I Find That Getting Work is Harder, Each Job I Want Takes More Campaigning.
He thinks he's in Prime position,
Addendum 10: The Remaining Last Stand of the Wreckers Extras. January 2010-January2012.
Impactor promptly pinned me against the wall and told me, using frank and colourful language, that if I tried to “Stitch him up” ahead of the trial by “planting ideas” in his head, he would take my desk-mounted model of Ark-1 and insert it in me, “Thrusters first.”
One odd side effect of being a comic creator is you also often have to be your own PR person as well. With the amount of money companies spend on promotion, especially for the third of your three Transformers books launching at the moment, writers and artists are usually the ones doing all the singing and dancing to draw attention to their work in a crowded field, full of creators singing and dancing.
Nick Roche and James Roberts are two of the best self-promoters in the business, possibly a little at the cost of their souls (Brian Ruckley probably had a more cheerful time just looking at Twitter once or twice a year), but greatly to the benefit of readers. Especially ones attempting massive ridiculous projects like this, because there’s so much in the way of behind-the-scenes information out there. Plus, when they are working together, a ridiculous amount of extra bonus material in the books themselves.
This means that, in an attempt to get people to buy the issues, then buy the trade, then buy the hardback, which version of Last Stand of the Wreckers you have will potentially have very different content. The issues had profiles for the new Wreckers for example, whilst the trade has ones for Snare and Overlord, with only the Hardback bringing them all together. So, this is going to be a quick dive through the contents of the hardback (which collects just about everything) that isn’t new fiction. The astute amongst you will have noticed I’m leaving the biggest piece of aforementioned fiction till last, to go with issue 5.
Impactor promptly pinned me against the wall and told me, using frank and colourful language, that if I tried to “Stitch him up” ahead of the trial by “planting ideas” in his head, he would take my desk-mounted model of Ark-1 and insert it in me, “Thrusters first.”
One odd side effect of being a comic creator is you also often have to be your own PR person as well. With the amount of money companies spend on promotion, especially for the third of your three Transformers books launching at the moment, writers and artists are usually the ones doing all the singing and dancing to draw attention to their work in a crowded field, full of creators singing and dancing.
Nick Roche and James Roberts are two of the best self-promoters in the business, possibly a little at the cost of their souls (Brian Ruckley probably had a more cheerful time just looking at Twitter once or twice a year), but greatly to the benefit of readers. Especially ones attempting massive ridiculous projects like this, because there’s so much in the way of behind-the-scenes information out there. Plus, when they are working together, a ridiculous amount of extra bonus material in the books themselves.
This means that, in an attempt to get people to buy the issues, then buy the trade, then buy the hardback, which version of Last Stand of the Wreckers you have will potentially have very different content. The issues had profiles for the new Wreckers for example, whilst the trade has ones for Snare and Overlord, with only the Hardback bringing them all together. So, this is going to be a quick dive through the contents of the hardback (which collects just about everything) that isn’t new fiction. The astute amongst you will have noticed I’m leaving the biggest piece of aforementioned fiction till last, to go with issue 5.
There's no escaping Jimmy Pink.
The simple stuff first, there’s a comprehensive collection of covers, promotional adverts and art drawn by both fans and other professionals, the later of which is probably most notable for giving us the first hint of what an Alex Milne take on the Nick Roche Overlord might be like. There’s even some fan art of Overlord by the 12-year-old Nock Roche. Because he turns out he has always been like this.
Fisitron’s Facts gives out some brief behind the scenes information (including the original plan for Grimlock as a drugged-up pit-fighter. It’s also very keen to point out the police car at the end is not Prowl or Streetwise), whilst First Drafts presents the original outline, that, amongst many other differences, reveals Guzzle’s death would basically have been exactly the same as he’d finally receive many years later, killed in retaliation for trying to take out Kup (though here, Kup dies as well).
Script Extracts is brief deleted snippets, including a more elaborate death for Rotorstorm (that eventually was given to Pyro instead) and, of all the things to happen in a cold and Godless universe, an appearance from Jimmy Pink. Out of Bullets is similarly sections that had to be chopped from the short story to fit the original trade that is most notable for having different reasons for Roadbuster and Sandstorm not being present than will later turn out to be the case.
I bet Roadbuster wishes it were as simple as him getting caught up in a Sparkeater business.
Squadron X is James Roberts taking us through the history of the obscure Marvel guys who make up the team, before giving a quick one-paragraph profile of the IDW versions, which, oddly, are often quite different from the Marvel versions that did have speaking roles even though them swerving closer to the originals wouldn’t make much difference to the hi and die takes. Fang as mute who lost his voice after it was crushed by Impactor, anyone?
Fisitron’s Facts gives out some brief behind the scenes information (including the original plan for Grimlock as a drugged-up pit-fighter. It’s also very keen to point out the police car at the end is not Prowl or Streetwise), whilst First Drafts presents the original outline, that, amongst many other differences, reveals Guzzle’s death would basically have been exactly the same as he’d finally receive many years later, killed in retaliation for trying to take out Kup (though here, Kup dies as well).
Script Extracts is brief deleted snippets, including a more elaborate death for Rotorstorm (that eventually was given to Pyro instead) and, of all the things to happen in a cold and Godless universe, an appearance from Jimmy Pink. Out of Bullets is similarly sections that had to be chopped from the short story to fit the original trade that is most notable for having different reasons for Roadbuster and Sandstorm not being present than will later turn out to be the case.
I bet Roadbuster wishes it were as simple as him getting caught up in a Sparkeater business.
Squadron X is James Roberts taking us through the history of the obscure Marvel guys who make up the team, before giving a quick one-paragraph profile of the IDW versions, which, oddly, are often quite different from the Marvel versions that did have speaking roles even though them swerving closer to the originals wouldn’t make much difference to the hi and die takes. Fang as mute who lost his voice after it was crushed by Impactor, anyone?
Guzzle: Always doomed.
The meat of these extras are the profiles though. And of them, though the ones for Snare and Overlord are perfectly good, it’s the ones for the new Wreckers that really shine. Because they’re written by Rung, who would go onto be a very important character, so seeing him in his role as psychiatrist, complete with his model ship collection, deciding if each new recruit qualifies is setting up far more than just stuff for this series.
And the profiles themselves add a lot of depth, especially to Pyro and his condition of Primus Apotheosis (and it’s very amusing in retrospect Rung is naming conditions after Primus), that makes him want to be Optimus Prime to the extent of changing the design of his entire body to look closer to the Autobot leader.
But there are also little details like how Guzzle has survived being ripped in half before and that Rung failed Ironfist as an applicant before “Someone” intervened and overturned his decision.
Meaning pretty much the first thing Rung ever gets to do in-fiction is to be Prowl’s bitch.
Amazing.
And the profiles themselves add a lot of depth, especially to Pyro and his condition of Primus Apotheosis (and it’s very amusing in retrospect Rung is naming conditions after Primus), that makes him want to be Optimus Prime to the extent of changing the design of his entire body to look closer to the Autobot leader.
But there are also little details like how Guzzle has survived being ripped in half before and that Rung failed Ironfist as an applicant before “Someone” intervened and overturned his decision.
Meaning pretty much the first thing Rung ever gets to do in-fiction is to be Prowl’s bitch.
Amazing.
They should let Milne draw this guy again.
And that’s what all these extras are, amazing. The two writers didn’t need to do them, they weren’t paid for doing them. But in order to make double and triple dipping seem more appealing, they really put their back into giving every collection of the series much more value.
Both arguably became far more sensible in their time management after this, it’s a lot of effort for not being paid any more for it, meaning their subsequent works tend not to be as fully stacked (though certainly the Sins of the Wreckers is more stacked than usual for IDW, it’s more stuff from the archives than new content though), but that all this exists is a marvel, and a treat for fans that shows how invested they both were in creating good content.
And speaking of an issue that happened because the author was invested… or do I mean committed?... next week, it’s Spotlight Prowl!
LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS ISSUE 4
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
Both arguably became far more sensible in their time management after this, it’s a lot of effort for not being paid any more for it, meaning their subsequent works tend not to be as fully stacked (though certainly the Sins of the Wreckers is more stacked than usual for IDW, it’s more stuff from the archives than new content though), but that all this exists is a marvel, and a treat for fans that shows how invested they both were in creating good content.
And speaking of an issue that happened because the author was invested… or do I mean committed?... next week, it’s Spotlight Prowl!
LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS ISSUE 4
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
