Transformers: Beast Wars — Shell Game
Transformers: Beast Wars — Shell Game was to be a comic miniseries published in 2005 by Dreamwave Productions featuring characters from Beast Wars. It was to be penned by Simon Furman and penciled by Don Figueroa. It was however ultimately canceled, due to the company's bankruptcy, with only a preview series seeing the light of day. However, some of the concepts for this series were eventually reworked and recycled into IDW Publishing's The Gathering, by the same writer and artist.
| Transformers: Beast Wars — Shell Game issues: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Overview
[edit]This series was to take place immediately after the events of the last episode of Beast Wars, filling the gap between those events and those of Beast Machines. Some plot points that were teased at by several sources while the series' publication was hyped include:
- The introduction of Magmatron to the storyline (as a Predacon, unlike his depiction in his sole toy release to the western market).
- A Megatron's trial taking place, just after the end of the Great War, and the disastrous consequences following the judgement. Based on the cover, this would be Beast Wars Megatron.
- Key events, taking place immediately after the end of the Great War.
Additionally, Simon Furman later released the first draft for the first issue of the series on his blog.[1] The story line is very similar to that of the first issue of The Gathering, with a lot of dialogue recycled. However, some notable differences are present:
- The story takes place immediately after the end of the Beast Wars, rather than during the third season.
- The Maximals' shuttle is stated to have been sabotaged, per Magmatron's orders, by Drill Bit.
- Waspinator's absence is addressed by Magmatron, and Transquito is dispatched to deal with him.
- Tying in with "Ain't No Rat", a portion of the story takes place from Rattrap's point of view (while aboard the shuttle). He deals with ghostly messages from Wolfang, Optimus Minor and Bonecrusher, accusing the crew of abandoning them, and with the rest of the shuttle's crew going seemingly insane due to unknown reasons (although it is implied that it is due to Drill Bit's previously mentioned sabotage). This leads Rattrap to disengage the Transwarp Drive of the shuttle, and they return to prehistoric Earth, with Megatron no longer their captive.
