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'''Mike Costa''' is a comic book writer for [[IDW Publishing]], and was the main ''Transformers'' scribe from November 2009 to December 2011. Costa followed [[Shane McCarthy]] as the predominant ''Transformers'' writer, and his work preceded two ongoing titles by [[John Barber]] and [[James Roberts]]. His work focused on the Transformers' relationship with humanity, via a "decompressed" style of storytelling. He also liked to do different genres in different stories (calling the space opera story "Space Opera" is a bit of a giveaway here). | '''Mike Costa''' is a comic book writer for [[IDW Publishing]], and was the main ''Transformers'' scribe from November 2009 to December 2011. Costa followed [[Shane McCarthy]] as the predominant ''Transformers'' writer, and his work preceded two ongoing titles by [[John Barber]] and [[James Roberts]]. His work focused on the Transformers' relationship with humanity, via a "decompressed" style of storytelling. He also liked to do different genres in different stories (calling the space opera story "Space Opera" is a bit of a giveaway here). | ||
He has stated that during his first year, he found himself burning out on the job and finding it "not as fun" as he'd thought, because the immortal, robotic nature of the characters difficult to get a handle on. Aside from the general ''oddness'' of the concept, he felt they lacked the usual motivations of an action-adventure character and he didn't see how they ''could'' realistically have personalities like humans, and the need to have them act human-esque was a big logical flaw. "They don't have all of the basic things that humans have that motivate them and give them motivation for drama for a story. They don't really get [[energon|hungry]], they don't [[Survival Run|get tired]], they don't have [[Female Transformer|women]] or [[Transformer romance|relationships]] like that [which] they value because they don’t have females [[Conjunx_Endura|that they can love]]; maybe brotherly love, but how — they don’t have parents? They don't have [[Primus|religion]] or [[Allspark|spirituality]]... you have to manufacture [these things] and that makes it very incoherent." That, and the restrictions from the [[to sell toys|toy-centric]] nature of the premise (like Optimus only turning into a truck all the time), caused him major problems. The final storyline, ''Chaos'', energised him after it was turned into a big event and brought in [[James Roberts]] as a co-writer. <ref>[http://moonbase2.libsyn.com/webpage/the-underbase-reviews-ongoing-31 The Underbase podcast interview with Mike Costa ("Special Guest")]</ref> | He has stated that during his first year, he found himself burning out on the job and finding it "not as fun" as he'd thought, because the immortal, robotic nature of the characters difficult to get a handle on. Aside from the general ''oddness'' of the concept, he felt they lacked the usual motivations of an action-adventure character and he didn't see how they ''could'' realistically have personalities like humans, and the need to have them act human-esque was a big logical flaw. "They don't have all of the basic things that humans have that motivate them and give them motivation for drama for a story. They don't really get [[energon|hungry]], they don't [[Survival Run|get tired]], they don't have [[Female Transformer|women]] or [[Transformer romance|relationships]] like that [which] they value because they don’t have females [[Conjunx_Endura|that they can love]]; maybe brotherly love, but how — they don’t have parents? They don't have [[Primus|religion]] or [[Allspark|spirituality]]... you have to manufacture [these things] and that makes it very incoherent." That, and the restrictions from the [[to sell toys|toy-centric]] nature of the premise (like Optimus only turning into a truck all the time), caused him major problems. The final storyline, ''Chaos'', energised him after it was turned into a big event and brought in [[James Roberts]] as a co-writer. <ref name=Underbase>[http://moonbase2.libsyn.com/webpage/the-underbase-reviews-ongoing-31 The Underbase podcast interview with Mike Costa ("Special Guest")]</ref> | ||
Taking his two ''All Hail Megatron'' coda stories as one, he currently sits at a total of thirty-five issues across his two year run. This ranks behind only [[Simon Furman]] and [[Bob Budiansky]] in terms of number of ''Transformers'' comics written, something Costa is stunned by. (He has since been eclipsed by [[John Barber]] and [[James Roberts]].) | Taking his two ''All Hail Megatron'' coda stories as one, he currently sits at a total of thirty-five issues across his two year run. This ranks behind only [[Simon Furman]] and [[Bob Budiansky]] in terms of number of ''Transformers'' comics written, something Costa is stunned by. (He has since been eclipsed by [[John Barber]] and [[James Roberts]].) | ||
The [[fandom]] has caused Costa to be alternately amazed, baffled, and annoyed. He's admitted he wasn't prepared for the intense dedication of the fandom and the multiple demands from the fandom — "I have no idea who's going to like what!" — but in the end he finds it "pretty cool" that people are talking about what he's doing. He's claimed there's "probably only a hundred active posters" on the message boards.<ref | The [[fandom]] has caused Costa to be alternately amazed, baffled, and annoyed. He's admitted he wasn't prepared for the intense dedication of the fandom and the multiple demands from the fandom — "I have no idea who's going to like what!" — but in the end he finds it "pretty cool" that people are talking about what he's doing. He's claimed there's "probably only a hundred active posters" on the message boards.<ref name=Underbase /> | ||
In addition to ''Transformers'', he has also written for ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. | In addition to ''Transformers'', he has also written for ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. | ||
Revision as of 05:52, 5 October 2014
Mike Costa is a comic book writer for IDW Publishing, and was the main Transformers scribe from November 2009 to December 2011. Costa followed Shane McCarthy as the predominant Transformers writer, and his work preceded two ongoing titles by John Barber and James Roberts. His work focused on the Transformers' relationship with humanity, via a "decompressed" style of storytelling. He also liked to do different genres in different stories (calling the space opera story "Space Opera" is a bit of a giveaway here).
He has stated that during his first year, he found himself burning out on the job and finding it "not as fun" as he'd thought, because the immortal, robotic nature of the characters difficult to get a handle on. Aside from the general oddness of the concept, he felt they lacked the usual motivations of an action-adventure character and he didn't see how they could realistically have personalities like humans, and the need to have them act human-esque was a big logical flaw. "They don't have all of the basic things that humans have that motivate them and give them motivation for drama for a story. They don't really get hungry, they don't get tired, they don't have women or relationships like that [which] they value because they don’t have females that they can love; maybe brotherly love, but how — they don’t have parents? They don't have religion or spirituality... you have to manufacture [these things] and that makes it very incoherent." That, and the restrictions from the toy-centric nature of the premise (like Optimus only turning into a truck all the time), caused him major problems. The final storyline, Chaos, energised him after it was turned into a big event and brought in James Roberts as a co-writer. <ref name=Underbase>The Underbase podcast interview with Mike Costa ("Special Guest")</ref>
Taking his two All Hail Megatron coda stories as one, he currently sits at a total of thirty-five issues across his two year run. This ranks behind only Simon Furman and Bob Budiansky in terms of number of Transformers comics written, something Costa is stunned by. (He has since been eclipsed by John Barber and James Roberts.)
The fandom has caused Costa to be alternately amazed, baffled, and annoyed. He's admitted he wasn't prepared for the intense dedication of the fandom and the multiple demands from the fandom — "I have no idea who's going to like what!" — but in the end he finds it "pretty cool" that people are talking about what he's doing. He's claimed there's "probably only a hundred active posters" on the message boards.<ref name=Underbase />
In addition to Transformers, he has also written for G.I. Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Comic bibliography
IDW Publishing
Writer
- All Hail Megatron #13 ("Uneasy Lies the Head"), #16 ("The Man of Steel")
- The Transformers ongoing series #1–21, 24–31
- Spotlight: Prowl
- The Transformers: Ironhide