Simon Furman Blog Update; Concerning IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebooks.

IDW writer Simon Furman has once again updated his Blog, this time talking about the work he and Ben Yee put into created the upcoming Beast Wars Sourcebooks.
Some excerpts from his blog post can be found below:
But a unified Beast Wars universe, one that amalgamates the US Beast Wars TV series/toy line with its Japanese counterparts (BW II and BW Neo) and, for good measure, the convention/store exclusive toy characters. That was what we (myself and bwtf.com’s Ben Yee) set out to do when (over a year ago now) we began to craft a four-issue sourcebook/profile series for Transformers Beast Wars, the first issue of which is available next week. No easy task, as there are elements of the Japanese shows that just aren’t easily compatible with the US series.
Over the course of the four issues, no less than 162 characters are profiled, and (in issue #4) there’s an extensive glossary. Entries vary from one to two to three pages, depending on number of alt. forms or variations. Main characters, such as Optimus Primal and Megatron get the full three-page treatment, even including early (unused in the TV show) forms such as bat Primal and croc Megatron. It took a good chunk of time to write all four issues, and longer still for IDW editorial to commission the illustrations and compile the books. But here we are at last. Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 hits the stores on Oct 3rd (US) and Oct 4th (UK).
For the full Blog, including the process which Furman and Yess went through to set out the Timeline of the Beast Wars Universe, the Cybertronian hierarchy, and other useful tidbits please Click here.
Some excerpts from his blog post can be found below:
But a unified Beast Wars universe, one that amalgamates the US Beast Wars TV series/toy line with its Japanese counterparts (BW II and BW Neo) and, for good measure, the convention/store exclusive toy characters. That was what we (myself and bwtf.com’s Ben Yee) set out to do when (over a year ago now) we began to craft a four-issue sourcebook/profile series for Transformers Beast Wars, the first issue of which is available next week. No easy task, as there are elements of the Japanese shows that just aren’t easily compatible with the US series.
Over the course of the four issues, no less than 162 characters are profiled, and (in issue #4) there’s an extensive glossary. Entries vary from one to two to three pages, depending on number of alt. forms or variations. Main characters, such as Optimus Primal and Megatron get the full three-page treatment, even including early (unused in the TV show) forms such as bat Primal and croc Megatron. It took a good chunk of time to write all four issues, and longer still for IDW editorial to commission the illustrations and compile the books. But here we are at last. Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 hits the stores on Oct 3rd (US) and Oct 4th (UK).
For the full Blog, including the process which Furman and Yess went through to set out the Timeline of the Beast Wars Universe, the Cybertronian hierarchy, and other useful tidbits please Click here.