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Trivia
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- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- Behind the scenesMeant to last four issues
Marvel launched Transformers as a four-issue miniseries in 1984. It sold well enough that the book ran all the way to issue #80 in 1991.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe man who named the robots
Editor Bob Budiansky came up with most of the original Transformers' names, including Megatron, Starscream and Ratchet, and wrote the tech specs on Hasbro's toy packaging.
source ↗ - ReferenceSpider-Man in issue #3
Because the series was set in the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man shows up in issue #3, "Prisoner of War!".
source ↗ - Behind the scenesOptimus dies in the comic too
Optimus Prime dies in issue #24, "Afterdeath!", and gets a funeral in #26. He comes back in a new body in #42.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA Daniel Warren Johnson cover
This Skybound edition has a cover by Daniel Warren Johnson, writer-artist of the current Transformers book, and it gathers Marvel's first 46 issues in a single book.
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- Behind the scenesSimon Furman takes over at #56
Bob Budiansky had grown tired of the book, so Marvel brought in Simon Furman. He debuts in issue #56, "Back from the Dead!", and stays to the end.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe 1986 movie in comic form
The book includes the three-issue adaptation of The Transformers: The Movie (1986), which Marvel published separately from the monthly series.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesUnicron arrives in issue #75
The showdown with Unicron in "On the Edge of Extinction!" takes a long list of characters with it, from Scorponok to Brainstorm.
source ↗ - Behind the scenes"'Til all are one"
Issue #80, "End of the Road!", closes Marvel's series on the line "'Til all are one", the Autobot motto.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe story resumed 20 years later
In 2012, IDW launched Regeneration One, which picks up Marvel's numbering at issue #81 and runs to #100.
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- Behind the scenesRobots before Earth
Dreamwave's series redesigned the Generation One characters with Cybertronian forms, without the cars and jets they took on Earth.
source ↗ - SetupMegatron's backers
Megatron has mysterious backers who are never named. Fans recognize them as the Quintessons from their look.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe bankruptcy that cut it short
Dreamwave went bankrupt in January 2005, which is why the third part, The Age of Wrath, stopped at issue #3.
source ↗ - ReferenceIt inspired Megatron Origin
Eric Holmes, writer of Megatron Origin, cited War Within as an inspiration for telling how the war began.
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- Behind the scenesBorn at Dreamwave
Eric Holmes first pitched the idea to Dreamwave, which went under before publishing it. IDW picked it up, and Simon Furman helped fit it into the new continuity.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe working title
The miniseries was first announced as Megatron: Precursor before becoming Megatron Origin.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesRome on Cybertron
Holmes drew on the decline of the Roman Empire for Cybertron's corrupt Senate and the gladiator games in Kaon.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe mentor who was cut
The series shrank from six issues to four, and scenes with a mentor for Megatron were cut. James Roberts later reused the idea with the character Terminus.
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- Behind the scenesModeled on Marvel's Ultimate line
IDW built Infiltration on the model of Marvel's Ultimate line: start from scratch and introduce the robots slowly.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesToo many covers for the trade
Some issues had as many as ten covers. With no room for them in the trade, IDW put out a separate cover gallery first.
source ↗ - ReferenceSwapped bases
Here the Autobots operate from an underwater base and the Decepticons from a mountain, the reverse of other versions.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesRecent arrivals
In this version, the robots weren't buried for four million years: they arrived on Earth recently and use holographic drivers to blend in.
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- Behind the scenesDrift's debut
Drift, created by writer Shane McCarthy, debuts in issue #5 rather than in a spotlight one-shot. He became one of the most divisive characters among fans.
source ↗ - ReferenceSpike Witwicky in the resistance
Among the humans fighting back on Earth is Spike Witwicky, the Autobots' friend from the original cartoon.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesOne artist for most of it
Guido Guidi drew all six issues in this volume and most of the 16-issue series.
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- Behind the scenesHired to draw
Nick Roche was brought on to draw and only later found out he'd be writing too. James Roberts came aboard as co-writer from issue #2.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesMore deaths in the first draft
In the first draft, Springer, Perceptor and Kup all died. Impactor was never on the list.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesWhy Overlord
The creators picked Overlord as the villain because they figured nobody else would ever use him.
source ↗ - SetupAequitas's secrets
The Aequitas supercomputer holds uncomfortable truths about the Autobots themselves. The data copied from it keeps driving stories after this book.
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- Behind the scenesOne tagline per series
The title is one of the franchise's two taglines. Its sister series, launched the same year, took the other: Robots in Disguise.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIt opens with a farewell
The book opens with The Death of Optimus Prime one-shot, which ends the war and splits the line into the series that follow.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesCritics' awards
The series won two ComicsAlliance awards, in 2015 and 2016, and became one of IDW's most popular titles.
source ↗ - SetupThe Knights of Cybertron
The Knights of Cybertron the crew is chasing were religious envoys who vanished before the series began. The search runs the length of the series.
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- Behind the scenesSeason three
Lost Light picks up straight from More Than Meets the Eye, which ended at issue #57, and is treated as the story's "season three."
source ↗ - ReferenceWoody Guthrie's guitar
Issue #6's title, "This Machine Kills Fascists," is the slogan Woody Guthrie painted on his guitar.
source ↗ - ReferencePeace through empathy
Megatron preaches "peace through empathy," flipping his old "peace through tyranny" motto, in the same mines where he used to work.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesRepresentation on board
The series introduces Anode and Lug, a couple of trans women, and drew the same critical praise as its predecessor.
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- Behind the scenesPrime Directive
The comic's working title, Prime Directive, was also the working title of the 2007 film's script.
source ↗ - ReferenceWhy Bumblebee can't talk
The comic shows Bumblebee losing his voice at the Battle of Tyger Pax, before he ever reaches Earth.
source ↗ - ReferenceCaptain Witwicky
The comic shows how Captain Archibald Witwicky found Megatron in the ice in 1897 and lost his mind, a story the film covers only in passing.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIt became a DVD cartoon
An animated version, Transformers: Beginnings, came as a bonus disc in a Walmart-exclusive edition of the film's DVD.
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- Behind the scenesA 25th anniversary gift
IDW announced the series in November 2020 to mark 25 years since Beast Wars hit TV in 1996.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesMore women in the cast
Writer Erik Burnham created Nyx and Skold because Blackarachnia was the only female character in the original show.
source ↗ - ReferenceA new Megatron
This Megatron is Galavar, a Predacon who took the old Decepticon leader's name.
source ↗ - SetupThe protoform pods
Tarantulas learns the Maximals were carrying protoform pods. They become a plot thread in later volumes.
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- Behind the scenesFirst in the Energon Universe
Void Rivals was announced in February 2023 as the start of a shared universe. It's the Energon Universe's only fully original series; the rest come from Hasbro brands.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe issue #1 twist
The wreck Darak and Solila find transforms into Jetfire, a Cybertronian scientist. That's how the Transformers entered the Energon Universe.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesKirkman and De Felici
The series reunites Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, with Italian artist Lorenzo De Felici, colored by Matheus Lopes.
source ↗ - ReferenceKirkman moves to Transformers
In 2025, Kirkman, billed as the Energon Universe showrunner, also took over writing Transformers starting with issue #25.
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- Behind the scenesTwo Eisner Awards
In 2024, the series won the Eisner for Best Continuing Series, and Daniel Warren Johnson took Best Writer/Artist.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesSix issues all his
Johnson wrote and drew issues #1–6, with colors by Mike Spicer. From #7 on, he only writes.
source ↗ - ReferenceEchoes of the 1986 movie
When a dying Optimus pulls the Matrix from his chest, the scene calls back to The Transformers: The Movie (1986).
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- Behind the scenesJorge Corona on art
Jorge Corona takes over art from issue #7, announced in January 2024. He won ComicBook.com's Best Artist award that year.
source ↗ - ReferenceElita-1 and the Ark
Elita-1 blames Optimus for leaving Cybertron in the Ark mid-war. That grudge comes back later.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesUltra Magnus's trauma
Ultra Magnus, patched up by Wheeljack, insists on fighting but freezes at the sight of Shockwave, who tortured him for years.
source ↗ - ReferenceOptimus and Superman
AIPT's review compared Optimus's final choice to Superman accepting that Krypton is gone.
source ↗ - SetupSomeone else's hand
Keep an eye on Optimus's right arm: he lost his own early in the series and is using one borrowed from Megatron. That comes back to matter later.
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- Behind the scenesGuest artists
Besides Jorge Corona, the book features art by Jason Howard and a 2024 special story written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Ryan Ottley.
source ↗ - ReferenceShredhead and Drift
Shredhead, a new character who fights with a laser sword, reminded fans of Drift, the swordsman created during IDW's run.
source ↗ - ReferenceIs that G.I. Joe?
Armored soldiers and helicopters take Carly and Ultra Magnus. The issue hints they're G.I. Joe, also part of the Energon Universe.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesCombiner brawl in Seattle
Bruticus and Devastator wreck Seattle, and Devastator hurls Bruticus off a skyscraper.
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- Behind the scenesPlanned for 24 issues
In August 2024, Daniel Warren Johnson confirmed his run would total 24 issues. His last one came out on September 10, 2025.
source ↗ - ReferenceQuoting the 1986 movie
In issue #24, Johnson quotes The Transformers: The Movie (1986) inside the new story.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesJazz in the 2025 special
The bonus story from the 2025 special, written and drawn by Johnson, covers Jazz's early days.
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- Behind the scenesKirkman and Dan Mora
Robert Kirkman debuts as writer in issue #25, alongside Dan Mora and Jorge Corona, and continues with Mora after that.
source ↗ - ReferenceA M.A.S.K. villain
Miles Mayhem, the villain of Kenner's M.A.S.K. line, makes his Energon Universe debut in issue #25.
source ↗ - SetupA fossil under the Ark
Wheeljack finds a fossilized T. rex skeleton in the caves under the Ark. Fans read it as a setup for the Dinobots.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesElita Prime
In issue #30, the Matrix of Leadership chooses Elita-1, who becomes Elita Prime. Optimus is now just Optimus.
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