BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO For Transformers fans, it seems impossible to imagine a world where the Decepticons win and the Autobots are nowhere to be found. How could the evil triumph? What happens next? In the pages of Transformers: All Hail Megatron all those questions will be answered as writer Shane McCarthy is taking the robots in disguise places they've never been before. The stakes have been raised and McCarthy said this is a perfect starting place for new fans, and is completely in continuity.
THE PULSE: I think a lot of people are afraid to get into a new Transformers series if they haven't followed it all along, especially since it seems to be a series that has such a rich legacy. For those readers who haven't checked out anything yet, but have heard some of the hype around the maxiseries, All Hail Megatron; what does anyone have to know about the Transformers to be able to enjoy this series?
SHANE McCARTHY: In all seriousness? Not a whole lot. You need to know some very simple things; there is an ancient race of giant robots that are embroiled in a very old civil war; there are two factions to this ancient civil war, the Decepticons (bad guys) and the Autobots (good guys); this civil war is one that is raging across the galaxy on many different fronts; the war has found its way to our home planet. To some people that will be pretty obvious and, as simple as it seems, that's all you need to know with All Hail Megatron. Anything else you might need to know will be explained within the series. This is a maxi series deliberately constructed NOT to be mired in continuity and history. This is your best chance to try out an incredible universe.
THE PULSE: What happened to make this a World Without Autobots? It seems odd to imagine a place in the Transformers universe where there isn't a good to counter the evil of the Decepticons ....
McCARTHY: Well the answer to this is within the pages of the book. However, without giving too much away, the Decepticons have managed to strike a decisive blow in the war that has finally brought the Autobots to their knees. The Autobots will appear in the book, but this is a story that's concentrating on the worst possible scenario...the good guys lost.
THE PULSE: I think what a lot of longtime Transformers fans are going to want to know is what makes you ideal to tell this story? Usually Simon Furman or someone else associated with the property from its inception handles the scripting details.
McCARTHY: 'Ideal', now there's a word I'm not completely comfortable with. I think what long time fans are really worried about is someone new coming in and bringing change with them. This happens a lot on the books done by the 'Big Two' but hasn't happened all that much in the Transformer line. A new creative team jumps on a Spider-Man or a Batman book and no-one bats an eyelid (pun not intended). A new writer jumps on the Transformer line and people freak out.
What readers are going to get is a new voice and, in some ways, a new take. In this situation though the big bonus is that they have a professional writer that's also a big fan of the characters. I've got Optimus Prime sitting right here on my desk; he was here when I was writing Batman and he's here now. My message to the fans is, 'Don't worry! I've got you covered.'
THE PULSE: Who came up with the idea to have the Decepticons kind of win and get rid of the Autobots? I mean, it sounds very intriguing, but kind of like a point of no return.
McCARTHY: That was all me. The great thing about Chris [Ryall], Hasbro and IDW is the amount of trust they've given me and freedom they've allowed me in doing this. In fact, I sit here now and can't for the life of me think of one thing they haven't allowed. There were a few "no's from Hasbro in regards to some of the devastation and violence I wanted to cause in the comic, but they're protecting their license so it makes perfect sense (and trust me, we're absolutely pushing this as far as we can). I've even had a very big hand in all of the marketing and promotion for the book.
IDW really encourage a hands on approach with their books and I've gone a long way to make this my baby. So, to finally answer your question completely, it was my idea but it most certainly isn't a point of no return. It's where I like to start, how bad can it possibly get? Let's *start* there.
THE PULSE: Since this series is in continuity, have you any kind of guarantee that this won't be retconned or reimagined or anything else that's done to erase continuity after the fact? I mean, how do you know the hard work you're putting into these twelve issues is going to have a lasting payoff?
McCARTHY: Well in this industry there's never any guarantees. I mean my Riddler retcon lasted for all of about eight minutes. However, with what I know about the future of the IDW Transformer line, I can tell you this absolutely won't be retconned out. I think it's safe to come out and say that this 12 issue series isn't the only time I'll be spending in the Transformers universe. My working relationship with IDW is extremely good and Chris and I are dedicated to bringing more to the table than just this particular series. This is where I intend to start.
THE PULSE: We've seen darker tales in superhero stories -- like the five year later Legion of Super-Heroes, Dark Knight and Kingdom Comes .... How stark is what we're dealing with here?
McCARTHY: As stark as I could get Hasbro to let me make it. The pitch and approach I handed them was very, very dark. It had a lot of things in there no-one has ever seen in a Transformers comic and would never expect to see. As I mentioned though we had to reign some of that in considering the sensibilities of the company and that's something I completely respect. Does that mean it won't be dark at all? Hell no. It just means I couldn't sneak in some of my more twisted ideas. I guarantee you though, everyone that picks up this book will see a darker side to this universe. You can't possibly let the Decepticons loose in New York without seeing some destruction and mayhem. I just wrote issue three and I think the death toll was sitting well over the two hundred thousand mark when America was brought to its knees.
THE PULSE: This seems like a daunting story to tell, one that's going to get a lot of attention both in and out of comics since it's a property that stretches beyond the traditional comics realm. What kind of extra pressure does that put on you, knowing how vocal this fanbase is?
McCARTHY: Well none ... until now. Thanks, Jen. Seriously though, I don't really feel any of that pressure. I'm just here to write the best book I can and tell a story that I'd love to see. So far IDW and Hasbro are over the moon about what I'm doing, so I'm happy to say it seems to be working.
THE PULSE: I know you're creating a new character set to make its debut in these pages. What was it like getting to add some new pages to the mythos of the Transformers?
McCARTHY: This was a real blast. Man. I was pretty excited about this one. When I came up with the character Chris assured me it wasn't going to fly. He was confident Hasbro wouldn't be up for a whole new Transformer. I figured why not though and sent Chris the description anyway to see what he thought. Chris went nuts. So Chris thought, why not and sent it to Hasbro. Hasbro went nuts. I sent Guido [Guidi] some incredibly specific character descriptions (pages worth) and we found a design we all loved. Right now we're all wondering...toy?
THE PULSE: How did you decide what kind of bot to make here? I mean it seems as if there could be limitless ones to create, especially with the advances in technology. Is this some kind of iPod Bot or XBot or ...?
McCARTHY: Oh I knew in two seconds. It came to me all in one hit when I was plotting out the story; the name, the look, everything. I almost don't think I created him; I think he did it all himself.
THE PULSE: You told me when we were talking about this that you were "attempting to come at the property from a new direction." How so?
McCARTHY: I guess for me it all boils down to one word, 'ramifications'. I wanted to come at this world like a sledge hammer, or maybe, to put it another way, to have their world come at ours like a sledge hammer. I wanted to push this as far as I could into the realms of change and influence as I possibly could. What would happen to us if they were here? What would it mean? What would change? Would we survive? Do make that as acute as possible I needed to give us our worst nightmare ... Hitler with a nuclear cannon strapped to one arm.
THE PULSE: What existing elements from this Universe did you feel were necessary to incorporate here at all costs?
McCARTHY: Well it was important not to just walk in and change everything for no reason. I mean, we wanted to shake things up to re-invigorate the line somewhat, but at the same time it's important to be respectful to what's been created. Simon's done a great job building the universe for others to play in so it was important to keep the essential ingredients of that. You don't walk onto a Batman book and get rid of Alfred, torch the Manor and change his costume to pink. However you can shift and move things (like Batman moving out of the cave and into to the city in the '70s) in such a way as to keep consistent to the heart of the universe but also to add new life. For me, nothing was 'at all costs' except for the real heart of the matter: Cybertron is burnt out and inhospitable, the civil war is relentless and is taking place all across the universe on multiple fronts. I didn't change a whole lot ... but those were the elements I felt absolutely couldn't change.
THE PULSE: Who or what is influencing you the most as you work on this new direction for the Transformers?
McCARTHY: History. I've been reading a lot of my old history books and biographies on tyrants and dictators. The biggest influence on this is history. That and an ample amount of Foo Fighters. I don't know why but they're BRILLIANT to write Transformers to.
THE PULSE: What's it like having Guido Guidi bringing your words to life? He's worked on a few Transformers projects before like Beast Wars: The Ascending and the Spotlight on Galvatron, but how well is he realizing your vision?
McCARTHY: It's a real dream to be working with Guido (Or The Gui as I call him, I need to check if he hates that though). Guido's eye for detail and dedication to the smallest of factors is exceptional. He shares my passion for these kinds of things and is constantly amazing me with his ability to capture what I wanted on every page. I can be a really picky bastard when it comes to what I want on the page or in the character designs but Guido is right there with me and pushing the bar even higher.
THE PULSE: I know you're a big Transformers fan, but how much of what you're doing here is what you always imagined should be done with the property?
McCARTHY: A lot of it, all of it. I think this is the culmination of a slowly bubbling story that's been in my head for over 20 years. It's always been simmering back there; one of those, 'if I ever had my chance' things. Every creator's got them, we all do. We all have those characters we'd absolutely die to write. Mine were the Transformers. Writing Batman was huge for me, but this is my secret little dream and I'm not only getting to write them but mold a whole universe.
THE PULSE: How tough is it to get your imagination down on paper and capture everything you see in your mind in a way that works with the sequential art storytelling?
McCARTHY: Well that's the nuts and bolts of it all isn't it? I've never really found it *hard*, I think my mind just works that way. But then again, maybe I'm not finding it hard because I'm secretly shit at it. I hope not. But I think this style of storytelling just makes sense to me (which says a lot about my brain). I've been lucky in that whatever I write in my scripts ends up being translated beautifully onto the page and I'm lucky that I can clearly explain it so it does. I hope.
THE PULSE: Why shouldn't PULSE readers miss this adventure?
McCARTHY: Because girls will laugh at you if you don't. Imagine that, a world where girls laugh at you for NOT reading a comic. Well this is that comic. In the end though, it's because you'll miss out on something that only comics can really translate; a good, knock 'em down, drag 'em out *war* between giant robots that'll tear apart cities, bring down countries and make you look forward to walking into your local comic book store. And so you don't get laughed at by girls.
THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?
McCARTHY: I'm gearing up with IDW for some creator owned projects and also talking with Pia Guerra about that Doctor Who story we were supposed to do before my brain was taken hostage by transforming robots. I can't wait to work with Pia, we're both HUGE Dr. Who fans ... and she's just about the coolest girl alive.
The first of twelve issues of Transformers: All Hail Megatron should be in stores this July from Shane McCarthy and Guido Guidi.
Posts: 20849 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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