REGENERATION ONE – RESOURCES

Anyone looking for more news on Transformers: Regeneration One, the restart of the original Marvel Transformers comic (which ended, abruptly, back in 1991) should scoot on over to Comic Book Resources, who have an exclusive (and in-depth) interview with me on that very subject (including some art unveiled for the first time). You can read the full interview here. And feel free to leave thoughts, posts, questions in this thread. Can’t guarantee I’ll be able to answer all your questions, as we don’t want to give everything away, but I’ll do what I can. Transformers: Regeneration One #80.5, a kind of primer for the new series and a recap for those who need it, hits stores on Free Comic Book Day 2012 (May 5th) and is, yes, free!

FIRST UP — SUPER COMIC CON LONDON

The 2012 calendar is filling up on an almost daily basis. And next month sees my first personal appearance of the year, at the London Super Comic Convention in the Excel Centre, Docklands, London, over the weekend of February 25th & 26th. As well as doing my own thing at my own table, I’ll also be joining IDW for their Saturday panel and then signing at the IDW booth later the same day, alongside Transformers Regeneration One co-creator Andrew Wildman. It’s bound to be a great weekend, so pop down if you can. I’ll have my usual array of signed/original scripts with me for sale, and making its debut for the 2012 con circuit the script for Dreamwave’s unpublished Beast Wars #1. If you drop by, you can even have a sneaky peak at some of Don Figueroa’s art for the issue! For more details on the London Super Comic Convention, check out their website here.

AND NOW – REGENERATION ONE!

Announced yesterday at Bleeding Cool News, Newsarama and a host of other sites, Free Comic Day 2012 (May 5th) will feature the official launch of Transformers: Regeneration One, the epic continuation/conclusion of the original Transformers comic series, originally published by Marvel (which ended with issue #80 back in 1991). Transformers: Regeneration One #80.5, featuring all-new story (by me) and art by Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville, will be available FREE on May 5th at all good comic book stores, with #81 following in July. So what can you expect from #80.5? Clearly, I don’t want to give away salient plot points at this stage, but I can say… the story picks up 21 years after #80. Cybertron has been at peace (mostly) for all that time, but — of course — there are loose ends. And as those loose ends involve some of the biggest and baddest villains in the (original) Transformers Universe, it’s pretty safe to say that the ‘peace’ will be shattered in a fairly monumental way. The issue will be pretty balanced between stuff to bring readers up to speed and stuff that propels the new storyline onwards, so whether or not you read the original run, you can still easily jump onboard here. What else? Well, when I was doing the prep for the continuation, I re-read all eighty issues, plus mini-series, and made pretty extensive notes about anything and everything that needed attention or some kind of reference or wrap up, so you can expect a really comprehensive and thorough conclusion to the series (though that’s a ways off yet, in issue #100!), as well as copious nods to what has come before (and not necessarily just in the US comic). What else? Only that Andrew and Stephen are seriously knocking the ball out of the park on the art side. They’re managed that rare trick of recapturing the spirit of the original run but also bringing in another 20 years’ worth of experience to the pages, making each panel worth savouring again and again. Just wait until you see the opening splash and final page of #81. Both are stunning jaw-droppers! Oh yeah, one last thing – categorically, #81-100 are not a lead in to G2. But neither are we exactly ignoring G2 either. Weird as that sounds, I think/hope it’ll kind of work. I’m drawing on everything I can here, and because we know we’re building to a conclusion, you can expect some total bombshells as the issues unfold. Hope that’s whetted your appetite. Keep checking in for more Regeneration tidbits here and on the official IDW website.

2012 – THE CON CALENDAR KICKS OFF!

Yep, hardly has my passport been stowed from the last (and final) convention appearance of 2011 (at Auto Assembly Europe earlier this month), than the 2012 convention calendar starts to fill up! Already, three personal appearances are confirmed, with more to come! Already locked in are:
10th-11th March: Roll Out, Roll Call 2012 – a feast of all things Transformers and G.I. Joe in Southampton (UK), with guests including myself, Larry Hama and Andrew Wildman. For more info, check out their website here.
19th-20th May: Kapow 2 – Mark Millar’s extraordinary celebration of all things comic book returns for 2012, with a phenomenal guest list already, with a host of special guests still to be announced! For details, check out the Kapow website here.
3rd-5th August: Auto Assembly – the UK’s premier Transformers event, now in posh new digs for 2012. For details, check out the AA website here.

Keep watching for more details and other confirmed appearances.

NEW MATT HATTER – 2NITE!

Continuing the tradition of brand new Matt Hatter episodes every Monday night, Nicktoons UK has another one for you tonight, at 5.30PM. Don’t miss Matt, Roxie & Gomez confront the mind-boggling menace of the Minotaur! And remember to check out Matt’s very own facebook page here.

I’VE BEEN INTERVIEWED, YES?

The second of two recent interviews I did for online sci-fi mag Starburst is now up. This one features my thoughts and recollections on Death’s Head, the erstwhile ‘freelance peacekeeping agent’, whose 24-year career has seen him progress through Transformers, Doctor Who, Dragon’s Claws, She-Hulk, Fantastic Four (and many others) into his own series & original graphic novel (and on into various reinventions). You can check out the interview here.

LAST CALL

Just a heads up that my current batch of ebay auctions is ending in the next 24 hours (or so). So, if you want to grab yourself a signed set of (unpublished) War Within: Age of Wrath scripts or a copy of the ultra-rare Titan Time Wars collection (signed, of course) or Marvel Heroes #33 (featuring the Death’s Head vs Hulk clash) or something else from the rare/signed stuff on offer, head over to my ebay selling page now. You can find it here.

AUTO ASSEMBLY – EUROPE!

Yep, not one but two Auto Assemblies for me this year! The parent one earlier this year in Birmingham, and now its offspring — Auto Assembly Europe! The convention formerly known as Nordcon is back, and this time it’s a whole weekend in Uppsala, Sweden. Nordic transfans (and possibly others, from further afield) will be descending on Uppsala over the weekend of November 12th and 13th, and I’ll be there to greet ‘em with my usual stash of signed original scripts and comics. I’ll also be doing a Q&A panel on the Saturday… who knows what I might let slip about about Transformers #81… and my script-to-finished page presentation (now with enhanced gallery section, featuring rare and unseen Transformers art) on the Sunday, as well as judging the Nordic Transformers fanfic competition, the winners of which (as well as bagging great prizes) will be published in AA Europe’s post-convention magazine! Last year at Nordcon was great, and this year promises to be even bigger and better. If you can make it to Uppsala, I look forward to meeting you there. For more details about tickets, venue and more — check out the AA Europe website here.

THE CLAWS ARE OUT!

Starburst, the online sci-fi magazine, has published a Dragon’s Claws retrospective, featuring a new interview with me. So if you remember the series (published by Marvel UK in the late 80s) with some fondness, here’s your chance to wander down memory lane. If you’ve never experienced Dragon’s Claws, the collected edition is available to buy on Amazon (and other shopping sites). Check out the Starburst feature here, and the collected edition here.

MATT HATTER AIRS TONIGHT

Actually, last night too (so this notice is kind of a day late), and all this week, on Nicktoons UK. 5.30PM. Last night, in the pilot episode, he battled The Black Knight (in an episode written by me). Tonight he faces the power of Scorpiotron. Check it out. It’s channel 717 on Virgin cable, 606 on Sky.