“It’s a gateway for a new generation of Transformers fans”: Brian “Smitty” Smith and Marz Jr discuss Transformers: Worst Bot Ever

Guys, thanks for making time – and congrats on Transformers: Worst Bot Ever. I had a lot of fun reading this. To kick us off, were you fans of the brand prior to the project?
Brian “Smitty” Smith, Writer, Transformers: Worst Bot Ever: Oh, sure! I grew up with Transformers; it was one of the first toys or cartoons that I was aware of. I was also a huge G.I. Joe fan growing up and I’m still a fan of both brands. But when I was a little kid, I felt like I had to make a choice between the two – I couldn’t like both equally. I had to either like G.I. Joe or Transformers. But yes, it’s pretty much been a part of my life since I was 10.

Marz Jr, Artist, Transformers: Worst Bot Ever: I loved the animated show. I would rush home from school to watch it. And I loved G.I. Joe, too. Me and my friends would jump from G.I. Joe to Transformers to LEGO then back to Transformers… And the movie! The 1986 movie was amazing. I actually still have some of my old Transformer toys – but they’re for reference now, I don’t play.

No judgement here! So, Worst Bot Ever is a graphic novel aimed more at younger readers than the current Transformers comics from Skybound. How did you approach crafting something for that audience, while ensuring it still felt authentically on-brand?
Brian “Smitty” Smith: We really tried hard and Skybound was very adamant about this being a gateway for a new generation of Transformers fans. You don’t need to know 40 years of continuity, or the history or the characters to get into this. We’re giving it all to you in this new way with this new Transformer – Ballpoint. The story is told through his eyes and you learn about the Transformers world through him.

And these characters all feel very true to who they are in the wider brand context, but also feel totally fresh and fun for a younger crowd. How did you approach writing these characters in a different way – but a way that didn’t betray who they are?
Brian “Smitty” Smith: It was about pushing their existing personality traits into a crazy space. Megatron and Starscream are so over the top, and they’re iconic, so getting to poke fun at their foibles a bit was a lot of fun. I’m still surprised that Hasbro and Skybound let us get away with as much as they did!

And Marz, how did you approach drawing these iconic characters for a younger crowd?
Marz Jr: It was a lot of fun. I love the G1, so I based the designs off that and then just messed with the proportions. I generally draw people with bigger shoulders, so I implemented that a little bit and shrank the heads down to make them look bigger and a little goofier. And for the comedy, I put their eyes a little closer together and tried to give they as much expression as possible.

You mentioned the star of the show is Ballpoint. When you were considering what might be the most useless Transformer yet, was it always set to be a ballpoint pen?
Brian “Smitty” Smith: When Skybound first approached me about pitching Transformers stuff, they asked me to pitch an Optimus Prime story. It was going to centre on Optimus Prime experiencing Earth for the first time. I thought it was pretty solid, but now when I say it out loud it’s fairly ridiculous!

Ha! Go on…
Brian “Smitty” Smith: Optimus Prime knows Megatron is somewhere on Earth, so he needs to disguise himself and try to find Megatron before he takes over Earth. He finds a family that owns a trucking company and fits in with their trucks, so he gets to travel around the United States. He sees humanity and what people are like, and starts getting a feel for the world. Eventually, there’s a big fight with Megatron, which was fine, I throughout that, I came up with this idea for a ballpoint pen Transformer. I thought: ‘I’ll just piggyback this on top of the pitch they asked me to send’. And to my surprise, they picked the ballpoint pen one! So that’s why we’re here.

Our editor Alex was already working with Marz, so the day after I turned it in there were designs for Ballpoint in my inbox. It was that fast. It was crazy.

Amazing. And Marz, talk me how you approaching illustrating Ballpoint.
Marz Jr: I wanted to make him friendly – but he starts out as a Decepticon and a bad guy – so I went with a longer, angular face so he had that Decepticons look, but then I made his proportions a little squat to make him seem friendlier. And I tried to design him in the way that he’d actually transform if he was a real toy. So if Hasbro wanted to figure out how to do a Ballpoint toy, I got this! And this is the actual pen I used to design Ballpoint. It has the gold there that I felt could be cool blades for him.

Lovely! You mentioned that Ballpoint tells this story, and there’s a lot of fun in that clash between how Ballpoint sees himself and the reality of his situation. And even though it’s aimed at younger readers, it doesn’t ‘talk down’ in any way. I think most Transformers fans will get a kick out of it, regardless of their age.

Brian “Smitty” Smith: Well, when I’m writing like ‘emerging reader’ or middle grade stuff, I always think that oftentimes parents are reading this with their kids. So there’s got to be something in it for them – and I try to write for all ages. I want to include some jokes for the adults that go over the kid’s head, as well as fart jokes to crack up the little kids… I am selfish that way. I want everybody to read my book!

Marz Jr: I try to do what I would have liked to read, or what I like. And I like the cartoony-but-cool action scenes. And kids often want to read up a level – they tend to want to read something a little bit older, so hopefully there’s that crossover in terms of audiences.

And it’s a comic book, so let’s make it as fun as we possibly can. The Muppets are a big influence – I love being aware that you’re making something silly or stupid. I took some improv classes and one thing they’d say is ‘always play stupid to the height of your intelligence’. I love that vibe.

Before we wrap up, is there anything you think a brand needs to have inherently to suit a graphic novel or comic series?
Marz Jr: It’s always fun if there’s some kind of existing character you can play with – either to play to type or play against type.

Brian “Smitty” Smith: Yes, it helps if you have a mascot or some kind of narrative. But then again, that’s our job! It’s on us to come up with ideas and make something out of nothing. Look at the cereal mascots like Tony the Tiger. They already have a built-in fanbase so that’d be fun to work on.

I was going to ask if there were any brands on your wishlist to adapt?
Brian “Smitty” Smith: I would genuinely love to do the monster cereals, like Count Chocula or Franken Berry. I think that there are plenty of cool stories to tell with those characters. Also Willy Wonka – I think that would be a great comic book… Maybe focused on the adventures he had before he opened the factory. I think about that a lot.

Terrific. Last question, I think the press release for this book said you guys were working on more in this series, is that right?
Brian “Smitty” Smith: There is a book two. We’re knee deep in book two now. Marz just finished all the layouts. It’s a tonne of fun, but I can’t really say too much without giving things away…

Marz Jr: We will say that Ballpoint is in it and so is Megatron. And Optimus. He’s also in it.

Nicely teased! Guys, a huge thanks again for taking time out to chat and well done again on Worst Bot Ever.