The Energon Pub

[Prime Evil]

http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/751/

It looks like Don is back on TF's, for the foreseeable future.

BB gets a four issue series.

And I'm really excited about Nick Roche doing a TF Wreckers comic!!

[Tigertrack]

IDW has just posted a press release on their website about the future of Transformer's Generation One related comics:

San Diego, CA (July 24, 2009) - After the huge success of this summer's blockbuster TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN movie, IDW is keeping the excitement going with three new TRANSFORMERS series. Under license from Hasbro, IDW is proud to offer fans The TRANSFORMERS, the first ongoing series in years, written by the critically-acclaimed Mike Costa. Coming in November, TRANSFORMERS #1 starts things off with not one, but two, huge events so CYBERTON-shattering that the lives of the TRANSFORMERS characters will never be the same.

Spinning out of the events of the new ongoing series will be two miniseries. The four-issue TRANSFORMERS: BUMBLEBEE puts BUMBLEBEE between a rock and a hard place with his own friends, while TRANSFORMERS: Last Stand of the Wreckers plots the course of AUTOBOTS in space as they confront a new foe who just might tear the (Dave do these need all caps? CAPS ARE BEST) Springer, Kup, and their cadre of AUTOBOT heroes apart.

"This is the first ongoing TRANSFORMERS series for IDW, and there's a good reason to do it now. These stories are too big and too important to contain in even several volumes of miniseries. And it all starts with events in TRANSFORMERS #1," said IDW's TRANSFORMERS editor, Andy Schmidt. "This is the best jumping on point for new comics or TRANSFORMERS fans in years. We're embarking on a whole new journey and an exciting new direction."

The TRANSFORMERS will debut in November, helmed by [i]Mike Costa with art and covers by returning, fan-favorite, artistic dynamo Don Figueroa. This series is the basis for the two new miniseries, creating an unstoppable combination of new TRANSFORMERS comics.

Debuting in December, writer Zander Cannon and artist Chee masterfully create Bumblebee's story in this four-issue miniseries. TRANSFORMERS: BUMBLEBEE spins out of the ongoing series and is a must-read for any fan. TRANSFORMERS: Last Stand of the Wreckers is set in space concurrent with the ongoing series. Shedding light on the conflicts outside of Earth, long-time TRANSFORMERS creator Nick Roche masterfully foreshadows upcoming events in the ongoing series, while taking fans on a wild ride.



The TRANSFORMERS will be available in stores in November.

TRANSFORMERS: BUMBLEBEE will be available in stores in December.

TRANSFORMERS: Last Stand of the Wreckers will be available in stores in January.[/i]

Seibertron.com for all of your Transformers news and resource needs.

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[ashe5k]

Ongoing Gen 1 goodness. Yum.

[Heavy B]

so will this be apart of the current series....or are they droping that cluster fu*k all together

and are they EVER going to finish the Dreamwave series???

[Mkall]

Wreckers. W00t!

[Kenny28]

so will this be apart of the current series....or are they droping that cluster fu*k all together

and are they EVER going to finish the Dreamwave series???

If Pat Lee ever pays the guys he left hanging....so probably not.

I don't see IDW picking up the check for him any time soon either.

[TRANS+CRAZY]

Sweet! Can't wait for this comics to come out.

[Samsonator]

It looks like Don's bringing more of his recent hybrid of classic and movie styles, still not too sure what to think about that. Nick's Wreckers comic should prove to be awesome. As for Bumblebee... y'know, I don't like Bumblebee, he's entirely too overrated, especially after the movies. I say give the stories to a character who needs more exposure, not one constantly being shoved in our faces.

- Sam

[NuclearConvoy]

so will this be apart of the current series....or are they droping that cluster fu*k all together

and are they EVER going to finish the Dreamwave series???

No, they will never ever finish the stuff Dreamwave was doing. A) There still seems to be a buttload of legal issues tied up around some of that stuff and b) I really don't think continuing another company's stories is a profitable avenue. How many people even care about the Dreamwave stuff being finished up?

And, from the press release I thought it was incredibly clear that all of this was in continuity with the "-ations", Max. Dinos and AHM line. Where was there any room for confusion?

[SkyRaider]

Happy to hear there is an ongoing G1 series and a Wreckers miniseries. I'm a bit skeptical of Don after AHM #13; he needs to go back to his old style. Still I'm looking forward to it.

As for Bumblebee, I just dont understand what people see him as a character. Weak, cowardly, always worrying how he's doing etc. etc. etc. He's a dead end character and frankly one of the worst TF's ever. I have no clue why they are doing a four issue series on him. Can someone tell me what his appeal is?

[Fearing]

so will this be apart of the current series....or are they droping that cluster fu*k all together

and are they EVER going to finish the Dreamwave series???

I wish. I'm with you on wanting to see a conclusion to the Dreamwave stuff. Despite Pat Lee's art being such a mixed bag, we usually got Don's art and the story was always fun. It'd be nice to see it at least tied of or some how spun back into the old G1 cartoon continuity somehow as a way to cap it off. Outside of a few things that would need serious explaining, they could spin the story right into the G1 animated movie fairly easily. Then there's the 3rd War Within mini series. Seriously I wish they would at least finish that. That one's really been killin' me.

But as other's have said the legal side would seem to prevent that. I don't know a lot about the legal end, but it'd be nice if IDW could just pay the writers and artist for thier work like they would if they were publishing it themselves from the begining anyway and get it out there at least in trades. But again, probably not that easy. The Lee brothers seemed to really screw over thier employees and all Transformers fans everywhere pretty hard on that one.

[Down_Shift]

Happy to hear there is an ongoing G1 series and a Wreckers miniseries. I'm a bit skeptical of Don after AHM #13; he needs to go back to his old style. Still I'm looking forward to it.

As for Bumblebee, I just dont understand what people see him as a character. Weak, cowardly, always worrying how he's doing etc. etc. etc. He's a dead end character and frankly one of the worst TF's ever. I have no clue why they are doing a four issue series on him. Can someone tell me what his appeal is?

Are you being serious? It's still a kids brand. Kids love Bumblebee and Hasbro wants to play that market as much as possible. So if doing a four part mini series to build his character than that's what will be done. I personally think it's awesome. BB isn't a deep character, but he certainly is interesting. Over the years they've made him man up on more then one occasion.

(you answered your own question in your question BTW )

[Zetatron]

As for Bumblebee, I just dont understand what people see him as a character. Weak, cowardly, always worrying how he's doing etc. etc. etc. He's a dead end character and frankly one of the worst TF's ever. I have no clue why they are doing a four issue series on him. Can someone tell me what his appeal is?

Maybe their trying to give the character more depth. Yeah, in most stories he's the shallow, kid friendly little brother of the Autobots, but maybe IDW's going to try beef him up and actually give us a reason to want to see him in more stories. They did pretty well with fixing Wheelie. His Spotlight is one of my favorites, and he was one of the worst parts of the G1 Cartoon. Besides, since this series isn't connected to a toyline IDW doesn't really have to push the kid friendly slag, so we might get to see a whole new side of BB. I say give it a chance, so far this has been the best TF storyline put out since Beast Wars and I for one and looking forward to more.

[Starfield]

so will this be apart of the current series....or are they droping that cluster fu*k all together

...

...
And, from the press release I thought it was incredibly clear that all of this was in continuity with the "-ations", Max. Dinos and AHM line. Where was there any room for confusion?

I got the exact opposite impression from the press release. They didn't mention the current continuity at all.

Andy Schmidt. "This is the best jumping on point for new comics or TRANSFORMERS fans in years. We're embarking on a whole new journey and an exciting new direction."

[NuclearConvoy]

so will this be apart of the current series....or are they droping that cluster fu*k all together

...

...
And, from the press release I thought it was incredibly clear that all of this was in continuity with the "-ations", Max. Dinos and AHM line. Where was there any room for confusion?

I got the exact opposite impression from the press release. They didn't mention the current continuity at all.

Andy Schmidt. "This is the best jumping on point for new comics or TRANSFORMERS fans in years. We're embarking on a whole new journey and an exciting new direction."

Yet you ignore the first half of that quote saying it is their first ongoing and refencing the previous series of mini-series. You also seem to ignore the fact that a press release would definitely mention if they were rebooting the series instead of just transitioning to a new format and launching a couple new titles. Dropping a continuity and revamping would be more than worthy of mention in a press release.

[Down_Shift]

of course they won't drop that last x amount of years worth of story. I loved AHM and I think it needs to go deeper! Like balls deep.

[ausbot]

I want to see a series that connects g1 cartoon to the movie (when did the others come to earth, building of auto bot city etc)then a series that connects g1 to beast wars (conversion from autobot to maximal etc) and then finally a conclusion to dreamwave ww3 and perhapse a tpb of micromasters! I don't want much!

[NuclearConvoy]

of course they won't drop that last x amount of years worth of story. I loved AHM and I think it needs to go deeper! Like balls deep.

I liked the ideas of AHM, but am I the only one who thinks that it was much too shallow? Like, the main story is over and we don't even really know how the Cons got the advantage asides from brief flashbacks. Also, I really want to know how Autobots outside of the Earth and Cybertron scenes fared during the apparent Con reign of victory.

[MYoung23]

"This is the best jumping on point for new comics or TRANSFORMERS fans in years. We're embarking on a whole new journey and an exciting new direction."

Reeeeeebooooooot.

It could be a good or a bad thing. In any event we have McCarthy to thank.

I can understand why IDW has done this. If you look at the state of the current universe; the Autobots are assumably depleted in ranks, Cyberton is still an uninhabitable husk and the Transformers aren't welcomed on Earth. Considering that all of Transformers lore has either taken place on Cybertron, Earth (or Earth-like) planet IDW may have pigeonholed itself.

Also, I wouldnt get in too much of a huff about Bumblebee. He really wasnt the "little brother" archetype in the IDW-verse and they now have the opportunity to grow him up without going over the top.

[ceratoformers3]

I don't think it's a reboot. Notice the lack of Sunstreaker in the second picture. Also, good to see a comic book dedicated to the Wreckers. I love those guys. And it also looks like Ironhide and Ratchet have new alternate modes.

[Orin_Thomas]

What I love about the picture of the autobots with Prime at the front is that Drift is not in it.

[justynnbailey]

Not a big fan of Don Figueroa's most recent work, and the promo for the ongoing doesnt do anything to change that opinion. It's too "movie-style" for me. Actually, I was kinna hoping Furman would be back at the helm for the new stuff...

[SkyRaider]

I want to see a series that connects g1 cartoon to the movie (when did the others come to earth, building of auto bot city etc)then a series that connects g1 to beast wars (conversion from autobot to maximal etc) and then finally a conclusion to dreamwave ww3 and perhapse a tpb of micromasters! I don't want much!

DW was trying to connect to the movie, at least in terms of the construction of Autobot City, and I was looking forward to that story. I'd rather keep Beast Wars away from G1 to be honest; I just dont see how you an justify turning the Transformers into human size when their planet was built for 15ft plus sized robots.

I liked the ideas of AHM, but am I the only one who thinks that it was much too shallow? Like, the main story is over and we don't even really know how the Cons got the advantage asides from brief flashbacks. Also, I really want to know how Autobots outside of the Earth and Cybertron scenes fared during the apparent Con reign of victory.

No, I'm with you. The story seemed very disjointed. At first the humans were a big part of it, then all of a sudden they were barely there. There are a few holes, or at least they just glossed over things. I dont think AHM was that good; but the latter half was better than the first, and it was better than Infiltration and the other miniseries that preceeded it. Of course, it doesnt take much to be better than those things.

[Dead Metal]

The first ongoing TF series in years? So when they kept emphasizing that the TF comic stated with Infiltration was indeed ongoing and not a miniseries they lied to us?

[wrecknrule]

wreckers mini? HELL YEAH! - quite interesting to see the promo images - is that Hardhead tucked away on the image with Prime?
be interesting to see how this works out - AHM was a great idea, just overlong and with poor quality control - now that the Fig's back, i can see that improving...