''Transformers'' is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

series that is mostly written by Brian Ruckley and was initially published twice-monthly by

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

. Based upon the

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

franchise by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

and Takara-Tomy, this series is a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the previous comic book series that started with '' The Transformers: Infiltration'' in 2005 and concluded with '' Transformers: Unicron'' in 2018, taking place in a new continuity that is separate from the

Hasbro Comic Book Universe The Hasbro Comic Book Universe (HCBU) is an American comic book franchise and shared universe created and published by IDW Publishing, based on various properties of the toy company Hasbro. Publication history Following the bankruptcy of Dreamwa ...

. The series debuted on March 13, 2019 and concluded on June 29, 2022 following the announcement of the ''Transformers'' comic book license leaving IDW by the end of the year.

Premise

The story is set a long time ago, when Cybertron was a commerce hub across the galaxy during its age of peace. But everything gets turned upside down when a series of murders sets a chain of events that brings the inevitable war between the

Autobot The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional Continuity (fiction), continuities of the Transformers (fiction), Transformers multimedia franchise, and are depicted in a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and p ...

s and

Decepticon The Decepticons are the main antagonists in the fictional continuities of the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. They are depicted as a faction of sentient robotic lifeforms led by Megatron, identified by a purple face-like insignia. Capab ...

Production history

Background

Following the bankruptcy and closure of

Dreamwave Productions Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996. Best known for its comic book adaptations of Transformers, the company shut down on January 4, 2005. History Brothers Pat Lee and Roger Lee founde ...

in January 2005,

acquired the ''Transformers'' comic book license in May and hired veteran writer

Simon Furman Simon Christopher Francis Furman (born 22 March 1961) is a British people, British Script (comics), comic book writer who is best known for his work on Hasbro's ''Transformers'' franchise, starting with writing Marvel Comics, Marvel's The Tran ...

to craft a rebooted continuity based on the Generation 1 toyline. IDW's first ''Transformers'' title, set in its own continuity, was '' The Transformers: Infiltration'', which was previewed with a #0 in October and formally launched with #1 in January 2006. After having acquired the comic book licence of various other

properties throughout the years—such as ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

'', ''

Action Man Action Man is an action figure launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American "movable fighting man", G.I. Joe. Action Man was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Co ...

'', ''

Rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...

'', ''

M.A.S.K. M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) is a media franchise created by Kenner. The main premise revolved around the fight between the titular protagonist underground task force and the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network o ...

'', and ''

Micronauts Micronauts is a North American science fiction toyline manufactured and marketed by Mego Corporation, Mego from 1976 to 1980. The ''Micronauts'' toyline was based on and licensed from the ''Microman'' toyline created by Japanese-based toy compan ...

''—IDW announced the Hasbro Reconstruction campaign in January 2016; a launch meant to converge these franchises in the same continuity, starting with the crossover events ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' and '' First Strike''. In April 2018, it was announced that this shared continuity, the

(HCBU), would end with '' Transformers: Unicron'' in November.

Development

''Transformers'' was first announced by

on December 18, 2018. The title is written by Brian Ruckley, and was initially illustrated by Angel Hernandez and Cachét Whitman (replacing Ron Joseph), and started publishing issues twice-monthly on March 13, 2019. Ruckley described the writing opportunity as a "privilege", and stated that the title would be a great opportunity for new readers to familiarize themselves with the universe and characters of the ''

'' franchise, which he describes as of the "biggest ndbest that science fiction has to offer". In February 2022, IDW announced to pass the ''Transformers'' comic book license by the end of the year. The series concluded on June 29, 2022 with a one-shot issue titled ''Transformers: Fate of Cybertron''.

Expanded material

* '' Transformers: Galaxies'' (2019–2020) * '' Transformers: Escape'' (2020–2021) * '' Wreckers: Tread & Circuits'' (2021–2022) * '' Transformers: War's End'' (2022)

Issues

Reception

Collected editions

Trade paperback

Other

References

Notes

Footnotes

{{IDW Publishing IDW Publishing titles Comic book reboots 2019 comics debuts Transformers comics Comic books suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic