MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Dreamwave Productions

2009-12-30T13:37:54Z

86.172.248.155: /* History */

[[Image:Dreamwave.jpg|right|thumb|250px|"We're not saying you should buy Dreamwave comics, only that you'll regret it."]]

'''Dreamwave Productions''' was a fairly unknown independent comic book publisher when it obtained the ''Transformers'' license in 2001. For a time, there was gigantic buzz surrounding Dreamwave's relaunch of the Generation 1 title, even pushing it past Marvel and DC's top titles. Many comic book fans had been away from Transformers for a long time and were overjoyed to see highly detailed manga-style art driving a childhood favorite.

Dreamwave published a good deal of ''Transformers'' books, including many varied miniseries, before capitulating to the notoriously fickle comic-buying public. Towards the end of 2004 delays started getting more and more frequent. This was followed by rumors of writers and artists leaving because they weren't being paid, which were then confirmed. In early January 2005, Dreamwave declared bankruptcy, and there were no Transformers comics to be had for more than half of 2005.

{{quote|TO ME DREAMWAVE WAS MORE THAN JUST A WORD. IT'S MEANING TO ME FULLFILLS ALL OF WHAT I BELIEVE IN. SUCCESS, LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, HOPES ANS WISHES. WHEN ALL IS BAD HUMANS EXCLUDE THEMSELVES FROM REALITY ONLY TO FIND THEMSELVES IN THE REALM OF DREAMS. BECAUSE HERE IN OUR DREAMS WE FIND THE FREEDOM FROM THE SHACKLES THAT THIS SOCIETY HAS LOCKED US IN REALITY.|[[Pat Lee]] [http://www.angelfire.com/pa/infrarred/infrarred4.html]}}

==History==
===The beginnings===
Dreamwave Productions was originally launched by brothers [[Pat Lee|Pat]] and [[Roger Lee]] as a studio within [[Wikipedia:Image Comics|Image Comics]] in 1996, at the height of the Image boom.

In 1998, Dreamwave would start to publish various <strike>blatantly plagiarized</strike> originally created titles such as ''[[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell|Darkminds]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Record of Lodoss War|Warlands]]'', as well as accepting work-for-hire assignments for other publishers such as the four-issue limited series ''Wolverine/Punisher: Revelation'' for Marvel. Other titles such as ''Shidima'', ''Fate of the Blade'' or ''Arkanium'' would follow. Furthermore, Dreamwave also collaborated with [[wikipedia:VIBE (magazine)|VIBE]] and [[wikipedia:Wizard (magazine)|Wizard: The Comics Magazine]] on various projects, developed an advertising campaign for the [[wikipedia:Dr. Martens|Dr. Martens]] shoe label and created the production designs for the music video to [[wikipedia:Janet Jackson|Janet Jackson's]] song "Doesn't Really Matter".

Initially, the "hook" for Dreamwave's financial success was the drawing style of its president, Pat Lee, which many readers viewed as "manga-like" (although readers of actual Japanese mangas had a different opinion on this matter).

===Splitting from Image and getting the Transformers license===
In 2001, issue #111 of ''Wizard: The Comics Magazine'' ran a feature named "Big 80s", featuring various popular properties of the 1980s such as ''Thundercats'' or ''Masters of the Universe'' in new interpretations by modern artists. Pat Lee and Dreamwave submitted their own take on the ''Transformers'', one of Pat's personal favorites from his childhood days. That same year, a group of Dreamwave employees (including Alvin Lee, who had worked with Pat on the ''Wizard'' piece) departed from their company to form their own business, UDON Studios.

Shortly afterwards, [[Hasbro]] was offering the license for Transformers comics, with the premise being that the artwork should look close to the sample Dreamwave had done for ''Wizard''. Several companies, including Marvel (with UDON being supposed to handle the art), were interested,<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=1365 Lying in the Gutters confirming that other publishers were interested in the Transformers license]</ref> but ultimately it was Dreamwave who offered Hasbro the biggest amount of money, thereby acquiring the license in December of 2001<ref>[http://tformers.com/New-Transformers-Comic/130/news.html TFormers confirms that Dreamwave acquired the Transformers comic license]</ref> - money which Hasbro would ultimately never see in full. To commemorate the new flagship title, Dreamwave officially cut all ties with Image and became an independent publisher on their own.

===Success of the Transformers titles===
Dreamwave's launch title, ''[[Prime Directive|Transformers: Generation 1 vol. 1]]'', written by [[Chris Sarracini]] and drawn by Pat Lee, became an instant hit, dominating Diamond's sales charts for months. Dreamwave would soon expand their range of Transformers comics to include an ongoing ''Transformers: Armada'' series (which later evolved into ''Transformers: Energon'' to accompany the respective toylines), initially also written by Sarricini. Although the [[War and Peace|second ''Generation 1'' volume]] was originally supposed to be written by Sarracini again, he was replaced by new writer [[James McDonough]] (who originally worked under the alias "Brad Mick"), thereby ultimately writing an entirely different story than what was originally intended<ref>[http://tformers.com/article.php?sid=1051 TFormers citing a ''Wizard Edge'' article that hints at the originally proposed plot for Dreamwave's Transformers: Generation 1 vol. 2]</ref>. With [[Original Sin|issue #5]] of the [[Generation 1 (Dreamwave comic)|third ''Generation 1'' volume]] (now an ongoing title), McDonough was joined by his longtime friend [[Adam Patyk]], now forming a writing duo, eventually shifting out his "Brad Mick" alias.

Furthermore, Dreamwave hired fan-favorite [[Simon Furman]] to pen various ''Transformers: The War Within'' mini-series, the first official Transformers fiction ever to be not directly based on an existing toyline. Furman would be joined by artist [[Don Figueroa]], whom Dreamwave had hired directly out of the fandom. More fan artists such as [[Guido Guidi]] and [[Joe Ng]] would soon follow Don into the professional comic book world. Meanwhile, Furman would later also take over the ''Armada'' title as a writer.

===Trouble on the horizon===
The first problems arose in 2003, when it turned out that Dreamwave had only acquired the license for distributing ''Transformers'' titles in the USA, which resulted in a temporary hold in the international distribution until the matter was settled.<ref>[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=580 Newsarama reporting on problems resulting from Dreamwave's lack of a license for an international release of their ''Transformers'' titles]</ref>

Following the success of their ''Transformers'' titles, Dreamwave put their own titles ''Warlands'' and ''Darkminds'' on hold, instead focussing on other licensed books such as ''[[wikipedia:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', numerous [[wikipedia:Capcom|Capcom]] franchises such as ''[[wikipedia:MegaMan|MegaMan]]'', and ''[[wikipedia:Duel Masters|Duel Masters]]'' (a [[Hasbro]]-backed Japanese import card game/toyline). None of those titles would last particularly long, however, and some (mainly numerous Capcom titles) never even got the first issue out. This was also when rumors of creators not getting paid first came up.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=1760 Lying in the Gutters reporting on early rumors of Dreamwave artists not getting paid]</ref> Rumors about a rigid "house style" committing other artists to draw in a style close to company president Pat Lee started to circulate as well, most evident in the second ''War Within'' miniseries, where the original pencils by artist [[Andrew Wildman]] were drastically reworked by the inker, with rather disappointing results.

In mid-2004, Dreamwave announced the "addition" of new creators<ref>[http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/dreamwave-adds-transformers-creators The infamous "Dreamwave adds Transformers' creators" press release]</ref>, failing to mention that this also meant the departure of Adam Patyk and James McDonough from the company. Although Dreamwave tried to contain this delicate bit of information by asking websites to consider any public statements by the two regarding their current situation with Dreamwave as "private" and thus delete them<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2033 Lying in the Gutters reporting on Dreamwave's attempt to contain information about Patyk and McDonough's firing]</ref>, some sites ignored that request, thereby revealing that Patyk and McDonough were owed a significant amount of money for their work.<ref>[http://www.tformers.com/article.php?sid=3842 TFormers.com quoting a statement by Patyk and McDonough]</ref> At the same time, Pat Lee would start to do contractual work for Marvel and DC again, such as issues of ''House of M'' or ''Superman/Batman''.

===The end===

While other artists and writers, including Simon Furman, at least temporarily joined the fold of creators not getting paid by Dreamwave, Chris Sarracini was asked to rewrite the stories previously submitted by Patyk and McDonough.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2045 Lying in the Gutters reporting that even Simon Furman was temporarily not paid, and the stories by Patyk and McDonough were being rewritten]</ref> Likewise, a long-since announced ''Beast Wars'' title McDonough and Patyk had previously worked on was now supposed to be written by Furman instead. However, those stories would ultimately never be published, as Hasbro had already declined to renew Dreamwave's license to publish Transformers comics by this point. <ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2054 Lying in the Gutters reporting that Hasbro had revoked Dreamwave's ''Transformers'' license]</ref> Following numerous rumors, including one posted by [[Ben Yee]] on his own website [http://www.bwtf.com/ BWTF.com], Dreamwave officially declared bankruptcy on [[January 4]], 2005, blaming the weak Canadian Dollar and other scapegoats for the company's failure, including a vastly incorrect claim about Dreamwave being the "only Canadian independent comics publisher".<ref>[http://www.tformers.com/article.php?sid=4053 Dreamwave's final press release]</ref>

By this time, Pat and Roger had already spent four months secretly moving most of Dreamwave's assets to a new company named Dream Engine, whose website domain was registered to Roger's name. The existence of Dream Engine first became public in early January of 2005.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2059 Lying in the Gutters discovering the existence of Dream Engine]</ref>

===The aftermath===
The overall amount of Dreamwave's debt was far over a million dollars.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14886 Lying in the Gutters' list of Dreamwave's creditors]</ref> While former Dreamwave employees never saw a single cent of the money they were owed for their work, Pat Lee repeated the performance a year later with Dream Engine, ultimately resulting in him departing from the new company and once again starting a new business, ''Pat Lee Productions''. Meanwhile, a Canadian entrepreneur named Christian Dery acquired the remaining Dreamwave assets, including the name "Dreamwave" and the rights to their "original" titles such as ''Warlands'' or ''Darkminds'', in August of 2005. Ultimately, however, no new Dreamwave comics would ever see the light of day, and the "new" Dreamwave ended up not paying employees ''either''.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2765 Lying in the Gutters reporting on trouble with the "new" Dreamwave]</ref> Eventually, Dreamwave II would close shop in mid-2006, selling back the remaining Dreamwave properties to Roger Lee and Dream Engine.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2769 Lying in the Gutters reporting on the final fate of the "new" Dreamwave]</ref>

{{bigquote|Looking back, I'm glad I didn't do any work for Dreamwave... at the time, I'd have worked for free but it turns out everyone else at Dreamwave was doing that anyway.|Nick Roche <ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIkqheta3GE Moonbase 2 interview with Roche]</ref>}}

==Series published==
=== Dreamwave G1 ===
*''[[Prime Directive|Prime Directive (G1 Volume 1)]]''
*''[[War and Peace|War and Peace (G1 Volume 2)]]''
*''[[Generation 1 (Dreamwave comic)|Generation 1 Ongoing (G1 Volume 3)]]''
*''[[The War Within]]''
*''[[War Within: The Dark Ages|The War Within: The Dark Ages]]''
*''[[The War Within: Age of Wrath]]''
*''[[Micromasters]]''

''See also:
* [[Dreamwave timeline]]
* [[Dreamwave continuity]]''

=== Unicron Trilogy ===
*''[[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|Armada]]''
*''[[Energon (comic)|Energon]]''

=== Transformers/G.I. Joe ===
*''[[Transformers/G.I. Joe Vol. 1]]''
*''[[Transformers/G.I. Joe Vol. 2]]''

=== Other ===
*''[[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|More Than Meets The Eye]]''
*''[[More Than Meets The Eye (Armada)|More Than Meets The Eye: Armada]]''
* ''[[Dreamwave Summer Special|20th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special]]''

''See also: [[Unreleased Dreamwave issues]]

==Japanese release==

For better or worse (likely the latter), the Dreamwave comics hold the honor of being the very first Western ''Transformers'' comics to be officially translated and published in Japan.

The graphic novels released in Japan were identical to the ones released in the US (aside from language, of course). The following collections were released:

*[[Prime Directive|Generation 1 Vol. 1]]
*[[War and Peace|Generation 1 Vol. 2]]
*[[The War Within|The War Within Vol. 1]]
*[[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|Armada Vol. 1]]
*[[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|Armada Vol. 2]]
*[[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|Armada Vol. 3]]

This gave Japanese ''Transformers'' fans their very first glimpse, at least on an official level, of what Western ''Transformers'' comics were like. A very unfortunate first impression, to be sure.

== Footnotes ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://tfarchive.com/comics/dreamwave/ By-issue guides, G1 timeline and information (TFArchive)]
* [http://seibertron.com/comics/series.php Cross-referenced information about series and creators (Seibertron)]
* [http://tfarchive.com/community/showpost.php?p=509985&postcount=44 Unpublished Dreamwave G1 continuity timeline]
[[Category: Comics]]
[[Category: Companies]]
[[Category: Dreamwave| ]]

Shell Game

2009-12-30T12:10:48Z

86.172.248.155: /* Synopsis */

{{disambig2|the 3H stand-alone story|the canceled Beast Wars mini-series|Shell Game (Dreamwave)}}
{{comicstory|seriesissue=
|title="Shell Game"
|publisher=[[3H]]
|date=June 31, 2004 ([[OTFCC 2004]])
|story=[[Simon Furman]]
|pencils=[[Andrew Froedge]]
|inks=[[Andrew Froedge]]
|colors=[[Joe Givens]]
|letters=[[Simon Bowland]]
|continuity=unknown
}}
'''A Decepticon tyrant hunts down the last surviving Autobot.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] of a nightmarish alternate universe has been ravaged by a powerful tyrant, Megazarak. Appearing amidst the remnants of a crumbling Decepticon empire, he has slashed and burned his way across the planet, leaving few survivors in his wake and driving the Autobots to the brink of extinction.

Determined to wipe out the last pockets of Autobot resistance, Megazarak and his Targetmaster partner Caliburn force their way deep into Cybertron. Their objective: the Oracle, which Megazarak believes will yield the location of [[Base Sigma]], the last pocket of Autobot resistance, and the hiding place of the last Matrix-bearer.

Only the Oracle's ancient caretaker [[Ultra Trion]] stands in his way. Megazarak bashes him aside effortlessly and demands to know where the Oracle is. Ultra Trion reveals that he's not so helpless, and launches a missile from a hidden launcher, intent on fighting to the death. But the tyrant simply catches the missile and destroys Ultra Trion with it, remaining unscratched himself. Megazarak finishes the job with his own main gun.

But Trion's final gambit is successful — the Oracle has been removed from its chamber and is gone. Denied his final victory, Megazarak howls in fury, but at the same time, he knows... there are only so many places on Cybertron to hide.

==Quotes==
"How quaint. A cleric with a cannon..."
:— '''Megazarak''' is not impressed by Ultra Trion's armaments.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|c1=
* [[Ultra Trion]] (3)

|c2=
* [[Megazarak]] (1)
* [[Caliburn]] (2)

}}
==Notes==
* Among the ruins of Cybertron can be seen the head of an [[Optimus Prime (disambiguation)|Optimus Prime]] as well as that of [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]].
* This story constitutes its own [[Micro-continuity|micro-continuity]], as no other storyline has built on it. The only further elaboration came from the bios for Megazarak and the unreleased [[3H]] version of [[Defensor (OTFCC)|Defensor]].

==External links==
{{comicstub}}

[[Category:Universe (2003)]]

Shell Game

2009-12-30T12:03:51Z

86.172.248.155: /* Synopsis */

{{disambig2|the 3H stand-alone story|the canceled Beast Wars mini-series|Shell Game (Dreamwave)}}
{{comicstory|seriesissue=
|title="Shell Game"
|publisher=[[3H]]
|date=June 31, 2004 ([[OTFCC 2004]])
|story=[[Simon Furman]]
|pencils=[[Andrew Froedge]]
|inks=[[Andrew Froedge]]
|colors=[[Joe Givens]]
|letters=[[Simon Bowland]]
|continuity=unknown
}}
'''A Decepticon tyrant hunts down the last surviving Autobot.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] of a nightmarish alternate universe has been ravaged by a powerful tyrant, Megazarak. Appearing amidst the remnants of a crumbling Decepticon empire, he has slashed and burned his way across the planet, leaving few survivors in his wake and driving the Autobots to the brink of extinction.

Determined to wipe out the last pockets of Autobot resistance, Megazarak and his Targetmaster partner Caliburn force their way deep into Cybertron. Their objective: the Oracle, which Megazarak believes will yield the location of [[Base Sigma]], the last pocket of Autobot resistance, and the hiding place of the last Matrix-bearer.

Only the Oracle's ancient caretaker [[Ultra Trion]] stands in his way. Megazarak bashes him aside effortlessly and demands to know where the Oracle is. Ultra Trion reveals that he's not so helpless, and launches a missile from a hidden launcher, intent on fighting to the death. But the tyrant simply catches the missile and destroys Alpha Trio with it, remaining unscratched himself. Megazarak finishes the job with his own main gun.

But Trion's final gambit is successful — the Oracle has been removed from its chamber and is gone. Denied his final victory, Megazarak howls in fury, but at the same time, he knows... there are only so many places on Cybertron to hide.

==Quotes==
"How quaint. A cleric with a cannon..."
:— '''Megazarak''' is not impressed by Ultra Trion's armaments.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|c1=
* [[Ultra Trion]] (3)

|c2=
* [[Megazarak]] (1)
* [[Caliburn]] (2)

}}
==Notes==
* Among the ruins of Cybertron can be seen the head of an [[Optimus Prime (disambiguation)|Optimus Prime]] as well as that of [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]].
* This story constitutes its own [[Micro-continuity|micro-continuity]], as no other storyline has built on it. The only further elaboration came from the bios for Megazarak and the unreleased [[3H]] version of [[Defensor (OTFCC)|Defensor]].

==External links==
{{comicstub}}

[[Category:Universe (2003)]]

Ultra Trion

2009-12-30T12:00:10Z

86.172.248.155:

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Trion}}
:''Ultra Trion is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Universe (2003 franchise)|Universe series]].''

[[Image:UltraTrion.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The penitent mech... kneels!]]
'''Ultra Trion''' is among the scattered few Autobots left on an alternate universe [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] that has been utterly ravaged by [[Megazarak]] and his hordes. He watches over the hall of the [[Oracle]], welcoming those seeking enlightenment.

Needless to say, he's a little lonely right about now.

He is a little better-armed than most mystic-type ancient Autobots, but fighting is far from his forte.

==Fiction==
===''Universe'' comics===
[[Image:UltraTrionLoses.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Well, he's not quite Magnus, and he's not quite Trion, but maaaan, hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee. So to answer your question, I don't know.]]
Megazarak sought out the Oracle guarded by Ultra Trion in order to locate [[Base Sigma]], the location of the last pocket of Autobot resistance on his Cybertron, which was presumably where the [[Matrix]] was also kept hidden. Only Ultra Trion stood in his way, but Megazarak swatted him to the floor easily.

Ultra Trion attempted to destroy Megazarak with a missile hidden in his right shoulder armor, knowing he would not survive his encounter with Megazarak. But the Decepticon warlord simply stuffed the missile back into Trion, detonating it without taking a hint of damage. Ultra Trion was not so lucky. Not content with merely grievously wounding the ancient Autobot, Megazarak then turned his main cannon on Trion and finished the job.

But Trion had gotten one over on Megazarak after all; the Oracle was no longer in its chamber. It cost him his life, but Ultra Trion had bought the remaining Autobot resistance a little more time. {{storylink|Shell Game}}
{{--}}

==Trivia==
* According to [[Dan Khanna]] in a message board response, Ultra Trion is meant to be an alternate universe counterpart to [[Ultra Magnus (disambiguation)|Ultra Magnus]], who acted as [[Alpha Trion (disambiguation)|Alpha Trion]]'s successor until his demise.{{fact}}

[[Category:Autobots]]
[[Category:Comic-only characters]]
[[Category:Universe characters]]