How to use this Page

By Nick Eskey

Hasbro Entertainment, responsible for many of our favorite childhood toys, treated us press folk to a delicious breakfast accompanied by, of course, toys! Held at Café Sevilla in San Diego’s Gaslamp, the toy breakfast had not only a nice selection of food (yes, be jealous), but some great looking merchandise.

Transformers Generations: Devastator – Combiner Wars

Across the bar, there is a collection of some of Hasbro’s most sought after Comic–Con exclusives: a neon green “Transformers Generations Devastator” Combiner Wars set; the quick switch “Jem” doll; the “Pinkie Pie – My Little Pony” complete with chicken costume and “bucket of chicken” packaging; “G.I. Joe anniversary box set” with dvds, characters “A.V.A.C., Alley Viper Officer, Ralph, and Grunt,” as well as Cobra Scythe and G.I. Joe Chimera machines; “Cybertron High” Transformers box set; “Magic the Gathering Origins Planeswalker Anthology” players box set; “Marvel’s Ant-Man” action figure boxed set with miniature Ant-Man figurines; and a “Storm Trooper – First Order” boxed set with figure and book. All of these toys are limited editions to the convention and are on many a con-goer’s want list (I know someone that would stab for the Jem doll).

Jem and the Holograms – Quick Switch

Set at one station, Hasbro has trays of what look like hacked up dinosaur pieces. They are actually from Hasbro’s popular “Mashems” toy line, where kids and adults can pick and choose their parts and create uniquely fun characters and creatures. For their third line of the series they have “Jurassic,” going with the DNA splicing theme from the books and movies. If you have any of their previous Transformers or “Marvel” Mashems, then it’s possible to create a robot/hero/villain/dinosaur hybrid. Oh the humanity! More additions will be coming this fall for their Marvel line of Mashems.

Jurassic Mashems

Transformers Generations “Combiner Wars” series is a big hit for fans of the original toy from the 80’s. Combiners are Transformers robots that join together to form an even bigger, badass machine. The big appeal with these toys is that each one of the robot pieces still turn into their robot AND vehicle forms, as well as becoming joining pieces for the even bigger combiner. This “Superion” will be a must have.

My Little Pony – Pinkie Pie

And finally in ways of video games, Hasbro and “PlatinumGames” will be coming out with “Transformers Devastation.” The game is a 3^rd person perspective, 3D fighter that allows players to control one of some of the franchise’s favorite robots. The art style is almost a deeper form of cell shading, with the fighting taking place in a linear platform with waves of enemies that need to be defeated. Fighting in combos is the main objective, with frequent action-time button cues that lets the character transform into their alternate form for other attacks or strategies. There will various missions to complete such as collecting, timed levels, and protect. Transformers Devastation will be out this Fall for PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, XBOX One, and PC.

Magic the Gathering Origins: Planeswalker

Keep your eyes open for all of these wonderful Hasbro toys and exclusives, either out now or coming soon.

Translating Madame Villeneuve’s and Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s eighteenth-century French into contemporary American 
English for our picture book Beauty and the Beast was indeed a transformative event. In addition to the dramatic change in language, there were other differences, surprises brought on by time and the filter of many others before me. The process taught me (a former journalist who stumbled into the realm of children’s literature) which themes had survived over the 275-year written history of “La Belle et la Bête” and which had become “refined” or sweetened for easier consumption.

In this tale (in our version, told in the first person by Beauty), three main themes survive: love, magic, and the power of a promise. These were illustrated again and again. Love makes Beauty sacrifice her life for her father (love will make you do right; love will make you do wrong). Magic makes the prince into a beast. And promises make everyone behave.

It has been said many times that the only thing permanent is change. If done with enough imagination and purpose, change can be transformative, even magical. Sometimes it’s physical, beyond the control of ordinary people: what really controls the climate? Other times it’s mental, metaphysical, due to a new perspective or new information. In all cases it seems that change is going to happen, ready or not.

It seems to me that high on the list of things with the power to transform is hope. The belief that things will change for the better if only faith and purposeful acts are applied.

Our version of “Beauty” is an act of hope, the belief that when given a new and different perspective on an accepted story with universal themes of love, magic, and promises made, we can transcend the notion that only some people are equipped for change. That universal feelings like love, fear, and hope are in fact found in all people. And that the story is just as powerful no matter what the cultural setting. Most audiences appreciate and even cheer at the idea that someone would sacrifice her own safety in the hope of protecting someone she loves. And that kindness and love can magically transform a beast into a prince.

–H. Chuku Lee

* * *

Fairy tales, like folktales, are continually transformed by the folks who tell them. So the dicey bits have been cut from “Rapunzel”: thorns don’t gouge out the prince’s eyes, Rapunzel doesn’t get pregnant. And Cinderella’s stepsisters don’t carve up their feet in order to cram them into the glass slipper.

The timeless appeal of “Beauty and the Beast” may stem from our desire to believe that pure goodness can conquer the most terrifying of beasts. After seeing Jean Cocteau’s film La Belle et la Bête, I realized there was more to the story I thought I knew well. In the reference section at the library, I found a dusty version of the tale, written by Madame Leprince de Beaumont in 1756. The text was beyond my translating abilities, but Chuku’s former incarnation as a diplomat in Paris helped him unravel the archaic French.

His version, told from Beauty’s point of view, seemed elegant and contemporary. And I wanted to update Beauty as well, to show her as a young woman of color whose world clearly evokes Africa. The Beast’s scarifications even suggest a particular tribe. But although classics transcend time, trends, and cultures, some elements of the story seemed etched in stone: it had to be a rose, and the Beast had to be part animal. “Beauty and the Beast” has more than its share of classic themes: love conquers all, true beauty lies within, appearances can be misleading, magic can save the day…But Chuku hit upon one I hadn’t considered before, one that resonated with me while illustrating the story. For me, it has become the new timeless theme at the heart of the story: the power of a promise.

–Pat Cummings

From the May/June 2015 special issue of The Horn Book Magazine: Transformations.

The post Transformers: Ready or Not… appeared first on The Horn Book.

Back in my late twenties, when I decided to finally, earnestly try to be a novelist, I chose to start with something I thought would be easy: a fairy-tale retelling. I figured that since I already knew the plot, I wouldn’t get stuck. (All seasoned writers who are reading this are probably laughing.) I settled on retelling “Cinderella” and immediately began to reshape some of the key elements. I turned the fairy godmother into a male fairy based on the Sidhe, a race of supernatural people who lived in the hills of Ireland. My fairy was even named Sidhean as a nod to that inspiration.

Initially, I thought that Sidhean was the major twist in my retelling, but I was wrong. It turned out that the main character, Ash, had no interest in Prince Charming; instead, she insisted on falling in love with a woman. This was difficult for me to accept at first. Even though I am a lesbian, the idea of transforming the Cinderella tale so radically seemed impossible. I tried to make Prince Charming more charming, but it was no use: Ash just wasn’t that into him. Eventually, I gave in to the demands of the story, and my novel Ash found its footing.

Part of the reason I had been hesitant to transform Cinderella into a lesbian was because I did not want to write a coming-out story. I wanted to write a fairy tale. Thankfully, during the course of editing out the failed heterosexual romance, I realized that I didn’t need to write a coming-out story. Ash was set in a fantasy world, and there was no need for same-sex love to be taboo there. I made the creative decision to let it be entirely normal, and Ash got to have her happily-ever-after.

The normalization of lesbian and bisexual identities has continued to be a theme in my books since Ash; it is probably the defining theme of my work.

In my fantasy novel Huntress, I took the story structure of the hero’s quest and wrote both within and against its confines. Instead of an orphan boy chosen to save the world, I imagined the daughter of a powerful noble joining forces with the magically gifted daughter of a poor farmer. I also wanted to flip the script on valorizing a lone hero; in Huntress, the world is saved through cooperation. And rather than having love be the reward for the lone hero, love is the reason the two heroines of Huntress are able to succeed. Their love for each other makes them stronger. It does not make them deviant.

In my science-fiction duology Adaptation and Inheritance, the stories I transformed came from contemporary myths about UFOs and conspiracy theories — the folklore of today. I also wanted to push the boundaries of identity and sexual orientation through the metaphor of the love triangle, one of young adult fiction’s most loved and hated tropes. That metaphor allowed me to continue my project of normalizing identities that are often depicted as deviant in mainstream fiction.

Over the last couple of years I’ve come to realize that this is the central project I’m engaged in: transformation of deviance into normalcy. My goal — subconscious at first, increasingly conscious today — has been to take story types that have traditionally excluded lesbians and bisexual women and change them into narratives where being queer is natural, universal. This metamorphosis is about reimagining the world to include people like me. I suspect this is what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.

From the May/June 2015 special issue of The Horn Book Magazine: Transformations.

The post Transformers: Reimagining the World appeared first on The Horn Book.

The ALIENS have landed!

"amusing. . .engaging, accessible," says Publisher's Weekly

I am writing a science-fiction trilogy and I’d like it to have general appeal to kids and teens. So, recently, I went to see the new Transformers 4: Age of Extinction to see what I could learn. Here’s one of the official movie trailers.

If you can’t see this video, click here.

Transformer’s Major Plot Points

SPOILER ALERT: I analyze the plot of this movie, so if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know what happens, stop reading!

Who? Yeager family POV
When? Five years after Chicago was destroyed in the Transformer battles.

1. Inciting incident: Inventor-wannabe Cade Yeager and his friend, Lucas, buy a junk truck that turns out to be Optimus Prime.
   Cade’s promise to his long-lost wife: I will make sure our daughter graduates from high school; graduation is only a week away, so it seems like a slam-dunk. (The rules have changed: we are all targets now.)
2. Plot Point 1: The evil guys—the Cemetary Wind macho dudes—come to collect Optimus Prime (to take advantage of the rare metal that transformers are made of) and threaten Yeager’s daughter, Tessa—the Yeagers all escape with the help of Tessa’s boyfriend, Shane (though Lucas is sacrificed to show the evil that chases them).
3. First half of Act 2: Rescue Transformer named Brains from the KSI and the new warrior Transformer, Galvatron is activated to chase them.
4. Midpoint: Galvatron and Optimus Prime battle. When Optimus Prime is captured, Tessa is also caught and winds up trapped in the alien spaceship owned by Lockdown, an alien bounty hunter. Yeager and Shane must rescue Tessa.
5. Second half of Act 2: Optimus Prime and Tessa are rescued by Autobots, Yeager and Shane. Alien bounty hunter, Lockdown launches into deep space believing he has Optimus Prime on board.
6. Plot Point 2: Optimus Prime reveals that Galvatron is really a re-birth of the evil Megatron, who will try to activate the Seed to destroy Earth. They must stop him. The bounty hunter transformer, Lockdown, (To Optimus Prime: You think you were born? You were built and they want you back.) gives KSI a “seed,” which they think will help them make more of the prized metal, but will really destroy Earth.
7. Act 3. Optimus Prime releases the Dinobots (T-Rex Transformer robots) and attacks Galvatron and win (though Hong Kong, this time, is destroyed). Lockdown returns to claim Optimus Prime.
8. Climax: Cade, Tessa and Shane take risks to help Optimus (thus proving the story’s theme, that humans can rise to the occasion), who is hurt, but ultimately defeats Lockdown.

Promise kept: Tessa has lived to attend her high school graduation, and has a new-found respect for her Dad’s tinkering ways.

There are several main subplots and you could analyze the story from one of the other ones. Here, I’ve concentrated on Cade/Tessa as the main plot. If you want to argue that this is Optimus Prime’s story, I could go for that; however, I think readers/movie fans are more likely to identify with the human characters.

In any case, my point is to learn something.

Action/Adventure or a Quieter Story

Looking at this plot analysis, I realize immediately that I’m not putting enough at stake early enough in the story. My Plot Point I involves the character making a decision. It’s not an action scene where the antagonists arrive to threaten a girl and to recapture a rogue transformer.

Of course–different stories have different needs. I describe quiet stories as having a pastel palette and there is indeed a place for stories like this. Transformer’s palette, however, is bold.

My question to answer: What sort of physical action/adventure palette do I want? Is my story a quiet story, or does it fall farther along the spectrum toward an action/adventure story?

Glue for Act 2

The dreaded sagging middle is always a problem for me. In Transformers, the whole of Act 2 is about Rescue: rescue Brains from the KSI; rescue Optimus Prime and Tessa from Lockdown’s space ship. Notice that the Midpoint twists the story in a tangent direction when Tessa is captured and taken to the alien space ship. Of course, we are worried about Optimus Prime! But he’s a strong and able transformer who is likely to fight his way free at some point. Tessa, however, is a high school senior and it’s not fair that she is caught up in this conflict. It’s a nice way to keep the action going, to up the stakes and to play on the audience’s emotions.

My Act 2 hangs together well, and has a nice Midpoint twist. The same question lingers, though. Do I need/want more action/adventure?

The Last Lap: Pumping up Act 3

We transition into Act 3 with a revelation in Plot Point 3 that Galvatron = Megatron. With such an evil abroad, no one can relax. They MUST take the battle to him. And what a battle! Aliens v. aliens. Over Hong Kong! Dinobots, or a great combination of t-Rex with transformers! What’s not to like? We get lots of exclamation points!!!!

This is indeed a movie built on action sequences and it’s almost non-stop in Act 3.
No, I don’t want my story to be THAT action/adventure oriented. I’ll back off the Transformer’s palette a couple steps.

However, there are a couple nice moments. In the Hero’s Journey, there is often a death scene, followed by a resurrection scene. It’s the death of the hopes of the protagonist, and a renewal of the hope. Optimus Prime is impaled and we think he is dying. One of the story’s themes is that humans have potential. It’s crucial here that Cade, Tessa and Shane work as a team to help Optimus: they remove the “spear,” and help him to defeat the evil Lockdown.

My Act 3 has action, a chase, and some nice possibilities for physical action. As I write it, I must remember to include scenes that highlight the theme in an organic way. If I can find a reasonable Death/Resurrection moment, so much the better.

Thanks for the help, Optimus Prime

Studying popular movies like this can be one way to reevaluate your plot. I’m still early in the plotting process, so this is a perfect time to do this. It doesn’t solve my problems: but it forces me to ask the right questions. And at this stage, that’s what I need: questions that force me to think deeper about my story, the characters, and the plot.

I’m pretty sure these Transformers would like some noms too.

“Mom, what’s for breakfast?”

“Well honey, we have pancakes, bacon, potatoes, Decepiticons…”

If you were a kid from the 80’s, 90’s, or still a kid at heart, then you’re most likely familiar with Transformers. You know, “Transformers: More than meets the eye.” In honor of the franchise’s 30^th anniversary, Hasbro Toys treated some eager reporters and fans to a breakfast this morning at Southpaw in San Diego’s Downtown Gaslamp area. I’ve heard of character breakfasts, but never one that dealt with robots.

All throughout the bar/restaurant, we were treated to Transformer toy splendor. Arranged along the bar area was private transformers collection that included some originals from the 80’s, Beastwars, and even some rocker themed ones I’ve never seen before (all posed on a 1984 “Planet Cybertron” poster). On the outside dining tables was a selection of the larger ones that transformer as you spin their parts. And there was even a buffet style “Mashem’s” table. Transformers Mashem’s are figures that allow the appendages to be swapped with other robots, allowing for some pretty creative robot making.

What I was most excited about were the videogames that Hasbro has in store for the Transformers brand. A few things are in the works, one of which is an online MMO called Transformers Universe. The computer based game features opened world areas that you can explore either as Autobots or Decepticons that are unique to the game. You can go hunting for Energon, fight wild Terracons, or even participate in 4 versus 4 pvp in either a death match mode, or a modified capture the flag. But instead of capturing flags, you try to steal the opposite team’s Energon.

To add another layer to the game, players can use Energon to craft items, or collect items by defeating enemies. The items can do various things, like boost stats for a continuous duration of time. The game is free to play, but if you are feeling a little impatient and don’t want to wait out the time it takes for your items to be made, you can purchase relics. Relics are in game currencies that are available as pickup items, so you can go throughout the duration of it without having to spend a dime. But like I said, if you’ve got better things to wait on, then they are purchasable with real world money. Currently Transformers Universe is in open beta. There is no set date yet for the actual release. Visit www.transformersuniverse.com to check it out for yourself.

Even bigger for the video gaming market is the crossover in the works. Transformers will be pairing up with the widely popular, widely recognized Angry Birds franchise. Unlike other Angry Birds games, this won’t be the typical drag and launch game featuring different themes. Angry Birds: Transformers will be a side scrolling shooter where the transforming birds and pigs have to fight enemies along the way. Another interesting addition is the cars that will be available for purchase. These transforming vehicles can be photographed, and then downloaded for use in the video game. The toys themselves will also have physical tracks available for them, so there will be more for them than just as downloads for the game. No release date is yet set for Angry Birds: Transformers.

Next month sees a launch which The Beat has been following on and off for the last few weeks. A new Transformers miniseries will be launching at IDW in April, chronicling the introduction of Windblade. A female Transformer – causing raised eyebrows from fans who think Transformers are genderless despite being obvious blatant big male robots – Windblade will be entering the IDW Universe in the immediate aftermath of the crossover event storyline Dark Cybertron.

Written by Mairghread Scott and illustrated by Sarah Stone, the miniseries has already garnered a lot of attention, as Windblade was chosen to be created as part of a fan vote, and this miniseries will be the first Transformers comic with a female writer and artist onboard. But, y’know, beyond that – there’s a story here, and a character. So! In order to find out more about who Windblade actually is, I spoke to both Mairghread and Sarah about their plans for the characters, and the miniseries as a whole. Read on!

Steve: How did you first get involved with Transformers? Were you fans before you started working on the comics?

Mairghread: I watched Beast Wars as a child but I really fell away from the fandom until the Bay films and being hired on Transformers Prime. In a way it’s been a real blessing because I still have my childhood love of the Beast Wars transformers but I get to explore all the rest of the Transformers lore (the main lore, really) as an adult when I can appreciate it and the work it took to keep things rolling this far.

Sarah: I was! I grew up with Beast Wars originally, but sort of rediscovered my love for Transformers with Transformers Prime and that’s when I really got lost in it. From there I realized I needed more and learned about what IDW was doing with RiD and MTMTE, and I’ve been really hooked.

Steve: What do you think it is about the franchise which has had such enduring appeal?

Mairghread: First, it’s just AWESOME! Even if you don’t like Transformers (and you should) you have to admit that you can’t beat the brand for fantastic and mind-blowing action. But, underneath that, is a really core appeal that a lot of people miss. Transformers themselves are surprisingly human.

In fact, I think because they’re aliens we often write them as more human (emotive, social, flawed, a little irrational at times) than many characters that are actually human. That combination is super-rare and it’s something I just can’t get enough of.

Steve: This miniseries comes about following the end of the Dark Cybertron crossover event, which saw things get very bad for all the Transformers. What kind of world is Windblade entering into as your story begins?

Mairghread: It’s a world that mirrors our own in a lot of ways.  The war is over, but there are huge problems that everyone knows about but no one has been able to solve yet.  The leadership is corrupt, but not freakishly evil.  People are focused on making it day-to-day and the milestones characters set for themselves are getting smaller all the time. No one’s really dreaming the big dream anymore and that’s something Windblade is going to change – or try to, at least.

Steve: What do you think defines Windblade as a character? When you sat down with the character, what did you want to emphasize about her personality?

Sarah: What stands out for Windblade to me is her determination despite being completely overwhelmed. She’s thrust into this situation and conflict that most Cybertronians have had centuries to get adjusted to, but she has to adapt right now, and you can tell she’s behind the curve and it’s taking its toll. I wanted her to show signs of this weathering but she’s still trying her hardest anyway. She’s not perfect – she gets shaken up and lost, and I think we can all relate to that a little bit.

Mairghread: Our book starts a bit after the end of Dark Cybertron, so no one is in active triage-mode anymore as they would be during a huge life-or-death struggle like that was. Plus Windblade is an optimist. She really believes that she can help make Cybertron better, that everyone can help Cybertron be better.  Whether or not she’s right, that’s a whole different story.

Steve: How have you both found the collaborative process?

Mairghread: Fantastic. Sarah never thinks of what can’t be done, only how we can accomplish it. That kind of mindset is what’s given Transformers Windblade such a unique look. It is definitely going to be a comic that surprises people and is a great introduction to even those who’ve never been to Cybertron before… plus Issue 1 and 2 are still available for pre-order. So if you’ve ever thought about dipping your toe in the TF pool – now is definitely the time!

Sarah: I love working with Mairghread because she likes focusing on similar things that I do, and she’s really enabled and encouraged me to really push things where I might have been a bit to timid to otherwise. We have a lot of fun going through scripts and thumbnails to really push body language and interactions. Really I’m just trying to do justice to her script and these characters, and hope that in some way I succeed on the page.

Steve: One of the details I noticed in the preview pages of issue #1 is that you’re using her jet flames to convey her movement and transformations. How do you approach her body language and movements? She’s a giant robot sure, but she seems pretty deft and light-footed.

Sarah: Mairghread had to really extrapolate a lot off of a pre-existing design for a character that we didn’t know much about. What kind of a bot has this kind of makeup, or has such an elaborate sword? She guided me a lot when we first started, and we wanted Windblade to be graceful and kind of ceremonial. Since wind is kind of her element and she functions as sort of a diplomat, it seemed fitting.

I wanted her to feel light, especially compared to Chromia, her bodyguard, who is the exact opposite. I love them because they’re such great foils for each other – where Windblade is tactful and graceful, Chromia is both tactless and graceless. Windblade can sit down politely with her legs together, but Chromia sits like a total guy. They both serve to point out how different they are from one another, and it’s really fun.

Steve: Is it difficult to draw personality onto a robotic character? That question may be a little racist against robots, sorry

Sarah: It might be, but I live for it. It’s arguably one of my favorite parts of drawing the bots. I really love taking atypical features and giving them expression, just like we read expressions on animals without the same cues that we get from people. I love thinking about how personality can be expressed through their different features.

How does this guy hold his wings, can his helmet be used as sort of a brooding brow, does this part move when they’re scared? Stuff like that makes my job really fun.

Steve: One thing that comes across quickly in the preview is that she has quite a wry sense of humour about her. What’s her personality like? Do you want her to bring a sense of freshness with her, a lightness of tone?

Mairghread: She’s definitely in a younger mindset than most transformers. But more than anything she’s a three-dimensional character. She takes her job very seriously but that doesn’t mean she takes herself seriously (although she probably should, if I’m looking at her from a ‘mom’ perspective).

I wanted her to like Cybertron and like life; there’s enough dourness in the real world. Transformers Windblade is still a dramatic read, and we do get a little dark, but I’ve worked hard to make sure it never loses the optimism and hope that Windblade as a character has.

-

Many thanks to Mairghread and Sarah for their time! The first issues of the series are still available for pre-order – today is the last day they will be – and issue #1 is due in stores this April. You can find Sarah at various places around the internet - on her blog, her DeviantArt, and Twitter. Mairghread is on twitter here, and you can find her Tumblr here

We'll have captions in a bit but here's a look at the Hasbro showroom some new stuff and classics and the biggest Transformer ever!

.

Okay… combining two posts into one!

Saturday, the show floor was rather full, but people moved, if rather slowly.  My friend and I avoided the large booths which attract large crowds, and instead had a good time just walking around.

I acted as a guide, showing him some cool stuff.  One stop was the Hasbro booth, where we marveled at the cool new giant Optimus Prime, which actually uses his trailer.  (Unlike the cartoon version, where it mysteriously disappears when he transforms.)  Then we gawked at the various other displays, including Jem and the Holograms, a favorite of his sister.  Hasbro had hired someone to appear as Jem for photo shoots.

We then discovered their display of NYCC exclusives.  Including this:

Yes, I, too, thought “Beer Pong“.  Hasbro, however, has instead altered the game, turning it into a harmless pastime (like Lawn Darts) called “Cuponk“.  In their version, one has to bounce the ball into a cup, which lights up when filled.  The balls and cups can be customized, which is why Hasbro offered a $22 Transformers exclusive edition.  As can be seen on the box, it is intended for ages 9 and older.  Six batteries required, which makes me wonder, how soon before some gets drunk and electrocutes themselves while drinking?  (Be sure the drink uses ethanol instead of methanol!)  While we here at Stately Beat Manor would never condone the recreational use of alcohol (our use tends towards the medicinal, applied internally), we would be remiss if we did not include a link to “motor oil“.

Also on Saturday, I continued my quest.  Every big show, with numerous dealers, I decide to scratch an itch.  This time, it was ‘Mazing Man.  My search