Mairghread Scott And The Ambassador Autobot

by Vince Brusio

One of the latest highlights in Transformers continuity has been Mairghread Scott’s four-issue Windblade series. Depicting the character as the new kid on the block, Scott knew she had to get it right the first time if she wanted the character to be back for future treatment. In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, Mairghread Scott elaborates on what went into this series that kept it kinetic and accessible to new readers.

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PREVIEWSworld: Mairghread, for those new readers out there, give us a play-by-play on how Transformers: Windblade unfolds in the Transformers universe. Are there repercussions in continuity? If so, what are they?

Mairghread Scott: Well, to start with, Transformers: Windblade is the story of Windblade: a newcomer to Cybertron and a young Autobot trying to find her footing in a very foreign world. Windblade is a sort of ambassador to Cybertron and is the only person able to speak with the living city every on-planet Bot currently lives in.

But it’s Starscream, the devious ex-second-in-command to Megatron, who’s actually the elected leader of the planet. So there’s tremendous tension between them and, because of their jobs, the fate of the planet hinges on the question: Can they truly trust each other and what will it cost them?

Transformers: Windblade is an in-continuity mini-series, but is designed as a jumping-on point for new readers. So while our primary goal is to tell a really cool story anyone can enjoy, we do affect the other books and we’ve tried to hint at some of the cool things happening in the other series.

PREVIEWSworld: In putting together your story, what helped you get in the mood to draw this series? What resources or Transformers history did you draw from to help you visualize where you wanted to go with this series?

Mairghread Scott: Well, I always keep a running soundtrack for whatever I’m writing to help capture the right mood and this was no exception (MIA, Katy Perry and Franz Ferdinand got looped a lot on my iPad), but Sarah Stone, Windblade’s artist, really brought an expressiveness and vibrancy to the characters that I just kept trying to live up to. We drew on everything from Cheers to anime, to Star Trek TNG to try and give each character their own unique attitude and personality and Sarah’s art is all about both. We also tried hard to give them a level of grace and fluidity to their movements. Just because they’re robots, doesn’t mean they’re…you know, robots, and we really tried to push the envelop on both the human and alien aspects of the brand. In terms of lore, I really tried to reframe my brain to that of a newcomer with this series, to make sure I never assumed, “Oh, everyone knows this.” I also wanted to show off all the aspects of Transformers that I love so much: humor, political drama, really unique and challenging fight sequences and a total explosion of different sizes and shapes when it comes to the characters.

PREVIEWSworld: Tell us the genesis for this story. Did the story come about quickly, or did you do some back-and-forth brainstorming with colleagues of yours to flesh out your ideas? How do you fine-tune your vision from start to finish? Do you do many drafts?

Mairghread Scott: This series was commissioned by IDW once Windblade, the fan-made character, was designed, so once my idea for the series was approved things moved along pretty quickly. There were a few phone calls and some note passing to make sure all three books weren’t stepping on any toes. But this book has been a joy to work on. I usually write comics in passes instead of drafts (layering in the action and major dialog, then secondary dialog and captions, then SFX and then editing that) but I give IDW two drafts normally before it goes to Sarah (my artist).

PREVIEWSworld: Without giving away any details that would be spoilers for issue #4, what can you tell us about this story? How will it resonate with fans of Transformers?

Mairghread Scott: Transformers: Windblade has the unique honor of being the only storyline currently set on Cybertron. So we get to explore this post-war, really struggling planet with a character who’s never been here before. Windblade may be a Transformer, but she wasn’t “born” on Cybertron and she’s still getting up to speed on the war, how it ended and what that really means for the planet. It gave me a really unique chance to see how characters who haven’t known each other for millennia interact. For example, Starscream is still the devious villain we all know and love, but Windblade has got to be the first ‘Bot in forever he hasn’t betrayed. So she’s still trying to figure out how “bad” he really is and I think Starscream, who finally runs Cybertron like he always wanted, is trying to figure out his new place as a real leader instead of just a wanna-be.

PREVIEWSworld: Will you be hitting the convention scene this year? And how can people get in touch with you using social media?

Mairghread Scott: I’m currently signed up for Bot Con and San Diego, but if I end up going to more I’ll be sure to mention it on Twitter and Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/blog/mscottwrites).

Click here to see a preview of issue #2!