Transformers: Collision Course
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Transformers: Collision Course is an unpublished miniseries from IDW Publishing that would've brought together characters from across the Transformers multiverse.
Overview
Little is known about the plot of Collision Course: as the miniseries would've seen release in 2022, the final year of IDW's tenure on the Transformers license, it would've presumably acted as a capstone to seventeen years of IDW's Transformers storytelling, crossing over characters from IDW's first and second main continuities as well as Regeneration One and much more. An unproduced cover by Alex Milne depicts characters from these comics, alongside various familiar faces from the original Transformers cartoon, Animated, the "Aligned" continuity, the Beast Wars cartoon, its anime spinoffs, and IDW's 2021 comic reboot, plus a few oddball miniseries like Transformers vs. The Terminator, Hearts of Steel, Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, and even Last Bot Standing. Another proposed cover by Guido Guidi features characters explicitly identified as "Armada Megatron" and "Regeneration One Starscream,"<ref>Transformers: Best of the Rarities</ref> an unfinished cover by Andrew Wildman depicts Beast Wars Megatron battling "Generation 1" Grimlock,<ref>Andrew Wildman panel at TFcon 2022</ref> and a cover by Joana Lafuente of Regeneration One Starscream reaching for a Cybertronian flower,<ref>{{#if: Here it is, my last cover for the Transformers while in IDW Publishing's hands. This was one the covers for the unpublished series "Transformers: Collision Course" and I promptly jumped at the opportunity to finally do a Starscream cover (Regen One version). [alt] Transformer's Starscream reaching for a cybertronian/necrobot blue flower while the Universe collapses behind him. |"Here it is, my last cover for the Transformers while in IDW Publishing's hands. This was one the covers for the unpublished series "Transformers: Collision Course" and I promptly jumped at the opportunity to finally do a Starscream cover (Regen One version). [alt] Transformer's Starscream reaching for a cybertronian/necrobot blue flower while the Universe collapses behind him."—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744 |Joana Lafuente|Joana Lafuente}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2022 |, 2022{{#if: 12 |/{{#switch:{{#len:12}}|1=012|12}}{{#if: 05|/{{#switch:{{#len:05}}|1=005|05}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/JoanaLafuente/status/1599924114768031744%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> though it's unclear what, if any, role these characters might've played in the overall story. Prominent IDW authors Nick Roche, James Roberts, Brian Ruckley, Simon Furman, Tom Scioli, and others would've collaborated on the overarcing plot, and brainstormed ideas on a video conference call.<ref>Panel at TFNation 2022</ref> Preliminary art by Scioli includes a scene where Optimus Prime enters an "Energon Universe",<ref>{{#if: The Energon Universe from The Unfinished #Transformers Crossover https://t.co/zOjOmZKFIN |"The Energon Universe from The Unfinished #Transformers Crossover https://t.co/zOjOmZKFIN"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107 |Tom Scioli|Tom Scioli}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2022 |, 2022{{#if: 10 |/{{#switch:{{#len:10}}|1=010|10}}{{#if: 19|/{{#switch:{{#len:19}}|1=019|19}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761511688495107%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> and another that depicts the return of Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Megatron from Dream Valley.<ref>{{#if: Megatron Design from the Unfinished Transformers Crossover https://t.co/TtjDRDWg1I |"Megatron Design from the Unfinished Transformers Crossover https://t.co/TtjDRDWg1I"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496 |Tom Scioli|Tom Scioli}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2022 |, 2022{{#if: 10 |/{{#switch:{{#len:10}}|1=010|10}}{{#if: 19|/{{#switch:{{#len:19}}|1=019|19}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/tomscioli/status/1582761303755882496%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> One possible plot point would have followed up on the duplicate Lost Light from the final issue of Lost Light.<ref>James Roberts at TFcon 2023</ref>
Collision Course was cut very late in production, enough so that artists had already completed several covers. As late as January 2022, an article reporting on IDW's impending loss of the Transformers license noted that the company had two "event" miniseries set to release after the end of their ongoing Transformers comic<ref>IDW to Lose ‘G.I. Joe,’ ‘Transformers’ License at End of 2022 (Exclusive) — The Hollywood Reporter</ref>—it's unclear whether this refers to Last Bot Standing, Transformers: Shattered Glass II, or possibly Collision Course, although Last Bot Standing is a largely self-contained story ostensibly divorced from any other part of the Transformers multiverse. That same month, a letters page in Beast Wars #12 teased the possibility of a "crossover event" when asked about a potential crossover between the cast of Beast Wars and IDW's 2019 Transformers reboot.<ref> "You never know... we may be seeing the Maximals and Predacons in a crossover event in the near future..."</ref> Solicits for 2022's Fate of Cybertron, advertised as the grand finale for IDW's aforementioned Transformers reboot, hinted at a potential next installment that never materialized—it's possible that Collision Course would've continued the story in some capacity.<ref>"The War for Cybertron may end here, but the Autobots and Decepticons aren't done yet!"</ref>
The reasons behind Collision Course's cancellation remain unclear—with only months left on the Transformers license, it may have come down to time concerns, or simply a desire to have both Transformers and Beast Wars end on an organic note instead of forcing them into a contrived crossover scenario. Alternately, it's possible that IDW chose to market Last Bot Standing, written with the intent of acting as the "final Transformers story", as a more subdued response to the end of IDW's Transformers mythos.
Notes
- When IDW first obtained the Transformers license in 2005, Simon Furman originally proposed a multiverse crossover story that would've brought together the casts of both Cybertron and Generation 1, although IDW turned down his pitch.<ref>Transformers, a New Direction, Simon Furman's Transformers proposal printed in The Best of Simon Furman</ref> It's only fitting that what would've been the last IDW book met the same fate...