Stuart Moore Talks New Avengers/Transformers

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Announced during the Marvel Cup O' Joe Panel at last weekend's New York Comic Con 2007, the Transformers and New Avengers crossover from Marvel Comics and IDW will bring Earth's Mightiest Heroes together with those Robots in Disguise. Stuart Moore will take on writing duties with Tyler Kirkham on art. The first issue of this 4-issue limited-series is due out in July to coincide with the Transformers movie release. The first cover will be done by artist Jimmy Chung. We had a chance to sit down with writer Stuart Moore and ask him a few questions about this upcoming project.

CNI: First, could you take some time to tell us a bit about yourself? How long have you been writing comics? What are some of the titles you have worked on, and are you currently working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?

Stuart: I've been writing full-time for about five years; before that I was an editor, mostly with the Vertigo and Marvel Knights imprints. I've just finished a two-year run on FIRESTORM at DC, with two issues of DETECTIVE COMICS about to come out, and a variety of material from other companies, including the recent trade paperback of my sf/paranormal series PARA; EARTHLIGHT, a series of manga-format graphic novels from Tokyopop; and Avatar's STARGATE ATLANTIS comics. So you can see I have an interest in science fiction, which plays right into NEW AVENGERS/TRANSFORMERS.

For Marvel, I recently wrote THE PUNISHER X-MAS SPECIAL; a story in HERALDS OF GALACTUS #1; and NEW AVENGERS: LETTERS HOME, a holiday special for the military. I have a number of other projects coming up, with Marvel and with other publishers.


CNI: How did you get involved with this particular project, and what would you say makes you a good candidate to write a book involving these two franchises?

Stuart: I've worked with Marvel's Bill Rosemann before, and he thought I'd be a good fit for the project because of the science-fiction angle. I hadn't kept current on the Transformers, but I've caught up now -- and I love the way IDW has re-launched the series. They've given it a military feel that matches NEW AVENGERS perfectly.


CNI: Can you explain how this crossover will work? Will all the issues be written by you with art by Tyler Kirkham, or will you two be splitting duties with the folks at IDW? If you are splitting duties, who is working on it from the IDW side?

Stuart: No, it's all me and Tyler. We're coordinating with both companies.


CNI: What is it like working on a title that involves collaboration from two different companies? Also, since the actual license holder for Transformers is Hasbro, did they have any involvement in the development of this project? If so can you explain what role they had?

Stuart: Marvel and IDW are the first two lines of approval on everything, with Hasbro overseeing the portrayal of their characters. So far, it's all gone very smoothly.


CNI: What has it been like working with Tyler Kirkham? Have you seen any of his art from this title? Anything that stands out that you would like to comment on?

Stuart: Tyler's a brilliant choice. He did gorgeous work on PHOENIX: WARSONG -- and when I saw his version of the Sentinels there, I knew he'd do the Transformers right.


CNI: The Avengers, who will be on this team for the crossover? We have heard it will be the New Avengers, is that the New Avengers before Civil War or after?

Stuart: It's pre-Civil War; the story is set, in Marvel continuity, between the first and second story arcs of NEW AVENGERS. The core team is Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Cage, and Wolverine...with Falcon and Ms. Marvel flying in to help out against the aerial Decepticons.


CNI: Can you give us any kind of overview on what the story will be about? Will someone need to pick up recent issues of New Avengers or IDW's Transformers to understand what is going on?

Stuart: As the story begins, the two countries of Latveria and Symkaria are about to begin a devastating war. Investigating, the New Avengers find a strange complex on Latverian territory, emitting radiation they can't identify. Doctor Doom, the ruler of Latveria, has apparently disappeared...so the Avengers enter the complex. And things get complicated from there.

The miniseries is designed to stand alone, and to be completely accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with either set of characters.. We're taking care to fit it into both companies' continuities -- on the TRANSFORMERS side of things, this story takes place between the miniseries INFILTRATION and ESCALATION, just after Optimus Prime has arrived to take command of the Autobots on Earth. But you don't need to know any of that to enjoy the story.


CNI: Will other Marvel heroes or villains make any appearances here?

Stuart: Sable has a cameo. As for Doom...how he fits in is one of the big mysteries of the series. He's definitely involved somehow.


CNI: A lot of people have said they want to see Unicron take on Galactus, any chance we could see that here? Or maybe even the Sentinels?

Stuart: We wanted to keep the scale earthbound for this first crossover, so Unicron vs. Galactus will have to wait. Nice idea, though.

And it's funny: We thought about using the Sentinels, but in the end they just didn't fit. Maybe next time!


CNI: On the Transformers side, can you tell us which bots make an appearance here? Will any of the Transformers take on special forms for this story, for instance a transforming Quinjet or anything of that like?

Stuart: The Autobots are basically Prowl's team from INFILTRATION: Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Jazz, now led by Optimus Prime, with a brief appearance by Wheeljack. There are a lot of Decepticons, including one who hasn't yet been seen in the IDW continuity.




CNI: Any chance that we might see characters like Death Heads in this story? He's a character that has been connected to both Transformers and the Marvel Universe in the past.

Stuart: No Death's Head...again, we wanted to keep the scale of this story manageable. There are so many Transformers, it's easy for a project like this to get out of hand. We wanted to make sure we left room to tell a hard-driving, big-scale action-adventure story.


CNI: In the 3rd issue of the classic Marvel Comic Transformers series, we saw a black costume Spider-Man make an appearance. It's been said there will be no connection with that issue and this series. is that true? If so will there be any kind of nod to that issue?

Stuart: No, there's no connection there...because the TRANSFORMERS continuity has been completely rebooted since then. But a lot of people have asked for a nod to it...I'll have to figure that one out!

CNI: Marvel recently had a limited series called Mega Morphs which actually tied in with a toy line that contained transforming Marvel mech-suits. Will these be making an appearance in this series?

Stuart: No, no Mega Morphs. Again, we want to really focus on the Avengers, the Autobots, and the Decepticons. That's a lot of characters!


CNI: If you had to pick a favorite Avenger, who would it be and why?

Stuart: Probably Wolverine...he's just tough and fun, and I always find something new to do with him. But Spider-Man and Cage are close behind. Spider-Man has a particularly key role to play in this story.


Stuart: If you had to pick a favorite Transformers, who would it be and why?

CNI: I like Ratchet...he's caught in the middle of the tough moral choices. Megatron's fun, too...the classic, big evil bad guy.


CNI: Have you seen the original G1 Transformers cartoon? If so what was your favorite episode?

Stuart: I gotta go with the 1986 movie. Unicron, classic '80s hair-metal music, and Orson Welles ordering Leonard Nimoy to attack Judd Nelson and Robert Stack. What's better than that?


So there you have it, be sure to pick up the first issue in July, and thanks to Mr. Moore for taking the time to talk with us.