The Transformers: Punishment

Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	June 2014 (digital); January 21, 2015 (print)
Writer	John Barber
Pencils	Livio Ramondelli
Continuity	IDW Generation 1 continuity

The Transformers: Punishment is a 5-issue mini-series from IDW Publishing. Released in 2014 immediately after—or perhaps even right before—its announcement at BotCon 2014, it is an original motion comic, designed for the Madefire app. It was available free on the app to Windows 8 users, and was later collected in print in a one-shot.

	The Transformers: Punishment issues:	»
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Overview

When initially released, Punishment took place slightly farther into the future than the current IDW comic books were set. Over the following months, the comic books slowly introduced the new elements Punishment featured, then finally, The Transformers #35 depicted Optimus Prime leaving Earth to return to Cybertron, leading directly into his role in Punishment.

The series focuses on Optimus Prime's return to Cybertron following the events of Dark Cybertron, where he finds that someone is killing Decepticons. Now, Prime must track down and find the killer before it's too late.

Creative team

The mini-series was written by John Barber with art by Livio Ramondelli. It was explained that the comic would take full advantage of the Madefire app, featuring "full-on motion such as doors opening, or when someone gets shot in the head and their head properly explode."