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.