For those who recall the Pat Lee Dreamwave Transformers... farrago

[icon_uk]

For those who recall the fairly spectacular crash and burn of Dreamwave comics, which gained the Transformers comics licence from Hasbro in the early 2000's, and which finished in a cloud of unpaid freelancers and debts suggested at being around a quarter of a million dollars, with some hints that money had been hived off by the President of Dreamwave, Pat Lee.

From a most unexpected interview between Pat Lee and Rich Johnston at www.bleedingcool.com (Which Johnston compares to George W Bush asking to be interviewed by Michael Moore)

It's a bit of a one sided contest, Johnston asking a lot of pointed, and rather well researched, questions which Lee refuses to answer (Which, given they are the questions EVERYONE has wanted to know the answers to for years is a little surprising)

A sample or two...

Rich Johnston: Marvel have told me they were asked to stop paying money to Dreamwave but send it to Dream Engine instead, months well before the bankruptcy and, it seems, before that meeting between you and Simon Furman. Why do you believe Marvel would say that?

(No response to Pat to this interjection)

Rich Johnston: The reason people think differently is that you were seen to siphon money from big gigs away from Dreamwave to Dream Engine in the months before the bankruptcy. Which means that when Dreamwave went bankrupt there was less to be allocated to your debtors.

Can you offer any evidence that this was not the case?

(No response from Pat to this interjection)

Even the generally good natured Matt "L'Ilformers" Moylans commented on the Pat Lee situation having done some (unpaid natch) work for Dreamwave.



A couple of scans for legality - Pat's cover for Transformers #4 which includes the original, never bettered Constructicons (Ignore the movie version of them PLEASE!)



And some of my favourite Transformers, Soundwave, Blaster and their cassette troops! :)



Oh, and if you want proof that whilst many people may not like Didio or Quesada, TransFans LOATHE Pat Lee for his treatment of his creators, I found this

Comments

[stolisomancer]

I don't even really follow the Transformers comics, although Last Stand of the Wreckers was pretty good, but the Transformers wiki is fun to read anyway, and this is a good example of that.

[icon_uk]

Last Stand of the Wreckers is from the newer IDW licence, which shouldn't be confused with the DreamWave one.

[stolisomancer]

Oh, I know. I'm more talking about the Pat Lee TFWiki article.

[charlottesmtms.livejournal.com]

Which was scathingly hilarious, btw :-)

[aaron_bourque]

The quotes are the best.

To anyone who wants to break into comics--learn to love drawing backgrounds and study technical work, never have an ego, and treat your fans with respect!

[terrykun]

If you see robots going crotch-first into battle, it's Pat Lee.

[icon_uk]

Or it's Tidal Wave / Dark Fleet who has what can only be described as nipple blasters and testicannons.

[terrykun]

On the last scan above, Soundwave clearly wants to get some 'PLAY'.

[icon_uk]

That's why all the cassettes have scarpered out of the storage area in his chest, they've been stuck in there when Daddy Soundwave wanted some play, but THEY were the ones getting fast forwarded at unfortunate moments.

[charlottesmtms.livejournal.com]

Having worked as a freelancer, myself, this article made me go 'GRRRRR!', on a number of levels ... the creative field seems to be rife with this sort of crap!

Those poor artists :-(

[mullon]

TFWiki is the standard that all other wikis should hold themselves up to. And I say that as not that big a Transformers fan.

[icon_uk]

I love the entry for Fearswoop

"He has advanced stealth capabilities that let him swoop down on unsuspecting targets fast, riddling them with machinegun fire before they even know what hit them. How advanced is his stealth ability? He's neon yellow and still can't be seen."

[arbre_rieur]

My favorite Pat Lee joke:

His ferrari* transforms into a class-action lawsuit.

*Or whatever fancy car it was he bought while not paying his creators.

[angelophile]

Hrm. Well, I don't think I'd better say what I think of Lee's responses (or lack thereof) in that interview, since we don't allow for personal attacks on creators.

[greenmask]

Our silence must speak for us.

[pyrotwilight]

God, I vaguely remember this broohaha. Mostly because I found out Megaman was a title under Dreamwave before the company exploded with the power of a million class action suits.

I even bought the little digest which collected the issues put out that never had a story conclusion.