DK book reviews.

[paul cannon]

I've been asked to write reviews on the new DK range of books.

Transformers: The Movie Guide by Simon Furman.
Publisher Dorling Kindersley

Furman is back with another in the DK range of Transformers books. Obviously this book contradicts everything Furman has ever written, but as ever he has found a way of adding his own back story to the mix and has in essence spiced up the fairly straightforward movie script and added a little more depth to the characters.
The striking lenticular cover of this book draws you in right away, morphing from Autobot logo to Optimus Prime.
Unlike Furman’s Ultimate Guide there is no way to link these characters to the longstanding Transformers mythology, however he makes more subtle links to the G1 era so that the story can be considered to be sympathetic to Transformers history, albeit an alternative history.
The layout is in the usual Ultimate Guide format, with some striking images of the movie Autobots and Decepticons various poses in their robot and vehicle modes.
The book begins with an explanation of the Allspark, the mysterious cube which gives Transformers the power of life. Furman suggests further mystery about the symbols embedded on it, and this tickles the imagination. We then go into detailed analysis of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Optimus is very much the Optimus we all know and love. Fact boxes scattered around the various illustrations of him build up a clearer picture of his abilities. Megatron is a different ball game. He is almost unrecognisable and not only appearance. It is hinted he may even be alien in origin. Perhaps he and the Allspark are more closely related than is given away in the film. It’s all interesting conjecture.
We then look at Bumblebee, Barricade, Frenzy, Blackout, Scorponok, Jazz and Ratchet. A nice close up of Frenzy’s disc weapons reveal an engraved decepticon insignia, not dissimilar to a Batarang.
Considering the fact that information would have been extremely limited when this book was in production the makers have done a fine job of putting it together. It is disappointing that the book only runs to 74 pages, and considering the £12.99 price tag it’s a little thin, however any Transformers fan will want to collect this edition, and rightly so.

Transformers: Funfax Written by by Simon Jowet Designed by Nick Avery
Publisher Dorling Kindersley

The usual Funfax format. Nicely presented in dark red. The small ringbinder opens to reveal a personal organiser including diary, address details, friends (and allies) details, information about your school including best and worst subjects and favourite teacher, school timetable and general personal stuff that any young person might want to write about. The next divided section is bios on the human and Transformers characters, and a fold out snakes and ladders type game double sided with a pin up. The puzzle section includes a wordsearch, spot the difference and several other games. The extras section includes some quite nice character stickers, a pop out door hanger, bookmarks and a notepad.
It’s the usual Funfax format which will suit anyone who likes them. A bit of fun for the under 12’s.


You can draw Transformers. Writer Simon Furman. Illustrator Guido Guidi
Publisher Dorling Kindersley

This title is extremely impressive. It is carefully crafted and has had a lot of love put into it. This is not surprising considering it was penned by Simon Furman, long time Transformers writer, who knows more about Transformers than the entire population of Great Britain put together.
Initially when seeing the cover for this book I expected it to contain the same old basic drawings with vague steps to achieve glorious final illustrations that none of us are really capable of without an art degree, and certainly not the younger market that the book is presumably aimed at. However this package is actually rather inspiring.
The book is spiral bound which makes it a little more tactile and accessible for those who are having a go at drawing their favourite characters. This book is very comprehensive. There are many, many useful sections on subjects such as perspective, shading and lighting, which equipment to use, and inking and colouring (particularly aimed at the comic artist). I was impressed to see the final page is a laminated stencil for drawing your own speech balloons or narration boxes. In fact the book could be called ‘How to draw Transformers comics’.
Furman has ensured that he covers all eras of the Transformers genre including Generation 1 (G1) and Beast Wars as well as the discontinued Dreamwave comics Transformers: Armada and Energon run. Also material is featured from the current IDW comics run.
The trace overlays are a nice addition and make this book very inviting for anyone tempted to have a go at becoming a Transformers Van Gogh. Guido Guidi’s illustrations are excellent his clear representations of the robots and vehicles are a joy to look at as well as try out yourself.
Scattered through the book are tips from Transformers artists such as Andrew Wildman and Nick Roche to help give their perspective on how to get your drawings just right.
I think my favourite page in the book is a lovely double page spread of Bumblebee doing a complete Transformation.
This book will make an excellent addition to your Transformers library and also makes for good reference about everything Transformers. Now where’s that HB pencil…


Transformers: The Ultimate Guide
Writer Simon Furman
Publisher Dorling Kindersley

If ever there were a Transformers bible, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide is it.
This is an outstanding book that carefully examines each integral part of the Transformer mythos concisely. For many people this is the first time some of this material may have been seen as unless you are a die-hard collector it would be impossible to have experienced every element of this vast genre.
This book is a labour of love for writer Simon Furman who has been with the Transformers series from the beginning, first putting pen to paper in 1985’s comic story The Enemy within, and he hasn’t stopped since.
This revised edition covers a huge amount of information in its 152 packed pages.
We begin with detailed illustrations of Cybertron (the Transformers home planet) and Iacon (the capital city), passing through civil war and the Autobots and Decepticon’s arrival on Earth.
We then take a look at many of the main characters such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, the Dinobots and Constructicons. All lavishly drawn and presented with their tech specs data.
Furman then takes a look at the cartoon TV series and looks at each episode of Generation 1 seasons 1-4 and the cult Transformers: The Movie.
We are also taken on a journey through vast collection of comics ranging from Marvel UK and US right up until the present day IDW series.
The book covers the Emmy award winning Beast Wars TV series as well as the recent more poorly made (Japanese dubbed) Robots in disguise, Armada, Energon and Cybertron.
This book is a welcome addition to any bookshelf and is a point of reference for anyone trying to find out a fact about any part of the Transformers universe.
To conclude I was pleased to see the addition of sections on IDW comics and the Alternators and Classic toys for this edition which brought it bang up to date.