Post by Just Anotha Stupid Online Name on Jan 21, 2010 21:23:10 GMT
Having access to a store that specialises in hard to find Transformers comes in handy ,especially when that store , Modelmania , happens to have a certain TF artist as a customer. So with a new comic mini-series co-written and drawing by him on the horizon, I decided to ask a few questions to this particular customer, otherwise he wasn't getting any of his new loot.
The IDW artist dying to get his hands on that new plastic crack is the One ,the Only, the Superstar, owner of Deszarus, the Turbo Revin young Punk himself, Mr. NICK ROCHE!!
TFIO:1. Why did you pick the Wreckers as your next story?
NR: I didn't! IDW (Which incidentally stands for I Dig Wreckers) asked me to do space-based mini-epic based on these folks. They had a slot that needed to be filled in their launch schedule for some offworld antics, and knowing me to be romantically-linked to most iterations of this team, they pinned me for the job. My co-writer James Roberts came on board a little way down the line, when the locked-in schedule of the launch period made the project to tricky for me to handle alone, and he really has been a gift from Primus himself. (The gonzo, bass-heavy 90s band, as opposed to the fictional Deity.)
TFIO :2.When did genesis of project take place? an idea from editors or yourself? Was it a quest for unanswered questions from previous stories. As a fan did you want more Wreckers or more Dinobots?
NR : Well as I say (Jesus, are you even LISTENING? God, you're so self-absorbed...I have a life too, dammit! And do you even show an interest in the kids?!) IDW tapped me for a Wreckers-based series. It's probably the team I would have pitched for myself at some stage though. The element of them being away from all the tightly-plotted goings-on on earth means I had some wiggle room with these guys. As for the Dinobots, blasphemously, I was never that keen on 'em until Spotlight: Shockwave and Maximum Dinobots. Now they're like my babies, but one from a previous relationship. I've got new, cuter kids now, and I'm interested in them until another pretty face turns my eye, and I feel the urge to pro-create once more. I intend to leave a line of broken, abandoned robot families in my wake, like some sort of cybernetic Keith Allen, only less talented and likeable.
TFIO :3.We have been promised action and adventure, sell it to us without too many spoilers.
NR: Hey! You look like a mark: wanna buy some action and adventure? Sure you do, you gullible chump. And what better place to find it than in Roche & Roberts' 'Last Stand of The Wreckers'! It's about a prison that fell to the Decepticons a coupla years back, but since then something screwy has occurred, and neither side - Autobot or Decepticon - has had any communication with The Last Resort since. When the Dinobots aren't available, and when you've got a bunch of Euro-exclusive toys that aren't too busy, then it's time to send for The Wreckers!
TFIO : 4.Kup's Coda story set an expectation and then when delivered it blew the fanbase away.Is there pressure now to follow up on that success? Are you aware of the fan support and what they expect and how you think of ways to surprise them as a writer.
NR : Jeepers, them's nice words. I wish I hadn't set out my stall as churlish and difficult in this interview now. Well thanks for being so kind, both you and the other folk that enjoyed that little tale. I guess it showed that any perceived success of Kup's Spotlight wasn't a fluke, but it also means that standard is now set for anything else I do. I am, as I always do on any release day, dreading the reaction to this series, but that's just how I am. Those in the know who've read it are very much behind it, and the anticipation online is at quite a nice but daunting level. I am very aware that I have my supporters, both online and in real life, and I don't take any of them for granted. So I don't want to disappoint. As for suprising readers, the last thing I want them to think is "Oh wow! He WAS shit after all!" So as for keeping punters on their toes, I tend to do it with stretching characters as far as they'll believably go on their journeys. And misinformation is my friend. For all my fears about this series' reception, I'm very excited to see the reaction to the final page of #1...
TFIO : 5.Is being a fan and working on the propertie a curse or a blessing? Do you mind being the Transformer guy?
NR : I love being the Transformer guy...for now. I hope it's something that I can return to, if I ever stray, rather than outright walking away from the property. I feel very, very lucky to be involved in TFs, firstly from a dream gig point of view, but at the moment, just because it's good to be working at all.
TFIO : 6. Don Figuroa has changed his drawing style, which seems to be taking him out of his comfort zone. Do you see yourself changing style when time is right or if mood ever takes you? Or is your style constantly evolving?
NR : Well, it's been pointed out that I do alter my style from project to project, depending on the mood. And I think that there's a world of difference from my Revelation covers , my Movieverse stuff at Titan and something like Spotlight: Kup compared to my other work. I've done a cover for the upcoming Prowl Spotlight that's a departure again. I'd love to have the time to take apart my style as Don has, and reassemble it into something really fresh, but I don't want to lose the energy and bounce that appears to be my trademark either. Ya just never know with me!
TFIO: 7.You have had the chance to reinterpret lots of classic Marvel UK and US covers for IDW reprints, is there any story you would like to redo in your style in full from any of the original comics?
NR : Once upon a time, re-doing a classic Marvel story would have been the dream, and Target: 2006 would have been top of the list. But now, the only direction to point in is forward. And those stories are what they are, y'know? I see them as cast-iron classics, even with the wildly varying art-styles. I've re-drawn sections of old stories as samples and submissions to IDW, and Dreamwave before them, and you just realise...those guys got it right first time. Especially Andrew Wildman...jeepers, his storytelling and panel layout is second-to-none, and inspires me still. Nah, I wanna create the NEXT Time Wars or NEXT Legacy of Unicron, rather than stuff up the originals.
TFIO : 8.What else are you reading or collecting at the moment? How does Nick Roche relax away from Transformers?
NR : Quite often, when I have the time, I like to diguise myself as a street person, and partake in some car-park punch ups. I fuel myself up on meths and wood-glue, I ensure that I've soiled myself in at least two different methods, then I had down to Tescos and get my teeth bashed in underneath the glare of the supermarket floodlights.
Apart from that, not much time to read right now, and I tend to give other comics a swerve while I'm deep into a project. But I have a massive stack of DC's Wednesday Comics to delve into once Wreckers wraps up, and I hope to immerse myself in a Monty Python boxset soon. My usual reads are the big Invincible hardcovers, some form of Ultimate Marvel fun, and I've got a stack of Dini Batman Trades and Skottie Young's Wizard of Oz sexiness to attack too.
TFO : 9. What are your plans post Wreckers? Art and writer wise?
NR : Sleeping. Bum fighting. Animal husbandry. Take a bit of a breather in order to generate some of my own material. There's a few licensed titles that I've got an in with that I'd like to flex my muscles on, but we'll see. There's definitely a TF project with my name on during the latter hald of this year, but as per my doomy outlook, my continued employment in the world of Transformers is based on this series being a success. So go on kids: even if you hate it, buy loads of Last Stand Of The Wreckers, so it looks like a barnstormer to the bean-counters. There's a good girl.
..And there you have it, IDW's Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers # 1 is released here in Ireland on Thursday the 28th of January . Make sure you pick up a copy and enjoy the Roche-around of action and adventure with the Autobot equivalent of the Dirty Dozen.
The issue goes on sale in Dublin City Comics and Forbidden Planet Dublin. If you have a standing order in Forbidden Planet, your copy of issue 1 of Wreckers will be signed by Nick himself. Also as a bonus, check inside your copy to see if you have a special leaflet inside, if you have the right leaflet inside your copy then you win an original piece of artwork drawn by Mr. Roche.
As a lead into the launch of the series ,The Eclectic Micks will be dedicating next week to Transformers, so remember to check in with the site daily to see new Transformers art from Irelands finest Comic Artists today. The Electic Micks are an elite commando unit sent to comic prison for crimes they may or may not have committed, they can't remember and don't care.
Thanks to Nick for his time and patience , you may now go off with your new purchases and put them into whatever poses you desire.....and best of luck with the series, and the street bum fight club tornament.
WRECK N' RULE!!
The IDW artist dying to get his hands on that new plastic crack is the One ,the Only, the Superstar, owner of Deszarus, the Turbo Revin young Punk himself, Mr. NICK ROCHE!!
TFIO:1. Why did you pick the Wreckers as your next story?
NR: I didn't! IDW (Which incidentally stands for I Dig Wreckers) asked me to do space-based mini-epic based on these folks. They had a slot that needed to be filled in their launch schedule for some offworld antics, and knowing me to be romantically-linked to most iterations of this team, they pinned me for the job. My co-writer James Roberts came on board a little way down the line, when the locked-in schedule of the launch period made the project to tricky for me to handle alone, and he really has been a gift from Primus himself. (The gonzo, bass-heavy 90s band, as opposed to the fictional Deity.)
TFIO :2.When did genesis of project take place? an idea from editors or yourself? Was it a quest for unanswered questions from previous stories. As a fan did you want more Wreckers or more Dinobots?
NR : Well as I say (Jesus, are you even LISTENING? God, you're so self-absorbed...I have a life too, dammit! And do you even show an interest in the kids?!) IDW tapped me for a Wreckers-based series. It's probably the team I would have pitched for myself at some stage though. The element of them being away from all the tightly-plotted goings-on on earth means I had some wiggle room with these guys. As for the Dinobots, blasphemously, I was never that keen on 'em until Spotlight: Shockwave and Maximum Dinobots. Now they're like my babies, but one from a previous relationship. I've got new, cuter kids now, and I'm interested in them until another pretty face turns my eye, and I feel the urge to pro-create once more. I intend to leave a line of broken, abandoned robot families in my wake, like some sort of cybernetic Keith Allen, only less talented and likeable.
TFIO :3.We have been promised action and adventure, sell it to us without too many spoilers.
NR: Hey! You look like a mark: wanna buy some action and adventure? Sure you do, you gullible chump. And what better place to find it than in Roche & Roberts' 'Last Stand of The Wreckers'! It's about a prison that fell to the Decepticons a coupla years back, but since then something screwy has occurred, and neither side - Autobot or Decepticon - has had any communication with The Last Resort since. When the Dinobots aren't available, and when you've got a bunch of Euro-exclusive toys that aren't too busy, then it's time to send for The Wreckers!
TFIO : 4.Kup's Coda story set an expectation and then when delivered it blew the fanbase away.Is there pressure now to follow up on that success? Are you aware of the fan support and what they expect and how you think of ways to surprise them as a writer.
NR : Jeepers, them's nice words. I wish I hadn't set out my stall as churlish and difficult in this interview now. Well thanks for being so kind, both you and the other folk that enjoyed that little tale. I guess it showed that any perceived success of Kup's Spotlight wasn't a fluke, but it also means that standard is now set for anything else I do. I am, as I always do on any release day, dreading the reaction to this series, but that's just how I am. Those in the know who've read it are very much behind it, and the anticipation online is at quite a nice but daunting level. I am very aware that I have my supporters, both online and in real life, and I don't take any of them for granted. So I don't want to disappoint. As for suprising readers, the last thing I want them to think is "Oh wow! He WAS shit after all!" So as for keeping punters on their toes, I tend to do it with stretching characters as far as they'll believably go on their journeys. And misinformation is my friend. For all my fears about this series' reception, I'm very excited to see the reaction to the final page of #1...
TFIO : 5.Is being a fan and working on the propertie a curse or a blessing? Do you mind being the Transformer guy?
NR : I love being the Transformer guy...for now. I hope it's something that I can return to, if I ever stray, rather than outright walking away from the property. I feel very, very lucky to be involved in TFs, firstly from a dream gig point of view, but at the moment, just because it's good to be working at all.
TFIO : 6. Don Figuroa has changed his drawing style, which seems to be taking him out of his comfort zone. Do you see yourself changing style when time is right or if mood ever takes you? Or is your style constantly evolving?
NR : Well, it's been pointed out that I do alter my style from project to project, depending on the mood. And I think that there's a world of difference from my Revelation covers , my Movieverse stuff at Titan and something like Spotlight: Kup compared to my other work. I've done a cover for the upcoming Prowl Spotlight that's a departure again. I'd love to have the time to take apart my style as Don has, and reassemble it into something really fresh, but I don't want to lose the energy and bounce that appears to be my trademark either. Ya just never know with me!
TFIO: 7.You have had the chance to reinterpret lots of classic Marvel UK and US covers for IDW reprints, is there any story you would like to redo in your style in full from any of the original comics?
NR : Once upon a time, re-doing a classic Marvel story would have been the dream, and Target: 2006 would have been top of the list. But now, the only direction to point in is forward. And those stories are what they are, y'know? I see them as cast-iron classics, even with the wildly varying art-styles. I've re-drawn sections of old stories as samples and submissions to IDW, and Dreamwave before them, and you just realise...those guys got it right first time. Especially Andrew Wildman...jeepers, his storytelling and panel layout is second-to-none, and inspires me still. Nah, I wanna create the NEXT Time Wars or NEXT Legacy of Unicron, rather than stuff up the originals.
TFIO : 8.What else are you reading or collecting at the moment? How does Nick Roche relax away from Transformers?
NR : Quite often, when I have the time, I like to diguise myself as a street person, and partake in some car-park punch ups. I fuel myself up on meths and wood-glue, I ensure that I've soiled myself in at least two different methods, then I had down to Tescos and get my teeth bashed in underneath the glare of the supermarket floodlights.
Apart from that, not much time to read right now, and I tend to give other comics a swerve while I'm deep into a project. But I have a massive stack of DC's Wednesday Comics to delve into once Wreckers wraps up, and I hope to immerse myself in a Monty Python boxset soon. My usual reads are the big Invincible hardcovers, some form of Ultimate Marvel fun, and I've got a stack of Dini Batman Trades and Skottie Young's Wizard of Oz sexiness to attack too.
TFO : 9. What are your plans post Wreckers? Art and writer wise?
NR : Sleeping. Bum fighting. Animal husbandry. Take a bit of a breather in order to generate some of my own material. There's a few licensed titles that I've got an in with that I'd like to flex my muscles on, but we'll see. There's definitely a TF project with my name on during the latter hald of this year, but as per my doomy outlook, my continued employment in the world of Transformers is based on this series being a success. So go on kids: even if you hate it, buy loads of Last Stand Of The Wreckers, so it looks like a barnstormer to the bean-counters. There's a good girl.
..And there you have it, IDW's Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers # 1 is released here in Ireland on Thursday the 28th of January . Make sure you pick up a copy and enjoy the Roche-around of action and adventure with the Autobot equivalent of the Dirty Dozen.
The issue goes on sale in Dublin City Comics and Forbidden Planet Dublin. If you have a standing order in Forbidden Planet, your copy of issue 1 of Wreckers will be signed by Nick himself. Also as a bonus, check inside your copy to see if you have a special leaflet inside, if you have the right leaflet inside your copy then you win an original piece of artwork drawn by Mr. Roche.
As a lead into the launch of the series ,The Eclectic Micks will be dedicating next week to Transformers, so remember to check in with the site daily to see new Transformers art from Irelands finest Comic Artists today. The Electic Micks are an elite commando unit sent to comic prison for crimes they may or may not have committed, they can't remember and don't care.
Thanks to Nick for his time and patience , you may now go off with your new purchases and put them into whatever poses you desire.....and best of luck with the series, and the street bum fight club tornament.
WRECK N' RULE!!
