Contents Of "The Best Of Simon Furman" Revealed

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Contents Of "The Best Of Simon Furman" Revealed

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http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/tf-bestofsimon.shtml

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... nsforme-20
We know our dear TF fans are wondering what's going inside our new collection of "Best of" TRANSFORMERS books, so we've compiled this list of what will be inside TRANSFORMERS: The Best of Simon Furman—stories hand-picked by the long-time TF writer himself. Take a look at all the stories you'll get, and stay tuned for the contents of TRANSFORMERS: The Best of Don Figueroa!
  • TFUK #31-32 "Wrath of Guardian/Grimlock"
  • TFUK #81 "Target: 2006 pt3"
  • TFUK #86 "Target: 2006 pt8"
  • TFUK #172-173 "Wrecking Havoc"
  • TFUS #62 "Bird of Prey"
  • TFUS #70 "The Price of Life"
  • TFUS #75 "On the Edge of Extinction"
  • TFUK #237-239 "Way of the Warrior"/"Survival Run"/"A Savage Place"
  • TFUK #240 "Out to Lunch"
  • TFG2 #7 "Tales of Earth pt4"
  • TFG2 #8 "Tales of Earth pt5"
  • TF Tales from the Beast Wars "Ground Zero"
  • TF War Within (v1) Preview Special 2002 & Preview
  • TF Armada #16 "Worlds Collide pt3"
  • TF Infiltration #6
  • TF Beast Wars: The Gathering #1
-Alex???
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

If anyone needs a refresher on the Marvel original series stories --

http://tfarchive.com/comics/marvel/?s=storylist
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Well, that's a bit ****ing pointless, isn't it? Gotta love the way there's two exclusive reprints in that lot, meaning the only way to get "Wrath" on 'acid-free paper' ('cos my copies of UK #31-32 have melted away, I can tell you that for free) is to put £15 in IDW's thong (free tip - Collected Comics #5 can be found for about £2 very easily, and has a better cover - I haven't seen the Best Of cover, but it's a done deal anyway... if people can do it for the movie, I can do it for Geoff Senior Dinobots). Lemme guess, "Sampler for future TPBs allowing fans a grab-bag of notable episodes to follow the stories further" or somesuch in IDW spin?

IDW's attempt to copy Marvel Visionaries ("I have this"/"I don't have this, where the ****'s the rest of the story?") aside, no real clunkers, though Worlds Collide 1 would be a better choice, as would several G2 strips over two random chunks of Tales of Earth, and most UK two-parters over Wrath, which is there so a few more people loosen the wallet for a vanity collection.

Will the Best of Don be laminated?
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
two random chunks of Tales of Earth
Prime/Megatron alliance; it stands alone quite well.

As usual with anything reprint-y, we aren't exactly the audience.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Originally posted by Denyer
Prime/Megatron alliance; it stands alone quite well.
Yeh, but there's better stuff in G2 which could stand alone, I'm sure you'll agree - dropping those and Wrath in favour of War Without End would be the obvious thing to do, but then they wouldn't have those two 'fresh' reprints to pull in people with Titan/DW TPBs, would they?
As usual with anything reprint-y, we aren't exactly the audience.


The cynical placement of 'Wrath' (which would have made a decent Generations issue...) makes me think while you and I may not be, they would seem to be hoping people with the aforementioned TPB collections go for the thing (especially Stateside, where original UK issues aren't easy to find, what with the apparent fear to import and all). Seriously, though, isn't that what Generations should be there for? What's the point in Generations otherwise, beyond easy dollar? Surely a rare story of 22-page length would be just the thing they want to make someone other than mad completist bastards care about the book (you'd think TPBs would generate more revenue than a single issue or something)? Interesting that Simon would have seemed to have declared the story below quality when he edited the Titan programme, and yet now suddenly it's a hand-picked favourite, ahead of, well, a fair chunk of the prime UK two-parters?

Semi-serious question: I presume Don's doing the cover for The Best Of Don He's So Dreamy, yeh? Does this mean Furman will be doing the cover for best of Furman? That'd tempt me.
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Yeh, but there's better stuff in G2 which could stand alone, I'm sure you'll agree - dropping those and Wrath in favour of War Without End would be the obvious thing to do
For favourites I'd pick Grimlock's speech in #1, the nuking of San Francisco later on and chunks of #12 from G2, and it'd be easy to get carried away with just, well, reprinting G2 in full.

As a taste of G2, you've got recapping of Megatron, Starscream, Yaniger and the classic "Prime's always right!"
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
isn't that what Generations should be there for? What's the point in Generations
Americans seem to get more nostalgic about the early US comic. They like Don Perlin's art, for one thing -- there's been lots of interest in having him do something for the modern books. (Chalk me down as interested too.)

The selection criteria seems to be stories that a) can be reprinted without any legal query from Marvel, and b) stuff the people choosing like, which has thus far included a lot of unashamed cheese.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
The cynical placement of 'Wrath' [...] ahead of, well, a fair chunk of the prime UK two-parters?
My first thought also. It's hard to see Wrath being printed by Titan if the surrounding material wasn't, but I suppose it's also hard to see there being a big interest in it except in the context of a larger collection -- something interesting about these picks is that several have recaps tying them into the TF chronology as whole, such as "Prime captive of Shockwave" and Circuit Breaker in this one. Target 2006 has built-in recaps; the picks are as much a guided tour through the chronology as a personal best of... choosing "Fall and Rise..." or similar would jump over there being any early TF story setting.

It still might make a decent Generations issue. The "exclusive" cover art for Infiltrations got a general release.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Semi-serious question: I presume Don's doing the cover for The Best Of Don He's So Dreamy, yeh? Does this mean Furman will be doing the cover for best of Furman? That'd tempt me.
Looks like Raiz, if the placeholder of his art from the Hot Rod spotlight sticks around. Hopefully not, as the image has sweet FA to do with the contents.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Originally posted by Denyer
and it'd be easy to get carried away with just, well, reprinting G2 in full.
Why don't they just do that? I mean, has there really been that much demand for a "Best Of Furman"? I don't do wider comic community much, but is he really known beyond Transformers fandom (and the occasional overlap where he's simply known as a name, say in Doctor Who fandom). It smacks of hoping people pay money for the same old rope because a bit of it's different.
Americans seem to get more nostalgic about the early US comic. They like Don Perlin's art, for one thing -- there's been lots of interest in having him do something for the modern books. (Chalk me down as interested too.)
Which is surely no real reason to simply reprint US issues that are freely avaliable in TPBs (not to mention usually around cover in original issues) with trendy cover art that borders on false advertising? I suspect a lot of Perlin's following is due to him being one of only two US TF pencillers whose work is worth a damn... the man was far too reliant on the quality of his inkers.
The selection criteria seems to be stories that a) can be reprinted without any legal query from Marvel, and b) stuff the people choosing like, which has thus far included a lot of unashamed cheese.
Well, legal-wise it's basically anything which doesn't feature Death's Head, G. I. Joe/Action Force/G. I. Joe - The Action Force/Joe Force - G. I. Action/Action Joe - Force G.I. or Spider-Man... that eliminates, what, a dozen stories at the most? And as for chosen, I'm 99% certain that a Titan-era Furman decreed at a convention that nothing pre-Icarus would be reprinted due to its' low quality (which was a nice kick in the balls for Steve Parkhouse as well). And now, suddenly, it's his favourite UK 2-parter because there's a potentially lucrative TPB release in the offing?

My first thought also. It's hard to see Wrath being printed by Titan if the surrounding material wasn't, but I suppose it's also hard to see there being a big interest in it except in the context of a larger collection -- something interesting about these picks is that several have recaps tying them into the TF chronology as whole, such as "Prime captive of Shockwave" and Circuit Breaker in this one. Target 2006 has built-in recaps; the picks are as much a guided tour through the chronology as a personal best of... choosing "Fall and Rise..." or similar would jump over there being any early TF story setting.
Sorry, but suggesting there was method to the Titan UK TPBs is a bit mad, what with their ludicrous ordering of the last few colour packages... Furman probably really meant he thought the work wasn't up to scratch, but money's talking, so he's changed his mind, and IDW are behaving like ****s by reprinting it in a TPB when it's tailor made for Generations, especially with a little context intro (do they bother doing this? I've never bought an issue of Generations due to having every single story chosen so far at least three times over, at least once on non-explosive paper). It'd be a nice little sales booster. Doing this shows Generations is a minimal effort, minimal thought, maximum return book.
It still might make a decent Generations issue. The "exclusive" cover art for Infiltrations got a general release.
Yeh, maybe we will see it once the trade's shifted enough copies to make back the investment. Of course, if the trade is a success, we'll probably get The Best Of Simon Furman Vol. 2, with Crisis of Command suddenly re-evaluated and included...
Looks like Raiz, if the placeholder of his art from the Hot Rod spotlight sticks around. Hopefully not, as the image has sweet FA to do with the contents.


Damn. I was hoping for traced cover art of Guzzle, coloured with crayons and screaming "IT NEVER ENDS!!!!!!!!" :(
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
I'm 99% certain that a Titan-era Furman decreed at a convention that nothing pre-Icarus would be reprinted due to its' low quality (which was a nice kick in the balls for Steve Parkhouse as well). And now, suddenly, it's his favourite UK 2-parter because there's a potentially lucrative TPB release in the offing?


Pre-Dinobot Hunt actually, Icarus is another one for the Best of Da Furman 2. Still, I fully agree this is a cynical money grabing exercise. Well, even more so than usual. Would it really have been so hard to chuck all those ear;y UK strips in one book if Furman's suddenly changed his tune on seeing them again?

If they use the colour version of the B&W stuff I hope they do a better job reproducing it than Paninbi did with the colour version of Crossroads In Time in the Death's Head trade.
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
has there really been that much demand for a "Best Of Furman"?
Can see more rationale for one than a "Best of Don" anyhow -- there's actually a couple of decades of stuff to choose from.

There hasn't been much demand for a live action film featuring characters from the 80s mostly in name, but it seems to be coming out...

Enough people do like treasury editions to make them worthwhile, generally.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Which is surely no real reason to simply reprint US issues that are freely avaliable in TPBs (not to mention usually around cover in original issues)
How many people track down originals of comics that date back this far? Now, apply that "collector template" to this fandom; most of it's exclusively toy-biased. We have people frequently come up and say they've never read Target 2006.

A taster of stuff that's considered "best" is an entry-point to picking up the other relative high points of the back catalogue.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
the man was far too reliant on the quality of his inkers.
Having seen his self-inked work recently, this doesn't seem to be the case.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
suggesting there was method to the Titan UK TPBs is a bit mad
There's certainly method; just not one either of us would be likely to choose. The big story chunks are straightforward enough to follow.

Specifically, I suspect the ordering had a lot to do with which masters or issues were available to the production department at the time.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
we'll probably get The Best Of Simon Furman Vol. 2, with Crisis of Command suddenly re-evaluated and included...
Which'd be interesting. (Note for audience: C of C was written by Mike Collins.)
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Damn. I was hoping for traced cover art of Guzzle, coloured with crayons and screaming "IT NEVER ENDS!!!!!!!!" :(

Wonder how difficult that'd be to do as a mock-up...
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Post by Aardvark »

For anyone interested:

http://forums.idwpublishing.com/cgi-bin ... 3254;st=50
Originally posted by Simon Furman
The title of the story was 'Ground Zero.' The cover line was 'Critical Mass'. As an aside, Stan Bush then took the title 'Ground Zero' and turned it into a song for the CD that was an exclusive at 1997's Botcon.

For those who've queried the contents of the 'Best of, er, me' volume, it was a series of hard (and progressively harder) choices, but I wanted a real span (almost from the very beginning to the most recent). It's almost impossible to pick completely stand-alone stories, even 'Out To Lunch' spins directly out of one of Bob's TF stories. And I didn't want to just pick the BIG issues, though US #75 was a bit of a must.

Hopefully, what we have here, is a bit of me from all eras and all publishers (bar Fleetway and Panini), moments I still consider highlights or just remember with great affection (or, like Ground Zero, were pivotal... in that it was first TF work for four or more years and, in a roundabout way, opened the door to animation work).

The inclusion of Wrath of Guardian/Grimlock honestly isn't as cynical as some have seemingly decided. I just wanted an early story, as early as possible, that didn't make me wince. Barry's artwork takes a lot of the credit in that respect.

Overall, this is very much a personal choice, and kudos to IDW for letting me make it, and I can't expect everyone to love every element of it, but I do feel it encompasses highpoints from my entire twenty plus years of TF.

Cheers--

--Simon
-Alex???
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Ooooh, spinny. Though picking a story for a best of that acheives the high benchmark of "an early story that didn't make me wince"...? Is it a Best Of, or a Life and Times of Simon Furman, like one of those ****ty Damned compilations where they only have the rights to one label's work? Will it have a garish, inappropriate shot from a promo shoot which dates from five years after the material within, and will the big hitters like Target: 2006 have "Live at Sheffield Polytechnic" written underneath them, in nigh-unreadable type?

Love the lack of explanation as to why a Generations release for Wrath hasn't been announced; at least the Cure did 'Wrong Number' as a single...

All cribbed from Denyer:
There hasn't been much demand for a live action film featuring characters from the 80s mostly in name, but it seems to be coming out...
No, the brand's general rise in the past few years hasn't made a big-money venture likely at all, has it? ;) Whereas the past few years have seen Furman's stocks drop quite a bit, overall - he's in danger of becoming Transformers' Chris Claremont (and fan reaction to X-Treme was very close to that of Infiltration, incidentally, some seeing it as proof that there was life in the old dog yet, and others as a transparent attempt to copy new trends... not read much response to Escalation as a qualifier, as I'll probably get the TPB).
A taster of stuff that's considered "best" is an entry-point to picking up the other relative high points of the back catalogue.
And surely they're more likely to do this via a complete storyline that's part of a bigger story, rather than from a dozen scattershot issues? In this day and age, surely people can find a better way of sampling the older material than a gab-bag of "sort of Best Of but with an old, currently hard to find story chucked in" TPB?
Having seen his self-inked work recently, this doesn't seem to be the case.
Then the guy should perhaps have self-inked his Marvel work... Perlin's the artist answer to Smelting Pool Syndrome. The guy has talent, no question, but his Transformers output ranged from passable to below-par, with a significant improvment with Akin & Garvey as inkers. The positive response is largely due to, William Johnson aside, he was the only US artist with anything approaching ability to draw Transformers (though seeing Frank Springer on a flat track without a messy, fluctuating set of character models would be interesting).
(Note for audience: C of C was written by Mike Collins.)
Well, credited to him and James Hill (whose State Games badly needs a reprint) - it's always seemed a bit unusual, that, what with C of C being such a 'Furman' story, and it wouldn't surprise me if there was some sort of story to it. Yeh, bad example due to foggy memory. Enemy Within, then (even though it'd never happen as Furman and IDW would both be afraid of vapid pricks laughing at the toy character models).
Wonder how difficult that'd be to do as a mock-up...
Well, I got bored after printing out the box-art myself :(
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
a Life and Times of Simon Furman
That one. A best, as often remarked, would probably be a hardback volume with G2 1-12 in.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
the brand's general rise in the past few years hasn't made a big-money venture likely at all, has it?
What general rise? I'm only asking 'cause toy sales in general have apparently given way to video games...
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
via a complete storyline that's part of a bigger story, rather than from a dozen scattershot issues?
Hmm. I'd do much more as a series of scenes rather than attempting to pick whole issues, and still expect it to function as a taster. Certainly I know I've bought quite a few comics as a result of 4-6 page scenes posted online for people to talk about.
Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Then the guy should perhaps have self-inked his Marvel work...
Didn't Marvel have "production line" -type polices against this? Much as they were extremely anti- full script writing for a long time; the production process was broken down into stages and not much contact was available between them.
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Post by Gouki »

Now that I know the actual contents of this book, I'd rather just a couple of US Generation 2 trades, really.
"Give into the Demon inside... Shun Goku Sattsu!"
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Post by Cliffjumper »

A drunken, belated rebuttal...
Originally posted by Denyer
That one. A best, as often remarked, would probably be a hardback volume with G2 1-12 in.
Thwn why aren't they calling it "Some stuff Furman done what we think we can get you to pay for yet again"?

What general rise? I'm only asking 'cause toy sales in general have apparently given way to video games...
C'mon, TF sales have been good enough to sup[port at what wfeels like at least one new line a week.

Didn't Marvel have "production line" -type polices against this? Much as they were extremely anti- full script writing for a long time; the production process was broken down into stages and not much contact was available between them.


Id' guess they re;axed the policy for big guns like Alan Kupperberg , then ;) didn't Geoff ink his US material too? Don;t get me wrong, Perlin's a capable picturist (is thAT A WORD? **** IT COAPS ), but he's Smelting Pool syndrome all over again - a name bigged up fropm the days when the comic sold more than nine copies for people who can't admit that a bunch of limeys did it better, and he's probably in the lower reAches at best of TF comic artists (lesseee... behind Geoff (UKLTIMATE GEOFF), Hitch, Johnson, Raiz, Sullivan, a non-poster Figueroa, Su, Staz, Andy "Andrew" Andy Wildman, Yaniger and Marshall off the top of my missed head) at about a par with the functional but utterly unexciting likes of Jeff Anderson, Frank Springer and Herb Truimpe (the latter two also at the mercy of their inkers; can't be biothered to checkl on Jeffie boy's inking).
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Thwn why aren't they calling it "Some stuff Furman done what we think we can get you to pay for yet again"?


Because to a certain extent it doesn't really matter who's name comes after "The best of...", be it Furman, Don or even Nel Yomotov. Come July- Hopefully- Waterstones and Boarders and such places will have nice little end of aisle displayus of TF books, and any noobs/person who hasn't read a comic in 20 years will theoretically go straight for a collection called "the best of..." even if they've never heard of the person who's work it is, on the grounds it should well, be the best of Transformers as a whole.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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