously that I’d publish the original English dialog here, but actually Million thoughtfully included an English-language version in the magazine, so clearly that’s no longer necessary. Do check it out if you can, and check out also the exclusive toys on offer in the same issue. The potted biogs for ‘Quantum Agents’ Skids and Screech feature a healthy input from yours truly, and in fact I chose the name for the latter (see pic below). So I feel quite parental about those two. For more information, check out Million’s web page here.

Item 2: and next up, something of a real change of gear for me. I was asked by the editor of online news magazine totalscifionline.com to write a monthly comics review for them, which was interesting because I hardly ever read monthly comics any more (sadly, and I’m ashamed to admit this, I’m more a collected edition guy). Anyway, once the nuts and bolts of the operation were sorted out I got right to it, and enjoyed myself immensely. Anyway, the first of my ‘Comics Candy’ (monthly) round-ups can now be viewed at totalscifionline.com here.

AA (DETOUR)

Just a quick reminder that Auto Assembly, the UK’s premier (in fact, only) dedicated Transformers convention is just over a week away now. This year’s AA is a full weekend, Saturday and Sunday (15th & 16th of August), with two US voice actor guests (Gregg Berger and Ian Corlett so far confirmed) and a host of comics professionals including Nick Roche, Jon Davis-Hunt, Andrew Wildman and Lee Sullivan. Sadly, due to personal commitments, I can’t be there this year, but I’ll be there in spirit as I’ve supplied the script for AA’s live voice actor drama on the Saturday night and I’m one half of the convention-exclusive edition of All Hail Megatron #13 (keep hold of those for next year’s AA and I’ll scrawl all over the cover then!). So what can I tease about the voice actor drama? Well, it’s set in the Beast Wars era for a start, though expect it to be somewhat cross-continuity in nature (as there might still, I believe, be a third voice actor guest). Gregg has two roles. Don’t expect anything too dramatic from the drama, it’s played more for laughs than anything (anyone who caught my two previous Botcon voice actor dramas will know what to expect). There are four roles to be filled by convention attendees (maybe a comics pro getting a look-in there) and artist Simon Williams is narrating in the style of WWE. So, anyway, sad to miss out myself, but I’ll be back for AA 2010. Enjoy! For more details on AA09, check out their website here

NEXT UP — TRANSFORMERS: NEFARIOUS

LIVE FROM SAN DIEGO: the news is out, my next series for IDW will be Transformers: Nefarious, a six-issue movie continuity mini-series that picks up from the end of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and introduces an all-new adversary for the Transformers (Autobot and Decepticon) in the shape of a mysterious, far-reaching and very powerful group of humans with access to enhanced Transformer-tech and maybe even the odd actual Transformer! Seeds for the new series will be sown in the final Tales of the Fallen issue, Ravage, and he (along with Soundwave) play key roles in the unfolding drama. Expect lots more character depth and exploration for both. Actually, make that all characters. We’re going to be highlighting some Autobots and Decepticons that did and didn’t make it into the second movie and maybe, just maybe, throwing in the odd new character too! Plus, we’ll be exploring the post-movie NEST/Autobot human alliance in more detail too! For more info check out the IGN interview I did recently (see link in update below). Transformers: Nefarious kicks in shortly after Tales of the Fallen #6: Ravage. Don’t miss either!

A ROUND-UP OF RECENT INTERVIEWS

That’s the trouble with interviews. Nothing for ages then three come at once. Various people have asked various things of me and here’s the result(s). Check out IGN for the inside story on Transformers: Nefarious (see blog update above) here, and Transformers Hispanos (original English-language version) here, and, last but not least, The Mindless Ones here.

OUT NOW – AHM #13

The Earth-shaking, 12-issue All Hail Megatron maxi-series spills over into a thirteenth issue this week, which was certainly lucky for me, as I got to tell a decidedly different Transformers tale in which Ironhide and Optimus Prime regroup/reassess in the light of the tumultuous events of Megatron’s all-conquering spree. I also lucked out in the shape of fan-favourite artist Don Figueroa, who returned to the fold to draw this special 11-page story (each of these ‘Coda’ issue features two stories per issue). Can’t tell you too much about the story itself, but rest assured that as well as providing something of a retrospective on the intertwined life and times of Prime and Ironhide it sets the scene for more momentous twists and turns to come. All Hail Megatron #13 hits stores this week, July 22nd in the US (nicely in time for my appearance at the San Diego Comicon) and July 23rd in the UK.