Thanks to Bob Budiansky, acclaimed comic book writer, editor, and artist, for joining us!
In this episode:
- confusion about Peter Cullen’s age on Wikipedia,
- the Star Wars Detours animated show from the Robot Chicken team,
- our interview with Bob Budiansky,
- his experience working with Hasbro,
- early expectations for the Transformers toy line,
- how Bob got involved with the comic book,
- rushing to develop the original 26 Transformers characters in 1983,
- limited coloring techniques in 1980s comics,
- “knocking out” background characters,
- the inspiration behind Bob’s Sleepwalker Marvel comic series,
- former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter,
- the anti-Super Man,
- work atmosphere at Marvel Comics,
- receiving a fan letter for Transformers from Stan Lee,
- getting to work with Stan Lee,
- Marvel Universe trading cards by Impel,
- Bob’s life after leaving Marvel,
- changes in the comic book industry,
- the overuse of comic book gimmicks in the early 1990s,
- Rob’s movie review of Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) starring Richard Dreyfuss,
- the new musical chairs-themed game show Oh Sit!,
- Greg’s movie review of Underworld: Awakening (2012), starring Kate Beckinsale,
- Shia LaBeouf inspired to act by Steven Seagal,
- Nicolas Cage being sued for not returning rental DVDs,
- a stupid style redux (short-shorts with pockets hanging out),
- Tom Green’s stand-up comedy,
- a Transformers collector on Pawn Stars,
- and The Burn hosted by a disheveled Jeffrey Ross.
UPDATE!!! Greg actually ran into Bob Budiansky at the New York Comic Con!
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Listen to this episode:
This was great! Bob got a lot more lively when you guys stopped talking Transformers and covered Stan Lee and comics in general. I could listen to him talk about Spider-Man and Sleepwalker and Stan Lee all day. I knew he was gonna say he loved Ghost Rider. I figured his top three favorites exactly.
Glad you enjoyed our interview Esteban! It was an honor and pleasure chatting with Mr. Budiansky. It’s like you, Greg, and I discussed in episode 200- as a child who was very much into the Transformers in the 1980s, I never would’ve thought almost 30 years later I’d get to talk with one of the main people responsible for creating the characters. But now through the magic of podcasting, we’re interacting with many of the people who made our childhoods special. It’s amazing.
Bob was great. Unfortunately many times his audio cut out, do to rotten Skype. Which is crazy because both of us used Skype, and I assume he has broadband. Skype stinks. Bob did kind of rescue me from the abyss by taking my stupid question on the lousy 80’s coloring, and giving a great, technical answer.
Thanks to Esteban as well for giving me some pointers on what to ask, but I really didn’t want to ask him only Transformers questions.
His sound was really good. I did notice a slight echo on your end as if you guys were talking in a concert hall. I was wondering how you recorded it. I wasn’t aware of him dropping out so I guess that’s because of the editing job you guys did. It was funny that he pointed out his dog was being good and quiet.
I find it interesting that he chose not to mention by name the person who Jim Shooter originally hired to come up with Transformer names before he was involved. In earlier interviews he’d always credit Denny O’ Neil for being the guy who gave it a shot first. But here he makes it a point to not name names. I guess that’s because Shooter wrote in his blog straight out that Denny O’ Neil’s initial Transformers treatment was garbage. I think Bob is trying to be professional and polite.
I love to hear him talk about Sleepwalker. It was a crazy book with lots of really great ideas. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn’t projecting a lot of himself into the characters. In one issue the bad guy had an engineering background like Bob and there’s scenes where Sleepwalker is fighting teddy bears and other toys in a nightmare. I wonder if that was all Bob drawing from his past and his experiences as a toy character developer.
Well thanks again for going a different way with this one and not having him repeat the same Transformer stories. You really put a Paunch spin on things and he caught fire in the end.
Esteban, regarding the echo on our voices- that’s what happens when we record in an empty living room with hardwood floors. I’ll get furniture and curtains soon…
Do you have a link to Jim Shooter’s blog post, mentioning Denny O’Neil’s work on the Transformers?
And now you’re making me want to read Sleepwalker. Is there anywhere I can buy the entire series online in digital form?
Here’s Shooter’s blog post where he calls O’ Neil’s original submission “unusable” and “Cranked out, pithless stuff” :
http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/06/secret-origin-of-transformers-part-1.html
I have no idea how or where to buy Sleepwalker in digital form. I don’t think it’s at Marvel.com. There are torrents out there that have every Sleepwalker appearance ever but I don’t know how safe those are.
Wow! Was Budiansky a guest at the show or just hanging out? And is there going to be a post Comic-Con wrap-up show or possibly even some audio recorded there?
Esteban, thanks for the link to Jim Shooter’s blog post. I read that and a few other posts. Very interesting and I’d love to see Denny O’Neil’s original presentation/character sheets/whatever. He was into the fancy Latin names…Instead of Megatron, we would’ve grown up with what? Malum Bastardus?
If I had gone to Comic Con with Greg, I would’ve been furious that Chris Elliott didn’t show up, but getting a picture with Bob Budiansky would’ve made up for it. Maybe next year!
A little light on the famous Paunch Stan Lee impressions. What’s up with that?
wow – another stalwart of pop culture scalped by paunch stevenson. is that andy garcia meeting albert brooks?