2005 IDW continuity

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The IDW Generation 1 continuity is the storyline of IDW Publishing's Generation 1 reboot comic-book series, launched in 2005 and running until 2018. A heavily re-imagined version of the traditional Generation 1 continuity, it initially re-imagined the Autobot-Decepticon Great War as a galaxy-spanning conflict, with Cybertron abandoned as a dead husk and teams from both sides covertly operating on various alien worlds to defend or destroy the native populations—including Earth.

Later stories would abandon the cloak-and-dagger conflict in favor of a more traditional take on the Cybertronian war, before ending the war entirely. While early stories stuck to a small cast consisting mostly of the more familiar 1984/85 Transformers, as the universe progressed its scope slowly expanded to cover more and more characters and concepts from late Generation 1 and beyond. In addition to adapting characters from other continuities (such as Knock Out and Blackarachnia), authors felt free to introduce entirely new characters (such as Drift, Rung, Windblade and Aileron) with substantive roles. The IDW Generation 1 continuity proved to be one of the most unique and enduring Transformers stories to date.

A 2016 retcon/expansion established that this continuity was part of the shared Hasbro Universe.

Overview

Simon Furman and the "-ations" era

	-ations:
Infiltration #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Spotlight Volume 1 Shockwave Nightbeat Hot Rod Sixshot Ultra Magnus Stormbringer #1 #2 #3 #4 New Avengers/Transformers #1 #2 #3 #4 Escalation #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Spotlight Volume 2 Soundwave Kup Galvatron Optimus Prime Ramjet Devastation #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Spotlight Volume 3 Blaster Arcee Mirage Grimlock Wheelie Spotlight Volume 4 / Revelation Cyclonus Hardhead Doubledealer Sideswipe Maximum Dinobots #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Megatron Origin #1 #2 #3 #4

Veteran Transformers writer Simon Furman helmed the IDW continuity in its infancy, writing almost every series and one-shot to be released in its first few years. Spotlight: Shockwave serves as an excellent prologue leading into 2005's seven-issue Infiltration (including an introductory issue #0). In this series, Furman did away with the traditional "crashed on Earth 4 million years ago" origin in favour of a slow-burning "hiding in plain sight" storyline with emphasis on human characters, not dissimilar to the approach that would be taken two years later by the live-action movie. After Infiltration, the four-issue Stormbringer miniseries checked in on the wasteland that is Cybertron. The rest of the first volume of Spotlight issues (Nightbeat, Hot Rod, Sixshot and Ultra Magnus) are mostly standalone, but should probably be read before 2006's six-issue Escalation miniseries. The Spotlight issues for Soundwave, Galvatron, Optimus Prime, Blaster and Arcee, on the other hand, should probably be read after. The conflict reached a climax in 2007's six-issue Devastation miniseries. Spotlight: Grimlock takes place after this mini-series, with the Transformers having revealed themselves to the public. Furman had planned for another twelve issues to wrap up his story, but in the end only got nine across 2008's Revelation and Maximum Dinobots miniseries.

A few other writers contributed to the universe in its infancy:

• Nick Roche created Spotlight: Kup, taking place sometime between Stormbringer and Spotlight: Optimus Prime.
• Stuart Moore wrote a pair of titles loosely tying into Escalation:
  • New Avengers/Transformers, a four-issue crossover taking place just before that miniseries;
  • Spotlight: Ramjet, which takes place in its immediate aftermath.
• George Strayton wrote Spotlight: Mirage (originally planned to be released after Spotlight Grimlock, in chronological order), which takes place mostly in a parallel dimension - however, a portion of the story is set in the main universe some time after Maximum Dinobots.

• Klaus Scherwinski co-wrote the standalone Spotlight: Wheelie with Furman.
• Eric Holmes wrote The Transformers: Megatron Origin - this four-issue miniseries was originally written with Dreamwave's Generation 1 continuity in mind, but later stories massaged it into place as the earliest dedicated flashback series in the IDW continuity.

Chuck Dixon and "Evolutions"

	Evolutions:
Hearts of Steel Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 Infestation 2 Volume 2 #1 #2

In the early days of IDW's Transformers comics, plans were made for a full line of Elseworlds-style miniseries under the title "Evolutions", planned to run alongside the main IDW continuity. The first of these, the four-issue Hearts of Steel, took place in an alternate timeline where the Transformers' first contact with humanity was in the late 19th century. This plan was shelved as focus shifted to comics based on the live action movies, but the later Infestation 2 tie-in returned to this timeline. Both of these stories were written by Chuck Dixon with art by Guido Guidi. They would be little more than a footnote, were it not for the fact that much, much later, a version of the events of these titles was folded into the mainstream continuity.

Shane McCarthy and "All Hail Megatron"

	All Hail Megatron:
All Hail Megatron Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 All Hail Megatron Volume 2 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 All Hail Megatron Volume 3 / Spotlight Volume 5 Blurr Jazz Drift Cliffjumper Metroplex All Hail Megatron Volume 4 #13 #14 #15 #16

During 2008, in an attempt to entice new readers, IDW brought on new writer Shane McCarthy for a twelve-issue maxiseries titled The Transformers: All Hail Megatron and another run of five mostly-standalone Spotlight issues (Blurr, Cliffjumper, Drift, Metroplex (by Andy Schmidt) and Jazz (by Josh van Reyk & Shaun Knowler). When the established fanbase's reaction to this new direction was... lukewarm, IDW released a four-issue "Coda" to bring some of Furman's ideas back to the fore. Each issue of the Coda contains two different stories by various authors and is set after the main series, with the exception of the two stories in issue #15 which respectively take place before and after Spotlight: Drift. McCarthy later returned with a four-issue The Transformers: Drift miniseries, set before that same Spotlight issue.

IDW Publishing's G.I. Joe

Late in 2008, IDW acquired the license to publish G.I. Joe comics from the previous holder, Devil's Due Press. Though their new G.I. Joe continuity — spearheaded by Chuck Dixon, Mike Costa, Christos Gage and Joe alumnus Larry Hama, with later contributions coming from writers like Fred Van Lente and Karen Traviss — took a similar approach to IDW's Transformers continuity, with a modernised, more "realistic" take on the original '80s premise, the two were not initially intended to take place in the same universe — indeed, the apocalyptic aftermath of All Hail Megatron seemingly left that impossible.

More than half a decade later, however, it was established via retcon that the events of both IDW's Transformers and G.I. Joe were part of a wider, shared "Hasbro Universe"; see below for details. While the majority of IDW's G.I. Joe comics aren't under this wiki's remit, and they certainly aren't required reading for later series in this continuity, you can see a full list of their titles on the G.I. Joe franchise page at our sister IDW Hasbro Wiki.

Mike Costa and "The Transformers"

	The Transformers:
Drift #1 #2 #3 #4 Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Volume 1: "For All Mankind" #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Bumblebee #1 #2 #3 #4 Ironhide #1 #2 #3 #4 Volume 2: "International Incident" #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 Volume 3: "Revenge of the Decepticons" #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 Infestation Volume 1 #1 #2 Volume 4: Heart of Darkness #1 #2 #3 #4 Volume 5: "Chaos Theory" #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 Volume 6: "Police Action" #25 #27 #29 Spotlight: Prowl Volume 7: "Chaos" #24 #26 #28 #30 #31

Another major change in direction came in late 2009, and "The Transformers Continuum" was released to bring new readers up to speed. This error-ridden summary proved... less than effective. New writer Mike Costa (already known for his critically acclaimed work on IDW's G.I. Joe: Cobra) was brought onboard to spearhead a brand new ongoing series, titled simply The Transformers. This series ran throughout 2010 and 2011 for thirty-one issues telling a continuous story, though several other spinoffs were released during this time:

• Fan-favourite writer/artist Nick Roche (Spotlight: Kup and "Everything in Its Right Place" from All Hail Megatron #15) returned alongside new writer James Roberts with the five-issue The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers miniseries, set in deep space at the beginning of this new ongoing series.
• Zander Cannon wrote The Transformers: Bumblebee, a four-issue miniseries taking place between issues #3 and #5 of the ongoing series and aimed at a slightly younger audience than usual.
• Mike Costa himself wrote two additional titles:
  • Spotlight: Prowl, a one-shot told mostly in post-All Hail Megatron flashback but with a framing device set after issue #6 of the ongoing series;
  • The Transformers: Ironhide, another four-issue miniseries set on Cybertron some time before the later "Space Opera" story arc.
• McCarthy returned for the aforementioned The Transformers: Drift miniseries, set before his previous Spotlight issue.
• Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning wrote a pair of Galvatron-centric titles:
  • Infestation, two issues set between issues #8 and #9 of the ongoing series and tying into IDW's otherwise-disconnected multi-franchise "zombie invasion" crossover;
  • The Transformers: Heart of Darkness, a poorly-received four-issue mini-series starring Galvatron and tying into the events of Infestation.

James Roberts, John Barber and "Phase Two"

	"Season 1":
More Than Meets The Eye Volume 1 "The Death of Optimus Prime" #1 #2 #3 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 2 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 3 Annual 2012 #9 #10 #11 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 4 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 5 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 Robots in Disguise Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Robots in Disguise Volume 2 #6 #7 #8 #9 Robots in Disguise Volume 3 Annual 2012 #10 #11 Robots in Disguise Volume 4 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 Robots in Disguise Volume 5 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 Dark Prelude Orion Pax Thundercracker Megatron Bumblebee Trailcutter Hoist Dark Cybertron Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Dark Cybertron Volume 2 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 Autocracy #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 Monstrosity #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 Primacy 1 2 3 4

2012 ushered in not one but two new ongoing series as successors to the previous series, kicking off with a one-shot titled "Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime" and beginning what many fans would come to describe as a "golden age" of Transformers comics. In their hardback compendiums, IDW themselves distinguished these titles from everything that had come before by labeling them "Phase Two".

This new era was helmed two writers:

• James Roberts (having made a name for himself with Last Stand of the Wreckers) wrote The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, in which Rodimus leads the crew of the Lost Light into space to find the mystical Knights of Cybertron.
• John Barber (writer of IDW's tie-ins to the live-action movies) wrote The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, in which Bumblebee leads those remaining on Cybertron through the aftermath of the Great War.

The plots of these series ran in parallel for twenty-two issues each before colliding in 2013's twelve-issue Dark Cybertron crossover. Additionally, a "Primus" Annual was released for each series, creating a loose two-part story - the MTMTE Annual takes place concurrently with its seventh and eighth issues, while the RiD Annual takes place after its ninth issue.

Much of this crossover was written with the intent that individual issues might be packed in with Hasbro's figures, and to this end a new batch of six Spotlight issues was released:

• Spotlight: Orion Pax, written by James Roberts and taking place some time before Spotlight: Blurr
• Spotlight: Thundercracker, written by John Barber and taking place some time before Spotlight: Metroplex
• Spotlight: Megatron, created by Nick Roche and taking place immediately after issue #13 of the previous ongoing series
• Spotlight: Bumblebee, taking place in the background of the "Police Action" story arc of the previous ongoing series
• Spotlight: Trailcutter and Spotlight: Hoist, written by James Roberts and taking place between issues #5 and #6 of More than Meets the Eye.

These six issues were collected as "Dark Prelude". All six tie together with appearances of Metroplex, leading into his role in the crossover.

Around this time Chris Metzen and Flint Dille (the latter of whom wrote for the original Generation 1 animated series) wrote a trio of connected prequel stories: The Transformers: Autocracy, The Transformers: Monstrosity, and The Transformers: Primacy. These ostensibly take place sometime after Megatron Origin, Spotlight: Orion Pax and Spotlight: Blurr, but Metzen and Dille treated continuity rather loosely (apparently having planned to write a prequel to the original cartoon, not the IDW comics) and few ideas from these series were picked up in any significant capacity by the other writers.

Post-Dark Cybertron, Mairghread Scott and "Windblade"

	"Season 2":
More Than Meets The Eye Volume 6 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 7 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 8 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 9 #45 #46 #47 #48 #49 More Than Meets The Eye Volume 10 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 Windblade #1 #2 #3 #4 Robots in Disguise Volume 6 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 Robots in Disguise Volume 7 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 Combiner Wars Opening Salvo Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Windblade: Distant Stars #4 #5 #6 #7 "Combiner Hunters" Robots in Disguise Volume 8 #42 #43 #44 #45 Robots in Disguise Volume 9 #46 #47 #48 #49 Robots in Disguise Volume 10 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 Drift - Empire of Stone #1 #2 #3 #4 Redemption of the Dinobots Punishment #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 "Redemption" Sins of the Wreckers #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Till All Are One Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 Titans Return "Titans Return" The Transformers #56 #57 More than Meets the Eye #56 #57

In 2014, after Dark Cybertron, the two ongoings split back off in their own directions. Instead of heading back to Cybertron, the story of Robots in Disguise moved once more to Earth and shortly thereafter the series changed its name to "The Transformers" to prevent confusion with a new animated series (and causing a great deal of confusion with Mike Costa's ongoing series). Mairghread Scott, previously known for her work on Transformers: Prime, was brought onboard for The Transformers: Windblade - a four-issue miniseries. This series starred a new female Autobot, the result of Hasbro's "Fan-Built Bot" poll, and continued with intrigue on Cybertron.

Meanwhile, More than Meets the Eye continued mostly without interruption through 2015 until issue #55. Ratchet briefly departed the main cast in issue #40 to take part in the four-issue The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone miniseries (written, of course, by Shane McCarthy) and First Aid departed after issue #43 to participate in IDW's next big event - Combiner Wars.

John Barber teamed up with Livio Ramondelli on "The Transformers: Punishment", a digital-first comic that would lead directly into this new event. Combiner Wars was told in alternating issues of The Transformers (starting with issue #39) and a renewed Windblade series (renumbered back to #1). A "Combiner Hunters" one shot was released, taking place between the first epilogue to the event (in The Transformers #42) and the second (in Windblade #4). As with Dark Cybertron, these comics were packed in with various figures. Windblade's story continued for another three issues, creating a combined total of eleven issues across two miniseries.

The Transformers plowed ahead, with four brief sidetracks:

• The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers, Nick Roche's five-issue sequel to Last Stand of the Wreckers, taking place between issues #44 and #45;
• "The Transformers Holiday Special" containing three stories by Scott, Roberts and Barber taking place between issues #45 and #46;
• "The Transformers: Redemption", Barber's sequel to "Punishment" taking place parallel to issues #46-49;
• The Transformers: Till All Are One, a new Windblade-centric ongoing series by Scott - the first four issues of which take place parallel to issues #50-55.

Eventually, the three ongoings briefly converged for Titans Return. This event consisted of a one-shot followed by a pair of stories told in The Transformers issues #56-57 and More than Meets the Eye issues #56-57.

"Revolution"

	"Season 3":
ROM Volume 1 #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 Revolution Micronauts Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Action Man Prologue #1 #2 #3 #4 Revolution Revolution #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Revolution: Heroes ROM M.A.S.K. Micronauts G.I. Joe Action Man Revolution: Transformers Till All Are One The Transformers More than Meets the Eye Holiday Special Till All Are One Volume 2 Revolution #5 #6 #7 #8 Till All Are One Volume 3 #9 #10 #11 #12 Annual Lost Light Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Lost Light Volume 2 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 Lost Light Volume 3 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 Lost Light Volume 4 #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 #24 #25 Revolutionaries Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 Revolutionaries Volume 2 #5 #6 #7 #8 ROM Volume 2 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 Annual Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 ROM Volume 3 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 Micronauts Volume 2 Revolution #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 Micronauts: Into the Microspace Annual Micronauts: Wrath of Karza #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 G.I. Joe Volume 1 Revolution #1 #2 #3 #4 G.I. Joe Volume 2 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 M.A.S.K. Volume 1 Revolution #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 M.A.S.K. Volume 2 Annual #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 Optimus Prime Volume 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Optimus Prime Volume 2 #7 #8 Annual #9 #10 Redemption of the Dinobots "Salvation" Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1 #2 #3 Transformers/G.I. JOE: First Strike #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 The Origins of Evil ROM & the Micronauts Micronauts: First Strike ROM: First Strike #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Scarlett's Strike Force G.I. Joe: First Strike M.A.S.K.: First Strike #1 #2 #3 Optimus Prime Volume 3 Optimus Prime: First Strike The Transformers: First Strike #11 #12 #13 #14 Optimus Prime Volume 4 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 Optimus Prime Volume 5 #22 #23 #24 #25 Annual 2018 Transformers vs. Visionaries #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 The Wreckers Saga "Requiem of the Wreckers" Unicron #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6

This was when things got reaaally crazy.

In 2016, IDW announced the "Hasbro Universe" - a new direction for the Transformers continuity that will slowly bring other Hasbro properties into the fold. The first steps in building this new shared universe came in the form of a new six-issue series for the Micronauts, written by Cullen Bunn, and later for ROM (issues #0-4 courtesy of Chris Ryall and Christos Gage) and Action Man (a four-issue miniseries from John Barber). IDW's previous G.I. Joe comics were retroactively folded into the continuity, supposedly having taken place in the time since All Hail Megatron. Barber and Bunn teamed up to set these properties on a collision course in Revolution, the most ambitious crossover event in history.

IDW presented a certain reading order for this event in a checklist at the back of each issue, but some issues were placed out-of-order and various delays ended up producing a publication order that was borderline incomprehensible. The chronological order is roughly as follows:

• Revolution #0
• ROM: Revolution (originally placed after Revolution #1)
• Revolution #1
• Till All Are One: Revolution (originally placed after G.I.Joe: Revolution)
• M.A.S.K.: Revolution (originally placed after Revolution #2)
• Revolution #2
• Micronauts: Revolution
• Revolution #3
• G.I. Joe: Revolution
• The Transformers: Revolution
• Action Man: Revolution
• Revolution #4 (originally placed before The Transformers: Revolution)
• More than Meets the Eye: Revolution (almost entirely standalone, and more comedic in tone)
• Revolution #5

After the event, Till All Are One continued to run from issues #5-12, while More than Meets the Eye was relaunched as The Transformers: Lost Light. Roberts' story was still playing catch-up, chronologically speaking, but was so disconnected from everything else that it ran until issue #25 without interruption. Scott's plans, however, were to be truncated by IDW's next crossover.

Action Man was relaunched as Revolutionaries, with a larger ensemble cast and frequent guest-stars from the other series. This series formed the backbone of the post-Revolution comics.

ROM continued until issue #14, with issue #5 taking place after Revolutionaries #1. A pair of flashback stories focused on the space knight were also released: an annual and a five-issue Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor crossover miniseries. These stories are probably best read between issues #9 and #10, as this was when the annual was published. Similarly, Micronauts continued until issue #11, with an additional annual taking place between issues #9 and #10. A five-issue miniseries titled Micronauts: Wrath of Karza was then released, set some time after Revolutionaries #2.

New G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. series were launched. Aubrey Sitterson's G.I. Joe ran for nine issues and saw the surprise introduction of Skywarp to the cast. Meanwhile, Brandon Easton's M.A.S.K. ran for ten issues, with an additional annual taking place between the fifth and sixth.

The Transformers was relaunched as Optimus Prime. Optimus made an appearance in Revolutionaries #8, set after issue #6 of this ongoing. An annual was published under a generic The Transformers label, taking place between issues #8 and #9. John Barber also released "The Transformers: Salvation", the final part of his Redemption of the Dinobots trilogy (the Dinobots would later show up in issue #13). After issue #10, IDW's next crossover began.

Three issues of Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook profile series were released - in addition to profiles on various characters in the universe, each issue included a four-page comic story. 2017's First Strike event, written by Mairghread Scott and David A. Rodriguez, brought the Transformers and G.I. Joe together in a six-issue miniseries. A series of backup strips titled The Origins of Evil ran alongside the event. Meanwhile, three pairs of connected tie-ins were published for other series:

• Micronauts: First Strike & ROM: First Strike
• Optimus Prime: First Strike & Transformers: First Strike
• G.I. Joe: First Strike & M.A.S.K.: First Strike (set between issues #3 and #4 of the main event)

These tie-ins were themselves barely connected to the main story.

Following the event, the non-Transformers books were relaunched as ROM & The Micronauts by Gage and Scarlett's Strike Force by Sitterson. Sitterson's story was cancelled prematurely, ending on a cliffhanger in issue #3. Gage fared a little better, releasing five issues in total.

Meanwhile, Scott tied up her dangling plot threads in a Till All Are One annual. Barber also wrote another annual for Optimus Prime, set roughly concurrently with Scott's and between issues #14 and #15 of his now-resumed ongoing. The five-issue Transformers vs. Visionaries miniseries introduced another old Hasbro property to the universe, and Roche returned in its aftermath for "Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers", the final part of his Wreckers Saga.

The IDW Generation 1 continuity finally drew to a close in 2018 with the six-issue Transformers: Unicron crossover, written by Barber.

Collected editions

Every single comic published as part of the IDW Generation 1 continuity has been collected in at least one trade paperback. Each trade paperback typically collects four to six issues, usually forming one or more complete arcs.

Since 2010 IDW has also been collecting stories in hardback with The Transformers: The IDW Collection, which presents stories in a "suggested reading order" that ultimately leaves much to be desired. Phase One was collected across eight volumes, the first two of which were also collected together in a paperback compendium. Phase Two's collections are still being released at a glacial pace, with a reading order that haphazardly jumps back and forth between the two ongoings. Still, these collections remain the only way of getting many of the older series new in print.

If you live in the UK, Hatchette's Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection is similarly attempting to print every story in hardback along with previous Marvel and Dreamwave series. The reading order presented in this partwork, however, is every bit as baffling as that of The IDW Collection and is further complicated by the fact that individual volumes are themselves being released out of order in order to keep people subscribed for the full duration of the run.

It is worth noting that "Requiem of the Wreckers" and the 2017 Micronauts annual were only collected as part of larger trade paperbacks - Transformers: The Wreckers Saga and Micronauts: Into the Microspace respectively - each containing over ten issues that had already seen release in prior collections.

Timeline

See main article: IDW timeline.

As information about the IDW universe was slowly revealed in non-chronological order, this timeline is intended mainly as a reference for people who are already familiar with it.

Artists

Many artists contributed to the IDW Generation 1 continuity across its thirteen-year run.

Line art

E. J. Su's designs were widely praised for being a modern reimagining of G1 classics.

Don Figueroa's detailed and complex designs for The Transformers were evocative of those used in the live-action film series.

• Guido Guidi illustrated 722 pages for Hearts of Steel, Infestation 2, All Hail Megatron, Spotlight: Galvatron, Spotlight: Mirage, Drift - Empire of Stone, Last Stand of the Wreckers, The Transformers, More than Meets the Eye, Robots in Disguise, Revolutionaries and Optimus Prime: First Strike.
• E. J. Su illustrated 511 pages. He was the main artist for Infiltration, Escalation, Devastation and Revelation, in which he redesigned many G1 characters with updated, modern alternate modes. He also illustrated Spotlight: Jazz, Spotlight: Prowl, the flashback sequences in All Hail Megatron #7 and The Transformers #7. Years later, he would return to the IDW comics for the final arc of Lost Light.
• Don Figueroa illustrated 297 pages including the entirety of Stormbringer and Spotlight: Optimus Prime. He also contributed a story to the All Hail Megatron Coda. He was responsible for the redesigned look of the 2009 ongoing series, to which he contributed eight issues, and that of Megatron's stealth bomber form.
• Brendan Cahill illustrated 270 pages including the entirety of the "Police Action" storyline in The Transformers and several contributions to Robots in Disguise, More than Meets the Eye, Lost Light and "Requiem of the Wreckers".
• Casey Coller illustrated 205 pages, including Spotlight: Blurr, Spotlight: Drift, the entirety of Ironhide, and a couple of contributions to All Hail Megatron, The Transformers and Barber's various ongoings. He regularly provided variant covers.
• Sarah Stone created 132 pages for Windblade and Robots in Disguise.
• Ulises Farinas created 88 pages for Heart of Darkness. He was clearly unfamiliar with Transformers and his artwork did no favours for the already-disjointed writing, resulting in perhaps the most-reviled miniseries in IDW Transformers history.
• Emiliano Santalucia illustrated 52 pages across Spotlight: Blaster and All Hail Megatron #9, #10 and #14.
• Jimbo Salgado and Emil Cabaltierra contributed 37 pages total in the More than Meets the Eye Annual.
• Robert Deas illustrated 14 pages of All Hail Megatron #9.
• Marcelo Ferreira pencilled 6 pages of the last issue of Drift - Empire of Stone.

Other titles

In addition to their main Generation 1 continuity and their various tie-ins to non-Generation 1 media, IDW occasionally dabbled in other Generation 1 stories set in original mini-continuities. Many of these came in the form of one-shots for IDW's annual multi-franchise events, or as larger crossover miniseries, but make no mistake - the following stories are all standalone:

• Transformers: The Animated Movie, a four-issue adaptation of the original 1986 animated movie from Bob Budiansky (who wrote much of the original Marvel US series) released in 2006-2007 for its 20th anniversary;
• Mars Attacks: The Transformers, a 2013 crossover one-shot by Shane McCarthy set in some version of the Generation 1 cartoon continuity;
• The X-Files: Conspiracy: The Transformers, a 2014 crossover one-shot by Paul Crilley set in the present day of the Hearts of Steel universe (despite retcons made in Revolutionaries, this issue did not follow the other Evolutions titles into the main IDW continuity);
• Angry Birds Transformers, a four-issue 2014 miniseries by John Barber tying into the mobile game of the same name and IDW's existing Angry Birds comics;
• Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, a twelve-issue maxiseries by Tom Scioli set in a brand new continuity emulating the look and feel of the Silver Age of Comic Books;
• Transformers: Deviations, a "What If"-style one-shot by Brandon Easton (who would later write the M.A.S.K. series), providing an alternate version of the '86 animated movie;
• Aw Yeah Revolution!, a non-canon three-issue spoof of Revolution by Art Baltazar released in 2017.

Notes

• The IDW continuity overtook the original Marvel Comics US continuity in terms of raw issue count with issue #6 of the 2009 ongoing series. Primus only knows how many more issues there are now.
• When IDW first picked up the Transformers license, Simon Furman pitched a story that would have tied in to his idea for a Cybertron ongoing comic, and would possibly have been in continuity with the Dreamwave Productions comics. The G1 story would have begun with the destruction of Cybertron and the discovery that the destruction of Unicron in the Aurex cluster had destabilized the entire omniverse. To save all of existence, the Autobots travel across the galaxy attempting to reassemble an artifact called the 'Decepticon Matrix', which would have resurrected Unicron - a plot which parallels that of Cybertron, in which the Autobots seek out the Cyber Planet Keys to revive Primus. Vector Prime would have appeared in both series, travelling between universes to guide both groups of Autobots in their quest. It seems that series would then have come together with the concurrent Cybertron comic as Transformers from across the multiverse were brought together for a final, epic clash.
• A couple of other ultimately-unused pitches are known to the public:
  • In 2007, Nick Roche and James Roberts pitched an Octane-based issue of The Transformers: Spotlight to IDW. Some of the concepts from the pitch were later used in More than Meets the Eye.
  • A four-issue miniseries titled Legacy of Rust was planned at some point, starring Punch/Counterpunch and Jimmy Pink. It was announced as being in development by Andy Schmidt at San Diego Comic-Con 2010, and brought up again at BotCon 2011. All four issues were written by Stuart Moore, but the title was delayed until changes in the IDW universe meant that it could no longer be released without significant rewrites to fit the new status quo.
• It was originally unclear whether Kelly Thompson's Jem and the Holograms comics were part of the Hasbro Universe or not. Some version of the band was shown to exist there, but later information meant that events in that series were incompatible with those that took place in the Hasbro Universe at large.
• Paul Allor's Clue miniseries was in a similar situation, as its story gave no indication that it was taking place in the Hasbro Universe. However, the Hasbro Tribune was printed in the back of the first issue, and Sarah Gaydos later "officially confirmed" that it was indeed part of the continuity, so... we guess it's canon?