Simon Furman

2010-11-03T14:16:18Z

86.135.225.137: /* Notes */

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{{bigquote|Who can I kill?|Simon Furman's first question upon being brought on to write for ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]<ref>[http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~sstoneb/tf/tidbits/botcon2002.txt BotCon 2002 appearance]''</ref>}}

[[Image:Simon-Furman.jpg|right|180px|thumb|But... but [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] is neither vast nor predatory nor even a bird! [[Furmanism|What is he playing at?]]]]

Comic book writer '''Simon Christopher Francis Furman''' (born [[March 22]], [[1961]] <ref>[http://www.bwtf.com/interviews/sf399/ Interview at Ben Yee's website]</ref>) is probably the most well-known of all ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' comics scribes, and certainly the most prolific. He wrote most of the UK-original comic stories of Generation 1, as well as the latter 1/3rd of the US comic run, and has been author on innumerable Tranformers tales since. As a result, he is often the first, last, and occasionally ''only'' resort in penning ''Transformers'' literature, with a deep involvement in a wide variety of product. He's admitted this has left him typecast and his non-''Transformers'' work gets overlooked, but he's stated he stopped struggling against the association years ago and gives thanks for the opportunities and steady income it's given him. <ref> [http://mindlessones.com/2009/07/20/transformers-terminators-and-the-rest11-questions-with-simon-furman/ Interview at Mindless Ones blog]</ref>

A list of all of the issues written by Furman's hand would be overkill; even the list of ''titles'' he's worked on is considerable:

* [[Marvel Comics|Marvel UK's]] [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'']]: Furman began his involvement with Transformers as editor and author for much of the Marvel UK run, writing stories that integrated with those coming from Marvel US.

* [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel US's ''The Transformers'']]: At writer [[Bob Budiansky]]'s recommendation, Furman took over the US book after Budiansky left, writing issues #57-80.

* ''[[Generation 2 (comic)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]'': Furman penned the entire 12-issue run.

* [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]]: Furman scripted the final episode of the show, "[[Nemesis Part 2]]".

* [[3H Productions]]: Furman wrote a series of BotCon-exclusive stories, including several live-action voice actor scripts, the ''Beast Wars'' comic "[[Ground Zero]]", and the ''Beast Wars'' text and comic story "[[Reaching the Omega Point]]".

* [[Titan Books]]: while working for them, he pitched the idea of collecting the Marvel Transformers comics into trades, and edited the collections. Titan ended up collecting ''almost everything'' Marvel US and UK had ever done, including being able to get the issues with Marvel characters quite cheaply, ''and'' got the rights for global licensing: at this point, pre-Dreamwave, neither Marvel nor Hasbro had much investment in Transformers! <ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSyBtqe67uk Moonbase 2 AA2010 interview], 7:50 - </ref> When the [[live-action film series]] was announced, Titan [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|decided to do a tie-in]] and Furman went on to write almost every issue of it.

* [[Dreamwave Productions]]: Furman wrote two-and-a-half ''[[War Within]]'' G1 mini-series for Dreamwave, as well as most of their ''[[Armada (comic)|Armada]]'' and ''[[Energon (comic)|Energon]]'' comics.

* ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'', a book which described the background of several continuities which he was not particularly involved in crafting. This book has seen significant criticism for being biased towards comic [[canon]] (particularly that which he penned) and, in places, inventing continuity wholecloth without any precedent in prior fiction. In such instances, it has since been assumed that Furman was filling in neglected areas of the (at the time underdeveloped) [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Dreamwave continuity]].

* [[IDW Publishing]]: He wrote the first five Generation 1 mini-series for IDW's G1 reboot, as well as numerous [[Spotlight]] issues. His IDW run is notable for being the only instance where he has actually created the mythos from the ground up, rather than coming in after someone else had already set everything up. Other IDW titles include two ''Beast Wars'' mini-series and a ''Beast Wars'' guide book, and various comics related to the film series.

He almost drifted into Transformers, being asked early on to pitch some ideas and quickly becoming ''the'' Transformers guy at Marvel UK, also doing the editorials and letters pages until 1989 when he went with just the scripts. His post-Marvel return to Transformers came courtesy of [[BotCon 1997]]: not only was he a guest expected to answer questions he couldn't remember the answers to, there was this thing called a "Beast Wars" they wanted him to write a short comic about. He quickly had to get back into the swing of things. After the Botcon material, he'd work for Titan Books and then go onto Dreamwave, causing him to be linked forever more with the franchise.

Contrary to the popular opinion that he is an outspoken critic of the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon series]], Furman has stated in an interview that he loves the series. He explained that when he was involved with the Marvel comic books as a twenty-something-year-old writer, he thought the show was pitched a little young and that the stories were simplistic and had huge logic flaws, but conceded that he saw them from a different perspective than the generation that grew up watching the cartoon and buying the toys as kids, and so he concentrated on his work, which he believed was more "adult" in tone. He added that, in hindsight, he went back to watch the series and now really enjoys it, particularly Season 2's strong character stories. When he wrote for Marvel comics, he was averse to episodes that dealt with the character back-stories because they clashed with his own back-stories and also caused him to worry that he wasn't presenting the characters as intended. But now he had the freedom to take the series as a viewer and admire the way they were building upon their own mythos.

In the same interview, he thought [[The Transformers: The Movie|the 1986 animated movie]] was "fantastic", and one of his stated reasons was that "characters died." <ref>Simon Furman's interview on [[Madman Entertainment]]'s ''Beast Wars'' Season 3 DVD set</ref>

He has also written and created many non-''Transformers'' characters, including [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] and "Dragon's Claws" with [[Geoff Senior]] and "Brute Force" with [[José Delbo]]. He is an editor at [[Titan Books]], which publishes collections of ''Transformers'' comics, among other material.

These days, he's a big fan of ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]'', saying it's the best cartoon since ''Beast Wars'',<ref>[http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/a-touch-animated/ July 4, 2008 blog post]</ref> despite a relative lack of violent deaths. He's also a fan of West Ham United football club<ref>[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_furman3.php Interview on Transfans.co.uk]</ref>, which perhaps explains his bloodlust.

In his spare time, Furman enjoys drinking [[Corona]] and killing off hordes of background characters. And [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]].

==Alternate mode==
When Furman became the editor of the UK ''Transformers'' comic, it opened up a dilemma, as Marvel policy, enforced by Marvel US editor-in-chief [[Tom DeFalco]], frowned on editors serving as their own writers. To circumvent this problem, it was agreed that senior editor (and frequent ''Transformers'' letterer) [[Richard Starkings]] would serve in an advisory capacity on Furman's own strips.<ref>Starkings, Richard "Prophetic Words" in ''Dark Designs'' [[Trade paperback]] (London; [[Titan Books]], 2002), page 4.</ref>
When an editorial credit for the comic as a whole was required, Furman used the credit "Chris Francis", derived from his middle names.<ref>Unknown author "Transformers UK" in ''Second Generation'' Trade paperback (London; Titan Books, 2004), page 6.</ref>

==Fiction==
===Unicron Trilogy continuity===
The flesh creature known as Simon Furman pleases [[Unicron]] with his accurate depiction of Unicron's omnipotent magnificence. {{storylink|The End|The End}}

{{Note|In the final issue of [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave's]] [[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|''Armada'' comic'']], Unicron used his ability to gaze across parallel dimensions into a world where he was only a comic-book character and answer letters from readers. He was apparently unaware this issue ended with his defeat.}}

===Titan Magazines===
According to [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]], Furman is a [[Maximal]] disguised as a "strategically shaved ape. Especially on his head." {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 7|#7's Star Screams}} When Starscream captured the Titan offices, only Furman escaped capture and is still at large, with a vast amount of intelligence regarding [[Nucleon]] {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 21|#21's Star Screams}}.

The Autobots, however, are not much nicer. When Furman was writing his alternate universe tale, [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] "made sure" that it would have an Autobot-friendly ending... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.12|#12's Law and Disorder}}

==Comic bibliography==
===Marvel===
* [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|Marvel UK]] #13–21, 29–32, 45–50, 59–65, 74–88, 96–104, 113–120, 125, 130–138, 146–153, 160–161, 164–173, 182–189, 198–205, 213–332
* [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel US]] #56–80
* [[Generation 2 (Marvel Comics)|''Generation 2'']] #1–12

===Dreamwave===
* [[The War Within|''The War Within'' vol.1]] #1–6, [[War Within: The Dark Ages|vol.2]] #1–6, [[War Within: The Age of Wrath|vol.3]] #1–3 (#4–6 unreleased)
* [[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|''Armada'']] #6–18
* [[Energon (comic)|''Energon'']] #19–30 (#31–36 unreleased)
* "[[Perspective]]", from the ''[[Dreamwave Summer Special]]''

===Panini===
* [[Armada (Panini comic)|''Armada'']] #1–9

===IDW===
* ''[[Infiltration]]'' #0–6
* ''[[Spotlight (comics)|Spotlight]]'' #1–6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 (story by [[Klaus Scherwinski]]), 16–19 (''Revelation''), unrevealed ''Spotlight'' (status unknown)
* ''[[Stormbringer (comics)|Stormbringer]]'' #1–4
* ''[[Escalation (IDW)|Escalation]]'' #1–6
* ''[[Devastation (IDW)|Devastation]]'' #1–6
* ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'' #1–4
* ''[[Maximum Dinobots]]'' #1–5
* ''[[The Gathering]]'' #1–4
* ''[[The Ascending]]'' #1–4
* ''[[Movie Prequel (2007)|Transformers: Movie Prequel]]'' #1–4 (with [[Chris Ryall]])
* ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen comic book adaptation]]''
* ''[[All Hail Megatron]]'' [[All Hail Megatron issue 13|#13 ("Old Ways")]]
* ''[[Tales of the Fallen]]'' [[Tales of the Fallen issue 2|#2]], [[Tales of the Fallen issue 4|#4]], [[Tales of the Fallen issue 5|#5]]
* ''[[Nefarious]]'' #1–6

===Titan===
* [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|''Transformers'' UK magazine]] #1–Present
* [[Transformers Animated (Titan)|''Transformers Animated'']] #1

===Madman Entertainment===
* [[The Transformers (Madman)|''The Transformers'']]

===Million Publishing/''Henkei! Henkei!''===
* "[[Starscream's New Body]]"

==Bibliography==
===DK Publishing===
*''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]''
*''[[Transformers: The Movie Guide]]''
*''[[You Can Draw Transformers]]''
*''[[Revenge of the Fallen: The Movie Universe|Transformers: The Movie Universe]]''

===Titan Books===
*''[[The Art of the Movies|Transformers: The Art of the Movies]]''

==Convention appearances==
*[[BotCon 1997]]
*[[BotCon 1998]]
*[[BotCon 2001]]
*[[BotCon 2002]]
*[[OTFCC 2003]]
*[[OTFCC 2004]]
*[[BotCon 2006]]
*[[BotCon 2008]]

*San Diego Comic-Con 2009

==Notes==
* It is generally accepted that [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] is Furman's signature ''Transformers'' character, although a case could be made for [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]. His signature ''creation'' (according to the man himself <ref>http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=42871</ref>) is the <strike>bounty hunter</strike> freelance peacekeeping agent [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]], yes?.
* He spent at least some time as the writer of the Marvel UK comics letters page, setting the precedent for having a Transformer "host" reply to the kids' letters, but without patronising them. This tradition has been followed up on in [[Armada (Panini comic)|other]] [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|UK]] comics.
* Chris Claremont, X-Men mega-writer, is one of Furman's key influences in comics: "Mostly how well he managed multiple characters and sub-plots, something I’ve applied to my Transformers work as much as I can ever since". Other influences are Alan Moore's Marvel UK work; 70's/80's sci-fi films like ''Blade Runner'', ''Aliens'', and ''Terminator'', as well as Assault On Precinct 13; and crime books. <ref>[http://hombreimaginario.deviantart.com/art/Interviews-10-Simon-Furman-130246343 Interview with Transformers Hispanos Forums]</ref>
* If his last words before dying aren't [[Furmanism|"hnng... never ''did'' want to live forever"]], there will be much sadness.
* Apparently, if [[Pat Lee]] wants back in ''Transformers'', he will have to climb over Simon's cold, rotting corpse to do it. <ref>Based upon a comment Furman made at [[BotCon 2008]] when asked if Pat Lee would ever work for IDW Publishing</ref>
* He stated in an interview that he considers [[Beast Machines (cartoon)|Beast Machines]] to be too dark for a children's cartoon.<ref>[[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 1|"The Last 'Action' Hero"]]</ref>
* He's not a fan of the movies either, believing they throw out characterisation and story, though he happily admits he's not the audience for them. He still admires the technical side of the films and [[Michael Bay]]'s vision. <ref> [http://mindlessones.com/2009/07/20/transformers-terminators-and-the-rest11-questions-with-simon-furman/ Interview at Mindless Ones blog]</ref>
* Simon Furman wrote a script for the Auto Assembly 2009 script reading making fun of himself and Furmanisms. He was also present for Auto Assembly 2010 where he provided a Beast Wars related script
* [[Furmanite]] and [[Simfur]] are obvious enough [[Jhiaxus (G2)|puns]] on his name.

==See also==
* [[Furmanism]]
* 80% of this Wiki.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/ Simon Furman's blog]
* [http://www.wildfur.net/ Homepage of Wildfur Productions], original properties by [[Andrew Wildman]] and Simon Furman.
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1084210/ Simon Furman on the Internet Movie Database]

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Simon Furman