Review: Interview and Signing with Transformers' Simon Furman and Geoff Senior

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was able to attend Forbidden Planet's store in Wolverhampton to take part in a live Q&A and signing with Simon Furman and Geoff Senior, the writer and artist for Transformers UK comics in the 1980s.

I have a video of part of the interview, which you can see here; I also took some notes of the interview.

Geoff Senior was originally approached by Ian Rimmer to draw for the Transformers, and initially thought it was drawing electric power components, like those you'd find in Scalextric (my parents and grandparents also made that assumption when I explained I liked Transformers). The art, Geoff explained, is very stylised - all artists have their own styles, based on their own influences. Originally done on card (which he had to cut to size), things are now very different, with the art for "To The Death" - their latest work - done on screen.

Geoff explained that as a child, he was mostly interested in TV, and this was before VHS, leading to the inevitable problem of missing his favourite shows. Comics don't have this problem - once you've bought them, you can read and re-read them at your leisure. The first comic he read was Countdown with the artwork especially. He remembered reaching the time when you grow up and start actually noting who wrote and who drew it, and the introduction of the credits box helped with this.

Simon Furman added at this point that it was a requirement from DC Thompson comics that you must not sign your work even though this was the only way they could get known. Transformers has always had the credits box (or similar) near the start of each issue. Simon grew up with the Marvel: Vision series of comics, and the Hulk. Geoff, in addition to Countdown, also read Beezer, Topper, and TV action comics, but was not attracted to Marvel/DC.

Simon commented also that he enjoyed meeting fans and doing signings, and as he explained, it's great to see a ragged and worn copy of a Transformers issue being presented for signing - "That's a well-loved comic."

Both Geoff and Simon posed for photos, signed anything and everything we put in front of them, and were both warm and enthusiastic about Transformers and Transformers fans. If you ever get chance to see them, meet them and talk to them, I can strongly recommend it!