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The Transformers
Composite ofStormbringer covers drawn byDon Figueroa
Publication information
Publisher	IDW Publishing
Genre	Science fiction,superhero
Publication date	October 2005 – November 2018
No. of issues	427
Creative team
Created by	Hasbro

The Transformers (later retitled asTransformers) is acomic bookline byIDW Publishing based uponHasbro'sTransformers characters andtoy line, featuring many writers and artists across multiple series. It is notable for being the longest continuously runningTransformers continuity to date, beginning in October 2005 withThe Transformers: Infiltration and ending in November 2018, after the six-issueUnicron event comic. The following year, it would berebooted and succeeded bya new comic book series on 2019.

IDW lost the license rights by the end of 2022 and the license was passed toSkybound Entertainment in 2023.^[1][2]

Dreamwave Productions shut down on January 4, 2005, and announced they would cease publication of all their comics, leavingTransformers: Generation One and itsprequel series,Transformers: The War Within incomplete.^[3] Chris Ryall, editor-in-chief ofIDW Publishing, leaped at the chance to bid on the property.^[4] On May 19, 2005, Hasbro announced they had awarded the licensing rights to IDW Publishing, with plans for an issue #0 in October 2005 and an ongoing title entitledThe Transformers: Infiltration to begin in January 2006.^[5] Beforehand, Ryall met up with long-time writerSimon Furman.^[6] Furman aimed for a contemporary version of theGeneration 1 incarnation to appeal to new and old fans alike. They both cited a focus on the "Robots inDisguise" element of the characters, aiming to bring back their "myth and majesty".^[7] Overall, Furman described it as, "This was, at last (after 20-plus years) MY take on Transformers."^[8] Furman also aimed for areal time approach,^[9] using maps to help guide his stories.^[10]Infiltration's issue #0 sold 100,000 copies in pre-orders, a record for the company.^[11] Furman focused the story onAutobot medic Ratchet and broke new ground forG1-based storylines by excluding theArk crash storyline and having them only just recently arrived deliberately, to give proper intent to the Transformers being on Earth,^[7] thus separating the fictional universe from theBeast Wars one.^[8]E. J. Su was hired as the artist, and was given free rein to re-design characters slightly.^[12]

Infiltration received mixed reviews. Furman's decision to put leadersOptimus Prime andMegatron on the sidelines divided fans,^[9] as did the slow pace^[8] and the use of human characters. Furman and Ryall responded positively, promising to make both fans and critics happy after reading various message board comments.^[13]The Transformers: Stormbringer followed in July, set around the same time frame asInfiltration, and had art byDon Figueroa.^[14] The four issue tale was intended to be a weekly event, butDiamond Comic Distributors' resistance meant it became monthly.^[15] Furman had planned to visit Cybertron later on, but the fans demanded a human-less story, andStormbringer was written. Most importantly, the story revealed Cybertron to be dead, giving the saga a darker feel and explaining the status quo of Autobots and Decepticons spread out and fighting pocket wars.^[16] Furman intentionally wanted a larger scale and "took Cybertron out of the equation" to shape the overall arc.^[8] The story also allowed him to reinvent Thunderwing and thePretenders, which he felt was one of the sillier concepts.^[16]

In September, the companion series,The Transformers: Spotlight was launched, set to last for five issues.^[17] Furman drew upon classic stories forShockwave,^[9] re-created the personalities ofHot Rod andUltra Magnus, and wroteSixshot for the first time.^[8]Nightbeat's story laid a vital seed for future stories,^[18] as well as allowing him to re-invent theMicromasters.^[8] In NovemberThe Transformers: Escalation began, a direct sequel toInfiltration. It put Optimus and Megatron center stage, and brought in characters from theSpotlights.^[9] TheSpotlights expanded as IDW accepted Furman's willingness to write for any character. This has even includedWheelie,^[15] a character he has personally voiced criticism of in the past.

Furman took a break from the main storyline in June to allowEric Holmes to write theprequel,The Transformers: Megatron Origin over four months. Holmes conceived the tale for his favorite character,Megatron, and to explore the beginnings of theAutobot-Decepticon war,^[19] collaborating with Furman to further tie-in the story into the existing continuity and taking historical inspiration from thedecline of the Roman Empire.^[20] In addition, Furman allowed Nick Roche to write and draw aSpotlight for Kup, and Roche also wishes to create another one for Rumble.^[21] Furman returned forThe Transformers: Devastation, which will be affected byGalvatron'sSpotlight (itself spinning out of Nightbeat's), before leading intoThe Transformers: Revelation.^[18] Galvatron was re-invented as a separate character from Megatron, and Optimus Prime himself received aSpotlight, with both one-shots including major revelations that will affect storylines beyondRevelation.^[21]Devastation had a faster pace and explored rebellion in the Decepticon ranks, similar to the earlyMarvel stories.^[22] With the conclusion ofDevastation,Revelation began in June. However, this series had a different format to that seen previously, and consisted of four interrelatedSpotlight issues that brought several of the elements of the storyline thus far, most notably the Dead Universe storyline, to a conclusion.^[23][24] The arc followingRevelation was a twelve-issue limited series, later expanded to sixteen issues, titledAll Hail Megatron which began in July 2008, taking place a year after the end ofDevastation and focusing on an Earth conquered by the Decepticons without the Autobots around to stop them, this time written by Shane McCarthy.^[25] A planned storyline,Expansion, has now been canceled, although some of the themes the series would have dealt with may still appear.^[23] A new mini-series by Furman,Maximum Dinobots, spun out ofSpotlight: Grimlock and featured the Dinobots, Sunstreaker, and the Machination, beginning in December after the conclusion ofRevelation,^[26] with art bySpotlight artist Nick Roche.^[27]

Starting in November 2009, an ongoing series of the Transformers was launched and ended in December 2011. Concurrently, during this time, other mini-series were also published:Last Stand of the Wreckers,Bumblebee,Ironhide,Drift,Infestation andHeart of Darkness, the latter of which led into the story arcChaos.

Following a one-shot titledThe Death of Optimus Prime, two new ongoing series started in January 2012,Robots in Disguise andMore than Meets the Eye. A digital Transformers comic also became available titledAutocracy, consisting of 12 eight-page issues.^[28][29] Two sequels toAutocracy titledMonstrosity andPrimacy started publishing in March 2013 and August 2014, respectively.^[30][31] In April and November 2014, theWindblade andDrift – Empire of Stone mini-series were also published. In addition, in November 2014,The Transformers: Robots in Disguise changed its title to justThe Transformers. A second ongoing series ofWindblade started in March 2015, and its sequelTill All Are One followed in June 2016.

Starting in 2016, theTransformers comics became part of theHasbro Comic Book Universe, playing a role during the crossover eventsRevolution andFirst Strike. AfterRevolution ended in November 2016,Transformers andMore than Meets the Eye re-titled themselves toOptimus Prime andLost Light, respectively.

The miniseries titledTransformers: Unicron (which is the finale of this continuity) started being published on May 5, 2018.^[32]

The Transformers has been collected in twenty volumes roughly in chronological order. The first eight volumes, under the titleTransformers: IDW Collection, collect most of the series in between Infiltration and Heart of Darkness, including Spotlights.^[34] Starting with the issueDeath of Optimus Prime, the Transformers are collected under the title Transformers: IDW Collection Phase Two, of which twelve volumes were published.^[35] From theRevolution mini-series and the establishment of the Hasbro Comic Book Universe, the Transformers are going to be collected under the title Transformers: IDW Collection Phase Three.^[36]

This is a chronological listing of the comics in which the timeline of events developed.^{[37][34][35][36]}

• The Transformers (Marvel Comics)
• Transformers (Skybound Entertainment)

• IDW Transformers Official Site
• Simon Furman: The Blog
• Question to Mr. Furman about TF time units – Furman explains on official forum as to time frame
• Transformers Archive – Issue summaries

• 2005 comics debuts
• 2018 comics endings
• Transformers comics
• IDW Publishing titles
• Comic book reboots
• Comic book lines

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