Shane emailed the answers to me a month ago, but I kept getting distracted and forgetting to post this up... sorry.
A HUGE thankyou to Shane for wanting to participate in this Q&A competition.
The winning question was by Sky Shadow, for 'If you were Megatron, what steps would you take to invade Australia?'
I'll organise getting that HC AHM book for you.
For the rest of you, the answers are below (of the questions he was willing or able to answer).
1 - Where did you get the inspiration for the third faction in the Drift miniseries?
Well the Third Faction (I really should have given them a name) were a part of AHM from the very start. When I sat down to write up my thoughts on the Bots and Cons it seemed natural to me that there should at least be another group. Surely not everyone joined a side, what happened to the ones that didn't? It grew from there.
2 - Did you have any input on the visual designs of the third faction characters, or was it purely the artists choice?
I definitely had input but it's important to distinguish the difference between the "Third Faction" and the Knights. The Knights are a small group of advisers that led the exodus, those that came with them, in my mind, were the Third Faction. So I had input on how I wanted the Knights to look but the Third Faction were simply other Cybertronians.
3 - Was the Drift miniseries ever originally planned (by you or IDW) to be longer than 4 issues? If so, how many issues were you originally looking at to tell the story?
No it was always four issues.
4 - Do you keep any rights for the Drift character (since he was used in the IDW kids picture book) or when it was created did you have to hand everything over to Hasbro/IDW?
I didn't "hand" anything over, the important thing to understand is that I was working for Hasbro (by way of IDW) on their characters the whole time. Anything I created by way of that relationship belongs to them. Yes I created the idea of Drift all on my own, Guido did up the designs based on my ideas all on his own and then we presented it to IDW/Hasbro but it always belonged to them because of the standard work for hire agreement.
5 - What projects do you have coming up next for fans to look out for? Transformers or otherwise.
Well, as for Transformers there's something Andy and I are talking about at the moment but nothing that can be announced yet. Very early days. I'm very eager to work with Andy again though so you should see something from me eventually.
Outside of Transformers I'm working on several creator owned books that I'm extremely excited about. Again, early days but the artwork on all of them will be amazing! Stay tuned on that front.
6 - In your work are you often involved in any way with the final, on-page appearance of a character?
Always, it's one of the biggest parts of my job.
8 - Please tell us about your exposure to Transformers prior to working on the comic series.
Like most people I was a fan of the cartoon. I loved it as a kid. I caught the Aussie premier of the cartoon and it blew me away; it was so different from anything I'd seen. From there I went on to reading the comic, the big UK editions that had "Action Force" as a backup (or Spidey for a while). It was such a bloody great era for Transformers.
9 - Looking back, would there be any changes you would make to your stories?
I think you'd be hard pressed to find any writer that wouldn't want to make some changes to the work they've done. You're always evolving and growing as a creator and because of that you look back at your previous work and see things you'd do differently now. But I'm very proud of all the work I've done on Transformers and, whilst I could rewrite any story to death, I'm happy to say I'd leave it as is (if only to save my sanity).
11 - If you could transform into anything what would it be?
A woman. Wait, we can transform back again right?!
12 - What are your views on the Beast Wars part of the Transformers Universe, and have you ever thought up any Beast Wars stories or characters?
I loved Beast Wars, LOVED it. I thought it had some of the best writing I'd ever seen in Transformers. I've never thought up any stories or characters for it though since I've never sent my mind there so to speak.
13 - If you get tired/bored writing a story, how do you remotivate yourself to keep working on that story.
I can honestly say this has never happened. I mean, yeah I get tired but in a "I better go to bed" kind of way. But I've never had a point where I've been bored by a story or grew tired of writing it. I'm in control of the whole thing so if something's less exciting for whatever reason I can change what I like to make it more interesting. That's the best part of my job, writing something that excites the hell out of me every single day (and sleeping in, that's pretty good too).
14 - Where do you see Drift in 1000 years?
Well I would have joked "an old man" but to Cybertronians that's really no time at all is it. Unless you mean a thousand years to us and then I think I'd be happy if society's still around then let alone Transformers.
15 - Do you have any advice for people who want to become comic book writers/artists?
Never give up, never stop trying. If you want this, it's yours but you have to want it bad enough. In the end you're your own worst enemy in that the only person that can ever truly stop you...is you.
16 - Before Drift was created did you have a differant idea for the character? (Eg differant name, differant altmode, differant backstory, differant anything)?
Nope, he is what he was meant to be.
17 - Are there any other Characters that you'd like to "expand upon" in future series?
Sure, absolutely. The Transformer universe is very rich and I enjoy spending time with all of them. Right now I'd love to do something with Kup and Starscream but who knows if that'll ever happen. We'll see.
18 - Who is your favourite Transformer character, and why?
This changes often. I think the concept of favourite, especially when dealing with such a vast cast, is something more based on mood than anything else. I've always loved Cliffjumper as a character and Megatron for sure. But I think if I had to go favourite you really can't look beyond Prime. He's the guy that embodies the best in all of us...and no I don't mean an irrational tendency to get himself killed.
21 - Has fellow West Australian Trevor Hutchinson tried his hand at interior comic art? His covers are so amazing that I'd love to see what he can do with a full comic?
Trev never has but I'd love to see him try his hand at it. We've been talking about doing a kid's book for years so maybe you'll see that first.
23 - If you were Megatron, what steps would you take to invade Australia?
Land here and say "this is mine"? There's two things you need to consider here. Firstly we really don't have any kind of military force that could ever post a threat to him (and that's coming from an Army brat) and secondly, Australian's are so apathetic we'd probably just ignore him or tell him to get a beer and shut up because we're busy watching the cricket.
24 - If Chuck Norris fought Drift, who would win?
Chuck Norris wouldn't show up, he got his arse kicked by Bruce Lee in the 70s.
25 - If you could kill off a Transformer permanently, who would you choose?
I don't think any of them should ever be killed off permanently. Even if you thought you did they'd just come back in some way when another writer comes on board. No, I think killing them and taking them off the board for a while can be effective but it should never be forever.
27 - I read that you "grew up reading Simon's books and still have those big format TF comics in my back room". What was your favourite Transformers story from Marvel UK?
Anything involving Death's Head.
28 - What do you think about the similarites between TF:Prime cartoon's Wheeljack and your Drift character?
Embarrassingly this is the first I'm hearing about it. I haven't had a chance to see any of Transformers: Prime.
31 - Did you have anything to do with the TF:Prime episode 'Con Job'? or was someone inspired by your work?
No. Whilst I'd love to write something for animation at some point it has yet to have happened.
32 - Do you prefer the original mad inventor (of Wheeljack in Gen1) or this new samurai version?
I haven't seen his new version but I loved the take of G1 Wheeljack. I never saw him as a "mad inventor" though. I always saw him as the old-school grease monkey that worked on old cars and lived above the workshop.
33 - What do you think of the Generations Drift toy? Is there anyone in Hasbro you could 'convince' to mass release a Cybertronian Drift toy?
I love it. Hutch bought one for me and it's sitting on my TV unit right next to the Justice League (odd combo I know). I have no "in" with Hasbro though so can't help you on the Cybertronian front.
34 - Will you be including Lugnut in any future works you may have the chance to do for IDW?
No plans to.
38 - Drift seems to be something you are most famous for among Transformers fans. What other acheivements are you best known for, or would hope to be known for?
Well I don't aspire to be known for anything to be honest. At the end of the day if the people that know me remember me as a nice guy then I think that's a pretty great achievement to leave with. I just do the best I can do with the opportunities and characters presented to me and to have as much fun doing is as possible.
39 - Is the Great Sword meant to be a plot-device icon like the Matrix, that we won't see used much? Or if it does get used again after the Drift Mini-series, how often will it be used, or in what circumstances?
The Knight's Great Swords weren't meant as a "plot device". They're an element of the Cybertronian culture that has been handed down and represents a depth to their culture and spirituality. As to how it might be used after the Drift mini, that's entirely up to whoever is writing the character at any given time.
40 - Was Drift created and used in the Gen1 Universe because you couldn't find a pre-existing Gen1 character to fill your needs in the story, or was it an opportunity to use a character you had already created?
Well I hadn't already created him before sitting down to write AHM. The way I work is I create and write for whomever or whatever I "aim" my mind at. Having never written for Transformers before it never occurred to me to create a new character for the series. When I sat down to write AHM and the idea of a character like that came up, the idea for Drift popped up with it. I liked the idea of an Autobot that was a Japanese Drift Racing car and thought I'd have a shot at it. The rest is on the page.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Originally Posted by i_amtrunks
God I'm quick, I've only just noticed this thread
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