The following is a log of a chat that took place September 7th, 2002 with Ford Gilmore, writer of the new series of ThunderCats comics put out by Wildstorm.

*** FordGilmore has joined #ThunderCats
<FordGilmore> Hi all
<RD_Log> hi!
<Servali> welcome FG :)
<Purrsia> what transaction? lol
<Purrsia> HI!
<Fuzzy> greetings
<Mad-Bassist> Welcome! 4:-)
<Zhie> Hello, Mr. Gilmore
<Tygra> hi there!
<Purrsia> well, I suppose this is the open chat part, so get your hellos out of your system lol
<Servali> I just did ;)
<Purrsia> lol
<Servali> But, I guess it's worth repeating.... Welcome, FG, hehe
<Purrsia> oh, and I see zhie's here too, heehee
<Zhie> Yes, all hellos, how ya doings, and can I name a pet and/or child after you should be addressed now...
<Purrsia> didn't see her come in as I was sneaking a last minute peek at the comic :)
<FordGilmore> Haha
<Servali> :)
<Purrsia> well, I guess we can have open chat til TW gets back then, eh?
<Servali> works for me, hehe
<FordGilmore> TW?
<Zhie> ...although you can all keep posting questions using the form, and we'll keep adding them to the list.
<Mad-Bassist> Wow, the comic sure looks different. Can't wait to get a real copy of it.
<Servali> TW = Thunderwolf, a mod
<ThunderWolf> back
<Purrsia> well, firstly, I always gotta ask this up front...mind if I archive this chat on my website, Ford?
<Servali> hehe, ask and thou shall receive, Purrsia, lol
<FordGilmore> No, that should be fine
<ThunderWolf> Hi FordGilmore, welcome so our server and channel!
<Purrsia> I always like to get permission heehee ;)
<Purrsia> TW = ThunderWolf, Ford :)
<Servali> I just told him that, Purrsia, lol
<FordGilmore> Thanks for having me, and thanks to Purrsia & Zhie for setting everything up
<Purrsia> np! these are fun to do, mostly, heh heh
<Zhie> Yes, it's quite a pleasure having you stop by to chat with us.
<Servali> Indeed, it is :)
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<Servali> Hello, Ronin :)
<Ronin> Hey
<RD_Log> hi
*** Ronin is now known as Ronixis
<Ronixis> Not sure how long this connection will last...
<Purrsia> Alright, well, since Ford is here and ready to go, we'll go over the rules of this chat one more time for you all, ok?
<Servali> sure :)
<Ronixis> Go ahead...I am just gonna look and report
<ThunderWolf> .op FordGilmore
*** X2 sets mode: +o FordGilmore
<Purrsia> ok, as you know, we will be going to full moderation...
<Purrsia> only zhie, myself and TW will be able to send messages at that point...
<Purrsia> so, TW will start out asking the questions already sent to us pre-chat...
<Purrsia> while that goes on, if you have a question, PM dr. zhie and she will pass them on to me to ask :)
<FordGilmore> How orderly ;)
<Purrsia> heehee. I think we may have finally perfected this operation, Ford!
<ThunderWolf> we try
<Mad-Bassist> We're a well-behaved group... sometimes. ;-)
<Servali> we've learned from previous chats how chaotic it can be otherwise ;)
<Purrsia> anyhow, hopefully, you all checked out zhie's handy reference to stuff Ford has already addressed on message boards
<Zhie> And as per usual, being the good doctor that I am, I reserve the rights and privleges to insert small informational segments along the way and/or bop anyone not following the rules with a rabid snarf.
<Purrsia> any questions from anyone on how this will go?
<Purrsia> yes, our talking bibliography lol ;)
<Servali> not I, for I fear the rabid snarf, lol
* Mad-Bassist sits back to enjoy the show
<Purrsia> ok then, whenever you're ready, TW, start asking the questions, heehee.
* RD_Log rolls...log
<ThunderWolf> Will the Lunatacs be showing up at all in the comics, and if so, the 
<ThunderWolf> same characters on the show or more of their type? -Anonymous
<FordGilmore> Yes, the Lunatacs will be showing up--in issue #3, specifically
<FordGilmore> and we'll be seeing the same characters from the cartoon---new new Lunatacs
<FordGilmore> yet
<Purrsia> sounds like there will be new ones, eventually >:}
<FordGilmore> I never said that...
<Purrsia> the yet got me I guess lol
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<Purrsia> Welcome, newcomer :)
<ThunderWolf> Question #2
<ThunderWolf> Will there be any delving into Mumm-Ra's past/background (i.e., what 
<ThunderWolf> his life was like before he became the Everliving)? -Demonprist, #1 Mumm-Ra fan
<FordGilmore> We're really just concentrating on using the characters we're familiar with in the first series, and not creating a lot of new Berserkers or Lunatacs or mutants or anything
*** PurrsiaThunder is now known as Mitts
<FordGilmore> ideally, we'll be able to do that later--but the mandate was to stick with the classics rather than reinventing the wheel
<FordGilmore> As far as Mumm-Ra's backstory goes, not in the initial series, no
<Purrsia> so, the series itself is the background of the comic, then?
<FordGilmore> oh, yes, most assuredly
<Purrsia> I like the idea of continuing off the series. :)
<FordGilmore> I'm glad, as that was a conscious descision. The great thing about doing the seaparate series is that we're able to do
<Purrsia> Though, fans always seem to have questions and wonder about the backstories of characters that maybe weren't covered well in the series 
<FordGilmore> one that evolves out of continuity and treats the amterial as if the cartoon never went off the air and another one that takes a darker and more adult approach years down the line in continuity---best of both worlds, in my opinion
<Purrsia> I gotta agree with that!
<Purrsia> should satisfy everyone lol ;)
<FordGilmore> Oh, I hear you--and I agree. I just felt (as did WildStorm, WB, and so on), that the first hurrah should really stick to basics rather than try to change things. We need to re-establish some of these characters for non-diehard fans before we can flesh them out further and expand their backstories and motivations
<ThunderWolf> How far will you take the two worlds?
<Purrsia> sounds resonable to me, Ford ;)
<FordGilmore> To be honest, I'm not really sure. I assume it depends on how well each performs in the marketplace
<ThunderWolf> it seems to be really good so far :)
<Zhie> [Side Note: For those who have not read them, there was a bit of information published in the British Annuals that might be of interest in regards to background info - see the following for a transcript]
<FordGilmore> Sales and reaction has been great so far, so I'd like to think that there will be a long life for the THundercats
<Purrsia> no kidding sales are good...everywhere I go the comic is sold out! lol
<ThunderWolf> I hope so as well:)
<ThunderWolf> OK next question...
<ThunderWolf> I wanna know if Pumyra is actually going to get some screen..err, page
<ThunderWolf> time this time around. -Fuzzy
<Purrsia> Mad Bassist asks: I guess that raises the question: Will the twins ever grow up?
<FordGilmore> Pumyra will get a little, yes---but not as much as the others, as she's still on Third Earth
<Purrsia> just answer the first then worry about the second, ford lol. I wanted to get that one in, as it had to do with the earlier discussion ;)
<FordGilmore> We won't see her before issue #5
<Purrsia> so, same for Tygra then, eh?
<FordGilmore> The twins won't grow up in the first series, as it doesn't spawn too much time after the final episode (weeks, maybe)
<FordGilmore> Tygra is a major part of the second issue, along with Hachiman
<ThunderWolf> heh- we like details
<ThunderWolf> the more indepth the comic the better...
<FordGilmore> with all that's going on on THundera, there are reasons to bring the others back and forth from Third Earth---but we can't have them there all the time and totally abandon the outpost on THird Earth
<ThunderWolf> but not to intrude
<Purrsia> lol. indeed. That makes sense about the twins, but perhaps he was wondering if they will ever become adults in the span of the series
<FordGilmore> I can neither confirm nor deny...
<Purrsia> >:}
<Purrsia> realistically, they should have aged more in the toon series itself, heh heh. but ah well
<FordGilmore> Oh, I agree
<Purrsia> but, I understand...what you have to work with is the series as it was written. As you said, you're not out to rewrite or reinvent things :)
<FordGilmore> Believe me, I'd like to start filling in some of the gaps in continuity---but we need to get everyone up to speed (relatively) before we can
<Purrsia> yeah, the series has serious continuity probs, heehee. but what can you do? lol
<ThunderWolf> I think that will attract alot of new comers
<Purrsia> I'd like to know what gaps in the continuity FG's gonna fill in first! -- Servali
<FordGilmore> It would be great to show some of the things we've never seen, to explain how the Berserkers got back, to get into backstories of some of the villains, to show more of Thundera before Claudis and Jaga's time, and so on...
<FordGilmore> maybe soon...
<FordGilmore> But I'm looking forward to a whole issue about that planet with the great Mexican take-out from "Sideswipe" and a team-up between Capt. Cracker Mumm-Ra
<FordGilmore> kidding!
<Purrsia> god, I hope so LOL!!
<FordGilmore> Don't really know what continuity gaps we'll tackle first... 
<ThunderWolf> FordGilmore- this has kinda been answered... but I'll past it any ways..
<ThunderWolf> Since there are at least two ThunderCats still on Third Earth, any 
<ThunderWolf> chance we'll ever find out what happened to First Earth? -Alan Wilkinson (Cassius335)
<FordGilmore> No plans at present, but you never know
<ThunderWolf> are we getting to far ahead of you ?
<FordGilmore> Not really
<FordGilmore> I just don't have any plans to go back to Third Earth right now
<Purrsia> #1) Will it be explained how the Mutants and the Lunatacks had escaped the Circus Train, or are we to assume that Mumm-Ra merely summoned them? -- Mitts
<FordGilmore> Mumm-Ra brings back the Mutants, but not the Lunatacs
<Purrsia> TW, you have anymore pre-submitted Q's? ;)
<Purrsia> don't wanna get ahead of you either lol
<FordGilmore> And it still seems strange to me that the circus train could be a formidable prison for any of those villains
<Purrsia> you aint' the only one who feels that way, ford LOL
<FordGilmore> haha
<Purrsia> Technical question, if it's proper... how long did it take to go from getting the permissions from the Wolfe estate to actually finalizing issue #0 ? -- Fuzzy
<Zhie> [Side Note: It was never the circus train anyone needed to worry about, it was Marvelous Myrna that kept everyone in check.]
<Purrsia> LOL!!
<ThunderWolf> FordGilmore- I have one last pre-submitted -but it is long... the first part will be more of a statement...
<FordGilmore> well, it really was just the tone and the style of the cartoon, I suppose... Same characters get exciled in the same fashion again and again, but always come back... And no one says "Hey, we should really re-think how we handle this"
<FordGilmore> Fuzzy--To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I was brought into the process after they'd already been dealing with the Wolf estate for a long time
<FordGilmore> AS it stands, I've been working with "Thundercats" for about a year, and everything we do goes through an approval process
<Purrsia> A little side note from me...if at any point, you want to ask anything of us, Ford, or otherwise make general comments, have at it :)
<FordGilmore> okay
<ThunderWolf> sounds like a pain
<Purrsia> ask the big Q whenever yer ready, TW ;)
<ThunderWolf> I was chatting with a friend of mine and the discussion of Issue #1 
<ThunderWolf> came up - in regards how rushed the story seemed to be.
<ThunderWolf> The question I would like to ask is, was the actual scenes played out 
<ThunderWolf> as you had initially planned or was the story edited because of a lack of
<ThunderWolf> space, possibly due to advertising? -Emily Dandi
<ThunderWolf> missedone
<FordGilmore> No, not really. The "industry standard" for comics is 22 pages of story and art, so pages weren't cut to accomodate new ads or anything
<FordGilmore> but we had a lot to put into the issue
<Purrsia> Was Gilmore aware that he made a slight boo-boo when it came to the Thunderkittens in Issue #2? A friend of mine (who is a die hard Thunderkittens fan) noticed that the personalities were swirtched (Wilykit is the more show offy of the two, and wh\ould have been the one to do what Wilykat did). -- Mitts
<FordGilmore> since the descision was to make every issue of the first mini self-contained, with a different villain (or group of villains, like the Lunatacs), 
<Purrsia> actually, that last question was posed by Bast and asked for her by Mitts...just to clarify ;)
<FordGilmore> there's always goign to be a lot goign on in each issue.
<ThunderWolf> I have to ask a question... in what ep will Grune be introduced
<Purrsia> Oh, I'd like to know that too, lol!
<Purrsia> he's my fave baddie >:}
<ThunderWolf> he's my father :P
<FordGilmore> As far as the roles of the Thunderkittens go, the changes on Thundera are having more of an affect on Wilykit than they are on Wilykat, and we're seeing her get a little more reserved than she was in some eps (although I personally feel that Wilykat was more boisterous than his sister overall, regardless)
<ThunderWolf> I think we are scaring FordGilmore away
<FordGilmore> Who's Grune?
<Zhie> [Side Note: For those needed clarification of ThunderWolf's comment, you will need to go to the insane lion's site. *Smacks ThunderWolf with a dead snarf.*]
FordGilmore> Kidding!
<ThunderWolf> Grune was a TC who betrayed them
<ThunderWolf> and was banished and became a ghost almost as powerfull as Mumm-Ra
<FordGilmore> It was a joke, TW. I don't know if we'll be seeing Grune again. I mean, it's not as if there are many Grune fans out there, right?
<Purrsia> Will Zaxx, former ruler of Third Earth's southern hemisphere and one-time rival of Mumm-Ra ever make an appearance in the comic series? -- Servali
<Purrsia> HA! I'm a big fan ;)
<Purrsia> and TW is without doubt lol
<Purrsia> so there's 2, heh heh
<ThunderWolf> ok last question...
<Purrsia> btw, Ford, how long do you have to hang around, just so I'm aware?
<FordGilmore> It's not as if there are any sites dedicated to Grune or anything. And his design is so borring, I doubt Ed would enjoy drawing Grune for a whole issue....
<Purrsia> hold on TW, let him answer the other one, heehee
<ThunderWolf> FordGilmore- I have a site deticated to Grune
<FordGilmore> Hahaha... I"m being sarcastic, TW. Sorry if it's not coming accross
<FordGilmore> Grune's a favorite character or mine, too
<Purrsia> LOL...yeah, we get it ;)
<ThunderWolf> eh sorry...
<ThunderWolf> call it the grune in me :)
<FordGilmore> As far as time goes, Purssia, I didn't realize we were already almost at hour. I"ve only got about 10 minutes left! I can come back some other time if people like
<Purrsia> that would be cool
<Zhie> [Side Note: For confirmation on the number of Grune fans, see the April 15th poll on the following page]
<Purrsia> I was just hoping to squeeze in a few more questions ;)
<FordGilmore> squeeze away
<Purrsia> you're always welcome to drop by, for formal or informal chatting. It matters not :)
<ThunderWolf> FordGilmore- you can come when ever...ppl are usually here
<Purrsia> alright, well, I didn't see if you answered Servali's Q about Zaxx...will her return?
<FordGilmore> And I can always use the same portal Pussia gave me? Or is that something special set up for this today?
<ThunderWolf> ok 10 mins and 1 ?? left
<FordGilmore> Oh, sorry, missed it... No plans for Zaxx right now
<ThunderWolf> it's perm
<Purrsia> nope, you can use my portal or zhie's ...they're laways there :)
<Purrsia> The sillyness of the Gyroscope and Jagaura won't be revisited... will they ? -- Fuzzy
<Zhie> As long as we don't run out of bandwidth
<ThunderWolf> ord, I was hoping you could shed some light on the recent article in 
<Purrsia> LOL
<ThunderWolf> the newest WIZARD magazine #133. The article said (as follows) :
<ThunderWolf> "will also see a two-issue Battle of the Planets/Thundercats crossover
<ThunderWolf> teaming Top Cow (comic studio) and Wildstorm's cartoon sensations. No 
<ThunderWolf> word yet on the Wildstorm half, but Sharrieff has plans to take the G-Force
<ThunderWolf> crew and the Thundercats 20 years into the future. "Lion-O will have
<ThunderWolf> silver in his mane, " Munier Sharrieff (Battle of the Planets writer)
<ThunderWolf> said. "I'd like to fit the Thundercats into the 'Battle of the Planets'
<ThunderWolf> universe, but do so in the f
<ThunderWolf> I have some questions regarding this. 
<ThunderWolf> 1. Sharrieff mentions in the article about doing the 2 issue crossover 
<ThunderWolf> inthe future20 years so it doesn't mess with things. Actually, won't it 
<ThunderWolf> infact, mess with things? The 2nd Thundercats comic book mini-series is 
<ThunderWolf> to take place in the Thundercats future. How is that not going to conflict
<ThunderWolf> with the proposed Battle of the Planets crossover?
<Purrsia> There's the huge question! LOL
<ThunderWolf> only 1/2
<FordGilmore> It's hard to say about Jaguara and the Gyroscope... I agree it's inherently cheesy, but it's also a big part of continuity. I think I've figured away around it that makes sense, so we probably wont' be going there again
<Purrsia> right. I'll hush so he can answere that lol
<Purrsia> oh, thank god lol. I can't stand that story line as it is...it's a total WTF moment in the series LOL
<FordGilmore> I thought you were goign to hush up so I could answer TW's question... Hmmmmmmmm?
<FordGilmore> hahaha
<Purrsia> I lie alot LOL
<FordGilmore> Regarding the crossover, I've heard rumblings here and there, but, as far as I know, nothing's set in stone as of yet
<Purrsia> a bane of the inherently evil >:}
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<FordGilmore> I doubt that any crossovers would affect continuity of either universe, simply because of rights issues with different rights-holders
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<Purrsia> ok, TW, you got the other part of that Q? heehee
<Purrsia> or shall I ask one more?
<FordGilmore> I'm TOTALLY guessing here, but I'd guess that anything done would be an "Elseworlds" story on DC's end (their imprint for "what if" kinds of stories), or something else clearly special and set apart, like when they've done Marvel/DC crossovers or stuff like "Superman/Tarzan"
<FordGilmore> but, again, I'm just guessing
<FordGilmore> please
<Purrsia> Does he have any idea who will be doing the illustrations for the next series of Thundercats comics (darker series)? -- Mitts
<FordGilmore> Yes, I do have an idea of who will be drawing it
<Purrsia> teasing us, are you ;)
<FordGilmore> But Dan's illustrations that folks saw in #0 were not meant to be for the series in question
<FordGilmore> Who, me?
<Purrsia> heh heh
<ThunderWolf> 2. Sharrieff said, Lion-O will have silver in his mane. What is that?? 
<ThunderWolf> I may not have been taken so off guard by that brazen statement had some
<ThunderWolf> changes in physical appearances been announced for the Battle of the
<ThunderWolf> Planets characters as well. But nothing was mentioned about them, just
<ThunderWolf> Thundercats. It just seems hostile for an outside writer to announce major changes 
<ThunderWolf> in a main characters physical appearance when (and I may seem snooty about
<ThunderWolf> this, but) you're the writer of the Thundercats. My concern is that
<ThunderWolf> outside influence by someone who may not love these characters as a fan
<ThunderWolf> would is
<FordGilmore> And I don't think there will be any tails on the characters... Presuming that's the subtext of the question ;)
<ThunderWolf> given free reign to alter continuity that may or may not have
<ThunderWolf> already been planned. -Michael Ford
<FordGilmore> Don't really know about that TW; I haven't spoken with Munier. But I assume he just means that he'll be 20 years older, so he'll have some gray hairs... Again, just a guess
<Purrsia> Question is Would he be intrested in working in a new Thundercats TV series? -- Ronixis
<Purrsia> I'm thinking that's gonna be the last Q of the day, lol
<Purrsia> sheesh, we never run out, eh? ;)
<FordGilmore> Oh, yeah, it would be a lot of fun to work on a new series if they do one. 
<Purrsia> no doubt!
<Purrsia> :)
<Purrsia> well, thanks for stopping by and answering our questions, ford :)
<Purrsia> as TW and myself said, yer welcome to drop by anytime
<Purrsia> we almost always have a snarf roasting on a spit >:}
<FordGilmore> No problem at all; thanks for inviting me over. I'll come back in the next week or two to answer more questions (if there are any)
<ThunderWolf> Well FordGilmore- it was nice to meet you....Ii must be off... hope to chat with you again
<Purrsia> ok, thanks!
<FordGilmore> Maybe right after #2 is out
<Purrsia> that sounds like a great idea
<Zhie> It's been wonderful being able to have you answer our questions as in person as technologically possible, and I guess now I'll have to keep a snarf roasting just in case you stop by.
<Purrsia> just let me know and I'll get the word out :)
<Purrsia> sometimes it's Tygra on the spit...heh heh. depends on our mood! :P
<FordGilmore> My pleasure, TW. Thanks to everyone who came out, and I'll see everyone soon!
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