Transformers Black & White

I love the Transformers. I watched the cartoon religiously, collected the toys, read the Marvel comics, and saw Transformers: The Movie in the theatre when it was released.

So when Robert Kirkman asked me to draw an issue of the new Skybound Energon Transformers series (issue 37), I was all in. Not only was it full of characters from the movie (Hot Rod, Kup, Springer, Blurr), it was written by Kirkman himself! As a comic book artist, one of the biggest thrills is getting to work with writers you admire, and I’ve always like Robert’s pacing and his ability to infuse his characters with personality.

This is an ELITA-PRIME story. It completes the arc of an activist character who’s put everything she has into fighting a war she believes in, only to realize that her convictions may have been leading her down the wrong path. Love it.

I drew the entire book in black and white, and Mike Spicer, who’s put his stamp on much of the Skybound line of comics, coloured it beautifully. Transformers is a colourful franchise. The characters are recognizable largely by their colour palettes, and it is, after all, a kids’ toy line. It needs to pop off the page.

But as a huge fan of manga (and giant robots) I couldn’t help treating these pages as if they were being published in black and white, with halftone patterns, on cheap newsprint. I put all of the tones on a separate layer and told Mike that he could remove them for colour if they were too muddy or distracting.

I thought it would be fun for you to see what they originally looked like.

You can buy TRANSFORMERS issue 37 at your local comic shop!