MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Pat Lee

2009-06-12T07:04:31Z

99.225.111.223: /* Art style */

{{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. He's currently the president (?) of Pat Lee Productions, where it remains to be seen if he notices he isn't paying himself.

:''Known titles, aliases and nicknames:'' The '''[[Wikipedia:Transman|Transman]]''',<ref>[http://www.americandreamcomics.com/index.php?itemid=1490&catid=21 Dreamwave press release]</ref> '''Superstar Artist''', '''Mr. Talented'''<ref>[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]], [[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>[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, right after graduating from high school, Lee was eager to find a job in the comic book industry, sending over 150 pages of sample aftworks 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 Japanese Mangas had a different opinion on this matter).

===Transformers by Dreamwave===
In 2001, 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 later that year.<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> 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|right|200px|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>[http://www.patleeproductions.com/main.html Pat Lee Productions]</ref> 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.

==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|#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 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 [[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 [[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)|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)|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, 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/d/20061213.html 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.net/interviews_figueroa.php Interview with Don Figueroa]</ref> Fellow artist [[Guido Guidi]] confirmed having received similar requests.<ref name="guidtrans">[http://transfans.net/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.net/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="patnram">[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=39073 Interview 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.net/interviews_figueroa.php Interview with Don Figueroa]</ref> The latter complaint was also repeated by writer [[Simon Furman]].<ref name="furmtrans">[http://transfans.net/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.net/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.net/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/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2059 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/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2184 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/columns/index.cgi?article=2102 Lying in the Gutters' list of Dreamwave's creditors]</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=39073 Interview with writers Adam Patyk and James McDonough]</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/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2575 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 [http://www.alivenotdead.com/aimeechan/details.html alive not dead social networking page] 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.

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.)

==Trivia==
* 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]] [[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, as used by someone who has no damn clue how Katakana works, nevermind 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.

==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.net/interviews_figueroa.php interview] with TransFans.net.</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.net/interviews_guido.php interview] with TransFans.net.</ref>}}

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

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

==Other 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]

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Pat}}
[[Category:Colorists]]
[[Category:Designers]]
[[Category:Dreamwave]]
[[Category:Executives]]
[[Category:Illustrators]]
[[Category:Pencillers]]

Pat Lee

2009-06-12T07:03:56Z

99.225.111.223: /* Art style */

{{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. He's currently the president (?) of Pat Lee Productions, where it remains to be seen if he notices he isn't paying himself.

:''Known titles, aliases and nicknames:'' The '''[[Wikipedia:Transman|Transman]]''',<ref>[http://www.americandreamcomics.com/index.php?itemid=1490&catid=21 Dreamwave press release]</ref> '''Superstar Artist''', '''Mr. Talented'''<ref>[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]], [[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>[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, right after graduating from high school, Lee was eager to find a job in the comic book industry, sending over 150 pages of sample aftworks 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 Japanese Mangas had a different opinion on this matter).

===Transformers by Dreamwave===
In 2001, 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 later that year.<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> 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|right|200px|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>[http://www.patleeproductions.com/main.html Pat Lee Productions]</ref> 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.

==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|#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 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 [[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 [[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)|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)|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, 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/d/20061213.html Shortpacked!]]]
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.net/interviews_figueroa.php Interview with Don Figueroa]</ref> Fellow artist [[Guido Guidi]] confirmed having received similar requests.<ref name="guidtrans">[http://transfans.net/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.net/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="patnram">[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=39073 Interview 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.net/interviews_figueroa.php Interview with Don Figueroa]</ref> The latter complaint was also repeated by writer [[Simon Furman]].<ref name="furmtrans">[http://transfans.net/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.net/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.net/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/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2059 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/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2184 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/columns/index.cgi?article=2102 Lying in the Gutters' list of Dreamwave's creditors]</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=39073 Interview with writers Adam Patyk and James McDonough]</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/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2575 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 [http://www.alivenotdead.com/aimeechan/details.html alive not dead social networking page] 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.

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.)

==Trivia==
* 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]] [[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, as used by someone who has no damn clue how Katakana works, nevermind 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.

==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.net/interviews_figueroa.php interview] with TransFans.net.</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.net/interviews_guido.php interview] with TransFans.net.</ref>}}

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

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

==Other 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]

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Pat}}
[[Category:Colorists]]
[[Category:Designers]]
[[Category:Dreamwave]]
[[Category:Executives]]
[[Category:Illustrators]]
[[Category:Pencillers]]

Transformers: Micromasters

2008-03-03T06:47:03Z

99.225.111.223: /* Creative Team */

{{Template:Disambig2|the Dreamwave-produced miniseries|the Generation 1 subline and the characters contained therein|Micromaster}}

'''''Micromasters''''' is four-issue miniseries published by [[Dreamwave]] in 2004, set in the main G1 [[Dreamwave continuity]]. Its story follows various groups of Micromasters as they debate their role in the [[Autobot]]-[[Decepticon]] conflict, a war they do not see as their own.

{|style="margin:0 auto;padding:0 auto" align=center id=toc
!align=center bgcolor=#6699CC|'''<font color="white">''Micromasters'' issues:</font>'''
|-align=center
|| [[Destined For Nothing|#1]] | [[The Gray Race|#2]] | [[Recipe For Hate|#3]] | [[Victims of the Revolution|#4]]
|}

==Overview==
The series is set in a middling time period, long after the events of the ''[[War Within]]'' series, but still long before the present day. Cybertron's resources are drying up; to compensate, both sides have created a subgroup of miniaturized Transformers who consume less fuel. Though allowed to choose their own sides, the Micromasters are less prone to see the war of the "guzzlers" as being their problem. In the midst of this conflict, long-lost hero Countdown returns to Cybertron, seeking converts to his own cause of containing the Decepticon threat off-world.

The series has a somewhat ambiguous ending, and ''none'' of the Micromasters appear in the present-day Dreamwave books, with no word given of their fate.

''Micromasters'' has been heavily criticized for its art, which was often hard to follow. Compounding this problem for casual readers was the introduction of several dozen new characters, many of whom lacked much in the way of distinctive features. The series has also been criticized for its somewhat overly convoluted plot and the extreme angst of some of its characters.

The book is also notable as the only appearance in fiction for most of the Micromaster characters.

==Creative Team==
The series was scripted by [[James McDonough]] and [[Adam Patyk]], who were by that point the creative team on the ongoing series as well. Pencils were done by [[Rob Ruffolo]] in a style clearly intended to mimic that of [[Pat Lee]].

==Trivia==
All of the issues take their titles from songs or albums by the band [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Religion Bad Religion].

[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category: Dreamwave titles]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Brisko

2008-02-13T09:04:23Z

99.225.111.223: /* Marvel Comics continuity */

{{picsneeded|Toy!}}
:''Brisko is a [[Headmaster]] [[Nebulan]] from the [[Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Brisko_DWMTMTE.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Not Diana Ross, either. Much to his chagrin.]]

'''Brisko''' is not Bruce Campbell. He is a cartographer, though. An, um, evil cartographer. With a photographic memory, to remember those evil maps clearly. He transforms into the head of [[Fangry]], and is the only black person known to exist on [[Nebulos]].

Presumably, he is not related to [[wikipedia:Lennie_Briscoe|Lennie Briscoe]] or [[wikipedia:Larry_Zbyszko|Larry Zbyszko]]

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
[[Image:Krebbriskolokos.jpg|left|thumb|(Center) You wouldn't like me when I'm Fangry.]]

Brisko was a member of the [[Z Foundation]], a front company for the [[Decepticon]]s on [[Earth]]. He went under the alias "Mr. B." Impenetrable, I swear.

He, [[Kreb]] and [[Lokos]] gave the newly-formed [[Roadjammers]] the information and "[[jammer]]" equipment needed to hunt down the [[Autobot]] prisoners ([[Backstreet]], [[Fizzle]] and [[Sizzle (G1)|Sizzle]]) that had been set loose on Earth as a est of the jamming equipment. When the Roadjammers returned with their prisoners, they found the three Nebulans' not-even-remotely-hidden Decepticon bodies. The Nebulans arrived and connected with the bodies, but some double-crossing work on the jammers by [[Felix]] left the robots under his control... which was eventually broken by [[Lord Zarak]]'s "anti-jammer". {{storylink|Ca$h and Car-nage!}}

:''('''Note''': Since Fangry appeared a ''lot'' in later issues, technically so too did Brisko. However, this is the only time we see Brisko independently of his Decepticon partner.)''

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
*'''Fangry''' (Headmaster, 1988)

: Brisko is a small armored humanoid figure that fits within Fangry's belly when the larger robot is in winged-wolf mode. He folds up to form Fangry's head, though he is also compatible with any other Headmaster body. He was, of course, only available with his larger partner.

: This toy is was sold in Japan as [[Wilder]].

{{-}}
==Trivia==
[[Image:Briskocommercial.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Able to jump tall robots in a single bound!]]
* Brisko's [[character model]] made one animated appearance in a commercial advertising the 1988 Autobot and Decepticon Headmasters. [[Fangry]], [[Horri-Bull]], and [[Squeezeplay]] burst through a wall, Brisko becomes Fangry's head as they transform, and the three engage the new Headmaster Autobots. [http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hf-MDd7cdi0]

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1988/Decepticon/Fangry/fangry.htm Brisko at TFU.info]

*[http://www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Fangry Brisko's Universe profile at NTFA.net]

[[Category: Decepticons]]
[[Category: Headmasters]]
[[Category: Nebulans]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon timeline

2007-10-15T07:47:29Z

99.225.111.223: /* 2005 */

A translation of two official Japanese timelines for the events of the [[Generation 1]] animated universe, incorporating the [[Beast Wars]], [[Beast Machines]], [[Micromaster Collection]] , [[Robot Masters]], [[Binaltech]], [[Binaltech Asterisk]], [[Kiss Players]] continuities and more. Unless otherwise indicated, names used are English versions.

==15,000,000,000 years ago==

The Big Bang. The universe is born through the power of [[Zodiac]].

==12,000,000,000 years ago==

The galaxy is born. The alien scientist [[Primacron]] is born.

Primacron creates a sentient, planet-sized robot life form called [[Unicron]] that feeds on mechanical planets and robot life forms, but it rebels against him. Primacron is injured. Primacron's Assistant, [[Oracle]], flees.

Oracle reaches a desolate planet in the center of the galaxy and changes it into a verdant world.

Oracle senses that in the far future, Primacron will create [[Tornadron]], which can absorb all energy. Oracle summons [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] and other beast [[Transformer]]s from the future to tell them how to destroy the threat.

The [[Quintesson]]s immigrate to Oracle's green planet. They obtain Oracle's shell, the [[Matrix]]. Oracle, who has the ability to give robots life, is turned into the ultra computer [[Vector Sigma]]. His safety key has the power to make organic life into machines, and is used by the Quintessons to transform his world into the machine planet [[Cybertron]].

The Quintessons attempt to create [[Trans-Organics]] as a fusion between robotic and organic life, but fail and seal them up deep within the planet.

The Quintessons mass-produce civilian and military robot life forms, the ancestors of the [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s, as slaves. The first of these is named [[Alpha Trion|A-3]].

==11 million years ago==

The intelligent robots of Cybertron develop emotions and revolt, with A-3 as their leader. They chase the Quintessons from the planet. The [[Golden Age]] of Cybertron arrives.

The military Decepticons (who desire dictatorship) and civilian Autobots (who are against it) war against each other.

The Autobots, who lack combat capabilities, are massacred. Many flee their home planet.

The Matrix is passed on as a symbol of Autobot leadership. The holders' memory and wisdom are collected within it.

In order to fight the Decepticons, the Autobots develop the technology to transform their bodies. However, several centuries later, the Decepticons gain the same technology. This is the birth of the [[Transformer]]s.

The scientists [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] and [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] visit [[Earth]] for research purposes. Skyfire crashes into the Arctic and goes missing.

==9 million years ago==

Deep within Cybertron, the Emperor of Destruction [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] is created and becomes leader of the Decepticons.

Megatron kills the Autobot leader. The Matrix is guarded by the elder Alpha Trion (formerly A-3).

Cargo hauler [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Orion Pax]] is badly injured by Megatron and, though Alpha Trion's aid, is reborn as Commander [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], bearer of the Matrix.

War breaks out between Megatron's Decepticons and Prime's Autobots.

Megatron uses the brainwashing machine [[Robo-Smasher]] to bolster his ranks. Its victims include the [[Constructicons (G1)|Constructicons]] and [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]].

As the war intensifies, civilians who lack transformation abilities ([[Seiberdroid]]s) flee, searching for a new home. These include the immigrants to Planet [[Paradron]] in the Fourth [[Great War]].

==The ancient past==

God Messenger ([[Devil Z]]) and [[Godmaster]] come to Earth. Godmaster breaks into 8 pieces and falls into a deep sleep.

The independent Decepticon team called the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]] arrives on Earth and decides to live there permanently, using food and elements as their fuel.

==4 million years ago==

A group of Transformers led by the scientist [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] escape Cybertron in search of a new haven. They travel to the desolate planet [[Master]].

The starship [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], which has been traveling through time, crashes on planet Master. Cerebros uses it to refine his [[Headmaster]] theory and builds the warship [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]].

The resources on Cybertron dry up. An Autobot space exploration team aboard the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] led by Optimus Prime and their Decepticon pursuers aboard the [[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]], led by Megatron, are pulled in by the planet [[Earth]]'s gravity and crash. The Transformers enter a long period of [[stasis lock]].

==3 million years ago==

[[Maximal]]s and [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s come from the future via [[Transwarp]] and scan the animals of the planet in order to transform into them. The [[Beast Wars]] begin.

The immortal life force of Starscream, who died in the future of 2005, crosses time and space to reach Earth. He possesses a [[Waspinator (BW)|Predacon]] and attempts to take over, but fails. He returns to being a ghost and vanishes into the far reaches of time and space.

Autobots and Decepticons traverse dimensions and battle the Beast Warriors.

''('''Note:''' While the factions are traditionally called 'Cybertrons' and 'Destrons' in Japan, these dimensional travelers are explicitly identified as Autobots and Decepticons, names that have only been used in Japan for the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 movie]]. The reference is to a toy-only story involving the movie characters (represented by the Japanese releases of the [[Fast Action Battler]]s visiting prehistoric Earth and interacting with the Beast Wars characters.)''

A dimensional fissure, the [[Blasty Zone]], forms. [[Optimus Primal]] and the Predacon [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] are transported to the year [[Robot Masters|2004]].

Due to the Maximals' and Predacons' interference in the [[Vok]] experiment on Earth, the Vok begin to terraform the planet. Optimus Primal sacrifices his life to stop this. As a result, Earth loses its second, mechanical moon, and the [[Quantum Surge]] is generated.

Humanity's ancestors are born. The Maximals assist in their evolution.

[[Ravage]] is sent from the future to kill everyone. He captures the Predacon Megatron, but fails in his mission and is destroyed.

In the volcano later to be known as [[Mount St. Hilary]], the Predacon Megatron unearths the Ark and attacks the original Optimus Prime in an attempt to change history. As a result, a [[Time Storm]] occurs, but Optimus Primal stops it.

The Maximals capture the Predacon Megatron and return to the future.

==Several million years ago==

The [[Sparkbot]]s travel back from 2007 and attempt to release Unicron's [[Angolmois]] energy, which was scattered in 2005. They are followed by [[Primus]] (a.k.a. Oracle), who seals them and the energy inside the Earth. He creates [[Fortress Maximus (RID)]] to stand guard and devises several layers of safeguards to control Maximus' activation.

==500,000 years ago==

The Decepticon [[Deathsaurus]] uses a giant fortress in his quest to become the next Emperor, but the young Autobot [[Star Saber]] and others seal it up in the gravity well of the Dark Nebula.

==Several thousand years ago==

The Stone Age.

The Headmaster [[Grand]] of Planet Master meets up with the Autobot [[Pretender]]s. After a battle with the Decepticon Pretenders, they crash on Earth and take the form of [[human]]s. They seal up the Decepticon Pretenders, who have taken the form of demons, in a pyramid in Egypt, the Nasca Lines in Peru, and the undersea city of [[Atlantis]].

A team of Autobots from the future come to Earth to activate [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], but their spaceship crashes on [[Angel Mountain]]. Later, this becomes the basis for human legends of U.F.O.s.

The energy life form [[Devil Z]] steals the [[Powermaster]]s' [[Transtector]]s from the [[G Nebula]]. He falls into a deep sleep. Among the Transtectors he has stolen is one created for Optimus Prime.

''('''Note:''' This may contradict an earlier story point. This one appeared in the later timeline and may be assumed to take precedence in canon.)''

==543==

A human from the future year of 1985 and several Autobots and Decepticons including Starscream arrive through a time-space transportation system left in an ancient ruin on Earth. They are drawn into a territorial battle, but with the assistance of an old man claiming to be a wizard, they return to their original era.

==14th Century==

Humanity unearths a spaceship that crashed on Earth several million years before, and discovers a Cybertronian weather control unit called the [[Power Core]]. The Power Core's activation causes a great disaster, but the King of Persia seals it inside a golden shell. Renamed the [[Pearl of Bahoudin]] ''("Jehudin" in Japan)'', it is buried in the ground once more.

==Early 1980s==

The Great War on Cybertron settles down. A team of [[Seiberdroid]]s comes from Cybertron to look for Optimus Prime or the Matrix that he holds. A dimensional shockwave causes them to gain transformation abilities as [[Micromaster]]s and travel to Earth. As a side effect of the shockwave, some become Decepticons.

The divided Micromasters begin a conflict on Earth. The Autobots unearth a fragment of Cybertronian metal and a Predacon emblem in Mount St. Hilary. They set up [[Metrobase]] to protect the site.

The Autobot Micromasters find a pod in the ground. A plasma released from the pod opens a dimensional rift and [[Multiforce]] arrives from the future.

==1985==

The eruption of Mount St. Hilary activates [[Teletraan I]] after 4 million years. Teletraan I awakens and repairs the sleeping Autobots and Decepticons, making them resemble the machines of Earth. The restored Megatron leads his forces to concentrate [[Energon Cube|energy]] and send it back to their homeworld. Optimus Prime opposes this, and a conflict arises, sweeping humans into the battle.

The Decepticon Air Commander Starscream unearths his old friend Skyfire from the polar ice. Even as Skyfire is reborn, they come into conflict and Skyfire joins the Autobots.

Megatron makes a deal with the human scientist [[Doctor Arkeville]] and uses the [[hypno-chip]] that Arkeville has developed to brainwash and enslave many humans. Megatron uses them to construct a large [[Space Bridge]] and pulls Cybertron into Earth orbit. The gravitational pull causes major disasters on Earth, but he is stopped by Optimus Prime and the Autobots.

[[Doctor Fujiyama]] ''(Dr. Hamada in Japan)'' creates the robot [[Nightbird]]. Due to Decepticon tampering, she goes berserk and is sealed up, but is considered a major step in the history of Earth-made robots.

Starscream manipulates a time and space transportation system left in an ancient ruin on Earth and is transported to [[Europe]] in the year 543. He returns along with the Autobots who followed him.

Megatron creates an electric life form, [[Kremzeek]]. It causes the Great Tokyo Blackout.

In order to bolster the ranks of the outnumbered Autobots, Alpha Trion becomes the activation key for Vector Sigma and merges with it.

The Autobot [[Aerialbots]], created by Vector Sigma, are transported by Decepticon Defense Commander [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave's]] time machine to the Cybertron of 9 million years before. There, they assist in the birth of Optimus Prime and return.

Three [[United States of America|American]] students create the robot [[B.O.T.]]. Because they used the [[Personality Component]] of the Decepticon [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]], it goes berserk.

Megatron tampers with the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] aboard the planetary exploration machine Voyager that was launched in 1977 and gives directions for changing history and destroying Optimus Prime on the Ark in the past if the Decepticons lose the war in the future.

==Latter 1980s==

The [[Scramble City]] plan is activated through cooperation between Autobots and humans. The giant city robot [[Metroplex]] is completed. The Decepticons build [[Trypticon]].

==Early 1990s==

In the [[United States of America]], an expert [[G.I. Joe|team]] including [[Flint|D.R. Faireborn]] is formed to combat a massive [[Cobra|international terrorist organization]] led by the man who would later be known as [[Cobra Commander|Snake]].

The Chinese restaurant run by [[Shaoshao Li]]'s parents moves to [[New York]]. Shaoshao spends many lonely days there until she meets the young [[Marissa Faireborn]].

==1996==

During one of D.R. Faireborn's missions, he and his daughter Marissa are saved by Optimus Prime. From then onwards, Marissa is increasingly involved with Prime and the other Autobots. However, Shaoshao, who feels that her only ally has been taken away from her by Prime, begins to mistrust all Transformers.

Shaoshao's parents relocate their restaurant to [[Japan]]. Shaoshao is forced to leave without ever reaching an understanding with Marissa or Prime.

==Latter 1990s==

The U.S. government officially announces their intent to coexist with the Autobots, the existence of Decepticons, and their intention to join in the battle.

The U.S. army works with the Autobots to develop and produce the military strategy robot [[C-X]]. However, Starscream's ghost, which has come from the future, tampers with it. It goes berserk and is destroyed.

The Japanese government makes a deal with the Decepticons, agreeing to allow them to gather energy in exchange for Japan's safety. However, [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] ''(who took [[Rumble]]'s place in the Japanese cartoon)'' causes an artificial earthquake, leading to mass casualties.

The humans and Autobots work together to develop the interstellar teleportation gate known as the [[Trigger (comic)|Trigger]].

[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] fuses with the Trigger. He attempts a coup, but is defeated by Optimus Prime and Megatron. In the battle, many on both sides are badly damaged, and Prime and Megatron go missing.

==2000==

An elite team of [[Megatron (RID)|Predacons]] ''(a.k.a. "Destrongers")'' from the future cross the dimensions to Earth. They attempt to control [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], who was left on Earth several million years before. They are opposed by an Autobot [[Dimensional Patrol Team]] from the future, led by [[Optimus Prime (RID)]]. The Autobots secretly construct a Space Bridge and remain undercover. The Dimensional Patrol Team is made up of new-generation Transformers, including the [[Spy Changers]], who were born from the addition of the [[Go-Bots (G2)|Go-Bots]].

The Autobot space ship that had crashed on Angel Mountain several millennia ago is unearthed by the Predacons. Its crew are reformatted into Decepticons.

The Autobots activate Fortress Maximus. Borrowing Maximus' power, Prime defeats the leader of the Predacons and Decepticons, [[Megatron (RID)|Galvatron]].

==2003==

On Earth, with the help of Autobot ambassador [[Crosscut (Autobot)|Crosscut]], construction begins on [[Autobot City]], which uses [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]] as its core. The [[Earth Defense Command]] (E.D.C.) is created with humans and Autobots working together.

The members of the Autobot Dimensional Patrol Team that remained on Earth sense a new threat and upgrade the Spy Changer team to [[Super Mode]].

The Autobots sense that Megatron is preparing for a war to take over Cybertron. They prepare by moving most of their forces from Earth to Cybertron.

Using the [[Cosmic Rust]] virus, the Decepticons sabotage the Autobot forces, causing massive damage. The E.D.C., having lost most of their defenses, activate the [[Binaltech]] Project, a plan to create man-made Transformers.

==2004==

Megatron begins the war to take over Cybertron. The Autobots cannot send reinforcements to Earth. The Binaltech warriors born on Earth are very effective. The E.D.C. and Autobots, working together, remove the Decepticons from the solar system.

Through an introduction by Dr. Arkeville, the Decepticon Earth Attack Commander Starscream allies with a secret organization, the [[Concurrence]], made up of dangerous elements on Earth. Using advanced brainwashing techniques, they brainwash humans and take over several industrial cities across the world, creating Binaltech Decepticons.

The Autobots use the element [[Solitarium]] to continue construction of Scramble City. They rewrite [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]] (a.k.a. [[Cybertron Base]])'s central systems accordingly.

Dimensional fissures called the [[Blasty Zone]] appear, and Transformers from various eras are transported to the year 2004. The Predacon Megatron arrives and defeats Starscream, taking over command of the Decepticons on Earth.

Optimus Prime and the other Autobots on Earth are attacked by the Decepticons led by the Predacon Megatron. Prime remembers having met a future Transformer aboard the Ark 3 million years before. A timestorm occurs, and Optimus Primal is summoned from prehistoric Earth.

In order to bolster their ranks on Earth, the Autobots develop the [[GT System]], which creates same-personality duplicates. However, its side effects are unknown.

Under the E.D.C.'s leadership, a replica [[Zoom-Zoom|automaton]] with artificial intelligence is created in Japan. This is the birth of man-made Transformers.

In order to find the truth about the "Bad Production Incident" that created the Binaltech Decepticons, an expert team led by D.R. Faireborn works with Autobots including [[Jazz]] to enact [[Operation: Carwash]].

[[Star Saber]] and [[Victory Leo]] arrive from the future, having pursued the Strong Attack Captain Decepticon [[Gigant Bomb]], who came through the Blasty Zone.

==2005==

The remaining members of the disbanded American intelligence agency [[Intelligence and Information Institute|Triple-I]] succeed in analyzing the flight recorder of a future Transformer's spaceship, which they had unearthed and safeguarded since the previous century. They discover the future Decepticon [[Ravage]]'s "Central Consciousness File X-9." Using the life force of the current Ravage, who had been captured by the E.D.C., he is reborn as the Binaltech Ravage. However, sensing that his plan to change history 3 million years before had failed, Ravage once again begins to try to alter the timeline.

Lio Convoy comes through the [[Bloody Zone]] ''(possibly a typo for Blasty Zone)'' from a future in which humans are extinct on Earth.

Ravage repairs Shockwave's [[Chronosphere]] time machine. He traps the on-the-verge-of-victory Megatron and the other Decepticon forces around Cybertron between dimensions, their mobile fortress and all. He intends to protect the Decepticons from Unicron's imminent arrival and to allow the Autobots to exhaust themselves battling Unicron. Then the Decepticons will reemerge and reign supreme.

Ravage from another point in the future makes contact with [[Teletraan I]] in order to use the Transformers' "Bio and [[Tech Spec]]" data to manipulate the timestream and create a future without needless battles. He is stopped by the humanoid computer Mobile [[Teletraan 15]], who has traveled back in time from 2007. As a result, Teletraan I is damaged and the data is lost.

In order to regain the lost data, Ravage takes on the identity of "Black Panther Man" and infiltrates the Autobots. He instructs the Teletraan 15 of 2005 to travel to different eras via [[Transwarp]] and creates an Information Control Center based on the record satellite [[Nana]].

Megatron, who has been missing, is reborn as Rebirth Megatron through the black hole connection system possessed by the [[Reverse Convoy]] of planet [[Vehicon (RM)|Vehicon]].

The Autobot technician [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] discovers through information gathered from Ravage that in the near future, he and many other Autobots will die in the Unicron War. He sees a way to avoid this fate in the GT System, which makes it possible to replicate personalities. He initiates [[Operation: Body Shop]], creating replicas of himself.

Injured in the battle over solitarium, Optimus Prime gains the power of the [[Energon Matrix]] possessed by the many Prime-type warriors gathered from different eras. He rids Earth of Decepticons. The Autobots use the last of the solitarium to return the time-lost Autobots and the captured Decepticons to their original eras.

The [[Interplanetary Personnel Exchange Program]], highly praised due to the excellent work of Autobot police officer [[Clamp Down]], is expanded to include [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]], [[Sunstreaker]], and other Binaltech Autobots. They attempt to promote peaceful co-existence by [[Binaltech Asterisk|partnering]] with humans and taking on jobs.

The Autobots attempt to undo the change in history that the Binaltech Ravage caused. Autobot theoretician [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] directs "[[Operation: Distant Thunder]]" in an attempt to send a warning to the past. If it succeeds, history will return to normal, but the Autobots will lose to the Decepticons, Cybertron will be conquered by Megatron, and the great darkness of Unicron will arrive.

Operation: Distant Thunder fails. A mysterious entity called "The Protector" creates a bypass, creating two parallel worlds: one with the true progression of events, and the other with the altered history of the Binaltech Project. The world where the altered history continues will eventually lead to the great [[Alternity]].

In the world where history flows as it should, [[Unicron]] the Great Devourer appears and the [[The Transformers: The Movie|Unicron War]] begins. Optimus Prime dies in battle, the heavily-wounded Megatron is reborn as [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] through the power of Unicron, and Starscream is executed by Galvatron.

The Matrix is passed on to the new Autobot leader, [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], and the young Autobot [[Hot Rod]] releases its power, maturing into [[Rodimus Prime]] and becoming the Autobots' new leader. He throws Galvatron toward Planet [[Thrull]] and lights the darkness, destroying Unicron. But the [[Angolmois]] energy within Unicron traverses time and space and parasitizes Autobot leaders from various time periods. Unicron's servants, the [[Sparkbot]]s, secretly alter Galvatron's trajectory so that he will land on Earth.

Galvatron crashes on Earth, creating a historically unparalleled disaster and transforming Tokyo into a sea of fire. His cells are scattered, and the Unicron cells within them multiply using humans and machines as their hosts. The machines become [[Legion]] and the biological organisms (humans) become [[Kiss Player]]s.

Due to the disaster, humans begin to see Transformers as an enemy, with anti-Transformers sentiment centering on Japan. To combat this, key aid groups and Autobots work on rescue operations in Tokyo. Among them is a [[Pepsi Convoy|sentient metallic being]] who takes on the form of an Autobot to soothe the thirst of the people of Japan.

Despite the Autobots' best efforts, the Japanese people's anti-Transformers sentiment continues unabated and spreads throughout the world. Eventually, the Tokyo E.D.C. is at the center of a movement to force Transformers off the Earth. There are some who believe that the Concurrence is behind this sudden change in direction, but it is not known for certain.

The E.D.C. summons Kiss Players from across the country and begins to remove Cybertronians using white artificial Transformers called [[Autrooper]]s.

The E.D.C. develops an [[anti-electron]] field that greatly lowers the life functions of Cybertronians and covers the planet with it, thus driving all remaining Transformers off the Earth.

Rodimus Prime, devastated by the thought that his actions caused humanity and Transformers to go to war with each other, returns both the Matrix and the title of Commander to Ultra Magnus and becomes Hot Rod once more.

Some civilians oppose the unilateral actions of the E.D.C. to remove the Transformers and form a resistance movement. Marissa Faireborn is seen among them.

==2006==

"Over-Technology" is used to rebuild the city of Tokyo at a fever pitch.

In May, just as peace is restored, hordes of an unknown Transformer species called Legion appear. The Legion creatures roam cities and attack a small number of humans, as though there is some special quality that they are looking for.

To fight the Legion forces, the E.D.C. uses Galvatron's cells to mass-produce black-and-white Autroopers. When fused with Kiss Players, they can fight on equal footing with Legion creatures.

In June, [[Atari Hitotonari]]'s parents are killed by Legion.

Atari is attacked by a Legion and fuses with Shaoshao Li's Ne-04 Autrooper. She shows berserker-type abilities and destroys the Legion. She is identified as a Kiss Player.

Atari joins the E.D.C. Tokyo Autrooper Team.

Starscream's ghost possesses Atari and uses her Kiss Player abilities to fuse with a new body that he forces Dr. Arkeville to make for him. His plans end in failure, and he returns to being a ghost.

The body of [[Optimus Prime]], who died in the Unicron War, is transported from Autobot City in America to Tokyo via [[Narita Airport]]. The convoy carrying his corpse is attacked by the resistance and the plan to move him fails. An out-of-control Autrooper unit engages in a [[ParasiTech]] fusion with Prime's body. With the assistance of a Kiss Player from the resistance, Prime regenerates into a new body and is restored to life.

Shaoshao Li is held captive in the underground experimentation facility beneath the Tokyo E.D.C. headquarters. A Legion attempts to fuse with her, but she is saved by the sudden appearance of Hot Rod. Hot Rod has a ParasiTech fusion with the Legion, but is reformatted by Shaoshao's Kiss Player abilities. From this day forward, Shaoshao is forced to spend her life fleeing from the E.D.C.

Prime, Marissa, Hot Rod, Shaoshao and Atari stop the human experimentation being carried out by the E.D.C.'s Commander [[Hitoshizuku Amaō|Amaō]] and the scattered cells are returned to Galvatron. He is once more sent on a trajectory to land on [[Thrull]]. Prime, who has finally awakened from his nightmare, returns to death.

==2007==

Former Kiss Players [[Atari Hitotonari]], [[Marissa Faireborn]] and [[Shaoshao Li]] join with the Cassetrons as idols to promote friendship between Transformers and humanity.

The Sparkbots attempt to collect the Angolmois energy that has spread through various eras by tricking Atari and the others. They time travel with [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Fortress Maximus]], but the awakened [[Primus]] stops them and they are sealed several million years ago on Earth along with the Angolmois energy.

The Decepticon [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], who had been silent until now, uses his [[Music Label|clones]] to secretly brainwash humans.

==2010==

Hot Rod reclaims the Matrix and becomes Rodimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, once more.

The [[Quintesson]]s start to try to take back their ancestral home of Cybertron.

Galvatron awakens from his slumber on Planet Thrull.

Starscream, who had been active as a ghost, is restored to life by Unicron and goes missing.

In the wake of Unicron's destruction, [[Primacron]] creates the life form [[Tornadron]], which absorbs all energies. In the distant past, his former assistant Oracle senses this and summons Grimlock and the other beast Transformers, informing them how Tornadron may be destroyed.

Due to the threat of the [[Hate Plague]], [[Quintessa]] is used to restore Optimus Prime to life. He uses the [[Wisdom of the Ages]] within the Matrix to cleanse the fear. The Matrix is emptied.

The last of the Quintessons, who had captured a time-traveling [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|vessel]] and put its crew on trial, are defeated by the Autobots led by Optimus Prime and are swallowed up in a dimensional maelstrom, disappearing.

Unicron's head and remains, floating in orbit around Cybertron, are sealed up in the [[Triple Z Point]].

==2011==

Using Earth's energy and the Matrix, which was recreated by the ghost of [[Alpha Trion]], Hot Rod becomes Rodimus Prime.

[[Vector Sigma]] goes crazy. Optimus Prime sacrifices his life to stop it.

The war worsens. Cybertron is destroyed. Rodimus Prime leaves to seek out a new homeworld, and [[Fortress]] becomes the new Autobot commander. The planet [[Mars]] is destroyed in an explosion.

Ultra Magnus dies in battle. Galvatron disappears into a glacier.

[[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] stops Emperor of Fear [[Mega Zarak]]'s plan to blow up the Earth and drives the Decepticons from the Earth. Afterwards, the Cybertrons leave Earth to rebuild space.

==Several years after 2011==

The [[Headmaster]]s, who have come from planet [[Master]], join both armies.

[[Devil Z]], who had been asleep at the bottom of Earth's ocean, awakens and attempts to destroy all of humanity.

The Autobots in space cannot send assistance to Earth due to the worsening battle. Instead, they send the [[Masterforce System]], allowing humans to fuse with [[Transtector]]s. However, the humans who have sided with Devil Z use this for evil.

The human [[Ginrai]], who has fused with the body intended for Optimus Prime, eliminates Devil Z.

==2025==

Under the leadership of [[Star Saber (G1)|Star Saber]], the Autobots create the [[Space Peace Union]] and establish the [[Space Defense Army]] to fight the Decepticons. They use [[Planet V]] as their base.

The Decepticon Emperor of Destruction [[Deathsaurus]] reactivates his giant fortress and attacks Earth. [[Victory Saber]] stops him and destroys the fortress.

In the far reaches of space, Starscream, [[Bumblebee]], Grimlock and [[Jazz]]'s battle continues.

==After 2025==

Deathsaurus is reborn as the Dark Emperor. He leads all Decepticons in pursuit of the new energy form [[Energon Z]].

In response, the Autobots follow [[Dai Atlas]]'s [[Plan Z]] to terraform the planet [[Micro]] into [[Planet Z]].

The new Emperor of Destruction, [[Violen Jygar]], appears. His true identity is a fusion of the ghosts of Decepticons who died in battle.

On [[Saturn]]'s moon [[Titan]], where a civilization exists that worships robots as gods, [[Metrotitan]] is born from within the ground. He assists the Decepticons and performs sabotage activities like blocking transmissions.

Violen Jygar steals the Super Element [[Zodiac]] from Earth and returns to his birthplace, the 10th planet of the solar system. He is destroyed by the new commander Dai Atlas and his warriors. The rainbow of Zodiac, which is the energy of constructing the universe, fills the 10th planet with life.

Victory Saber pursues the Decepticon [[Gigant Bomb]], breaks through the [[Bloody Zone]], and ends up in the year 2004.

''('''Note:''' This is the second mention of the "Bloody Zone," which from its context appears to be the same as the [[Blasty Zone]]. It may be a typo.)''

The Great Emperor [[Dark Nova]], who looks very similar to Unicron, appears. In response, Dai Atlas orders the [[Battlestars]] to seek out Optimus Prime's body, which had been stolen by Decepticons.

Dark Nova revives Galvatron as [[Megatron (G1)|Super Megatron]].

On the satellite base [[Lucifer]], Optimus Prime is discovered and reborn as [[Star Convoy]] using the power of Zodiac.

Super Megatron evolves into Ultra Megatron, then fuses with Dark Nova to become [[Dark Nova|Star Giant]]. Star Convoy destroys him from within.

The new leader of the Decepticons, [[Scrash]], leads [[Flashwing]], [[Deathplay]], [[Darkfly]] and [[Sharp Edge (G1)|Sharp Edge]] to invade Earth, but is stopped by [[Sixbuilder]] and the other new defenders of the Earth.

Planet Cybertron is revived, but suffers a deadly energy shortage. Optimus Prime becomes a [[Powermaster]], fuses with a [[Nebulan]], and protects himself with a phase modulation shield. He enters a black hole to get the super energy [[Nucleon]].

Optimus Prime is reborn as an [[Action Master]] and creates the [[Cybertron Union]] with Megatron, who lost his violence circuits in the previous war. However, Megatron, who has lost his underlings to humans, begins planning to invade Earth once more.

Optimus Prime and Megatron, who have upgraded to new forms, follow "[[The Law of Cybertron]]" and have a one-on-one duel in the 17th District of the [[Merton Nebula]]. Prime is defeated and destroyed, but is rebuilt into [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Battle Convoy]] by the power of the Matrix. Megatron joins with [[Dreadwing (G2)|Dreadwing]] and others, and a battle begins. In the end, the Autobots triumph and the Decepticons flee to the far reaches of the universe.

[[Galvatron II]], who has come from a parallel world, threatens the galaxy with his [[Warworld|mobile battle fortresses]]. In response, [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Laser Ultra Magnus]], who was revived by Battle Convoy's [[Reconfiguration Matrix]], establishes a mobile combat team and prepares for battle.

Battle Convoy equips himself with a new secret weapon and updates himself to a form that resembles his original body. Through a special coating, he gains a "[[Black Body]]" to absorb sunlight. He uses his twin special missile launchers and engages Galvatron II in battle.

==Approximately 300 years later==

The long war ends with victory by the Autobots, and the Decepticons sign a cease-fire.

The Maximals create "[[Rampage (BW)|Protoform X]]" in an experiment to recreate Starscream's mutant, immortal Spark. They try to use him as an immortal warrior, but fail. This Protoform X massacres [[Colony Omicron]] and is captured 4 years later.

The next-generation [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] steals the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]], which the Maximals have been safeguarding. With his underlings, he travels to the Earth of 4 million years ago. [[Optimus Primal]] and his crew, who have been engaged in deep-space exploration with the captured Protoform X aboard their ship, are assigned to chase down Megatron. Colony Omicron's former chief of security, [[Depth Charge]], follows in pursuit of Protoform X.

The Predacon [[Tripredacus Council]] view Megatron's independent actions as dangerous, and send Ravage 4 million years into the past to assassinate all Maximals and Predacons involved with the [[Beast Wars]]. Their plan ends in failure.

While Optimus Primal returns to Cybertron with the captured Megatron, Megatron escapes and uses a virus bomb to conquer the planet.

Primal and his crew are affected by the virus bomb and lose their memories and ability to transform, but through the guidance of Oracle, they are reformatted into new bodies. It is revealed that Primal was sent into the past to bring organic beast bodies back to Cybertron as part of Oracle's plan. Primal takes Megatron with him as he throws himself into the core of Cybertron, a fountain of organic energy. They die. The captured sparks are all freed, and Cybertron is reformatted into a verdant world with a balance of organic and machine.

Primal and Megatron, despite having died, are [[Beast Wars Reborn|reborn]] on a parallel world through the power of the ancient Transformer [[Logos Prime]], who resides there. They descend to [[Jungle Planet]] and gain new bodies. They cause the [[Cyber Key|Ignition Effect]] on the planet for the first time.

==Era unknown==

The ancient Gaians, who live on Planet [[Gaia]] (Earth in the future), succeed in obtaining [[Angolmois]] energy. However, they discover that the energy could potentially destroy the entire universe if it responds to an evil heart, and so they leave an [[Artemis|observation system]] on the moon and abandon their planet, leaving for space.

==Tens of thousands of years later==

An armored platoon led by the next-generation [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] seeks to possess the Angolmois energy dormant within Planet Gaia, and [[Lio Convoy]]'s team attempt to stop them.

Lio Convoy travels through the [[Blasty Zone]] to the year 2005.

Galvatron summons the artificial planet [[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]]. Lio Convoy and his crew use the power of the [[Energon Matrix]] to seal the Angolmois energy into capsules and release them into space. Galvatron is destroyed.

After Nemesis explodes, Lio Convoy is swallowed up by the ensuing wormhole and is transported to the planet [[Dinosaur (Planet)|Dinosaur]] in the past.

==Several years after the battle on Gaia==

[[Magmatron]], who is obsessed with vengeance for Planet Dinosaur, which was attacked by Unicron in the past, attempts to collect the Angolmois capsules. Meanwhile, military instructor [[Big Convoy]] and his new recruits learn of the capsules via a message from Lio Convoy and make the capsules' collection their mission.

The [[Blentron]]s, servants of Unicron, steal the capsules. Unicron resurrects as an energy being, and the second [[Great War]] begins. Unicron attacks [[Vector Sigma]] and is reborn as Vector Sigma Unicron, using Cybertron as his new body.

Big Convoy, aided by Lio Convoy, uses the [[Matrix Buster]] to defeat Unicron, who has returned to being an energy being, and thus brings peace to the universe. Afterwards, Lio Convoy becomes [[Great Convoy]] and is promoted to the ruling body. After the graduation ceremony for the recruits, the Maximals and Predacons stop fighting and cooperate to rebuild Cybertron.

==References==

*''Transformers KissPlayer Chronological Table'' printed on ''Autorooper X Atari'' toy packaging (2006)
*Timeline featured in ''Kiss Players/Teletraan Go! Go! Collection'' (MediaWorks, 2007)

[[Category:Chronologies]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>