IDW Loses Transformers License After 17 Years

IDW has confirmed that the company has lost the Transformers after a 17 years. No reasons were specified on what cause the license to be lost (I have a theory, see further below). It is currently rumored that Image imprint Skybound is in talks to take over the license. Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, runs the imprint but all indications are he would not write for the comic series as he tends to prefer to focus on his creator owned properties.“

At the end of 2022, IDW will bid a fond farewell to the publication of G.I. Joe and Transformers comic books and graphic novels,” the company said in a statement provided to THR. “We’re exceedingly proud of our stewardship of these titles – 17 years with the Robots in Disguise and 14 years with A Real American Hero – and thank the legion of fans for their unwavering support, month in and month out. We’re also eternally grateful to every one of the talented creators who helped bring these characters to four-color life through our comics.” 

Other Hasbro properties like My Little Pony and Dungeons & Dragons will remain at IDW. Since IDW has until the end of the year, the company is currently working on finishing out its run of Transformers and GI Joe. The main Transformers series and Beast Wars series will all end by end of summer. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero will end its run at issue 300 and then the remainder of the year will be filled with a mini-series and spotlight one-shots.

IDW Transformers Reboot Begins in March

IDW has announced that Transformers will return to comic book stores on March 2019. The current run of IDW's Transformers series that began with Infiltration and ended with Unicron (and Optimus Prime #25) is considered a complete end to that version of the Transformers continuity. The new version will begin...well at the beginning. With a new take on what sparked the Cybertronian Civil War (or whatever name eventually gets assigned it). The bi-monthly series will be written by Brian Ruckley, illustrated by Angel Hernandez and Ron Joseph with issue 1 published sometime in early March 2019.

In this new Transformers comic, IDW will explore Cybertron, delving into an idyllic society, peaceful for thousands of years, as it faces the most momentous event in its history: the mysterious end of a single life. Through the eyes of young Bumblebee and his friends, fans will witness conspiracies forming, harmony giving way to conflict, and the very fabric of Cybertronian civilization tearing itself apart.

“Bringing Transformers fans this story is a real privilege,” says Brian Ruckley. “But just as important, it’s an amazing opportunity for new readers to discover and explore one of the biggest universes – and one of the best casts of characters – that science fiction has to offer, and to get in right at the start of a truly epic saga.”

Ron Joseph says, “In my youth, I devoured everything Transformers – toys, comics, the cartoon, the movie – with a Unicron-like hunger. ‘Robots in Disguise’ dominated my every waking moment. To join IDW’s creative team for the launch of a Transformers comic is staggering, and easily one of the greatest moments of my life.”

“We are eager to begin this new chapter in Transformers storytelling,” says Michael Kelly, Hasbro’s Vice President of Global Publishing. “We are excited to begin a tale that will be accessible and appealing to readers unfamiliar with Transformers lore, while still providing the depth and drama that our long-time fans expect. It’s a big responsibility, but we’ve got the right team and the right characters to do it.”

IDW Transformers Continuity to End with Return of Unicron

IDW has revealed the first look at their take on the robot mode of Unicron and with it the end of 12 years of IDW Transformers continuity. Transformers: Unicron (press release below) will start in July as a six issue series that will release bi-weekly as will current ongoing Transformers: Optimus Prime and Transformers: Lost Light. So if you are a long time fan of IDW's Transformers take, it seems the end is near. Long time Transformers writer James Roberts summarized things pretty succinctly:

To summarise: the current IDW G1 continuity will end (spectacularly) with Unicron #6, OP #25 and LL #25, all in September. All three are biweekly over summer. We've had time to plan for the end, so it's a proper, un-rushed wrap up. Beyond Sept? New IDW TF comics, new continuity.
— James Roberts (@jroberts332) March 27, 2018

IDW April 2017 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for April 2017. Three comics are coming. The ongoings continue along as Optimus Prime finishes it's first story arc. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW March 2017 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for March 2017. Four comics and one trade are coming. A hardcover collection of the Deviations stories from last year is coming but keep in mind only one single issue involved the Transformers. Otherwise its business as usual in the ongoing. There is a GI Joe vs Transformers "movie adaptation" one shot that is written and drawn by the same person that did the previous mini-series if a fan of his style. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW January 2017 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for January 2017. The post Revolution story arc world for Hasbro properties continue but based on the solicitations it seems Transformers are being allowed to go their separate way for a while to tell their own stories once again. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.

Transformers: Revolution Humble Bundle for Charity

Once again Hasbro and joined with Humble Bundle to create a DRM free Transformers comic collection to benefit the Hasbro Children's Fund. Available from now until around October 29, you can get nearly the entire current run of IDW's Transformers comics up to the Revolution storyarc that just started. Per usual, the bundle is segmented but at a value of $405 so you can't beat the deal with most of the proceeds going to charity so you should really consider donating over the $15 minimum for the full bundle. These purchases are not tied into Comixology or other online retailers.

If ordering I recommend creating a Humble Bundle account first and then log in before donating. That way it automatically ties your purchase to your account to re-download if need to in the future. After donating you will receive an email that directs you to the site to download the books in your preferred format. If interested in the .cbz format of the books, the readers I use is ComicGlass for iPad/iPhone, Cover for Windows 10 and Perfect Viewer for Android (but add your own suggestions in the commments). If go with epub format, Play Books from Google will probably more that meet your needs in most cases and includes syncing across devices.

Full details are at Humble Bundle.

IDW December 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for December 2016. Four floppies and two trades for that month. Now that the re-introduction of the Hasbro Cinematic Universe via Revolution has ended, Revolutionaries keeps the ball rolling as the lesser known characters mix it up with Transformers characters. Transformers: Lost Light continues the adventures of the Lost Light crew for their not really quest for the Knights of Cybertron. Till All Are One follows events on Cybertron as dead Titans (shorthand for Metroplex/Fortress Maximus scale Transformers) are causing havoc while Optimus continues to navigate problems on Earth. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW November 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for November 2016. Four floppies and no trades for that month. The Revolution mini-series to introduce the Hasbro Universe with Transformers, GI Joe, ROM, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and Action Man is coming to an end. That means relaunches of various titles including More Than Meets the Eye but its not a reboot. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW October 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for October 2016. Four floppies and one trade are coming that month. The Revolution mini-series to introduce the Hasbro Universe continued with Transformers, GI Joe, ROM, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and Action Man. As a result there are no ongoing Transformers after Transformers and Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye ended their current runs. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW September 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for September 2016. Five floppies and one trade are coming that month. The Revolution mini-series kicks off them month which will attempt to re-introduce the upcoming Hasbro Cinematic Universe characters of ROM, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and Action Man via G.I. Joe and Transformers to create a unified Hasbro Universe across their line of licensed comics. As a consequence Transformers and Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye are ending their current runs. IDW has not yet announced what the replacement series may be but I suspect the MCU characters will have significant roles in them. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW Announces Hasbro Crossover Revolution

Today IDW announced a crossover series with their series of Hasbro licenses that will be called Revolution. The bi-weekly five-issue series looks like it will be aimed to re-introduce Micronauts, ROM, Action Man and M.A.S.K. using G.I. Joe and Transformers properties as a kind of bridge to the lesser known characters from the mid-eighties. This is probably the beginning of Hasbro's plans to get audiences familiar with the characters considering they want to create new movie franchises based on those properties. The crossover will lead to the launch of new number one issues and series but which will is unclear (but I assume this will include GI Joe and Transformers current ongoing series). Basically Revolution will solidify the existence of the Hasbro Universe at IDW with the characters crossing paths as story lines dictate much like occurs on a regular basis with DC and Marvel Universes.

From IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall:

There’s actually story elements that date back to the very first Transformers comic we did in 2005 that serve as the catalyst for why everything we’ve done exists in the same universe, and why people can be comfortable with everything they’ve followed. It’s just now everybody will be acknowledging each other in a much greater way than ever before.

IDW August 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for August 2016. Three floppies and three trades are coming that month. The Titans Return story line continues in the ongoing series. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW July 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for July 2016. Four floppies and two trades are coming that month. This month will conclude the All Hail Optimus and Dying of the Light storylines and the series moves into Titan Returns story arc that will run in advance of the planned fall release of the next wave of Titan Master centric toy line (the catch-all name for weapon masters, power masters, headmaster, etc.). For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW June 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for June 2016. Four floppies and two trades are coming that month. This month IDW starts a third Transformers ongoing called "Till All Are One" that focuses on Starscream's government and the Council of Worlds. This essentially will replace Transformers vs GI Joe which ends its run this month. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW March 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for March 2016. Three floppies and two trades are coming that month. This month IDW introduces their "Deviations" event one-shots were they propose alternative histories on their various media based lines. For Transformers, their what if is what if Optimus Prime didn't die in Transformers: The Movie and was around to confront Unicron? For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW January 2016 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for January 2016. Three floppies are coming that month. It turns out that December's Transformers: Robots in Disguise (the one that is based on the cartoon) is done. Otherwise the month is designed to finish up currently story lines as both of the main series shift to the All Hail Optimus story line that starts next month. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW December 2015 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for December 2015. Five floppies and two trades are coming out that month. Sins of the Wreckers continues with return of Verity (from previous Wreckers series and way back in first few years of IDW taking over the franchise). For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW November 2015 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for November 2015. Four floppies, one trade and one box set are coming out that month. Of note is the start of a new mini-series starring the Wreckers. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.

IDW October 2015 Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for October 2015. Four floppies, one trade and one box set are coming out that month. Of note is a one-shot that focuses on the Dinobots as they try to figure what warriors should do when there is no war. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, and more click here.