The Energon Pub

IDW Press Release

San Diego, CA (February 28, 2013) –TRANSFORMERS fans hungering for more thrilling adventures with GRIMLOCK and his fierce DINOBOTS cohorts are in luck this May, when IDW Publishing presents TRANSFORMERS PRIME: BEAST HUNTERS! In this tie-in series to the upcoming season of “Transformers Prime” television show featuring the new BEAST HUNTERS saga, fans will get to experience a brand-new set of cyberfang-gnashing adventures based on the iconic brand from Hasbro!

For the thousands of years since the fall of CYBERTRON, the DINOBOTS haven’t been twiddling their claws! GRIMLOCK, SLUG. SLUDGE, SNARL and SWOOP have been martialing their forces and fighting the good fight against a slew of mysterious new villains.

The lauded creative team from TRANSFORMERS PRIME: RAGE OF THE DINOBOTS returns as writers Mairghread Scott and Mike Johnson team up with artist Agustin Padilla to chronicle the fierce AUTOBOT warriors’ resistance efforts. “There was a special kind of magic in that last TRANSFORMERS PRIME series,” said series Editor Carlos Guzman. “The fans really responded to the thrill-a-minute storytelling, and I can’t be more excited to work with Mairghread, Mike, and Agustin! And with our writers heavily involved in the Transformers Prime television series, we’re in a unique place to tell stories that matter!”

That story picks up miles beneath the charred remains of the TRANSFORMERS race’s smoldering home, CYBERTRON. As the survivors of CYBERTRON’s fall cling to the last bit of Energon left in its core, the DINOBOTS begin forging an unlikely network of hope underground, standing as beacons of resistance under constant attack, while they wait for the AUTOBOTS’ leader, OPTIMUS PRIME, to save them. While their efforts are nothing short of Herculean, can they hold off their shadowy assailants long enough for CYBERTRON to be saved? There’s only one way to find out!

TRANSFORMERS PRIME: BEAST HUNTERS is a veritable feast for Transformers fans of all stripes. Touting covers by Ken Christiansen and Michael Lark, this unique, action-packed adventure is one fans won’t want to miss!

TRANSFORMERS PRIME: BEAST HUNTERS #1 (FC, 32 pages, $3.99) in stores 5/22/13








About IDW

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; Toho’s Godzilla; and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio.

IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Warner Brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld are attached to adapt LORE into a feature film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot, with Michael Bay‘s Platinum Dunes and Sony bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film.

Boy, the Dinobots sure have stayed on Cybertron for a veeeeeeeeeeeeery long time. I wonder if they'll ever go to Earth at all.

May? Geez it's already hard enough waiting for the show to even start up....

Underground resistance? Crossing my fingers for some brand new faces

Edit: Nevermind read that part wrong

So I am guessing that Grimlock never gets to experience his "Beast Era" self in the end.

But despite that, this is a very good move and seriously hope that IDW does not do anything that would sour the franchise for the fans.

I am actually very excited about this series. Although Rage of the Dinobots could have been better, I'm stoked that there will be more Dinobot action in this aligned continuity! It seems like (based on the variant covers) that this story will also take place back on Earth too. So, it will hopefully tie in well with the show, even if we don't seem much of (if any) the Dinobots in it. I'm curious to see how these stories may interconnect.

I've also said this several times before, but I've got to say it again: This keeps my hopes alive that we'll eventually get the rest of the Dinobots in the Generations line!

Needless to say, I've already got my local comic shop personal comic box set up to receive all of these as they come out!

Rhinox23 wrote:It seems like (based on the variant covers) that this story will also take place back on Earth too.

Do you mean because of the presence of Starscream and Predaking? I hope Earth is a setting, too? It might increase the chances of the Dinobots appearing in the animation, but it could also mean that Starscream will make a trip to Cybertron.

"...while they wait for the AUTOBOTS’ leader, OPTIMUS PRIME, to save them."

Am I being overly sensitive for taking issue with that line? It just adds a hint of desperation to the Dinobots which I wouldn't have thought suited them.

Sodan-1 wrote:

Rhinox23 wrote:It seems like (based on the variant covers) that this story will also take place back on Earth too.

Do you mean because of the presence of Starscream and Predaking? I hope Earth is a setting, too? It might increase the chances of the Dinobots appearing in the animation, but it could also mean that Starscream will make a trip to Cybertron.

"...while they wait for the AUTOBOTS’ leader, OPTIMUS PRIME, to save them."

Am I being overly sensitive for taking issue with that line? It just adds a hint of desperation to the Dinobots which I wouldn't have thought suited them.

Yeah, I was basing my statement off of those two variant covers. The teased plot line seems to only revolve around what the Dinobots have been doing since the end of Rage of the Dinobots. Those covers would indicate to me that we'll see some of the Earth based characters too.

You could be correct in that Starscream will return to Cybertron, but perhaps Predaking will too. We'll just have to see but there's a lot there because of the Dinobots' tie to Shockwave. What I think would be the coolest would be if there was jumping back and forth in the story between Earth and Cybertron with an eventual meeting of the two. Either way, I'm very excited!

Also, I do agree with you about the Dinobots not needing help. That could play out in an interesting way given the dynamic between Optimus and Grimlock from FOC. Should be quite entertaining.

I was a HUGE fan of the Dinobots as a kid (mostly because I just loved Dinosaurs in general, but what little boy didn't)! I'm just so happy that Hasbro is working them into the brand again. Hopefully we'll only continue to see more of them from this great (and quite adult) story line from FOC!

"thrill-a-minute storytelling?" Hardly. The Rage of Dinobots series was decent at best, which is a big accomplishment for iDW. I will most likely get the Beast Hunters series, hoping there will be improvements on Rage of the Dinobots. That would make the series above average.