Merry Christmas!

I dropped a hint recently on the IDW message boards about the surprise artist who's helping illustrate All Hail Megatron #7. So as my gift to the fans, here's a sneak peek at the first page of AHM #7, by TF artist extraordinaire E.J. Su!

All that Jazz

Everyone has been clamoring to see the colored version of E.J. Su's Spotlight Jazz cover. So without further ado, here are the hues provided by Priscilla Tramontano:

Back in Print

Good news for those looking to fill in some of the gaps in their TF collection! The trade paperbacks for Escalation and Stormbringer are returning to print the first week of January. For Stormbringer, it's the fourth time around. Gotta love the Don!

I scream, you scream...

...we all scream for Starscream!

The Reign of Starscream TPB is due in stores tomorrow, and here's a sneak peek at the bonus material included.

Enjoy!

Get your own - Open publication

Blast from the Past

Due out Sept. 17 is the third volume of the Spotlight trade paperbacks, featuring Arcee, Blaster, Grimlock, Mirage, and Wheelie.

Many will be happy to learn that Grimlock will be recolored, and that a long-lost cover for that book will adorn this collection. Here's an early look:

SDCC slide show

For those that didn't make it to Comic-Con International this past week, here's a video of the slide show.

Bang Your (Hard)Head (Reprise)!

Here's a five-page preview of Spotlight: Hardhead. Enjoy!

Raiders of the Bots' Ark

Since everyone has likely seen the first five pages of All Hail Megatron #1, I'm posting a look inside of The Transformers: The Ark Volume 2. This 208-page tome collects character models from every Japanese G1 anime. It's a great companion for your first volume, or just cool as hell to pore through on its own.

Cover by the fabulous Nick Roche.

Pirates in Space!

Transformers Best of the UK: Space Pirates #5

Script: Simon Furman
Art: Bryan Hitch
Cover: Dan Khanna and Liam Shalloo

Continuing the reprints of the best TRANSFORMERS sagas from across the pond! The aftermath of the classic Space Pirates saga concludes with a stunning set-up for the upcoming epic, Time Wars! The wheels are now in motion for a legendary tale that spans across the galaxy and through time itself.

Back to Back(stabber)

Guido Guidi's cover to All Hail Megatron #3

Double Vision

Whew! I've finally caught up with everything at the office after returning from BotCon. (Yeah, I know, it seems so long ago now.) And I can no longer allow this poor blog to languish. So to make up for it, you get a double dose of preview art today.

First up is E.J. Su's fantastic cover for Spotlight: Doubledealer (due out in August).



Then a sneak peek of the new letter column character courtesy of the fabulous Nick Roche (hope you get as big a laugh as I did):

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

One of our most frequent requests is to see a script from one of our books. And the lucky person who recognized the artist of the cover for TF Animated: The Arrival #1 won the entire script for that issue signed by the artist, Marcelo Matere, and the writer, Marty Isenberg. Though lonegamer8 of the Allspark boards gets the whole shebang, you, my loyal readers, get a peek at the first page.

Special thanks to Marty and Marcelo!


TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED #1

“Dispatches” (22-page story)
Written by: Marty Isenberg
2/13/08


PAGE ONE (3)

1.1: A big CLOSE-UP OF THE ALLSPARK CONTAINMENT CHAMBER, as seen from the cargo bay monitor image Optimus displayed for Sentinel and Ultra Magnus in the pilot movie. Alongside the image are the following specs:

IDENTIFICATION: AllSpark
AFFILIATION: Unknown
FUNCTION: Life Source
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: Classified

Within this panel is a SUB-PANEL IMAGE (like a smaller window within a larger window on a computer screen) of OPTIMUS PRIME (Cybertron Robot Mode). This would be the image Sentinel and Ultra Magnus saw when Optimus contacted them. It could be a simple closeup head shot, or possibly include some of the other Autobots on the bridge of their ship in the b.g. Alongside the image of Prime are the following specs:

IDENTIFICATION: Optimus Prime
AFFILIATION: Autobot
FUNCTION: Space Bridge Repair Crew Commander
TRAINING: Autobot Academy *

* completed training; did not graduate

1. ULTRA MAGNUS CAPTION:
“Here’s what we’ve been able to piece together so far…

2. ULTRA MAGNUS CAPTION:
“Approximately 24 megacycles ago, we received this transmission from Optimus Prime and his space bridge repair crew, somewhere within the Azazel Asteroid Belt…”

3. ULTRA MAGNUS CAPTION:
“I don’t believe I need to brief anyone here on the significance of their cargo…

1.2: A schematic image of the DECEPTICON WARSHIP (aka “The Nemesis”). Perhaps various alien writing “specs” can appear alongside the image as well.

4. ULTRA MAGNUS CAPTION:
“Not long after, we began tracking a signal from a Decepticon warship. THIS Decepticon warship.”

1.3: A CLOSE-UP HEADSHOT of MEGATRON (Cybertron Robot Mode). This should have a “file photo” look to it (and perhaps should even say “FILE IMAGE” somewhere). Also include the following stats alongside the image:

IDENTIFICATION: Megatron
AFFILIATION: Decepticon
FUNCTION: Decepticon Leader
STATUS: Exiled
THREAT LEVEL: ***EXTREMELY DANGEROUS***

5. ULTRA MAGNUS CAPTION:
“I don’t believe I need to brief anyone here on the significance of its commander…”

Animated contest

Here's one of the covers for our all-new and original TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED miniseries, written by the show's head writer, Marty Isenberg. A neat prize goes to the first fan who guesses the cover artist correctly.

Glimpse into the Future

I'm busy, busy, busy prepping for BotCon 2008, so I'll be keeping it brief this week. Here is Guido Guidi's concept sketch for his cover of All Hail Megatron #2. Hopefully, I will be able to unveil the finished cover at BotCon.

Me Want Preview!

Everyone seems to be a fan of the ol' five-page preview. Spotlight: Grimlock, which arrives in stores April 23, gets the love this time around:

Kris Carter, Warlord of Cybertron

You'll already seen E.J. Su's fine line work from Spotlight: Cyclonus at Ryall Time, so here's how it looks after Kris Carter applied his magic crayons:

Two Sides to Every Story

Artists get most of the love, but without the writer, there'd be no story. So here's an excerpt of Shane McCarthy's pitch for All Hail Megatron taken from Focus On: Decepticons, which arrives in stores tomorrow!


Just how bad can it get?

The measure of any hero is the obstacles he faces or the villains he must vanquish. If a hero's villains are weak or ineffectual, then the hero, by the most rudimentary of logic, mustn't be all that powerful or indeed heroic. If we're going to see what our heroes are truly made of, we need to deliver a villain (or, in this case, villains) who push the heroes to the breaking point and beyond, that not only challenge them physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

With the Transformers, we have at our disposal some of the greatest villains ever to grace modern-day pop culture. These guys are, apparently, the nastiest of the nasty; what is Megatron if not a 60-foot-tall metal tyrant with a nuclear cannon strapped to one arm? So, let's take the gloves off, unhook the leash and see just what the Decepticons are made of.

If we're going to understand the validity of the Autobots as protectors, it's about time we say what would happen if the Decepticons were left unchecked!

So what are we really trying to do here?

We'll be bringing a “real world” approach to the book to show the ramifications of the Transformers' civil war on our planet. It will also be the goal of the series to better explain, reveal and expose the characterization of the individual Transformers and their respective ideologies.

In the end, execution is everything, and we'll be achieving all of this by using a wild, widescreen-style approach. Each issue will slam the reader in the face with exciting visuals and continuing reasons to come running back each and every month. More than anything, we need to restore the awe and majesty to the Transformers and remind people not only of their continuing relevance as fictional characters, but of the very reason we fell in love with them to begin with.

Nothing can top the sheer spectacle of giant robots battling it out on our planet for the sake of the universe!

Bang Your (Hard)Head!

Here's a nifty page for all those "Hardheaded" fans out there. From Spotlight: Hardhead by all-around nice guy Nick Roche, who is the artist on this book, not Robby Musso as stated in the solicitation from Diamond.

Cool your Jets

Wow. Seems whenever Starscream shows up, strife follows.

So lets try to melt some icy hearts with a cool island song... with Wheelie on vocals and accompaniment by Klaus Scherwinksi:

Rain of Starscream Part Deux

Continuing with the Starscream love, here's a five-page preview of Transformers Movie Sequel: Reign of Starscream #1, which will be available at BotCon the week before it hits the streets. And keep an eye out for reviews of the entire issue on April 15th.

Rain of Starscream

Starscream is not only starring in his own movie-based miniseries, but he also plays a prominent role in All Hail Megatron.

Here, he and fellow Seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp, rain down some terror in Times Square. Courtesy of Guido Guidi and Josh Burcham.

Secret Final Crisis Invasion

Why should the Big Boys have all the fun?

This is what Chris Ryall must've been thinking when Shane McCarthy gave his Transformers pitch. The Aussie's story is epic, intriguing, action-packed... and it has a point.

Well, they took the ball and ran with it, and now I'm coming off the bench. I'm the new editor at IDW, and I've been tapped to oversee the TF titles. And this one has me extremely excited because it's a great jumping-on point for a new editor -- and also for new readers.

Marvel and DC have found great success with their event books, but there's one thing that none of them have: tons of big robots from the planet Cybertron kicking ass.

The Civil War is over, and it's One Year Later.

Welcome to Transformers: All Hail Megatron.