IDW Publishing

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Idea and Design Works, LLC currently owns the Transformers comic book license as of May 2005, following the financial collapse of the previous license holder, Dreamwave Productions, at the tail-end of 2004.

IDW's flagship storyline is a rebooted Generation 1 continuity, which started out being written by longtime Transformers scribe Simon Furman and told through a succession of mini-series and one-shot Spotlights, before finally producing a monthly comic in 2009. IDW has also been authorized to re-release trade paperbacks published by Dreamwave Productions, such as the War and Peace mini-series and The War Within and The War Within: The Dark Ages. In May 2008, IDW's relationship with Hasbro proved to be quite healthy indeed as they snapped up the G.I. Joe comic book license as well.

IDW mocks your nerdy belief that writers and editors should be able to remember things that happened in previous issues.

Series published

G1 rebooted

The main IDW continuity started out as mostly overseen by Simon Furman, who took a fresh approach to the Generation 1 story. All the familiar faces were present, but a more sophisticated universe unfolding around them. (Initial ideas for IDW's Transformer line included a Crisis on Infinite Earths-style story and a G1/Cybertron crossover that would start off two ongoings in the respective continuities [1])

Instead of an ongoing civil war on Cybertron which spills over to Earth by accident, Furman presented us with an interstellar war between the Autobots and Decepticons, a war of Codes of Interplanetary Conflict and alt-form-and-dagger covert operations, with energon the prize and whole planets at stake. A surprising development on Earth heats up the war and turns our planet from just another proxy battleground into the ultimate prize.

The general order of publications to date is as follows:

• Infiltration (2005–06) Establishes the presence of the Transformers on modern-day Earth and re-establishes the theme of "robots in disguise" as central to the new continuity; a seven-issue story arc (issues #0 to #6).
• Spotlight (2006–present) Series of one-shot stories focusing on a single Transformer per issue; this series has no fixed publication format and is ongoing, though it has been on hiatus since "Spotlight: Metroplex".
• Stormbringer (2006) A four-issue miniseries tie-in to Infiltration, establishing Cybertron's current situation in the re-boot and focusing squarely on the Transformers.
• Escalation (2006–07) Sequel to Infiltration; a six-issue story arc detailing a conflict with the Decepticons in Brasnya and the abduction of Sunstreaker and Hunter O'Nion.
• New Avengers/Transformers (2007) A collaboration between Marvel Comics and IDW featuring the first ever crossover between the Transformers and New Avengers. Though it has minimal effects on the overall universe, it was specifically designed to fit into continuity between Infiltration and Escalation.
• Megatron Origin (2007) A four-issue story arc detailing the events surrounding Megatron's rise to power and the founding of the Decepticon faction.
• Devastation (2007–08) Sequel to Escalation; a six-issue story arc following up on what happened to Sunstreaker, as well as the Decepticons' battle with the Reapers and seeds are planted for the upcoming Dead Universe arc.
• Revelation (2008) Sequel to Devastation; composed of 4 Spotlights; Cyclonus, Hardhead, Doubledealer and Sideswipe. This series wraps up the events of the Dead Universe.
• All Hail Megatron (2008–2009) A twelve-issue maxi-series, extended to sixteen to include the All Hail Megatron Coda series. It chronicles the aftermath of the defeat of the Autobots and the Decepticon conquest of Earth. The publication schedule overlaps with Revelation and Maximum Dinobots. Issues 13–16 each consist of two 11-page stories that help strengthen the flaws in All Hail Megatron and tie into the next series.
• Maximum Dinobots (2008–2009) A five-issue which takes place chronologically between Revelation and All Hail Megatron (which it was published concurrently with). The series wraps up Furman's story arcs with the Dynobots, Sunstreaker, the Headmasters, Shockwave, Skywatch and the Machination.
• The Transformers (2009–?) An ongoing series that begins in November 2009 [2]. The series is penned by Mike Costa with art by Don Figueroa.
• The Transformers: Bumblebee (2009–2010) A four-issue miniseries chronicling Bumblebee's journey on Earth after the events of All Hail Megatron, focusing on the conflicts and decisions 'Bee makes (sort of like a Spotlight). It begins in December 2009, written by Zander Cannon with art by Chee Yang Ong (the team that worked on the second story of All Hail Megatron #16).
• Last Stand of the Wreckers (2010) A five-issue miniseries beginning in January 2010, written and drawn by Nick Roche with colors by Josh Burcham. It chronicles the antics of the Wreckers in deep space after AHM.

The sequel to Revelation at one point was to be titled Expansion, but it was canceled in favor of All Hail Megatron. However, Furman stated that some of the ideas from the series may pop up in other series.

See also

• IDW continuity
• IDW timeline

Beast Wars

Taking place within the Beast Wars cartoon universe, this line eschews the previous 3H Productions fan club comics that previously continued the show's story to strike out in a new direction, focusing mainly on the non-show toy characters.

• Beast Wars: The Gathering (2006) A four-issue mini-series marking the 10th anniversary of the Beast Wars franchise.
• Beast Wars: The Ascending (2007–08) A four-issue sequel to The Gathering that began publication in October 2007.
• The Beast Wars Sourcebook (2007) profile series of the Beast Era.

See also

• Beast Wars timeline (IDW)

Evolutions

Intended to be a series of Elseworlds-like stories that exist in their own separate continuities, each taking different takes on Transformers. Only one has so-far been produced. (Reportedly, Hasbro has asked IDW to hold back on Evolutions as to not confuse customers looking for merchandise based on the 2007 film.) Chris Ryall stated that with the Movie and Animated series, it is unlikely we will see any more of these series.

• Hearts of Steel (2006) Places the G1 Transformers in the American West during the Industrial Revolution.

Live-action film series

• Transformers: Movie Prequel (2007) A four-part series detailing the lead-up to the 2007 Transformers movie.
• Planetfall and Interlude (2007) Target exclusive prequel comics for the 2007 film.
• Transformers: Movie Adaptation (2007) A four-part comic adaptation of the film, released weekly in June 2007.
• The Reign of Starscream (2008) IDW's official sequel to the 2007 film, continuing where the Movie Adaptation left off. It began in May 2008.
• Saga of the Allspark (2008) Reprinting the UK Movie comics from Titan Magazine.
• Transformers: Destiny (2008–2009) The 2-miniseries prequel to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Adaptation (2009) A four-part comic adaption of the film, released weekly in May and June 2009.
• Tales of the Fallen (2009–2010) A series of spotlights for six Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen characters.
• Transformers: Nefarious (2010) A 6-issue sequel to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Transformers Animated

• Transformers Animated (2008) A Animated cartoon adaptation series.
• Transformers Animated: The Arrival (2008) A six-issue mini-series set in the same continuity as the Animated cartoon.
• Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac (2009)

Reprint series

• Generations — Reprints old Marvel Comics issues, specifically ones that did not feature Marvel-owned characters such as Circuit Breaker.
• Target 2006 (2007)
• Transformers: Magazine (2007) — Reprints three comics per issue from the Marvel, Dreamwave, and IDW runs.
• Best of UK: Dinobots (2007)
• Best of UK: Space Pirates (2008)
• Best of UK: Time Wars (2008)
• Classic Transformers (2008) — Collects old Marvel Comics issues in trade paperback format, starting with Transformers #1 and summarizing those featuring Marvel-owned characters such as Spider-Man and Circuit Breaker.
• Best of UK: City of Fear (2009)
• Best of UK: Prey (2009)

Others

• Transformers: The Animated Movie (2006) A four-issue adaptation of the original Transformers film, 1986's The Transformers: The Movie; marks the film's 20th anniversary and new DVD release.
• The Best of Simon Furman (2007)
• The Best of Don Figueroa (2007)
• The Art of IDW's Transformers (2007)
• The Transformers: The Premiere Collection, Volume 1 (2007)
• Greatest Battles of Optimus Prime and Megatron (2007)
• The Ark (2007) — A Complete Compendium Of Transformers Animation Models
• Balancing Act (2007)
• The Ark II (2008) — A Compendium of Japanese Character Designs
• Transformers: War Within Omnibus (2009)
• Robot Heroes (2009) — A comic based around the Robot Heroes toyline.
• The Complete Ark (2009) — Combines the first and second volumes.
• The Transformers Continuum: The Definitive Chronology (2009) — A book theoretically chronicling the history of the Transformers Universe.

External link

• IDW Publishing
• TF Archive's guide to the Ongoing Transformers comic