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Two different interviews for you, both courtesy of Dave (spiderfrommars) at TransFans.

The first is with Eric Holmes, game designer and writer on the Megatron origin miniseries coming our way in May:

http://transfans.net/interviews_holmes.php

Second is with James Roberts, British fandom mainstay, writer and Marvel UK afficionado:

http://transfans.net/interviews_roberts.php

Eric seems a thoroughly nice guy and any worries I had about this Megatron story being a Dreamwave throwback have been put to rest. Sounds as though we'll be getting real, solid characterisation.

James' Eugenesis will also be well worth you checking out once the site for it is up; it's one of the most enjoyable books I've read, not just one of the best TF fics. Particularly recommended for fans of the Marvel stuff.

Whatever your hopes for the movie, 2007 should be a great year for Transformers.

Oh, and while I'm here, the Movie Prequel #1 comic's apparently been pushed back -- hazarding a guess, it might be Diamond squeezing other titles over to get the final Civil War part out to stores post haste.

I feel that it's okay to get excited now.

Yeah. Nice feeling.

The Megs origin piece is sounding more and more fun all the time! (And written by a Scot...)

It sounds very exciting on so many levels. Obviously, learning of Megs background and watching him evolve into the monster he becomes will be great fun, but a peek at a new period of Cybertronian history is almost exqually exciting.

I buy very few comics, but this series is a must!

I get more and more interested in the new backstory for Megatron. By the way, Denyer, I added the interview into Wikipedia, but what's the name of the interview's author?

Mr Spiderfrommars.

Odds are he won't mind -- he does web stuff for the Beeb -- but I wouldn't give out someone's full name without checking. Drop him a line: http://transfans.net/phpBB2/

Spidey's responsible for most of the interviews there, with some chipping in from whoever else is around at the time.

After reading the Eric Holmes interview, I'm actually a little worried we could be in IDW jumping-the-shark territory with the Megatron l.s. I liked that he called Megatron his favorite character; but then he said that he liked the god-awful, insane/impatient Marvel version? (Okay, G2 was somewhat better.) IDW's Megatron (like most other depictions) has been far different from that; in fact, has been perhaps the best Megatron ever. We don't need Marvel Megatron. Plus, in the word association - "Galvatron?"- "destiny" - ?! We really do NOT need that story again, either; another standby of old continuities best thrown out.

But, there are some indications that IDW already has plans for Galvatron, as a totally separate character; and hopefully Furman has enough control over this project to keep the character from going off the rails here. Holmes does sound like a real fan; hopefully, the story will properly fit into the new IDW TF universe, and be an excellent read. (I'd just be more assured if Furman were handling it.)

Originally posted by Denyer
Mr Spiderfrommars.

Odds are he won't mind -- he does web stuff for the Beeb -- but I wouldn't give out someone's full name without checking. Drop him a line: http://transfans.net/phpBB2/

Spidey's responsible for most of the interviews there, with some chipping in from whoever else is around at the time.

Ah well. So Holmes says he intends the Fall of Rome in his story. I see where this is going: Megs tries to assassinate Sentinel Prime in his sleep.

Jeez, I wonder if we'll get Sentinel Prime again. If we're going to have a Prime before Optimus, it might as well be him, but I'd be tempted to cry foul on grounds of unoriginality. Hmm. Tough call. I'd rather have Sentinel Prime than Alpha Trion, but there's no rational reason why beyond a comic bias.

I also wonder if Optimus will feature in this series in any shape or form.

Damn, I need sleep. I thought this was a Eric Roberts interview.

Anyways... The Megatron thing is indeed shaping up nicely, it's good to hear we will indeed be seeing the dirty underbelly of Autobot society.

Hey TFarchive folks!

Eric Holmes here (writer on the Megatron series). It's great to see that you are all as excited as you are about the mini. I can't wait to hear what you think when you get it in your hands!

It's always interesting to see what fans read between the lines. In this case I thought I'd put you at ease about a few concerns floating around here.


On insanity - *blink* When did I say Megatron was going to be insane? Untrue. There are difficult circumstances on Cybertron - he's going to be angry and he'll be driven to violence. You will see what stokes the fire that made him what we all know him to be.


On Galvatron - It's fairly safe to say that Galvatron is a recurring part of the Transformers IP? G1, RiD, Armada, Energon and Cybertron each had Megatron reborn as Galvatron.

GALVATRON WILL NOT BE IN THIS STORY (!!), but having the character be as tough as nails be beaten down and arise from the ashes twice as tough before is a pretty cool recurring part of his many versions. Hence, destiny!

If you don't like that part of the character, that's cool - but by that comment I'm not inventing it. Rest assured that when Galvatron turns up in any of the IDW material, Simon will have planned it.


On IDWverse - IDW _definitely_ have their continuity hat on when it comes to story planning and making sure they come together. So between Chris Ryall and Simon Furman I think you're going to see the most consistent and tight Transformers universe yet seen. As both a writer and a fan I think that's great. For example, I thought the way that Simon integrated Mass Shifting as a concept in a recent issue with just one line of dialogue was simply great.

With regard to going off the rails, I'll see what I can do ;-)

Hope you like the series!



-
Eric

Good to see you doing your extra-curricula duties on the boards, Eric. The reassurances about continuity are particularly welcome to me, though in time I think many of us will miss the loose-knit continuities of old that could be unravelled, delighting cats and kittens everywhere.

It's real pleasing to read of your mentions of upgrading and taking into account the Transformers' mechanical nature. It hasn't been done all that much in the past, except maybe by Larry Hama in the Generation 2 / G.I Joe crossover.

Hello, Mr. Holmes. It’s always appreciated when people actually producing the Transformers media post here at TFA; thanks for your time and welcome to the board!

I did express a couple of concerns about your upcoming Megatron project which were – well, obviously premature, as it’s still months from release, and also likely unwarranted. There were just a couple of remarks in the interview linked here which set off some personal alarm bells.

I’m a pretty big fan of Megatron, but personally, it’s basically in spite of the Marvel depiction, not because of it. I feel the Marvel version to be the nadir of Megatron, with very few good memories (at least before “G2”, where Larry Hama and Simon Furman both improved that continuity’s depiction of the character), and several bitter, disappointing ones. So, when I read that the writer of the upcoming limited series on Megatron had become a fan of the character through Marvel (way back when), I was a little alarmed, and – not flipped out, exactly, but voiced a little early worry. Megatron’s comic depiction has gotten better and better in recent years, and seems to be peaking now with IDW; so, when I read something which seemed like it could even possibly hint of a return to past disappointments, I expressed a little concern. Prematurely, as I noted above; and it’s nice to have your reassurances on the matter, as well. I am looking forward to reading your upcoming Megatron series, Mr. Holmes, and I’ll approach it with any premature or paranoid concerns recognized and under control Again, welcome aboard!

(As far as Galvatron – I’m not a huge fan, really, though the Marvel comic did do some good things with that character. IDW has cast off many of the trappings of previous continuities, such as the crash-landing of the Ark on Earth four million years ago, Unicron, and the Matrix [well, as far as we’ve seen and been told so far, anyway]; I, at least, would like to see the “Megatron becomes Galvatron” thing go the same way. The “Megatrons” from RID, Armada, etc. are different characters from the original, so I wouldn’t necessarily consider them to be that relevant; and, if we do consider them, at least one of them was upgraded from Galvatron into… Megatron again, so… And as far as the comics have gone, it’s only been alternate realities’ Megatrons who have changed, not the main timeline’s. If IDW Galvatron is presented as a separate character, or again as a possible future version of Megatron, I’d be all right with that; but if our Megatron character is lost and replaced by Galvatron, I, at least, would be very dismayed and disappointed.)

yea, cool. welcome to the board.