mannepl

[mannepl]

Quite proud of this.

[mannepl]

Finally found a way to draw Galvatron in my style.

He is very dear to me. I am happy with the results and this is how I will draw him from now on.

[mannepl]

I will never forgive myself for not posting this Galvacyc page I did in December.

[mannepl]

For the Ace Attorney fans, the second chapter of Turnabout Camping is up!

Follow the continuation of the camping trip with Gregory and the evil old men trio.

[mannepl]

Not proud of this one but have it either way because Gankaru Weekend.

Based on this:

[mannepl]

I wrote an Earthspark fic about Optimus cleaning Megatron’s sensory crown (that I got inspired by Megatron Origin IDW comic)

”Dust Me Off” on AO3 by Mannepl (me)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64785622

[mannepl]

Hello! I have been a long-time fan of your work in Star Trek, and then while watching Transformers G1 I was startled to see your name appear on the title screen of Webworld. Most of the episodes of G1 are a little all over the place, but Webworld GOT me. It’s so fascinating to see Cyclonus essentially bring Galvatron (against his will) to a mental health clinic?! My question is, how did you get involved to help write an episode of Transformers? What was it like? Thank you so much for all the amazing work that you do!

You're very welcome!

About my work on Transformers G1: Developmentally speaking it's kind of a complicated story, so bear with me here while I set the scene.

In 1985 I was a pretty busy girl. The Door Into Shadow had just published. Deep Wizardry had gone to press for publication in Delacorte's fall-'85 schedule. My first computer game, Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative, launched (in the Rainbow Room on top of 30 Rock...) in the summer of '85. I was then scripting my first comics work for DC (the "Double Blind" two-parter and "The Last Word"). And after taking a brief breathing space from four or five years' worth of animation work across a number of shows (scroll down here for details), I'd just turned in an episode of My Little Pony.

In memory all this work tends to get tangled together somewhat (which is probably no surprise). One thread that shows persistently through the tangle, though, is how much time I was spending in New York at a time when I was living in Philadelphia.

A surprising amount of that has to do with the research surrounding Deep Wizardry, which required specialized materials not readily available anywhere else. Because I had a contract for that book, in early 1984 I applied for (and was granted access to) the Frederick Lewis Allen Memorial Room at the main branch of the New York Public Library. As a result, for the guts of a year I was "up in town" at least every other week or so, sometimes for two or three days at a time—taking notes from the Woods Hole oceanographic resources there, drawing copies of them (like this one) when xerography wasn't available or when otherwise necessary, and—when there was time—writing.

But on those stay-overs my evenings were my own, and fortunately there were some really nice people to meet up with, every so often. Back when 666 5th Avenue (now 660) was DC Comics' home, a lot of the writing and editorial talent had a habit of heading down to street level and around the corner on Friday nights, to meet up and relax at the bar in a local steakhouse on the E. 52nd Street side (IIRC: that neighborhood's much changed now). That's almost certainly where I first met Len Wein—most likely introduced to him by my editor on the Trek comics at DC, Bob Greenberger—and we quickly got to be friends. Each of us was interested in the writing (and kinds of writing) the other was doing, so we had lots to chat about.

Now during this period I'd recently finished work on that My Little Pony script. A production company called Sunbow was then handling the screen side of the property, along with shows based on various other IPs. To this day I can't remember who it was over there who said to me, "So listen, now that you're done with that, we've got some slots unfilled on another show—would you be interested in doing a Transformers?" My answer was naturally "Sure, why not?"*

So shortly I was talking story, in a general way, with my new story editor over there, Steve Gerber. The thought of doing something a bit personal, and getting into some of the characters' heads a bit, was as usual on my mind. The idea of getting Galvatron some psychiatric care had already crossed my mind at that point... though I had on first impulse pushed that (for the time being) onto the back burner due to possibly being a little too "on the nose."

At some point pretty early on in this process, though, a different idea hit me as it had hit me before. Len was plainly perfectly cut out for animation storytelling (as other comics writers have also been: but the fit has rarely seemed quite so perfect, to me at least). And he'd have a party with this, I thought. Why not invite him along for the ride and let him get a feel for how it's done?

So I did. To my great pleasure Len promptly said "Yes!" And having cleared this with Steve Gerber, we dove in as co-writers.

Collaboration can sometimes be a rocky road, but I've always been lucky in mine, and that lucky streak held true with Len. I have rarely had a co-writer who right out of the starting gate was more willing to stretch hard to get things right, and one who was more effortlessly funny... even when the humor turned dark (as it repeatedly did in this episode). He unquestionably brought things to that script that I wouldn't have thought to try, or would have been nervous about my ability to pull off, solo.

...So after a couple/few weeks we turned "Webworld" in, the checks cleared, and we both went on to other things. But that episode keeps coming up as many people's favorite... and I can't say that I mind a bit. :) (If you want to look at it, the whole episode's online: just follow the link.)

BTW, because people do ask "Why does Len's name appear first on the credits screen?", the answer's simple: Because I insisted. He was the newbie here, after all. I thought it only right that the junior partner in this medium should be put in pride of place on that credit, his first time out. (I routinely do the same with @petermorwood, for anyone who's watching. Collaborator of thirty-plus years he may be, but he's still newer at this than I am. Heh heh.)

In any case, I wear that particular joint credit with great pride. It's an honor to be associated with someone who went on to become—entirely separate from his already-stellar career in comics—one of the strongest and most prolific animation writers of the last few decades.

...So that's how it happened. (And as for the story of how Bob G. and I dragged Len out of that restaurant one night and made him buy his first computer [an early Macintosh]: that's true too.) :)

*Also, after this they asked me the same question again, but this time about a show called GloFriends. Same result, due to the house rule: "If someone offers you work, take it!" :)

[mannepl]

Me and @/Vyodkaa on Twitter brainstormed ideas on the evil trio + Gregory going camping. I finally posted the first chapter of what we came up with.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64616557/chapters/165974356

[mannepl]

This got a lot of attention on Twitter so I am posting here too. Megaempress design is by @/Jeetdoh on Twitter.

It is so funny to think of their AU of Megatron’s mother so I had to draw fanart.

Translation for non-Spanish speakers:

”My little Megatronitito!”

”Please, mom, not in front of the Autobots…”

[mannepl]

Ace Attorney x Don’t Starve

Gankaru Weekend although have something additional below too:

[mannepl]

To the small amount of Galvacyc enjoyers, thank you for the content you create. I love Galvacyc.

[mannepl]

Victim Blaming

"No one ask me to draw Megatron again" I say and then draw him four more times.....

Got pretty good at drawing seekers making this! ....not so much Cyclonus or Galvatron. Too many pieces/parts, by far.

I dunno, I was possessed by the angst demon.

[mannepl]

I had some old shoes that I barely used so I decided to paint a Decepticon insignia with Megatron’s engravings from IDW.

[mannepl]

I love doing traditional art. Have a full Manfred von Karma page.

[mannepl]

That one meme redraw with Gankaru + something additional.

[mannepl]

Ratchet the Terrible.

I did a TFA redraw of Ivan the Terrible painting where the man struck a blow to his son’s head, leading to death. While this is not what Ratchet has done, I think this is how Ratchet feels about his actions towards Arcee.

[mannepl]

Baby Franziska was a menace. How Manfred kept up with her is a mystery to me.

Either way, I tried experimenting around with my artstyle but I feel like I still have something missing.