Do You Remember the First Time?
A meeting of minds.
Addendum 11: The Classics UK Interviews.
Right from the moment I first covered Man of Iron, one recurring theme of this blog has been my repeated use of the absolutely marvellous Transformers Classics UK books as a reference. As well as reprinting the entire run of British stories for the first time ever in book form they’re jam packed full of facts, interviews, original art and general loveliness. All written and overseen by Mr. James Roberts in-between knocking out the latest issue of More Than Meets the Eye and dealing with stalkers on Twitter (not me of course, I’m just enthusiastic)
When talking to James, in an entirely non-stalkery way, at the last Auto Assembly he was kind enough to agree to doing an email interview for this site about the process of putting these books together, and even shook hands on it before he had security take me away.
The final result has taken some months to put together whilst we waited for restraining orders to expire, but once that misunderstanding was behind us he also put me in touch with Lloyd Young, whose name may be less familiar to you but, as you’ll see, is absolutely essential to the success of the series. The following is the result of these two men taking the time out of their schedules to talk to me, for which I will be eternally grateful, as I'm not a journalist (as some of you may have guessed from my mastery of spelling and grammar) and there was always the risk of this going all Clive Anderson/Bee Gees.
And anyone who suggests at least one of the following interviews might be the result of Stockholm Syndrome setting in is a liar.
Right from the moment I first covered Man of Iron, one recurring theme of this blog has been my repeated use of the absolutely marvellous Transformers Classics UK books as a reference. As well as reprinting the entire run of British stories for the first time ever in book form they’re jam packed full of facts, interviews, original art and general loveliness. All written and overseen by Mr. James Roberts in-between knocking out the latest issue of More Than Meets the Eye and dealing with stalkers on Twitter (not me of course, I’m just enthusiastic)
When talking to James, in an entirely non-stalkery way, at the last Auto Assembly he was kind enough to agree to doing an email interview for this site about the process of putting these books together, and even shook hands on it before he had security take me away.
The final result has taken some months to put together whilst we waited for restraining orders to expire, but once that misunderstanding was behind us he also put me in touch with Lloyd Young, whose name may be less familiar to you but, as you’ll see, is absolutely essential to the success of the series. The following is the result of these two men taking the time out of their schedules to talk to me, for which I will be eternally grateful, as I'm not a journalist (as some of you may have guessed from my mastery of spelling and grammar) and there was always the risk of this going all Clive Anderson/Bee Gees.
And anyone who suggests at least one of the following interviews might be the result of Stockholm Syndrome setting in is a liar.
The cover of the most recent-at the time of writing-volume 5.
Without further ado:
Mr James Roberts.
Obviously the UK stories have been reprinted in various forms by different companies over the last decade, was the idea of doing the series in proper order with the Marvel copyright characters and making of material something IDW came to you with, or was it an idea you beat their door down to do?
Hard to say! From my perspective, they had no plans. Back in... late 2010 or early 2011 (?) I approached Andy Schmidt, who was John Barber's predecessor, with an idea for an oversized book celebrating Transformers UK - interviewing the creators and editors, reprinting all the covers, exploring its rise and fall etc. My fanboy dream made flesh, it would contain everything *except* the original stories. In my head I'd been planning the book for years - before I worked with IDW on Last Stand of the Wreckers.
Andy didn't green-light the project there and then, but nor did he reject the idea, and a little while later he got back in touch to ask if I'd curate a reprint series. IDW had just successfully secured permission to reprint the UK stories featuring Death's Head - Andy is a big fan of DH, incidentally - and this, it seems, was what they'd been holding out for: they were now in a position to promote the series as something that would reprint ALL the UK strips. Frightening, given that this was only a few years ago, I can't remember whether Andy approached me not simply because I'd expressed an interest in doing something similar, but because IDW were short of the original material and he knew I had a complete run of UK issues. Oh, and by this point I'd suggested the stories for - and written the intros to - the Best of Grimlock, Megatron and Starscream collections, so both he and Justin Eisinger, the senior editor at IDW who would be producing the series, knew I could be trusted to handle this things.
I recall Andy being excited at the prospect of reprinting things like Raiders of the Last Ark; and he didn't need much persuading when I suggested we incorporate the largely untapped well of annual stories - y'know, wheel out the really obscure stuff (to non-UK eyes).
So... in accepting the project I chanced my arm and asked if I could supply a heap of additional material; basically, all the stuff I'd wanted in the original book. And they said yes. And over the five volumes produced to date, IDW have been increasingly generous in the extra pages they've given over to the feature material.
Before starting on this project you had mainly worked in fiction, how hard was it to shift gears and become an interviewer and factual writer? And was it hard as a fan of the series to approach it from an objective viewpoint?
Yeah, I wasn't sure how I'd fare at interviewing people - especially my childhood heroes. As it turned out, the interviews themselves were no bother because all the interviewees were gracious and forthcoming, and actually kind of flattered to be asked about their careers and their inspirations. The challenge was in converting this wealth of conversational material into articles that were fun and engaging and readable. I know I didn't want to present the interviews in a straightforward Q&A format, even if in some cases - where I was talking to a creator via email - that's how they were carried out. I wanted to use the introductory essay in each book to advance the behind-the-scenes story of the comic, and I knew I couldn't do that if the interviews were presented as transcripts, one after another. The responses from the various interviewees had to be interweaved so that, say, you'd read Furman, Senior and Sullivan's thoughts on a particular run of issues, then return to each of them later in the essay when we talked about another topic.
I had experience of writing factual articles thanks to the days when I used to contribute to fanzines, but I was rusty. The opportunity to further develop those skills has been one of the personal highlights of the project.
As for approaching the series from an objective viewpoint... hmm. You know what? I think that fans tend to be pretty critical of the things they love, even when it comes to something they loved as a child. And I I'm conscious when asking questions of creators not to avoid the thornier ones. That's what adds spice to the interview and keeps the articles interesting. Simon's great - he's not afraid to say 'You know what? That wasn't one of my best.' I think there's a run of stories in Volume 4 (Ancient Relics, World's Apart etc) when he's almost on a mild downer and I felt the need to redress the balance a little when introducing the stories and highlight the bits worth savouring.
Mr James Roberts.
Obviously the UK stories have been reprinted in various forms by different companies over the last decade, was the idea of doing the series in proper order with the Marvel copyright characters and making of material something IDW came to you with, or was it an idea you beat their door down to do?
Hard to say! From my perspective, they had no plans. Back in... late 2010 or early 2011 (?) I approached Andy Schmidt, who was John Barber's predecessor, with an idea for an oversized book celebrating Transformers UK - interviewing the creators and editors, reprinting all the covers, exploring its rise and fall etc. My fanboy dream made flesh, it would contain everything *except* the original stories. In my head I'd been planning the book for years - before I worked with IDW on Last Stand of the Wreckers.
Andy didn't green-light the project there and then, but nor did he reject the idea, and a little while later he got back in touch to ask if I'd curate a reprint series. IDW had just successfully secured permission to reprint the UK stories featuring Death's Head - Andy is a big fan of DH, incidentally - and this, it seems, was what they'd been holding out for: they were now in a position to promote the series as something that would reprint ALL the UK strips. Frightening, given that this was only a few years ago, I can't remember whether Andy approached me not simply because I'd expressed an interest in doing something similar, but because IDW were short of the original material and he knew I had a complete run of UK issues. Oh, and by this point I'd suggested the stories for - and written the intros to - the Best of Grimlock, Megatron and Starscream collections, so both he and Justin Eisinger, the senior editor at IDW who would be producing the series, knew I could be trusted to handle this things.
I recall Andy being excited at the prospect of reprinting things like Raiders of the Last Ark; and he didn't need much persuading when I suggested we incorporate the largely untapped well of annual stories - y'know, wheel out the really obscure stuff (to non-UK eyes).
So... in accepting the project I chanced my arm and asked if I could supply a heap of additional material; basically, all the stuff I'd wanted in the original book. And they said yes. And over the five volumes produced to date, IDW have been increasingly generous in the extra pages they've given over to the feature material.
Before starting on this project you had mainly worked in fiction, how hard was it to shift gears and become an interviewer and factual writer? And was it hard as a fan of the series to approach it from an objective viewpoint?
Yeah, I wasn't sure how I'd fare at interviewing people - especially my childhood heroes. As it turned out, the interviews themselves were no bother because all the interviewees were gracious and forthcoming, and actually kind of flattered to be asked about their careers and their inspirations. The challenge was in converting this wealth of conversational material into articles that were fun and engaging and readable. I know I didn't want to present the interviews in a straightforward Q&A format, even if in some cases - where I was talking to a creator via email - that's how they were carried out. I wanted to use the introductory essay in each book to advance the behind-the-scenes story of the comic, and I knew I couldn't do that if the interviews were presented as transcripts, one after another. The responses from the various interviewees had to be interweaved so that, say, you'd read Furman, Senior and Sullivan's thoughts on a particular run of issues, then return to each of them later in the essay when we talked about another topic.
I had experience of writing factual articles thanks to the days when I used to contribute to fanzines, but I was rusty. The opportunity to further develop those skills has been one of the personal highlights of the project.
As for approaching the series from an objective viewpoint... hmm. You know what? I think that fans tend to be pretty critical of the things they love, even when it comes to something they loved as a child. And I I'm conscious when asking questions of creators not to avoid the thornier ones. That's what adds spice to the interview and keeps the articles interesting. Simon's great - he's not afraid to say 'You know what? That wasn't one of my best.' I think there's a run of stories in Volume 4 (Ancient Relics, World's Apart etc) when he's almost on a mild downer and I felt the need to redress the balance a little when introducing the stories and highlight the bits worth savouring.
James' introduction to Volume 5.
As well as providing the making of text, how involved are you in the development of the book? Do you have a say in things like design, layout and covers as well?
The cover and contents page designs have been constant throughout, and were conceived entirely in-house at IDW. For every edition I'm asked to give Andy Wildman a detailed cover idea (let's face it, no one else involved in the production of the book would have asked for Nightstalker and an Autobot Overlord on the cover of Vol 2). You'll have noticed that with the covers we try to highlight the unique aspects of the UK stories, typically the characters that never featured in the US comics.
I'm responsible for selecting what should go in each volume, from the stories to the non-story scans: posters, letters pages, adverts etc. I re-read the 30 - 40 issues covered by each volume and flag up everything I think would be interesting to fans old and new, such as Transformation pages that trail or tease a big story, or announcements for new toys, or promotion about the original Movie and so on. Letters pages that disclose hitherto unknown 'in universe' facts are worth reprinting, too. I'll choose the front-papers - usually the inside cover of the annual, so that's easy - and the sequencing of the contents.
I'll submit the text - the foreword, the introductory essay, the story intros etc - and notate it to indicate which scans should go where.
At this point I must sing Lloyd Young's praises. The series wouldn't be a tenth as good as it is without him. Lloyd got in touch after Volume 1 and offered to use his complete collection of TFUK issues to provide high-quality scans of all the material that IDW didn't have. He spends hours and hours cleaning up and 'brightening' the strip pages, and digs up all sorts of rare free gifts and original art. I couldn't do any of this without him.
One notable thing about the series is the number of people that, to the best of my knowledge, have never been interviewed about their involvement with Transformers before, the likes of Jerry Paris, Alan McKenzie (indeed, I don’t believe his involvement with the comic was public knowledge before) and perhaps most notably James Hill. What was the process of getting in contact with these people without IDW or convention connections, and who would you say surprised you most in the amount they were able to contribute?
The TMUK alumni are nearly all still in contact with each other, so you chat to one of them and ask them to sound out another person on your behalf and see if they'd like to chat. As you'd expect, Simon knows everyone ever and they all love him.
As I said before, virtually everyone is more than happy to talk about their time on the comic, even though some are slightly baffled that, 25 years on, their involvement is remembered at all. Nearly all of them have very fond memories of working with each other and on the comic itself, but back in the 80s, when Transformers was, for all they knew, a toy comic with a finite lifespan, they had no idea that, decades later, fans old and new would want them to talk about their experiences. They all put in blood, sweat and tears to make the comic what it was, and it's entirely right that we should recognise and celebrate their contribution. They earned it, and it's only now that some of them are getting it. James Hill in particular is long overdue fan canonisation for his contribution to TF lore in the shape of States Games.
Aside from Simon, I want to single out Ian Rimmer for talking openly and at length about his involvement with the comic. Ian was the editor from issue 22, when the comic began to be revamped, through issue 27, when it went weekly, to around issue 113, when he went freelance. It is Ian, along with Simon, who is responsible for the popularity and longevity of the comic. After a first year in which TFUK was almost an anthology comic (part strip, part factual feature, part back-up strips aimed at younger children), Ian came along and turned it into something that (back up strip aside) was 100% Transformers focused. He knew that readers were there for the TFs, and that's what he delivered. He and Simon (who served as assistant editor) went the extra mile: think of how they integrated the US and UK stories; think of the Robot War articles and the Who's Who guides; think of the nature and frequency of the free gifts; think of the attention to detail in the Transformation and letters pages when it came to contextualising the stories... And aside from all that, it's clear that Ian encouraged and supported Simon as he redefined what it was possible to do in a "kiddies' comic" based on a licensed property.
On a similar note, was there anyone you’d have loved to interview, but were either unable to reach or didn’t remember enough to feel able to take part?
I'd still love to talk to Sheila Cranna, the original editor. It's nearly happened, but not quite. I'm pleased to say that Annie Parkhouse (nee Halfacree) has agreed to be interviewed for Volume 6 - which reminds me that I wanted to speak to her husband, Steve Parkhouse, about 'Man of Iron'. Both Will Simpson and Barry Kitson - the mainstays of the early TFUK years - have agreed to be interviewed but, for various reasons, it's not happened yet. And I'm still trying to find a way to contact Euan Peters, the editor who succeeded Simon Furman. If anyone knows how I might find him...
Incidentally, I'm not so precious about chronology that I won't run special interviews with the above in future volumes. So what if we've now reprinted all of Simpson's art? If he wants to talk TFUK we'll put it in a future volume.
Original Lee Sullivan covers without the logos and banners.
I suspect you went into this knowing the entire comic back to front, but has going through it in such depth and becoming more aware of the behind the scenes machinations drastically changed your views of any of the stories?
Probably not drastically, but it did make me appreciate just how experimental Simon was in the way he wrote the early Dinobot stories. Don't get me wrong, the post-Target: 2006 material is great - who doesn't love time-travel epics that take two years to unfold, and who doesn't go weak at the knees at the Unicron War? But when he started out -- when he believed that his job was to write around and fill the gaps between the 'main' US story, and indeed when he was relatively new to scripting and in thrall to the likes of Chris Claremont and Alan Moore -- he produced some arresting, mature stories that played with the form: The Icarus Theory, Dinobot Hunt, Victory, In The National Interest... Great stuff.
I don't think there was much behind the scenes machinations when it came to the stories. Notwithstanding my comments earlier about Ian Rimmer's contribution, Simon was on the editorial team while he was writing his stories, so not only was he in a good position to know what boundaries, if any, he was operating within, he was instrumental in establishing those boundaries. I suppose I gained a fresh insight into how dispiriting it was to have to find a way to crowbar the Special Teams into the UK stories so far ahead of the US reprints.
But on the other hand, the genuine excitement that the TMUK team felt when the original Movie came out, coupled with Hasbro's desire to really push the New Leaders through TV ads for the comic and Marvel UK's willingness, on the back of *huge* sales, to produce 16 consecutive issues of fully painted originated material (#74 to #88)... you get a new joy in reading the stories produced at the time because you better appreciate the confidence behind the scenes.
The series has done an excellent job of reproducing many fine examples of the various other things that were included in the comic every week (letters pages, A-Z, adverts and so on), but is there anything in the secondary material -- be it an example of a back up, an advert or a competition, or a reference to the comic in other media -- you’d have specifically loved to include or really want to include in future volumes but face/faced problems with, due to not being able to source or because of it not falling under IDW or Hasbro’s rights?
There have been a few instances where TFUK specials/collected comics are advertised on the same page as, say, Doctor Who, The Getalong Gang, Visionaries or Secret Wars, and it's not possible to reproduce the whole page. Where we can Lloyd has cropped the image so we at least get the TF portion of the page. We've not reprinted as many Robo-Capers or Combat Colin strips as I'd have liked, partly because - as fun as they are - they're not technically Transformers, and I know that later in the Combat Colin run are some appearances by Marvel superheroes.
Thankfully, the arrangement between Hasbro as IP owner and the various companies to whom they have over the years licensed TF image rights means that we can reprint pretty much anything which is TF-focused, be it an advert for a Powermaster Prime torch (coming up in Volume 6, people!) or a Tempo Video competition.
Death's Head was the main obstacle. Without permission to reprint those stories the whole project would have changed.
An advert for a German promotional comic put together by Marvel UK.
Over the last few years the new Transformers comics have started to reach a wider audience, thanks to a combination of things (the films, digital purchases, the books being frankly better), certainly the demographic of fans at Auto Assembly has really shifted since I first started going to them to include more female fans and kids. Do you get the impression many of the people who’ve come into the franchise through More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise have dipped into the Classics series, and do you think they have a very different response to it compared to us old farts who have that nostalgia factor shaping our opinions?
I don't know if many of the new generation of fans have gone back and discovered the TFUK material, and that's a shame. I hope that changes. We old farts should do all we can to promote these books and tell people what they're missing. What always strikes me as odd are people who read the US Marvel series, and who have collected IDW's reprint series, but don't feel the need to check out the UK strips...
I'll tell you what's interesting, though, and that's the number of British comic fans - that's people who read British comics in the 80s - who aren't diehard TF fans, and who may not have collected TFUK for a long period of time, but who collect these TFUK reprint volumes. They say they like them because they help tell the story of the 80s UK comic scene. And fans who have fond memories of TFUK but who moved away from Transformers after the comic folded - they've rediscovered their love of the comic *and* the franchise through these books. So, if anything, these books tend to turn 80s fans onto More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise...
[Interviewer's Note: If you’re not currently reading the newest Transformers comics- either because you’re one of the above mentioned who read this site because of your general interest in British comics or because you’ve had a bad experience in the past- they’re well worth checking out, with the Transformers UK love letter that is Last Stand of the Wreckers being an excellent place to start]
We’re now past the halfway point of the series, how advanced is the work on the remaining three books and do you think we’re likely to remain on a one volume a year schedule?
I'd love to be able to do more than one a year, but realistically... it's Volume 6 later this year, and Volume 7 in 2016. Maybe we'll get Volume 8 - the final one - out in 2016 too. I'd like that. As much as I love the project, I want to see it done! I can't relax until all eight volumes are on the shelf. I owe it to fans - and to myself.
As for how advanced work is on the remaining books, I know precisely which issues and annuals will be reprinted, and what special features we'll put in. I keep a list of non-story material we've not yet printed, and it's pretty long. I know exactly what's going in Volume 6. And I have my list of confirmed and prospective interviewees.
Be a huge tease and give us a hint of an exciting and new fact we’ll be learning in volume 6.
There's interesting stuff in Volume 6 (did you know that a TF character appeared on the cover of another Marvel UK publication in the late 80s?), but it's in Volume 7 that there's a real revelation. Wait until you find out what was originally planned for after issue 212...
And finally: James Roberts from Guernsey has a letter published in issue 316 of the comic. Assuming this was your good self and not the other James Roberts from Guernsey (a bitter and twisted man who hates Transformers and wishes people would stop asking him about them), which toy was your prize?
Ugh, let's not talk about my hateful namesake.
I actually had four letters in TFUK, don't you know. Issues 288, 295, 310 and 316, so there. I remember getting Fireflight and Skydive (the Classics reissues) and... gah. The memory's gone. Wow, a proper TF toy just for getting your letter printed. Them was the days.
[Interviewer’s Note: James is actually one of a few recognisable names from the world of licensed fiction to have pre-mild fame letters published in the comic. Listeners to the Doctor Who audios from Big Finish will know the names John Dorney and Eddie Robson (who is enough of a fan to have created a semi-regular Time Lord called Straxus and written a play with villains all named after Nebulons. Including Kord).
Plus Matthew Perry and Mark Williams.
Some of those may be namealikes. Still, I thought it best to end on a note that made it look like I knew what I was talking about after only spotting that one letter off Mr. Roberts.]
Before I go onto the second interview: The commercial break.
All five of the Classics UK books can be bought from Amazon via the following links:
Volume 1: UK US Volume 2: UK US
Volume 3: UK US Volume 4: UK US
Volume 5: UK US
Other retailers (including digital in this day and age) are available, and do note this site is not in any way shape or form funded by advertising, clicking those links and buying will not send any money my way. Below is a nice gallery of all four of the other covers to give you an idea of both what to look out for in shops, and an appreciation of the cover creation process.
The Antipodean Marvel UK fan, Mr. Lloyd Young.
And now, onto the second of our two interviews. If James Roberts is the Professor Brian Cox of this project- the cool hip presenter with the rock star lifestyle- then the following gentleman is the backroom researcher who does all the actual hard work.
1: Hello Lloyd, James Roberts describes you as the unsung hero of this project. So consider this a chance to be sung. The BritishTransformers comic first came to Australia with issue #78, how soon after this did you jump aboard, and how interested were you in the franchise beforehand?
Hi Stuart, thanks for having me. Are we live?
Well I’ll start by saying I’m flattered, but that’s James for you, always a gentleman…or is that all British folk?
As a spritely 31 year old, born in 83, comics weren’t what sparked my interest in the franchise here in Australia. Like most kids of the 80’s, Transformers were introduced to me at my local toyshops and on TV. In all honesty, I came so late to the Transformers comic series that it was probably a good thing as I’ve been able to build my collection to the point of enjoying them in their entirety.
1: Hello Lloyd, James Roberts describes you as the unsung hero of this project. So consider this a chance to be sung. The BritishTransformers comic first came to Australia with issue #78, how soon after this did you jump aboard, and how interested were you in the franchise beforehand?
Hi Stuart, thanks for having me. Are we live?
Well I’ll start by saying I’m flattered, but that’s James for you, always a gentleman…or is that all British folk?
As a spritely 31 year old, born in 83, comics weren’t what sparked my interest in the franchise here in Australia. Like most kids of the 80’s, Transformers were introduced to me at my local toyshops and on TV. In all honesty, I came so late to the Transformers comic series that it was probably a good thing as I’ve been able to build my collection to the point of enjoying them in their entirety.
"Nothing like a bit of R&R with dad in the hammock, on a Transformers pillow of course"
As you can see from the accompanying two photos, my parents played a major role in introducing me to the series and still support/put up with it to this day! My dad served 20 years in the Royal Australian Navy so would be deployed sometimes 6 months at a time. When he’d return I’d often be met with large boxes of toys, anything from Transformers, TMNT, G.I Joe…you name it. These are without a doubt some of my fondest memories as a child. At the same time, my mum always loved Christmas and birthdays and I’m pretty sure there was at least one Transformer included each time. As a child she’d get 50 cents pocket money and spend the whole amount on 2 Disney comics per week so it’s fair to say she’s played a big role in my collecting, actually we still have more than 200 of Mum’s comics to this day. We don’t have enough to be hoarders, so I think we’re still safely in the collector zone!
It’s not just mum and dad though; everyone in my life knows that TF’s are a big part of who I am. My brother has purchased an original Andrew Wildman artwork for me and my grandma bought who knows how many TF’s for me as a child. My girlfriend even had a funny moment recently, where she was in a comic book store and asked what TF’s book would make a good gift. The staff member replied by showing her the Transformers Classics UK books, laughing she replied “I think he’s got this series already”.
It’s not just mum and dad though; everyone in my life knows that TF’s are a big part of who I am. My brother has purchased an original Andrew Wildman artwork for me and my grandma bought who knows how many TF’s for me as a child. My girlfriend even had a funny moment recently, where she was in a comic book store and asked what TF’s book would make a good gift. The staff member replied by showing her the Transformers Classics UK books, laughing she replied “I think he’s got this series already”.
“Here I am with mum about to tear open Slapdash. He’d sit in the box now”
All in all, I really was the typical 80’s kid, Transformers bed sheets, the toys lining my bedroom shelves, battling it out with other kids, the list goes on. I look back now with adult eyes and wish I had these toys still mint in the box, but I know I wouldn’t have formed the same memories if that were so.
With the last name Young, I guess it’s not time to grow up just yet!
2: Most fans seem to have drifted away from Transformers as we went further into our teens, was that the case for you, and if so what started to bring you back into having an interest in your childhood comic?
It was absolutely the case for me and I think it had something to do with chasing girls. Who knows, if there were more female bots in the cartoon they may have kept more teenage boys interested! I think like most Generation 1 fans, a lot of the spirit of the characters that captured my imagination as a child died out as G1 came to a close. There was something magical about the toy line in my youth that failed to capture my attention in my adolescent years.
By the time G2 was in full swing, new colour schemes on the same bots weren’t enough to keep me interested. When I was well and truly into my pimply teenage years, the 3d animated Beast Wars was on our screens, yet it still wasn’t enough to capture the magic that got me as a child, which is funny, because I’m now a 3d artist. Perhaps there was something brewing?
During my years at University, studying with the dream to break into the video games industry, I happened to stumble across an image of someone’s collection featuring every single G1 toy, side by side in all its glory. This was well before the days of people showing off their collections on YouTube. For me this was the pivotal point in which Transformers came flooding back. Around the same time, the Dreamwave comic hit the shelves in 2002. I happened to stumble across the Prime Directive story, which in Australia, offered the 6 part mini series across 3 digest size issues. The art beautifully stylized the characters I’d grown to love as a child and was in fact the reason I started my hunt for more comics in the series. It didn’t take me long to realize the Transformers had an immensely rich comic history that I’d obviously missed out on during the 80’s.
3: As a kid I tried desperately to keep my comics in good condition (having already inherited the OCD gene), but failed miserably as I was, and indeed still am, a sausage fingered fool. Does your own collection include issues you’ve managed to keep safely from when you originally owned them, or have you had to entirely rebuild it from scratch?
I’m pretty sure most collectors picked up the OCD gene, it’s certainly something I didn’t escape. As an adult collector, I’ve completely built my collection from scratch with now over 1000 Transformers comics. I’d like to say this is a passion, others might say addiction.
With the last name Young, I guess it’s not time to grow up just yet!
2: Most fans seem to have drifted away from Transformers as we went further into our teens, was that the case for you, and if so what started to bring you back into having an interest in your childhood comic?
It was absolutely the case for me and I think it had something to do with chasing girls. Who knows, if there were more female bots in the cartoon they may have kept more teenage boys interested! I think like most Generation 1 fans, a lot of the spirit of the characters that captured my imagination as a child died out as G1 came to a close. There was something magical about the toy line in my youth that failed to capture my attention in my adolescent years.
By the time G2 was in full swing, new colour schemes on the same bots weren’t enough to keep me interested. When I was well and truly into my pimply teenage years, the 3d animated Beast Wars was on our screens, yet it still wasn’t enough to capture the magic that got me as a child, which is funny, because I’m now a 3d artist. Perhaps there was something brewing?
During my years at University, studying with the dream to break into the video games industry, I happened to stumble across an image of someone’s collection featuring every single G1 toy, side by side in all its glory. This was well before the days of people showing off their collections on YouTube. For me this was the pivotal point in which Transformers came flooding back. Around the same time, the Dreamwave comic hit the shelves in 2002. I happened to stumble across the Prime Directive story, which in Australia, offered the 6 part mini series across 3 digest size issues. The art beautifully stylized the characters I’d grown to love as a child and was in fact the reason I started my hunt for more comics in the series. It didn’t take me long to realize the Transformers had an immensely rich comic history that I’d obviously missed out on during the 80’s.
3: As a kid I tried desperately to keep my comics in good condition (having already inherited the OCD gene), but failed miserably as I was, and indeed still am, a sausage fingered fool. Does your own collection include issues you’ve managed to keep safely from when you originally owned them, or have you had to entirely rebuild it from scratch?
I’m pretty sure most collectors picked up the OCD gene, it’s certainly something I didn’t escape. As an adult collector, I’ve completely built my collection from scratch with now over 1000 Transformers comics. I’d like to say this is a passion, others might say addiction.
Lloy'd impressive collection after sorting through it for the accompanying pictures.
4: What inspired you to start building such a comprehensive collection, and how easy was it to get hold of old issues in Australia, especially in the more primitive days of the internet?
The inspiration to start collecting again really spawned from this newfound spark (let’s call it the All spark) and the fact that Transformers comics were once again flooding the comic book store shelves. At the time, they really couldn’t come quick enough which is where I made the fateful choice to start hunting on Ebay.
One of the initial challenges was shipping. Unlike collecting in either the UK or the US, I was often paying more in shipping then what I was for the actual comics themselves, especially when doing bulk buys of the UK run.
As I was late to the party on collecting the good ol stuff, I now had endless pages of listings to build my collection, which has taken 10+ years to acquire. As a completest, I started noticing that not only was there this amazing UK series that ran for more than 300 issues, but they came with stickers, posters, badges and other lovely bibs and bobs (thought I’d throw that in there for all of your UK readers).
From that point I knew my collection wasn’t complete until I had each comic with all of the original gifts that came attached to the front covers or littered the insides. As with most children though, these stickers and posters were plastered over school books and bedroom walls which make finding some of them now a job fit for Indiana Jones. I’ve seen the iron on transfers alone go for more than 100 quid each for issues 1, 2 and 3.
“Berni Funtime Free Editions…not so free anymore. Given away at the Berni Inn British restaurant chain”
At times, some of these things really did seem impossible to find. There were specific items that popped up on
Ebay once a year which is sad in itself, because it meant I was checking every
day!
Another example of this were the Berni Funtime editions of the UK series, which as the name would suggest were given away free at Berni Inn restaurants during the 80s. These are examples of books I’ve literally seen once in more than 10 years of collecting, at which time I purchased them!
[Interviewer's Note: I've not seen all the Bernie comics before, and it has to be said they're a pretty random choice of issues going on there, poor old kids who only experienced the comic through the restaurant would only have ever read one half of a story.]
Another example of this were the Berni Funtime editions of the UK series, which as the name would suggest were given away free at Berni Inn restaurants during the 80s. These are examples of books I’ve literally seen once in more than 10 years of collecting, at which time I purchased them!
[Interviewer's Note: I've not seen all the Bernie comics before, and it has to be said they're a pretty random choice of issues going on there, poor old kids who only experienced the comic through the restaurant would only have ever read one half of a story.]
“ A few examples of the non English books. I’m not sure but I think the German Action Force comic features a Liger, it’s pretty much my favourite animal”
It’s been hard limiting myself to any one collection. As soon as I finished the UK and US runs I started scouring Ebay equivalent sites in languages I couldn’t read which made for some interesting purchases and emails with sellers. I’ve relied on Google translate to build a collection of weird and wonderful Transformers comics from around the globe. Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Sweden…you name it. I’ve likely got under 100 foreign TF’s comics but it’s still something I’m working away at.
Even Australia received some oddities. I’ve got the super rare Peters ice cream exclusive with the alternate ending to the US and UK runs.
[Interviewer's Note: I don't recall having heard of this Australian edit to the mini-series before, and this is certainly the first time I've seen it. Not only is this cool, but- as we'll see when I cover the 1987 reprints in a few weeks both the UK and Australia wound up doing their own "Closed" endings to that story in different ways.]
Even Australia received some oddities. I’ve got the super rare Peters ice cream exclusive with the alternate ending to the US and UK runs.
[Interviewer's Note: I don't recall having heard of this Australian edit to the mini-series before, and this is certainly the first time I've seen it. Not only is this cool, but- as we'll see when I cover the 1987 reprints in a few weeks both the UK and Australia wound up doing their own "Closed" endings to that story in different ways.]
“Peters Australian exclusive 4 issue reprint”
Beyond this, I love signed issues and I even go as far as collecting appearances of Transformers in other comics, even if it’s only in one panel. You’ll be surprised where the TF’s have popped up over the years, anything from Archie, Sonic the Hedgehog, MAD Magazine, Wolverine and other lesser-known titles. TF’s really have invaded all forms of popular culture.
Like many G1 toy collectors, I also hunt for anything still in original wrapping. I’ve got quite a few examples of TF’s comics still in their original newsagent binding. In the UK series specifically, issues 52, 81 and 186 came with the Transformers, Secret Wars and Action Force sticker albums respectively.
Like many G1 toy collectors, I also hunt for anything still in original wrapping. I’ve got quite a few examples of TF’s comics still in their original newsagent binding. In the UK series specifically, issues 52, 81 and 186 came with the Transformers, Secret Wars and Action Force sticker albums respectively.
“The altered ending for the Australian 4 issue reprint”
“Assorted issues preserved in their original newsagent wrapping”
5: I understand you and James first came into contact about this series via the TMUK forum, had you known each other before this, and what has the process of working with him (and IDW generally) been like?
As fate would have it, it was only a short time after finding all of the free gifts from the UK series and joining the TMUK forum that I was introduced to the one and only James Roberts. It was prior to Volume 1 of Transformers Classics UK being released and I received an email with an introduction. At the time I probably had to re-read it, it’s not often you’re approached to contribute to something that’s dear to you. After James explained what he was trying to achieve, there was no doubt that I wanted to be involved.
“Lee Sullivan’s original cover artworks for issues 163 and…find out in Volume 6!”
I couldn’t do this interview without highlighting the sheer passion that James has put into these books. He really has gone to the ends of earth to interview key contributors in its rich history to dig up information that would have potentially been lost forever. Each time we work on a new volume and I’m hunting around for items to include, I sit back and think, how the bloody hell is James going to fill this issue out? But testament to his unrelenting passion for the series, he does. Quite often, we’ll be nearing our cutoff dates to collate everything we need to hand off to the IDW guys, who then stitch the book together, and James will message me at the eleventh hour saying he’s found space for one last thing. That ‘one last thing’ often turns into the ‘tenth last thing’ but that’s what I love about this project, we’re always pushing to get the best content we can in.
This is where the guys over at IDW obviously do a great job as well and as James said earlier, are always kind enough to push the page count up if there’s more great content to include. As the books lay flat on my table you can visibly see the thickness change from the first few volumes. Without these guys, the books wouldn’t happen either. Shout out to Justin Eisinger.
This is where the guys over at IDW obviously do a great job as well and as James said earlier, are always kind enough to push the page count up if there’s more great content to include. As the books lay flat on my table you can visibly see the thickness change from the first few volumes. Without these guys, the books wouldn’t happen either. Shout out to Justin Eisinger.
"Sealed Ladybird Tell’A’Tale book and tapes”
6: I was lucky enough not to be the chap who did the scans of my own comics I use for imagery on my site, but I’m told by the friend who helped me out that the comic can be a surprisingly difficult thing to scan properly, especially when it comes to the Annuals. How much of a challenge did you find it, and which aspects proved especially troublesome?
This is certainly the more tedious part of the project. Scanning these books is one thing, but cleaning them up is another. It’s really important to me to present these in the cleanest way possible so whenever there’s any serious staining, tears, handwriting etc. I’ll fix these in Photoshop. By the end of the 8 volumes we’ll have scanned thousands of pages of strips, gifts, original art and who knows what, but it all contributes to a great series.
A example of the remastered art from Volume 5.
I’ll take this opportunity to also personally thank the other contributors who’ve been kind enough to supply original art. In particular, I’d like to mention James Wilson who’s handled a large portion of the scanning which gives me more time to clean up the pages. Not only that, but the guy has a kick ass collection of original art that would make any TF’s fan weak at the knees. In fact, it was James Wilson who contributed the CMYK colour sheets from issue #148 for Volume 5. Not exactly original art, but in terms of a rarity, it’s up there. These are what determined the colours at the printing press for the final comic.
Haha, the annuals…yeah they’re a pain to scan. For collection reasons, they’re great because they have a nice hard spine, but they don’t sit flat in a scanning bed so every time we scan the pages you get a big dark shadow running down the sides of the pages. There’s a lot of post work that’s done to these in particular to make them look like they’ve got crispy white pages for the Classics books.
7: And finally, you’ve contributed to an officially licensed Transformers book about the comic you love and have had your name in the credits alongside the great and the good who worked on the original series. On a scale of one to ten, how much of a good feeling is that?
It’s nothing short of amazing; I give it a 1984 out of 10 (the year that changed it all for me). What an absolute privilege to contribute to not only something you’ve loved since childhood, but to have your name in the same publication as the guys who shaped the original series and those who continue to work on the existing stories. I pinch myself from time to time.
During my years working in the games industry, I was also fortunate enough to work on a Transformers game. Although I was working as a 3d artist at the time, my good friend and fellow 3d artist/ photographer Jamie Andy Evans was given the role of advert photographer. Long story short, like a child attempting with their dear life to answer a questions in class, my arm went immediately up. I said to Jamie, “I have to get my face in this game; I don’t care what it takes”. It’s safe to say, I’m now immortalized on a mobile phone billboard. Sadly, Jamie passed away mid way through 2014, far too young and I’ll be forever thankful to him for taking those photos. RIP mate.
I’ll sign off now by once again thanking James Roberts and IDW, not only for including me in this epic journey of theirs but just because these guys rock it hard for TF’s! I’m certainly looking forward to meeting James and the gang in the flesh, we’ve only been working together for 4 years now after all.
I truly hope my contribution to Transformers won’t finish any time soon. In fact, I’m working away at some plans for my own book on Transformers comic collecting. Stay tuned!
Haha, the annuals…yeah they’re a pain to scan. For collection reasons, they’re great because they have a nice hard spine, but they don’t sit flat in a scanning bed so every time we scan the pages you get a big dark shadow running down the sides of the pages. There’s a lot of post work that’s done to these in particular to make them look like they’ve got crispy white pages for the Classics books.
7: And finally, you’ve contributed to an officially licensed Transformers book about the comic you love and have had your name in the credits alongside the great and the good who worked on the original series. On a scale of one to ten, how much of a good feeling is that?
It’s nothing short of amazing; I give it a 1984 out of 10 (the year that changed it all for me). What an absolute privilege to contribute to not only something you’ve loved since childhood, but to have your name in the same publication as the guys who shaped the original series and those who continue to work on the existing stories. I pinch myself from time to time.
During my years working in the games industry, I was also fortunate enough to work on a Transformers game. Although I was working as a 3d artist at the time, my good friend and fellow 3d artist/ photographer Jamie Andy Evans was given the role of advert photographer. Long story short, like a child attempting with their dear life to answer a questions in class, my arm went immediately up. I said to Jamie, “I have to get my face in this game; I don’t care what it takes”. It’s safe to say, I’m now immortalized on a mobile phone billboard. Sadly, Jamie passed away mid way through 2014, far too young and I’ll be forever thankful to him for taking those photos. RIP mate.
I’ll sign off now by once again thanking James Roberts and IDW, not only for including me in this epic journey of theirs but just because these guys rock it hard for TF’s! I’m certainly looking forward to meeting James and the gang in the flesh, we’ve only been working together for 4 years now after all.
I truly hope my contribution to Transformers won’t finish any time soon. In fact, I’m working away at some plans for my own book on Transformers comic collecting. Stay tuned!
Again, huge thanks to both James and Lloyd (who not only provided the pictures- plus most of the captions- but had all round general boundless energy for the interview) for taking part in this super-sized special Addendum. If you're sitting there thinking I've missed out a really, really obvious question (though Andrew Turnbull may have touched on it in the interview you can read via the link HERE) do leave it in the comments as- if this goes well- there's always the chance for follow up interviews as future books come out.
Though getting hold of James can be difficult as he's a little tied up.
And I should know, I'm the one that tied him.
This coming Friday, less borderline stalking, and more great big massive fighting as I look at The Legacy of Unicron! Part 3. If this is your first visit here (and I'm going to guess that this one may have brought in a lot of foot traffic somehow), I look at every issue of the British comic in order once a week in an increasingly eccentric way. I'm hurtling past the start of 1988 and the beginning of the big story collected in volume 5 of the Classics UK series, so why not join me here every Friday? Also fell free to follow me on Twitter @InflatableDalek.
Yes, that was a second sneaky commercial break.
ISSUE 147
1988
COMMENT
Special thanks to Stuart Denyer for giving the questions and the final piece the once over to make sure I hadn't totally embarrassed myself. Top man.
Though getting hold of James can be difficult as he's a little tied up.
And I should know, I'm the one that tied him.
This coming Friday, less borderline stalking, and more great big massive fighting as I look at The Legacy of Unicron! Part 3. If this is your first visit here (and I'm going to guess that this one may have brought in a lot of foot traffic somehow), I look at every issue of the British comic in order once a week in an increasingly eccentric way. I'm hurtling past the start of 1988 and the beginning of the big story collected in volume 5 of the Classics UK series, so why not join me here every Friday? Also fell free to follow me on Twitter @InflatableDalek.
Yes, that was a second sneaky commercial break.
ISSUE 147
1988
COMMENT
Special thanks to Stuart Denyer for giving the questions and the final piece the once over to make sure I hadn't totally embarrassed myself. Top man.
“Did I mention I love TMNT? Cowabunga dudes!”
Tsk, just when I was starting to like him Lloyd has to turn out to be fickle in his affections.
