MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Pat Lee

2010-09-16T03:34:53Z

203.177.74.142: /* References */

{{disambig2|Pat Lee, the superstar comic book artist|the uncredited artist who actually draws all his stuff for negligible pay|Alex Milne}}
[[Image:Patlee.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Strength and Honor.<ref>[http://patleeart.deviantart.com/ PatLeeArt] at deviantART</ref>]]
'''Patrick C.K. "Pat" Lee''' (ミチヤメノテヒフナナ ''Michiyamenotehi Funana'') is a Canadian artist. He was the president of [[Dreamwave Productions]] and drew some of their ''Transformers'' comics, until most of his employees noticed he wasn't paying them. Subsequently, he was also the president of Dream Engine until all its employees noticed he wasn't paying them either. After that, he founded his own company, Pat Lee Productions, and briefly served as the "director" of a Hong Kong-based company named DeepSky Pictures (which appears to no longer exist). His return to comics was recently announced.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25747 Pat Lee Joins Dynamite for "Widow Warriors"]</ref>

:''Known titles, aliases and nicknames:'' '''Mr. Mecha'''<ref name="wizardbig80s">[http://www.tfbrasil.net/curiosidades_Wizard5.jpg "Big 80s" feature from issue 111 of ''Wizard Magazine''], October 2000</ref>, '''Paticus'''<ref name="litgtfspec">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14153 Lying in the Gutters ''Transformers'' Special], July 2002</ref>, "The '''[[Wikipedia:Transman|Transman]]''',<ref name="transman">[http://www.americandreamcomics.com/index.php?itemid=1490&catid=21 Dreamwave press release]</ref> '''Superstar Artist'''<ref name="creators">[http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/dreamwave-adds-transformers-creators The infamous "Dreamwave adds Transformers' creators" press release]</ref>, '''Mr. Talented'''<ref name="talented">[http://www.alivenotdead.com/rosannewong/A+MASTER+IN+DISGUISE-ANDREW+LIN+vs+PAT+LEE-MR.+TALENTED+(round+2-2)-profile-113669.html Rosanne Wong about Pat Lee painting a mural on her apartment wall]</ref>

{{bigquote|Over my dead body.|[[Simon Furman]] on if Pat Lee will do work for [[IDW Publishing|IDW]]|[[BotCon 2008]]}}

==History==
===Before the Transformers===
[[Image:Dreamwave.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Chillingly prophetic.]]
Pat Lee was born in Montreal on [[June 28]], 1975<ref name="bio">[http://www.angelfire.com/pa/infrarred/infrarred2.html Pat Lee's own biography on his old Angelfire website]</ref>, and raised in Toronto. At the age of 16 (or 17)<ref name="patwizarddraw">[http://www.alivenotdead.com/patlee/How-to-draw-Transformers-Wizard-Magazine-profile-678562.html Pat Lee using an old Wizard article about himself as a reason to ponder about he got into the comic book industry]</ref>, right after graduating from high school, Lee was eager to find a job as a "proffesional"{{sic}} in the comic book industry<ref name="patwizarddraw"/>, sending over 150 pages of sample artworks to [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] and [[Wikipedia:DC Comics|DC]]. Unfortunately for Lee, both publishers realized what a shoddy artist he was. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, however, Lee eventually managed to catch the attention of infamous [[Wikipedia:Image Comics|Image Comic]] co-founder [[wikipedia:Rob Liefeld|Rob Liefeld]] at a Toronto convention in 1994, who would hire Lee (now aged 19) to work as a penciller on various titles for Liefeld's Image studio [[Wikipedia:Awesome Comics|Extreme Studios]]. After that, Pat Lee would also work for [[Wikipedia:Jim Lee|Jim Lee's]] Image studio [[Wikipedia:Wildstorm Productions|Wildstorm Productions]], as well as accepting work-for-hire assignments from Marvel (who had now apparently changed their mind regarding his artwork).

In 1996, Pat and his brother [[Roger Lee|Roger]] decided to start their own studio within Image Comics, [[Dreamwave Productions]], with Pat acting as the company's president. With Dreamwave, Lee would continue accepting contractual work for other publishers (such as the four-issue limited series ''Wolverine/Punisher: Revelation'' for Marvel), but also started to publish his own <strike>blatantly plagiarized</strike> originally created titles such as ''[[Wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell|Darkminds]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Record of Lodoss War|Warlands]]''. Collaborations with various magazines and advertising campaigns helped to further advance Dreamwave's reputation. Initially, the "hook" for Dreamwave's financial success was Pat's drawing style, which many readers viewed as "manga-like" (although readers of actual manga had a different opinion on this matter).

===Transformers by Dreamwave===
[[Image:Big80sWizard.jpg|right|150px|thumb|His art only went downhill from here.]]In 2000, Pat and Dreamwave submitted a contribution for a feature named "Big 80s" that was published in issue #111 of ''Wizard: The Comics Magazine'', depicting Pat's own take on one of his favorite properties from his childhood days, the ''Transformers''. Proving to be a huge hit among fans, [[Hasbro]] would consider the general art style a benchmark when they were offering the license for a new ''Transformers'' comic a year later.<ref name="litgtfspec"/> Unsurprisingly, it was Dreamwave themselves who finally acquired said license, commemorating this as a turning point in the history of their company by officially cutting all ties with Image and becoming an independent publisher on their own.

[[Image:Fallenpatlee.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Why do Pat Lee's Transformers look like they're about to take a poop?]]
In addition to providing the art for various adverts, [[posters]] and covers, Pat would draw the first two ''Generation 1'' limited series, [[Prime Directive|Vol. 1]] (aka "Prime Directive") and [[War and Peace|Vol. 2: War and Peace]]. Subsequently, he would concentrate on controlling Dreamwave as its president and spend more time on his biggest hobby, fast cars, assigning art jobs to other artists (many of them hired directly out of the fandom) instead. Lee's only other major contribution in terms of art would ultimately be some of the character profiles published in the eight-issue [[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|More Than Meets The Eye]] limited series.

Despite having dominated Diamond's sales charts for several subsequent months with the ''Transformers'', Dreamwave eventually ended up in dire financial circumstances. Coinciding with rumors of unpaid freelancers, Pat Lee started to accept contractual work for Marvel and DC again, such as issues of ''House of M'' or ''Superman/Batman''. Dreamwave eventually declared bankruptcy on January 4, 2005, blaming the weak Canadian Dollar and other scapegoats for the company's failure.<ref>[http://www.tformers.com/article.php?sid=4053 Dreamwave's final press release]</ref>

===After Dreamwave===
With Dream Engine, Lee would work on various projects such as an ''X-Men/Fantastic Four'' crossover for Marvel, issues for the ''Batman/Superman'' series for DC and a relaunch of [[Wikipedia:Cyberforce|Cyberforce]] for [[Wikipedia:Top Cow Productions|Top Cow]], another Image studio.

Eventually, Pat Lee parted ways with Dream Engine again and started his new enterprise, Pat Lee Productions.<ref name="plp">[http://www.patleeproductions.com/ Pat Lee Productions website, no longer functioning]</ref> He was also listed as the "director" of a Hong Kong-based company named DeepSky Pictures, which appears to be defunct now. Pat Lee is currently residing in Hong Kong.

===Return to official ''Transformers'' work===
In mid-2008, three and a half years since the collapse of Dreamwave, Lee was commissioned to do a series of illustrations for Hasbro Hong Kong to use for promotional purposes as part of their appearance at Ani-Con 2008.<ref>[http://www.alivenotdead.com/patlee/Transform+and+ROLL+OUT--profile-225643.html Pat Lee showcases his illustrations for Hasbro on his blog.]</ref> Let's hope that art stays in Hong Kong.

In spite of the [[Transformers (2007)|movie]] having been out for about a year, he couldn't even be bothered to look up recent art and stills and drew [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] with his unused concept art head.

==Published Transformers works with Pat Lee credit==
===Comics===
* ''[[Prime Directive|Transformers: Generation 1 (vol. 1)]]'': [[Prime Directive Preview|Preview]], [[Prime Directive issue 1|#1]], [[Prime Directive issue 2|#2]], [[Prime Directive issue 3|#3]], [[Prime Directive issue 4|#4]], [[Prime Directive issue 5|#5]], [[Prime Directive issue 6|#6]]
* ''[[War and Peace|Transformers: Generation 1 vol. 2: War and Peace]]'': [[New World Order|#1]], [[Brothers' Burden|#2]], [[Cold War|#3]], [[Passive Aggression|#4]], [[Countdown to Extinction (issue)|#5]], [[Revelation (War and Peace)|#6]]
* ''[[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye (G1)]]'' #1, #3, #6 (assorted profiles)
* ''[[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|Transformers: Armada]]'': [[Dreamwave Armada issue 6|#6]], [[Dreamwave Armada issue 7|#7]]
* ''Transformers Armada: More Than Meets The Eye (Official Guidebook)'': #1, #2, #3 (assorted profiles)
* ''20th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special'': Individual story "[[Welcome to the Jungle]]"
* assorted covers for nearly all the Dreamwave Transformers series

{{note|With the revelation of [[Alex Milne]] ghosting for Pat Lee on Top Cow's ''Cyberforce'', artist [[Edwin Garcia]] being credited for "backgrounds" on the ''Generation 1'' titles, [[Sigmund Torre]] being rumored to have ghosted on parts of the first ''Generation 1'' volume, and at least one of his covers actually being done by a ghost artist, it's uncertain how much of the art credited to Pat Lee has actually been his work at all.
<p>
Various artworks originally created by Lee for the covers of the first ''Generation 1'' limited series were also used by both [[Hasbro]] and [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] for their "[[Commemorative Series]]" and "[[Transformers Collection]]" series of reissues. Following the demise of Dreamwave, Hasbro would also continue to use cover artwork drawn by Lee for promotional images and various pieces of merchandise, such as a ''[[Monopoly|Transformers Monopoly]]'' board game. The reason for this is simply because the art has already been paid for, and is therefore cheaper to use for Hasbro than newly solicited artwork.</p>}}

===Packaging art===
====Alternators====
* [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]]
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Side Swipe]]

{{note|The packaging artwork for [[Alternators]] Smokescreen was also used for the profile card of Takara's ''Binaltech'' counterpart.}}
====Commemorative Series====
* Series III [[Jazz (G1)/toys|Autobot Jazz]]
* Series IV [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]]
* Series IV [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]]
* Series V [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]]
* Series V [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]]
* Series VI [[Grapple|Autobot Grapple]]
* Series VII [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]]
* Series VII [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]]
* Series VIII [[Sideswipe (G1)|Side Swipe]]

{{note|The artwork for Hoist, Inferno, Grapple, Rodimus Prime and Dirge was done specifically for these reissues; the rest was recycled from covers of Dreamwave's first ''Generation 1'' limited series.}}

====Transformers Collection====
* No.0 [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Convoy]] (Optimus Prime)
* No.1 Meister (Jazz)
* No.2 Prowl
* No.6 [[Megatron (G1)/toys|Megatron]]
* No.7 Lambor (Sideswipe)
* No.10 [[Soundwave (G1)/toys|Soundwave]]
* No.12 [[Mini Vehicle|Minibot Team]]
* No.16 [[Insecticon (G1)|Insectrons]] (Insecticons)

{{note|None of these artworks were created specifically for these reissues, but were instead recycled from old promotional posters or covers of Dreamwave's first ''Generation 1'' limited series.}}
===Other===
* Hasbro Hong Kong Ani-Con 2008 [[Movie (toyline)|Movie]] Commemorative boxset certificate

==Criticism and controversy==
===Art style===
[[Image:Patleehowtodrawoptimus.jpg|left|250px|thumb|1) Draw a circle. 2) Draw Optimus Prime. 3) Give him scraplets. 4) Give him leprosy.]]
Pat Lee's artwork has often been the target of criticism among fans. While he was initially praised by many fans for his "manga-like" drawing style (which is heavily inspired by the character designs and visual cues used by [[Studio Ox]]), others criticized his tendency for exaggerated proportions, emphasis on rounded robot body parts, making the characters look "inflated" and marshmallow-like, hands reaching out to the reader [http://www.shortpacked.com/blog/2005/08/31/detail/ "as if you just stole his purse"], a general lack of sequential storytelling skills and the overall look of his human characters (see "[[dull surprise]]" for more on ''that''). Even his critics often admitted that his work for covers and posters was better than his actual comic book interior artwork; however, that would change soon when even his cover artwork saw a severe decline in quality starting with the [[War and Peace|second ''Generation 1'' limited series]]. The introduction of [[Don Figueroa|other]] [[Guido Guidi|artists]] who would draw Transformers characters in a similar style, while avoiding many of the problems Lee was criticized for, would further shift the public opinion against Lee's artwork.

[[Image:DWPrimewhatthe.jpg|right|200px|thumb|When you're being compared to Rob Liefeld, maybe it's time to quit<ref name="leefeld">[http://www.shortpacked.com/blog/2006/12/13/buttons/ Shortpacked!]</ref>]]
Lee's response to that was enforcing an internal "house style" that would force other artists to follow Pat Lee's own style more closely. [[Don Figueroa]] confirmed in an interview having received such requests from Dreamwave art director [[Rob Ruffolo]], a guideline which Figueroa declined.<ref name="dontrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_figueroa.php Interview with Don Figueroa]</ref> Fellow artist [[Guido Guidi]] confirmed having received similar requests.<ref name="guidtrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_guido.php Interview with Guido Guidi]</ref> Ruffolo himself also later confirmed the existence of an internal "house style", without specifically referring to Lee.<ref name="ruftrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_ruffolo.php Interview with Rob Ruffolo]</ref>

Even though many fans preferred other artists over Pat Lee, official Dreamwave press releases and solicitations would often titulate the company's president as a "superstar artist".<ref name="dwadds">[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/comics-16/dreamwave-adds-transformers-creators-2492/ The infamous "Dreamwave Adds Transformers Creators" press release]</ref>

===Business practices===
The demise of Dreamwave didn't come overnight. The first rumors of freelancers not getting paid date back as far as October of 2003.<ref name="litgffreel">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14548 Lying in the Gutters reporting on early rumors of Dreamwave artists not getting paid]</ref> Following the closure of Dreamwave, former freelance writers [[Adam Patyk]] and [[James McDonough]] reiterated their claims that Dreamwave (not explicitly referring to Lee himself) had stopped paying them even before declaring bankruptcy. They had then filed a lawsuit against their former employer, and when that became public, they had allegedly also heard from other Dreamwave employees and freelancers who were supposedly also complaining about not being paid anymore.<ref name="pmdnram">[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=39073 Newsarama nterview with writers Adam Patyk and James McDonough]</ref>

Aside from Patyk and McDonough, no other former Dreamwave employees or freelancers were nearly as explicit on the issue. Artist Don Figueroa only stated that Dreamwave was "getting really behind with the check" and pointed out that he "was also assured everything was cool" when he met Pat Lee in person only a month prior to the closing of Dreamwave.<ref name="dontrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_figueroa.php Interview with Don Figueroa]</ref> The latter complaint was also repeated by writer [[Simon Furman]].<ref name="furmtrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_furman3.php Interview with Simon Furman]</ref> Likewise, artist [[Guido Guidi]] merely accused Dreamwave of a lack of "[g]ood communication", and even revealed an ambivalent attitude towards Pat Lee and his brother Roger.<ref name="guidtrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_guido.php Interview with Guido Guidi]</ref> Artist James Raiz, meanwhile, claimed that he was "one of the very few who came out of Dreamwave with all [his] money.<ref name="raiztrans">[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_raiz.php Interview with James Raiz]</ref>

Prior to declaring bankruptcy, Pat and his brother Roger had spent four months secretly transferring most of Dreamwave's assets to a new company named Dream Engine, whose website domain was registered to Roger's name.<ref name="litgdreame">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14844 Lying in the Gutters discovering the existence of Dream Engine]</ref> In addition, it would turn out that Lee had made sure to transfer ownership of his formerly company-owned Porsche to himself before giving up Dreamwave,<ref name="porsche">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14968 Lying in the Gutters reporting on the Pat Lee Porsche story]</ref> and had spent half a million Canadian dollars on a new luxury apartment even before the Dreamwave bankruptcy.<ref name="apartment">[http://comicbooks.org/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2203 Lying in the Gutters reporting on Pat Lee's new apartment]</ref> The overall amount of Dreamwave's debt was far over a million dollars.<ref name="litgmillion">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14886 Lying in the Gutters' list of Dreamwave's creditors]</ref>

A former Dreamwave employee later suggested that Pat and Roger had known about the looming demise of Dreamwave a full year before declaring bankruptcy, but instead of coming clean to their employees, they named their parents secured creditors and then kept the company going for another year, because Canadian law required people to be named secured creditors for at least a year before bankruptcy in order to be given priority over other creditors (this is meant to prevent someone being given secured creditor status a week before bankruptcy and then getting away with all the company's money). Teddy and Anne Lee were granted $141,000 for alleged "furniture lease", even though they were financially supported by their sons for most of their adult lives.<ref name="parents">[http://www.bleedingcool.com/forums/showthread.php?17163-Pat-Lee-Starts-Interview-Tour-Of-Forgiveness&p=83125#post83125 Allegations by a former Dreamwave employee], May 2010</ref>

In addition, Guido Guidi and Don Figueroa later confirmed that they were additionally charged by FedEx for having shipped artwork to Dreamwave prior to the company's closure.<ref name="fedex">[http://web.archive.org/web/20050507073425/http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/thread73039.html Archived TFW2005 thread with Guido Guidi and Don Figueroa confirming the FedEx story]</ref>

Pat Lee himself gave several interviews following the closing of Dreamwave, presenting himself as a victim of circumstance while completely dodging the issue of unpaid creators and the existence of Dream Engine.<ref name="patwiz">[http://web.archive.org/web/20061120012852/http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/000230624.cfm Archived Wizard interview with Pat Lee]</ref><ref name="patnram">[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=39738 Newsarama interview with Pat Lee]</ref><ref name="jazma">[http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/interviews2.asp?intID=318 Jazma Online interview with Pat Lee, April 2006]</ref>

While working with Dream Engine, Pat Lee spent a significant amount of the company's funds on the campaign of his girlfriend [[Wikipedia:Aimee Chan|Aimee Chan]], who would eventually win the title of Miss Hong Kong in 2006. This ultimately resulted in Pat being asked by Dream Engine and his brother Roger to leave the company.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=15349 Lying in the Gutters reporting on Pat Lee's involvement with Aimee Chan]</ref> In the fall of 2007, Aimee Chan changed her status on her alive not dead social networking page<ref>http://www.alivenotdead.com/aimeechan/details.html</ref> to "single". Oops!

===Failure to give proper credit===
During the Dreamwave days, several artists confirmed that Pat Lee had only been drawing the robot characters, leaving the backgrounds entirely to (credited) assistants such as Edwin Garcia. However, comic book journalist Rich Johnston reported rumors that [[Sigmund Torre]] had been ghosting for Pat, who was too busy with promotion and signing tours, as early as July 2002, when ''[[Prime Directive|Generation 1 vol. 1]]'' was still in production.<ref name="litgtfspec"/>

In 2007, it would turn out that Lee's personal involvement in his girlfriend's beauty pageant campaign had resulted in him being unable to meet deadlines for issues of Top Cow's ''Cyberforce'' series. As a consequence, Pat had asked [[Alex Milne]] to draw those issues in his stead. After a few issues, what little credit was initially given to Milne was dropped entirely, with Pat submitting the artwork under his own name instead, paying Milne merely a fragment of the money Top Cow was paying him.<ref name="litgmilne1">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=15355 Lying in the Gutters reporting on Alex Milne ghosting for Pat Lee]</ref> In addition, Lee later asked Milne to draw artwork for DC's ''Superman/Batman'' #34 as well, again giving his underpaid ghost artist no credit.<ref name="litgmilne2">[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=15547 Lying in the Gutters reporting on Alex Milne ghosting for Pat Lee even more]</ref> Eventually, Top Cow found out, resulting in Pat Lee not paying Milne ''at all'' for over 20 pages of artwork.<ref name="deviantmilne">[http://hombreimaginario.deviantart.com/art/Interviews-06-Alex-Milne-64254823 Interview with Alex Milne on DeviantArt]</ref>

In late 2008, former Dreamwave editor [[Matt Moylan]] confirmed that the Silver Snail exclusive variant cover for Dreamwave's [[Generation One (Dreamwave comic)|''Generation One'' (ongoing)]] [[Night of the Combaticons|issue 1]] that had been credited to Pat Lee had actually been drawn by a ghost artist as well.<ref name="g1ghost">[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/2407689-post83.html Matt Moylan confirming that the Silver Snail exclusive G1 vol. 3 #1 cover had been drawn by a ghost artist too.]</ref>

===Attempts at cover-up===
In March and April of 2008, a newly registered Wikipedia user repeatedly tried to remove any reference to the controversies surrounding Pat Lee in his own article, instead replacing them with more PR-friendly resume details.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Hyrocomics Contributions by Wikipedia user "Hyrocomics"]</ref><ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/219.78.200.95 Contributions by IP 209.70.200.95]</ref> (The critical content in the Wikipedia article ''was'' later purged for other reasons, but not reverted to the blatant self-advertising Pat's own version was.)

==Notes==
* Before the launch of Dreamwave's ''Transformers'' comic books, Pat expressed a certain level of ignorance with regard to the brand's history. For example, he claimed that, in retrospect, the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|Transformers cartoon]] was so amazing that it was only a matter of time before the [[The Transformers (toyline)|toys]] were made.<ref name="animefringe">[http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/01.03/feature/2/index.php3 Interview with animefringe.com]</ref> In the same interview, he also admitted liking [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]], whom he considers a "wicked character", regretting that he "died" in the [[The Transformers: The Movie|movie]].<ref name="animefringe">[http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/01.03/feature/2/index.php3 Interview with animefringe.com]</ref>

* During Dreamwave's heyday, Dreamwave press releases would constantly titulate the company's president as a "superstar artist", even after the company had started hiring various other artists, including [[Don Figueroa]], most of whom would prove to be vastly more popular among fans than Lee.

[[Image:FuNaNa.jpg|right|216px|thumb|Those fancy Japanese characters look AWESOME. Too bad I can't read them.]]
* Fans discovered an old personal website Pat had set up prior to the big breakthrough with Dreamwave.<ref name="infrarred">[http://www.angelfire.com/pa/infrarred/ Infrarred] {{sic}} Pat Lee's Angelfire homepage</ref> In retrospect, many of the quotes and graphics featured on the site would prove to be either hilariously ironic or frighteningly prophetic, such as a promotional image depicting Pat, his brother Roger and then-Dreamwave exec Alvin Lee walking away from a nuclear explosion (see [[:Image:Dreamwave.jpg|Image:Dreamwave.jpg]]); or a header graphic that features his name, "Patrick Lee", replaced by random Katakana characters (ミチヤメノテヒフナナ), which read "''Michiyamenotehi Funana''". Soon, this would become his new nickname among fans, used exclusively in a mocking manner.
** The cause for this is almost certainly a character-replacement Katakana font (WordPerfect TrueType Japanese to be exact), as used by someone who has no damn clue how Katakana works, never mind an ability to read it.
***If Pat Lee had any damn clue how to transliterate, the Katakana would be パトリックリー (''Patorikku Rī'').

* Pat Lee once set a hill on fire.<ref name="infrarred">[http://www.angelfire.com/pa/infrarred/ Infrarred] {{sic}} Pat Lee's Angelfire homepage</ref>

* After the launch of Dream Engine, Lee's resume at the company's website claimed that he was responsible for relaunching "X-Men, Batman and more", thereby implying that those franchises had long lingered in a near-dead state until Superstar Funana blessed them with his divine reanimating powers.<ref>Pat's resume at the now defunct Dreamengine website.</ref>

* All of the above is ''absolutely true''. We're not kidding.

* Comic book gossip journalist Rich Johnston, who has done a fair share of coverage on the subject of Pat Lee, has made use of the fact that the URL [http://www.deepskypictures.com Deepskypictures.com] was a dead link (since the "company" Pat briefly served for as a "director" is now apparently defunct), but still linked to on several of Pat's social networking pages... by purchasing the URL and redirecting it to his coverage of Pat's past and involvement with Dynamite Entertainment at Bleeding Cool Comics.<ref name="badman">[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/06/05/punking-pat-lee/ Bleeding Cool Comics]</ref>

==Memorable quotes by and about Pat Lee==
{{bigquote|It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures.|Pat Lee<ref>[http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/interviews2.asp?intID=318 Jazma Online Interview]</ref>}}

{{bigquote|If he ever wants out of comics, Pat Lee's got a heck of a career as an auto mechanic.|''Wizard Magazine''<ref>Verbatim quote from a <strike>[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/dailyraider/patlee.jpg butt-kissing advert]</strike> article published in an issue of ''Wizard Magazine''.</ref>}}

{{bigquote|I remember working with Pat Lee and how kind of disappointed I was to find how little of the art was actually him. He gave me an original art page of Armada, and there’s so little art on it!|Simon Furman<ref>Talking about memorable experiences, [http://idwpublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=42871#42871 http://idwpublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=42871#42871]</ref>}}

{{bigquote|If Pat had been some faceless bureaucrat it maybe wouldn’t now seem such an acute betrayal, but he looked me square in the eye and said everything’s hunky-dory. That’s what still, even now, burns.|Simon Furman<ref>Online interview talking about the collapse of Dreamwave</ref>}}

{{bigquote|Probably the richest guy I know.|Don Figueroa <ref>Word Association with the name "Pat Lee" from an [http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_figueroa.php interview] with TransFans.co.uk</ref>}}

{{bigquote|A guy that really knows how to pitch himself.|Guido Guidi<ref>Word Association with the name "Pat Lee" from an [http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_guido.php interview] with TransFans.co.uk</ref>}}

{{bigquote|Cars are expensive.|Guido Guidi<ref>Word Association with the name "Dreamwave" from an [http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_guido.php interview] with TransFans.co.uk</ref>}}

{{bigquote|Can we get our money?|Adam Patyk<ref>Patyk's response to the question "If you could talk to Pat directly right now, what would you ask of him?" in an [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=39073 interview] with Newsarama.</ref>}}

{{bigquote|Some of the shapes and lines are a little misshapen. When you draw your lines, sketch them out in layout mode, and try to get as accurate as possible before making any final lines.|Pat Lee, not practicing what he preaches. <ref>[http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m190/PatLeeProductions/?action=view&current=page3.jpg Quote from Pat Lee's "How to draw Mecha" article from Wizard #118, July 2001.]</ref>}}

{{bigquote|To anyone who wants to break into comics- learn to love drawing backgrounds and study technical work, never have an ego, and treat your fans with respect!|Pat Lee, still not practicing what he preaches. <ref>[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/796425.html#cutid1 Parting words from Pat Lee in "Extreme Scenes" from Extreme Comics.]</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[Dull surprise]]

==External links==
* [http://www.angelfire.com/pa/infrarred/infrarred2.html Infrarred]
* [http://www.myspace.com/patleeart PatLeeArt] at MySpace
* [http://www.alivenotdead.com/patlee Pat Lee's alive not dead profile blog site]
* [http://patleeart.deviantart.com/ Pat Lee's deviantART page.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/PatLeeArt Pat Lee's Youtube account]
* [http://twitter.com/patleeart Pat Lee's Twitter feed]
* [http://patleeart.blogspot.com/ Pat Lee's Blogspot blog]
* [http://patleeart.squarespace.com/ Pat Lee's Squarespace blog]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Pat}}
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==Related Links==

[http://cargames.com.au/ '''car games''']

[http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/pages/Electronics/TV-and-Video/Flat-Panel-Televisions/ '''lcd tv''']

Powermaster

2010-04-08T02:12:36Z

203.177.74.142:

{{disambig3|Powermaster}}
{{picsneeded|Commercial screengrab}}
''Powermasters are a cross-factional [[subgroup]] from the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Powermaster.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Don't try this at home.]]
Like the [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] and [[Targetmaster|Targetmasters]], the '''Powermasters''' are binary bonded to a smaller partner, most often an organic [[Nebulos|Nebulan]], who in this case serves as their external power supply.

See also: ''[[Godmaster]].''

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
After months of devastating war on their planet, the [[Nebulos|Nebulans]] no longer cared whether the [[Autobot]]s or [[Decepticon]]s won, as long as the fighting stopped. When the forces under the command of [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] left their planet for [[Earth]], {{storylink|Brothers in Armor!!}} the Nebulans took advantage of the opportunity to poison all of their fuel and energy sources, tainting it in order to render it unusable by any Transformer.

The scientist who had devised the toxin, [[Hi-Q]], soon had a falling out with his partner [[Hi-Test]], who was jealous over Hi-Q's success. When a pair of Decepticons named [[Darkwing]] and [[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]] appeared to menace the planet, and were immobilized by the tainted fuel, Hi-Test saw an opportunity to act. Undergoing a binary bonding process with the inert Decepticons, Hi-Test changed himself and his ally [[Throttle (G1)|Throttle]] into the first Powermasters. Using this new process, the Decepticons were able to function on the poisoned planet of Nebulos by using their Powermaster partners as living batteries.

A small team of Autobots arrived on Nebulos, hoping to construct a new body for their leader, [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]. Seeing the Decepticons running rampant, they tried to stop their reign of terror, but soon began to run low on fuel. Hi-Q took action and used the same binary bonding process as his rival Hi-Test, bonding himself to the body of Optimus Prime. His fellow scientists, with one exception, followed suit in bonding themselves to fallen Autobots as well. The revitalized Autobots quickly defeated the two Decepticons. {{storylink|People Power!}}

Most of the Transformers known as "Powermasters" were the result of this initial bonding—the procedure is otherwise quite rare.

===Dreamwave comics continuity===
An ancient Cybertronian known as [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] was responsible for the creation of the Powermaster process. It was designed as a way for them to survive on any world. By capturing hostile natives and reformatting them as biological power sources, they could greatly reduce their dependency on [[Energon (fuel)|energon]]. The process was perfected on Nebulon. Organics who undergo the binary-bonding process are indistinguishable from their fellows when not wearing Powermaster armor, though they have enhanced strength, endurance and mental abilities. {{storylink|More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|More Than Meets The Eye issue 8}}

==Technology==
As with the other "Master" technologies, the Powermaster procedure requires extensive cybernetic surgery and specially designed power armor used by the subject. These changes allow an organic being to transform into a powerful engine/power cell and bond themselves to a properly modified Transformer. The primary advantage to this procedure is survival: Powermaster partners are able to filter and counteract the radioactive toxins within Nebulan fuel, allowing a Transformer who has been poisoned to function normally.

Aside from serving as an advanced filtration system for any impurities or toxins that may be in their associate's body, a Powermaster partner can also function as a power booster or turbo accelerator, giving the Transformer he is bonded to a surge of additional power for increased strength or speed in dangerous situations. This benefit allows a Powermaster to be much faster or stronger than most normal Transformers for brief periods of time. In addition, a Powermaster engine is more adaptable and efficient than a standard Transformer fuel cell: far from requiring [[Energon (fuel)|energon]] or refined fuels, Powermasters can run on almost any energy source—including food. This makes it much easier for a Powermaster to adapt to the available resources, without needing to waste time or energy converting them into a more palatable form.

==Drawbacks==
While serving as an alternate power source the Powermaster partners had extremely high metabolisms, meaning that they need to eat large quantities of food at regular intervals just to keep themselves from starving to death. {{storylink|People Power!}} The Transformer that they are paired with is often drawing his power directly from their own life energy—if stretched too far they can easily be left exhausted, hungry, or even dead.{{fact}}

Over time, the bonding procedure for Powermasters seems to be similar to that of some [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]], in that there is a risk of both partners being absorbed into a single being with only one mind and identity. This happened to [[Hi-Q]], who over time began to change and merge with his Transformer counterpart until he actually ''became'' [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]. {{storylink|End of the Road! (US)|End of the Road!}}

A Powermaster can't [[transformation|transform]] from alternate mode into robot mode without his partner.<ref>Toy mechanics</ref><ref>[[Slapdash]]'s [[bio]]</ref>{{storylink|Prime Bomb!}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[Image:Dreadwindtoyg1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|This is Dreadwind... not like it really matters, or like anybody cares.]]
[[Image:G1 Slapdash toy.jpg|right|200px|thumb|This is like, totally Slapdash, or something, I think, maybe.]]
* Powermasters (1988)
** [[Darkwing]] / [[Throttle (G1)|Throttle]]
** [[Doubledealer]] / [[Knok]] or [[Skar]]
** [[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]] / [[Hi-Test]]
** [[Getaway]] / [[Rev]]
** [[Joyride (Autobot)|Joyride]] / [[Hotwire]]
** [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] / [[Hi-Q]]
** [[Slapdash]] / [[Lube]]
::The Powermasters were sold boxed at various price points. They were one of two flagship gimmicks in the [[The Transformers (toyline)#1988|1988 line]], the other being the [[Pretender|Pretenders]]. Most are fairly chunky and simple figures, considering their large size. Each toy features a small mini-figure (two in Doubledealer's case) which folds up into an "engine" block. Plugging the "engine" into a slot on the toy's vehicle mode deploys a button which unlocks the joints required to transform the toy into robot mode.

==Fiction-only Powermasters==
*[[Clio]] / [[Patra]] <ref>[http://www.transfans.co.uk/comics_guide_detail.php?id=468&page=22 Letters Page to Marvel UK 315 at Transfans.co.uk]</ref>
*[[Overlord (Masterforce)|Gigatron]] / 2 unidentified partners <ref>Gigantron's Heroes of Cybertron toy bio.</ref><ref>[[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|More Than Meets The Eye issue 8]]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

Related Link:

[http://wellspringwatersystems.com/solutions/waterbox-100 '''Ultrafiltration Systems''']

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[[Category:Powermasters| ]]
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