Megatron is a character from the Transformers franchise created by American toy company Hasbro in 1984, based on a design by Japanese toy company Takara. The original Megatron was the leader and warlord of the Decepticons, a fictional faction of sentient self-configuring modular extraterrestrial robotic lifeforms from the planet Cybertron. He serves as the nemesis of the Autobot leader Optimus Prime. In most incarnations, after meeting his demise, usually at Optimus' hands, Megatron would be resurrected as Galvatron.
Transformers is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It follows the battles of sentient, living autonomous robots, often the Autobots and the Decepticons, who can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films.
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a British comic book writer who is best known for his work on Hasbro/Tomy's Transformers franchise, starting with writing Marvel's initial comic book to promote the toyline worldwide, as well as foundations for both Dreamwave Production's and IDW Publishing's takes on the Generation 1 minifranchise.
BotCon, briefly known as "The Official Transformers Collectors' Convention", was an annual convention for Transformers fans and collectors. BotCon has been held annually since 1994. BotCon is a syllabic abbreviation for "Robot Convention" but also refers to "Autobot" and "Decepticon", the protagonist and antagonist robot factions in the many continuities in the Transformers franchise.
There have been three main publishers of the comic book series bearing the name. Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, which ran for 80 issues and produced four spin-off miniseries. This was followed by a second volume titled Transformers: Generation 2, which ran for 12 issues starting in 1993. The second major series was produced by Dreamwave Productions from 2002 to 2004 with multiple limited series as well, and within multiple story continuities, until the company became bankrupt in 2005. The third series is currently being produced by IDW Publishing starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006. There are also several limited series being produced by IDW as well. In addition to these three main publishers, there have also been several other smaller publishers with varying degrees of success.
The Transformers: Generation 2 was a Transformers toy line which ran from 1992–1995, in conjunction with a corresponding comic book series and edited reruns of the G1 cartoon beginning in 1993. The prior Transformer television series, comic books and toys became known as 'Generation 1' or G1 retroactively, and are now officially referred to as such by toymaker Hasbro, even though the term was never used during the days of G1. Generation 2 was discontinued as the first Beast Wars: Transformers toys began hitting the shelves.
Transformers: The War Within is a series of comic book mini-series written by Simon Furman and published by Dreamwave Productions featuring Generation One characters with brand new pre-Earth designs.
Guido Guidi is an Italian comic book artist and penciller. He is best known for his work on Transformers comics.
The Transformers: Stormbringer is a comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing.
Beast Wars: The Gathering is a four-issue comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing. The series was launched with #1 in February 2006 and ended with #4 in May. It has since been republished as a trade paperback.
Don Allan Figueroa is a Filipino American comic book artist and toy designer. He is best known for his work on many different Transformers designs, for both the defunct Dreamwave Productions and with IDW Publishing.
The Transformers: Hearts of Steel is a comic book miniseries published by IDW Publishing. It was intended to be part of a comic book line titled The Transformers: Evolutions, following the same idea of DC Comics' Elseworlds series. Each series was to create an alternative reality: a continuity in a different time era during which the Transformers would exist. In other words, the Transformers can exist at places and at points in time that would not be possible in the current 'IDW-verse'. As of 2007, only the Hearts of Steel series was produced, which is set in the United States during the Industrial Revolution. The rest of the series was cancelled, likely due to poor sales and IDW had announced that there would be no more Evolutions series until after the 2007 movie, as Hasbro did not want to make things confusing with more alternate universe tales.
The Transformers: Spotlight is a comic book series of one-shot issues, published by IDW Publishing.
The Transformers was an 80-issue American comic book series published by Marvel Comics telling the story of the Transformers. Originally scheduled as a four issue mini-series, it spawned a mythology that would inform other versions of the saga. It also had a UK sister title that spliced original stories into the continuity, running for 332 issues.
Transformers: Generation One was a Dreamwave Productions comic book series, consisting of two six-issue limited series and an ongoing title. Within the same continuity were three other Dreamwave series: a series of character profiles entitled Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, a prequel miniseries entitled, Transformers: Micromasters and another prequel ongoing miniseries called Transformers: The War Within. In addition, a single story was part of the Transformers Summer Special. All ongoing series were cancelled in 2005 due to Dreamwave's bankruptcy, leaving their plotlines unresolved.
The Transformers is a comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's Transformers characters and toy line.
The Transformers: Megatron Origin is a comic book limited series by IDW Publishing exploring the origin of Megatron in its rebooted G1 universe. Written by Eric Holmes, the story explored the beginnings of the Decepticons and the Great War, and serves as a prequel to the various IDW G1 Transformers stories such as The Transformers: Infiltration, Stormbringer, Spotlight and Escalation. Alex Milne is the artist with alternative covers by Marcelo Matere. The series is available in The Transformers: Volume 1.
Transformers: Movie Prequel, published by IDW Publishing, is a 2007 comic book limited series that serves as a prequel to the 2007 film Transformers. It is written by Simon Furman and IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall, who was allowed to read the film's script, and penciled by artist Don Figueroa. Transformers: Movie Adaptation, a 4 issue adaptation of the film itself, was released weekly throughout the month of June in the run up to the film's release.
Transformers: Beast Wars is an entertainment franchise from Hasbro, and it is part of the larger Transformers franchise. The fiction directly follows the Transformers: Generation 1 continuity established by the 1984 series and animated film. It ignores the continuity established by the Japanese Transformers series, though this franchise would have two exclusive Japanese series of its own. Previous to Beast Wars, Hasbro had attempted to relaunch the original toys and animation as Transformers: Generation 2. Hasbro intended another franchise titled Transtech to follow, combining Beast Wars and Generation 1 characters and aesthetics, but this was cancelled. Instead the franchise began a series of reboots, beginning with the Japanese-produced Transformers: Car Robot series, internationally known as Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
The Hasbro Comic Book Universe (HCBU), also known as the IDW-Hasbro Universe, is an American comic book franchise and shared universe created and published by IDW Publishing, based on various properties of the toy company Hasbro.
