Comics Feature on Marvel Productions

The January 1985 issue of Comics Feature ran a story on Marvel Productions, the company that produced the original Transformers cartoon. As part of this story, Comics Feature briefly interviewed Transformers story editors Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins, and included a piece of rare pre-production Transformers artwork. After learning of this story, I bought a copy of the magazine and made a high-resolution scan of the art, which is included in this post. This is not the first appearance of this particular piece of artwork, as it came into the hands of collector Alex Bickmore some years ago; you can see it here, where the corner isn't covered up by part of a Pandamonium promotional painting.

Transcribed below is the Transformers-relevant part of the interview.

Dick Robbins and Bryce Malek are two story editors at Marvel. Robbins is a veteran writer from the days of dramatic radio and live TV, who since 1972 has worked almost exclusively in the animation field, and Malek is a young man who used to work in Hanna Barbera's accounting department. It was Margaret Loesch who gave him his first writing assignment in 1980. Both Malek and Robbins came to Marvel in April of 1984, where they've been putting together the syndicated Transformers series ever since.

"It's based on a toy line," Malek says, "which a lot of Saturday morning shows are these days. They're similar to Go-Bots and about three or four other different lines. They are robots you can manipulate into jet planes and automobiles and all kinds of things."

The large number of characters in the Transformers series necessitated the hiring on of numerous freelance writers to get the scripts for the required number of episodes done on time.

"We normally would prefer to work with fewer writers," Robbins explains. "If we get a good writer to do a good script for us, we know his or her subsequent scripts will be even better. But we've been under the gun on this one. It's nice to have four or five writers for a series, but on this one we've had to have many more."

"In this case we were required to get out two scripts a week," Malek adds. "Twice as many as usual. We've had to work on several scripts simultaneously and some of our episodes are serialized. When we have a three-parter, it's not easy farming the information out to the person who's writing script #3 when you don't know what's happening with script #1. It can be pretty hectic and it gets very pressured."

Regardless of the pressure, Robbins and Malek are enjoying working on Transformers. Because the show is syndicated, they have much less stringent restrictions on depicting violence and action then they would have if it was a network show. "We can do a lot more," Malek confirms. "The violence is between the robots, so there's nothing that kids can really emulate. You can destroy a robot and then fix him up tomorrow. This show's got laser beams, crashes, explosions... it's real violent and I think boys will love it!"

The entirety of the interview is available here. Enjoy this bit of history!

The Napkin of Revelation

Aaron Archer's original outline for the series that would become Transformers: Cybertron, drawn on a napkin (origin uncertain), shown to fans at Hasbro's booth during the final hours of BotCon 2005. With Aaron's recent departure from Hasbro, I have decided to reveal these personal photos to the general public for the first time, though one side of the napkin previously showed up in the Transformers Vault guidebook.

You did a lot of good during your time on the brand, Aaron, and you will be missed. I am sorry that our first run-in, at BotCon 2002, consisted of me inadvertently keeping you from the restroom before the start of a panel to ask what the deal with Movor's name was. Um, my bad.

Godspeed, sir.

Galactica personal spacecraft

I've been enjoying the heck outta my Battlestar Galactica Roleplaying game. Those of you who know me know that I tend to get very obsessive about my interests, and this is no exception. We've recently hit the events of the Miniseries (and 33, for those keeping track.) We're in our own universe so not everything happens exactly the same way. Our fleet is a bit bigger than what we had in the show, including two military vessels besides Galactica and about an extra 10,000 civvies.

One thought that occurred was that there should be some personal spacecraft out there. After all, Blood and Chrome show us that Raptors have been around for at least fifty years. The technology exists, it just must be absurdly expensive. And yet, there are markets for expensive ships. Two that came to mind were express package delivery and the personal jet / luxury yacht level craft.  I statted out one of each and figured I'd go ahead and share them with you.

These are done up in Cortex regular, so you could easily use them for a Firefly campaign with a few minor tweaks. I had fun with the logo for Hermes Express (a company from one of my PC's background fluff.) The font is Futurama Bold, a nod to the best interstellar package delivery spaceship to ever ply the spaceways.

What say you, faithful readers? Any other niches out there for a small, ftl-capable ship besides courier and luxury?

(Read all about my BSG game from my GM's perspective over at The Black Campbell.)

ROBOTECH!

Sorry, gang, it's been way way too long since I've updated here. There have been a few things going on with me. Partially I've been really busy finishing up the G.I. Joe Field Manual volume II, and the Transformers 30th Anniversary Collection.  Partially I've more-or-less run out of TF animation models that I am able to share.  With the second Field Manual completed, I can now start to share some of the many extra Joe models I've tracked down, though, so Sunbow fans can look forward to that.

But my big news is that I'm working on a new Robotech RPG supplement. I can't talk about it too much yet, but it's exciting for me to get the chance to work with a new publisher, a new property, a new genre. I'm a big rpg fan, so the chance to play in that arena is wonderful. It's especially nice for me, because I grew up playing the Palladium Robotech game. In fact, their use of character designs from the original Japanese anime was part of what inspired me to create the Transformers and G.I. Joe animation model books.

My editor has asked that I help spread the word about one of their new line of products, Robotech Tactics. It looks awesome, and they've currently hit their Kickstarter goal of $70,000 and are well on their way to reach their stretch goal of $125,000.

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Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Kickstarter – April 18, 2013

Palladium Books® and Ninja Division (the creative minds behind Soda Pop Miniatures and Cipher Studios) are proud to announce the launch of the Robotech® RPG Tactics™Kickstarter.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ empowers you to take command of the fighting forces of the United Earth Defense Force (UEDF) or lead the massive clone armies of the Zentraedi Armada in pitched combat. Relive the massive battles on your tabletop, engage in stand-alone tactical games or use the dynamic game pieces to enhance your Robotech® RPG experience. Collect your favorite mecha from an expanding range of world-class game pieces.

Why should you care? The Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Kickstarterhelps Palladium to fund the launch of a compelling and expanding game line designed specifically for Robotech® fans and gamers. Six months of product development has produced nearly two dozen gorgeous sculptures (with many more to come), a mountain of artwork, and game rules that have been play-tested by more than 100 Robotech fans and gamers to ensure Robotech® RPG Tactics™ is everything you could want. And because so much is DONE, this project should go into manufacturing within 45 days after the Kickstarter!

More Robotech® adventure to enjoy. Ever consider playing a role-playing game? Check out Palladium’s Robotech® role-playing game line. Each book contains a wealth of information, artwork and sometimes never-before-revealed stats and information about the mecha, vehicles, weapons, characters and settings you love. The four core books – Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® Role-Playing Game, the Macross Saga™ Sourcebook, the Masters Saga™ and New Generation™ – are worth owning just to have the reference they provide, even if you never play the game. Inexpensive and available now.

© Copyright 2013 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Palladium Books®, Megaverse®, RPG Tactics and other titles, names and slogans are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.

Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc. © 1985, 2013 Harmony Gold USA, Inc., all rights reserved.

This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.

Cobra Commander... In Space? (For reals, people!)

OK, this one is just too cool for school. The G.I. Joe Field Manual V2 is coming out in a couple of months, (I just got the files to IDW last week!), so to celebrate Bill Forster, my co-author, actually shot Cobra Commander into space. Like, literally. Almost 20 miles up, 40,000 feet above the Armstrong's line, getting into the upper reaches of the troposphere.  Check out our video here, complete with the curvature of the earth and everything. 

Here's what he has to say about it:

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After the G.I. Joe Field Manual Volume One was released, I was hard at work with Volume Two when I came across several videos taken of the curvature of the Earth. What was cool about them was it wasn’t done by NASA or the Air Force but rather by regular ol’ Earthlings. After showing one of these videos to my girlfriend Jillian she informed me that her brother had experience with these launches.

Jill’s brother, Jeff Wilschke is an engineer who for fun and research sends video cameras into the atmosphere. Jeff and I spoke about the details and then when the family got together for Thanksgiving he brought along the craft that would carry Cobra Commander over 100,000 feet into the air. It was a hollow Styrofoam cube which contained a GPS for locating the craft after it landed. It also had a video camera facing out a hole in the craft where a fiberglass plank extended from. There Cobra Commander would be glued in place. The craft also contained two tiny computers, one of Jeff’s own design, which would measure temperature, altitude and other sciencey stuff.

Jeff had fitted the craft with two wing-like panels that he had hoped would stabilize the craft and channel wind in an effort to reduce spinning.  The panels served another purpose. The foil lining would be picked up by nearby aircraft sensors and would allow pilots to avoid crashing into our little experiment. Although FAA regulations state that our 4 pound craft was well below the weight required to use such tactics, Jeff felt it was worth the extra work. 

Then one morning we drove four hours north of Los Angeles to a dirt crossroads of some orchard fields. There we set up the weather balloon. Using a huge helium tank we filled the balloon until it was a specific size which was determined by a large Styrofoam caliper Jeff had constructed. At which point the craft was connected to a small parachute which was then connected to the weather balloon. I had the honor of releasing the Commander’s craft and the payload ascended at such a rate that within seconds it was difficult to see and then soon after it disappeared into the blue California sky. 

For the next few hours we followed the craft over miles using the GPS and constant updates from Jeff and Jill’s father Jack who monitored Cobra Commander from his computer at home. Once the balloon exploded from the increasing expansion of the helium it fell back to Earth. The GPS eventually showed no movement and we concluded the craft had landed. Traveling completely through a town and into an industrial park we followed the signal down a dirt road until we saw the craft’s yellow parachute lying in a dirt field. We could immediately see that Cobra Commander was no longer attached to the craft. Could he have fallen off before getting to the apex of the journey? As we walked toward the payload we could see Cobra Commander laying just a foot away. He had been thrown clear as the craft crash landed.  Now he sits on my desk, I am fairly sure, having been the only Cobra figure to travel 102,000 feet into the air. 

…COBRA!

 

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Pretty awesome stuff, no?

Cobra Commander, in space. Tell your friends.

Cortex Bundles: War of the Worlds (the series)

My Cortex rantings have apparently inspired my good friend Rob to run a Starship Troopers campaign, using the system. Kudos, Rob! Maybe he'll post some campaign reports here and let you know how it turns out.

In keeping with my low-tech sci-fi interests, here is a bundle for the aliens from War of the Worlds (the series). 

Mor-Tax Bundle: D2 Cost

Assets:

Absorbtion: D12 Mor-Taxians can absorb a human host, merging their cells together. They gain access to all of the human's memories and, as long as the body is inhabited, the host's skill set. The host's ego and will are subsumed and, when the alien departs or is killed, whatever's left of the host dissolves into goo. Mor-Tax can only absorb human hosts after a host has been subdued.

Enhanced Manipulation (third arm): D4

Uncommon Knowledge (alien tech): D6 Mor-Taxians can typically do more with electronics than their skill set may otherwise indicate. Add to tech engineering and science rolls if concocting an alien device.

Complications:

Vulnerability (common cold): D12 Exposure to the common cold renders Mor-Taxians comatose within days of exposure. Radiation can keep the virus at bay, but that results in the destruction of any human hosts very quickly, or the overheating of an alien body not contained in a cooling suit.

Triune Nature: D4 Mor-Taxians almost always act in threes, and are uncomfortable in smaller groups. Take all attributes down a step when forced to act individually.

Prejudice (humans): D4 Mor-Taxians LOATHE humanity and have a hard time not showing it.

I'm aware that occasionally other powers were demonstrated, but since that was rare I'd assume those aliens took specific assets.  The above traits were pretty much universal except for Quinn, who clearly didn't take the Mor-Tax bundle.

For those interested, the Morthren bundle would have a D2 cost and would consist of Uncommon Knowledge (alien tech): D6 and Prejudice (humans): D4.  They've abandoned their triune nature, extra arm, ability to absorb human hosts, and have inoculated themselves against the common cold.

Cortex for ExoSquad and Gargoyles

I've been a fan of tabletop role-playing games since I was nine or ten. I started with D&D but branching off into Robotech (with the RIFTS system), Shadowrun, Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu. My new group is playing with two systems that are new to me, Battlestar Galactica (using the Cortex system) and Hollow Earth.
Cortex is a great system, and available for free download. I immediately fell in love with it, and think it works very well for lowish-tech science fiction universes. It was designed for Firefly and adapted for BSG and other universes. A buddy of mine asked me what system would be good to run a Starship Troopers and Cortex immediately popped into my head.  This turned to a conversation of how well the system would work for such diverse universes as Alien, ExoSquad, and Gargoyles.Of course, Gargoyles and ExoSquad both include pretty neat races that should be open to PCs, the Gargoyles and the NeoSapiens. We came up with some bundles, so I thought I'd share them.

Gargoyle Bundle: null cost

Assets:

Enhanced Movement (Gliding): D8 (With enough height and knowledge of local air currents, Gargoyles can glide for miles.)

Enhanced Movement (Climbing): D6 (Gargoyles climb extraordinarily quickly.)

Inherent Weapons (Claws): D4 (Their claws can shatter stone)

Inherent Armor: D4 (Their skin is tough and tends to deflect weapons.)

Complications:

Stone Sleep: D10 (At sunrise, Gargoyles turn to stone regardless of where they are and what they are doing.)

Memorable: D8 (Gargoyles stand out in a crowd.)

Duty: D4 (Almost all Gargoyles have at least a moderate compulsion to protect their home.)

I thought about doing one for the Children of Oberon race, but they seem to be too varied to stat out in a meaningful way. If a PC really wants to play one, the GM will have to just get creative.  I would suggest giving them Immune - non-iron weapons (D12 + D2) as a pretty standard attribute.  Mutates might be a fun bundle to make up, though.

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Neo Sapien Bundle: D12 cost

Assets:

Enhanced Manipulation: D2 (Neo Sapiens have two thumbs (and two fingers) on each hand, as well as prehensile toes. Add to tests where fine dexterity is paramount.)

Natural Athlete: D4 (Neo Sapiens are at the apex of human capabilities.)

Tough: D4 (Neo Sapiens are tougher than their stats might indicate.)

Head for Numbers: D4 (Neo Sapiens are brilliant, especially in technical matters.)

Simple needs: D2 (Neo Sapiens can survive on comparably few calories, and can digest almost anything organic to achieve those calories.)

Always Awake: D6 (Neo Sapiens don't need sleep.)

Fast on Your Feet: D2 (Neo Sapiens have long legs and move swiftly.)

Enhanced Senses: D4 (Neo Sapiens see very well in low-light conditions, and have exceptional hearing.)

Lightning Reflexes: D2 (Neo Sapiens have unnaturally fast reflexes.)

Hardy Constitution: D4 (Neo Sapiens can shrug off the ill effects of drugs or disease with ease.)

Formidable Presence: D2 (Neo Sapiens are 8 feet tall and built like linebackers. They tend to intimidate.)

Longevity: D2 (Neo Sapiens can live, and be vital, approximately twice as long as Homo Sapiens.)


Complications:

Vulnerability - Trauma: D6 (Neo Sapiens who suffer sever physical trauma, such as the loss of more than half of their life points, are at risk for contracting Auto Mutation Syndrome, a degenerative and inevitably fatal disease. They must make a hard endurance check or contract the illness.

Sterile: D4 (Neo Spaiens cannot reproduce normally, divorcing them from the cycle of life and denying them any form of familial relationship.)

Analysis Paralysis: D4 (Most Neo Sapiens are unable to think on their feet. The unexpected can confuse them. When encountering unfamiliar or unexpected situations, step down all attributes by one for D4 rounds.)

Conventional Thinking: D4 (When attempting be truly original or creative in tactics or technical matters, Neo Sapiens are often at a loss. Subtract D4 from rolls under such circumstances.)

Memorable: D4 (In addition to being eight feet tall and blue, all Neo Sapiens have a unique geometric tattoo prominently on their forehead.)

Animal Enmity: D4 (Animals can sense something unnatural about Neo Sapiens. Dogs bark at them and domestic animals resent their handling.)

Note: Many Neo Sapien villains have Prejudice (Humans) to help offset the cost of this bundle, though of course any Neo Sapien in the Exo Fleet would be unlikely to have such a complication. 

This is obviously an extremely potent bundle, reflecting how they were portrayed in the series. For most campaigns, I would advise no more than one Neo Sapien per party. GnomeStew has an excellent article on the reasoning behind such a limitation