James Roberts
| The name or term "James" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see James (disambiguation). |
James Roberts (born November 1976) is a British writer and Transformers fan. He was one of the early members of fan club Transmasters UK (TMUK), and wrote a number of text stories and strips. The most famous of these is the absolutely massive Eugenesis, an unofficial novel he first published back in 2001.
His first pro-work was helping fellow TMUKer Nick Roche with All Hail Megatron #15, acting as a "sounding board" for Nick's script. While he didn't write any of the script, Nick made sure to include him in the credits.[1]
After that, Roberts was brought in to co-write Last Stand of the Wreckers, in order to lessen the stress and workload for Roche. While the first issue was all pre-planned by Roche, from issue two onwards it became a collaborative effort.[2] He went on to write the text story Bullets for the Wreckers trade and then became a co-writer on the ongoing for the Chaos story. Following that, he co-wrote "Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime" and became the sole writer on the new ongoing, The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye.
One of his noted habits is massive world-building and drip-feeding character details & backstory throughout a run. He's cheerfully admitted he likes building up a character history in non-sequential order "so you fill in the blanks".[3]
Writing
- Last Stand of the Wreckers (co-written with Nick Roche)
- The Transformers #22, #23, #24, #26, #28, #30, (co-plotter on #24, #26, #28, and #30 with Mike Costa)
- Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime (co-written with John Barber)
- The Transformers Classics UK (essay writer)
- The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
- The Transformers Spotlight: Orion Pax
- The Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter
- The Transformers Spotlight: Hoist
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
James Roberts was the author of a book Jimmy owned, whose title began with an E. Maximum Dinobots #3
Convention appearances
Notes
- He first got into Transformers in 1986, in time for the Triple Changers, and hunted down older toys and Ladybird Books at second-hand shops and fetes; key memories also include visiting the local shop and poring over their Hasbro retailer catalogue for new toys, with his mind being blown by Mega and Ultra Pretenders ("they're inside and oh my god that one transforms!"). The earliest toy he bought himself was Snapdragon. In act of grand blasphemy, he's even said the Action Masters were "cool"![5]
- His first Transformers comic was issue #113. Because of that, the number 113 is constantly showing up in his work.
- Roche snuck Eugenesis into a bookshelf in Maximum Dinobots #3.
- The original Eugenesis cover looked like a Penguin Classics book (even sporting the tagline "Polyhex 21st Century Classics"). Roberts has said this was him poking fun at his own "lofty" aspirations. [1]
- Shockwave's death in The Legacy of Unicron! has haunted Roberts since childhood...[6]
- Mike Costa has joked that because of James's popularity among the nerdier fans, he thought that even if people didn't like Chaos, "they'd have to pretend they did because James' name was on it!"[7]
- In Eugenesis, Roberts listed some of his creative influences (circa 2001): Simon Furman, Martin Amis, Chris Carter, Graham Greene, Neil Hannon, Vladimir Nabokov and Morrisey, "who I doubt have ever been acknowledged in the same sentence". He's since brought up his admiration for Russell T Davies' TV work (including Doctor Who); Peter David, Grant Morrison's Zenith, and Justice League International in comics; and Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, and John Updike's "Rabbit" books. Science fiction prose isn't his thing though, instead gravitating to literary fiction. [8]
References
- ↑ Moonbase 2 interview, 29:15 to 31:00
- ↑ Moonbase 2 interview, 39:40 to 31:00
- ↑ "The Underbase Podcast Deconstructs Shadowplay", 09:11 - 09:24
- ↑ "The Underbase Podcast Deconstructs Shadowplay", 1:10:22 - 1:10:30
- ↑ Moonbase2's second interview with James Roberts - 49:50 to 59:30
- ↑ Moonbase 2 interview, 50:26 to 51:08
- ↑ The Underbase podcast interview with Mike Costa ("Special Guest")
- ↑ Moonbase2's second interview with James Roberts - 01:20:00 to 1:22:15
