TO THE MAX!

Out this week, Wednesday December 10th in the US, 11th in the UK, is the first issue (of five) of Maximum Dinobots, the no-holds barred return of Grimlock, Sludge, Slag, Snarl and Swoop. Plus Scorponok, Sunstreaker, Hot Rod, Headmasters and more! And though issue #1 picks up on story strands laid in various Spotlights and Escalation/Devastation, this one kicks off from the ground level, bringing the five Dinobots—last seen together way back in Spotlight Shockwave—back together again in a raging battle-filled storyline that pulls no punches. Featuring Nick Roche’s amazing art and Josh Burcham’s scintillating colours, Maximum Dinobots is just a must-have. We confidently predict a roaring success! Click on the thumbnail below for a look at #1’s cover and check out the IDW website here for more news on upcoming Transformers comics releases.

IT’S Q&A TIME AGAIN!

As happens every once in a while, I commit to (and should be committed for!) answering 20 questions posed by regular users of the IDW forums (and selected, pruned and tidied up by Luke/Bassbot) on all things Transformers. Also as usual, the answers (#1-15) appear both on the IDW forum (in its own dedicated thread here) and here (#16-20) exclusively on my blog. So, without further ado, here’s my quota of the answers:
16. Any particular characters you’d like to write Spotlights for in the future?
SF) Plenty. There’s characters I’d have liked to have given the Spotlight treatment to but never got the chance: Jetfire for one (but he was so involved elsewhere it seemed vaguely redundant) and Fortress Maximus for another (but that would have been post-Arcee, post-Revelation). I had an idea for Getaway at one point, but events have maybe superseded the framework I had in mind. Right now there’s a couple of more viable potentials. The first (which is tentatively scheduled) will probably come as no great shock to anyone, the second is a little more ‘out of left field,’ and ties into the ‘big’ pitch that’s with Denton/Hasbro right now. Of course, I may not get to do that latter one (I can see Denton reading this, going “wh-?”), but as and when a slot appears, I’m ready.
17. How do you want to see the Transformers line progress in the future? Continue with mini-series and the spotlights or for it to become an ongoing series with minis that crossover – showcasing work from people not doing the ongoing series? We have had a few months in 2008 with hardly any comics out per month.
SF) Personally, I still think the interconnected but self-contained four or six issue miniseries work best. It’ll be interesting to see if the sales on AHM hold up decently over the whole 12-issue run. That might be the best indicator yet of what works best, TPB-sized chunks of story or something more traditionally ongoing. I suspect those months where little or nothing came out had more to do with blown shipping dates than anything. IDW are pretty good at making the publishing plan work, on paper at least. But there are so many more random variables. Yknow… artists.
18. Are the beings in the beginning of Spotlight Galvatron any relation to the quintessons pictured in the end of Spotlight Wheelie? And are they a hint for something just about to come ie. post AHM or a far off future tease…?
SF) I very rarely tease just for the sake of it, so the fact that there’s a foreshadowing of the Quintessons in Spotlight Wheelie does suggest there’s more to come. Can’t completely guarantee when or even if it’ll happen, but I do have definite plans (and even a role in the grand scheme of things) for the Quints in mind for the next batch(es) of storylines. Maybe it’ll even tie into The 13. We’ll see. In answer to your other question, no the aliens in Spotlight Galvatron are no relation.
19. Is Arcee the only female, or just the first? I mean are thier others hiding underground?
SF) Megatron: Origin notwithstanding, Arcee is the only ‘female’ Transformer we know of. Currently. That’s not to say Jhiaxus didn’t try, try again, and another ‘female’ character is yet to make ‘her’ presence felt. But Arcee was certainly the first. And maybe the last. Only time will tell.
20. You previously mentioned that we’d see Ultra Magnus vs Galvatron. Is this still going to happen?
SF) This was where my plans for Revelation/Expansion really did change, and not just because of the shift in format. Originally, I really wanted to have an Ultra Magnus/Galvatron smackdown in the tradition of the one from Target: 2006, but once I’d arranged all the players in Revelation I realised it just wasn’t going to work. I do have plans for Galvatron, though. And Ultra Magnus for that matter. But whether the twain shall meet in upcoming storylines very much remains to be seen.
Thanks to Luke/Bassbot for setting this up!