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Your Future Nostalgia. Today. | ||
| www.asmzine.com / www.alteredstatesmag.com | |||
| September 2, 2010 |
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Interview by Matthew Karpowich, Reporter, and
Andrew Sorohan Part 1: General Questions
[Ed. Note: Before you begin reading this interview, you need to be aware of
several things. First, this interview was originally intended to be
published on The Obscure Transformers Website, located at
http://www.obscuretf.tk.
However, when that site and owner became unavailable and unreachable, Matthew
approached me and asked if I could post it. "No problem," I replied. Second,
this interview was completed before The War Within and
Transformers: Target 2006 had been published. The original interview
questions have been rephrased to make note of these facts, whenever possible,
but nothing Mr. Furman wrote down has been edited. Finally, because the
rumor only came to a head recently, there are no questions or mentions of
a potential all-new UK-only Transformers: Armada comic book. Matthew Karpowich: How do you work as a writer? Is there anything special you do to begin the writing process? Do you prefer using a word processing program, or is pencil and paper your trade? Simon Furman: I generally just sit at the keyboard and go. I'm sure there are better ways to write, more structured and planned methods, but this just works for me. The great thing about working on-screen is that you can scrap/revise/re-work as you go along. I've always felt that if I physically wrote stuff, with pen, I'd just end up wasting time and crossing a lot of it out. My creative brain functions best staring at a blank screen, not a blank piece of paper. As far as computer software goes, I'm fairly low-tech -- just Word for Mac. Nothing very special. For the animation scripts, I do work to a specially formatted page, but for comics I tend to format by preference, it's an evolving thing. Matthew: How about scripting style? Do you like "DC-style" full scripts or "Marvel House Style" script writing, which is done more in tandem with the artist? SF: I've used both methods in my time, and both have merits. To be honest, and coming from a British comics background, I prefer the full script approach. It gives you much more control over what will appear on the page, and I've always found dialogue such an integral part of the storytelling process that it helps me to have it there going in (though I do tend to 'review' the dialogue at art stage). I also like to use the dialogue to mirror or complement the art (something reading a lot of Alan Moore comics instilled in me), so having it in from the start is essential. That said, while I was working for Marvel US, I happily used the looser, plot-style approach, and that frees the artists up a lot more. You tend to get back some inspirational stuff this way, stuff you wouldn't have thought of yourself, and it can set up whole new dialogue possibilities. Conversely, you can get some terrible interpretations of plot-style scripts, as happened to me on a few occasions. Thankfully, though, the inspirational outweighed the terrible. With the work for Dreamwave, though, I've reverted to full script, and I'll probably stick with it. Andrew Sorohan: You've written for many different comic series: Dragon's Claws, Death's Head, even mainstream Marvel US titles like Alpha Flight. Which of these (aside from Transformers, of course) was your favourite? SF: I have a great fondness for Dragon's Claws, but I look back at the 10 issue run now and see how much better I could have made it. The run of Death's Head (and the graphic novel that followed) holds up much better, I think, and I have a deep and enduring affection for the character. I enjoyed a lot of the work I did for Marvel, What If? particularly (as I got to play with favourites like Spider-Man), but overall, if someone gave me carte blanche and said pick a character you want to write again, it would be Death's Head (the original version!). Matthew: Next to Transformers, Alpha Flight was the title you did the most stories for while working at Marvel US. Beyond just being "Canadian Superheroes," what did you find the basic themes and focus of Alpha Flight were, as a series? SF: I always liked the idea with Alpha Flight that they were a government project, and as such were subject to the whims of departmental politics, red tape and so forth. The fact that they were superheroes restricted and dictated to by bureaucracy made them seem real, and you could understand their frustrations. As important to the series as the real battles (against supervillians, etc) were the behind-the-scenes battles, the constant pressure to perform, and not to overstep. There was also the whole Weapon X continuity, which I'd have loved to get into more. As it was - and with hindsight this was a mistake - we kept trying to tie Alpha Flight more fully into the wider Marvel continuity, and so became slaves to whatever Infinity-something crossover was running at the time. It did us no favours. Matthew: How did you get the Alpha Flight assignment? SF: Through Rob Tokar (my editor on Transformers... and others). I really wasn't the most obvious choice for the series, but Rob gave me a chance (maybe he felt a Brit would bring a different sensibility to the series). It was a learning curve for me: a superhero book, a team book, Marvel continuity, etc. And just when I thought I was hitting a stride of sorts, the book was cancelled. Andrew: You created a lot of characters for Marvel UK writing Death's Head and Dragon's Claws, among other series. Were you ever tempted to bring back some of those characters in Alpha Flight? Or if not the actual characters, did you consider using them as templates for new villains or heroes in the other Marvel US titles you wrote for? SF: Not really. I did guest-star Death's Head in She-Hulk, and did my Death's Head What If?, but with my Marvel US stuff in general I was out to prove more that I wasn't a one-trick pony, and that I could operate comfortably as a writer in the Marvel Universe. So I was careful not to lean too heavily on my UK credentials, but instead to present myself as a fresh talent. As for heroes and villains I created, I don't think I went back to any previous (UK) stories for source material. In general, I don't think it's a healthy approach to writing to cannibalise old work. Matthew: How did Brute Force come about? It seemed to be an action figure-based comic concept, but I've never heard of any merchandising for it. Was it an in-house Marvel idea? SF: It was an in-house idea developed by Bob Budiansky for Marvel, with a view to toy licensing. In other words, the flip version of what Transformers had been. Though I thank Bob for bringing me in to write the series, I felt bound by it, constrained (far more, strangely, than I ever did with Transformers or Thundercats, or any of the comics that started out as toys). It suffered, I think, from too much back story. It should have been simpler, more stripped down, pitched younger than it was. But hey, you learn from these things. Andrew: If Marvel US Approached you to do a new Death's Head series (based on the original version of course!) what new direction would you take the character in? Who would be your ideal collaborators on such a project? SF: It would really have to be Geoff (Senior), who was the original co-creator. I can't see myself doing Death's Head unless he's doing the art (or at least had first option on doing the art). He really is the soul of the character, and while other artists, notably Bryan Hitch, have done the character great service, it's Geoff's version that fires me creatively. As for story, I have a few ideas, but none I'm willing to share. I wouldn't be looking at anything incredibly revisionary, just the character doing what he does, in his own unique way. 1 | 2: Transformers - General Questions | 3 | 4
ASM would like to thank Simon Furman for taking the time to answer these
questions. We would also like to thank The Obscure Transformers Website
(http://www.obscuretf.tk)
for their help with this interview. And be sure to visit It's Walky!
(http://www.itswalky.com)
for daily fun and angst.
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