Background
IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall first revealed the existence of the story on his message board, [1] originally to be titled Megatron: Precursor. [2] The first issue of Megatron: Origin was released in June 2007, and the limited series continues the overall title, following Escalation and before the debut of The Transformers: Devastation . [3]
According to the Holmes, Megatron, as a smart character with a determined drive, has always been his favorite Transformer. "Those are the people that change the world. He deserves an interesting tale to have made him what he is." [4] Inspired by Simon Furman's Transformers: The War Within for Dreamwave Productions, which created an origin for Optimus Prime, Holmes felt it would be fun to go back and further explore the beginnings of the Autobot-Decepticon war. [4] Holmes originally approached Dreamwave with the concept, but the company went bankrupt before anything could be published. [5] When IDW took over the Transformers license, they were approached by Holmes as well, loved his idea and he collaborated with Furman to further tie-in the story into the continuity of the IDW-published Transformers comics. Holmes took historical inspiration from the decline of the Roman Empire in his story of the war's beginnings. [6]
Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Transformers media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a faction of sentient, war-mongering robotic lifeforms that seeks to conquer their home planet of Cybertron and the rest of the known universe. He serves as the archenemy of Optimus Prime, the leader of the rival Autobot faction. As with all Cybertronians, Megatron has the ability to transform between his robot form and various vehicles or weapons. His alternate modes have ranged from a Walther P38 handgun, a particle-beam weapon, a telescopic laser cannon, and a Cybertronian jet, depending on which continuity he is depicted in.
The Autobots are the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, cartoons, films, graphic novels, and paperback books first introduced in 1984. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are opposed by the Decepticons, headed by Megatron. Both Autobots and Decepticons have "sparks", which function as souls and contain their minds and personality. They can transform into machines, vehicles and other familiar mechanical objects, as well as mimic organic lifeforms (Dinobots). Autobots typically transform into cars, trucks and other road vehicles; some exceptions transform into aircraft, military vehicles, communication devices, weapons, or robotic animals. These Autobots are often grouped into special "teams" that have the suffix "-bot" at the end, such as in Dinobot.
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, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films. As of 2011, it generated more than ¥2 trillion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a British comic book writer who is best known for his work on Hasbro'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.
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 and fourth series have been published by IDW Publishing with the third series starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006 to November 2018. The fourth series started in March 2019 with issue #1 and is currently still being produced. 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 that ran from 1992–1995, in conjunction with a corresponding comic book series and edited reruns of the original 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. 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.
The Transformers: Infiltration is a six-issue comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers. The series was previewed with a #0 in October, 2005, formally launched with #1 in January 2006 and ended with #6 in July.
The Transformers: Stormbringer is a comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing.
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: Devastation is a six-issue comic book miniseries, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Escalation. Issue 1 of Devastation was released on October 3, 2007, with issue 2 following on the 24th of October and was published monthly until February 2008. A follow-up entitled The Transformers: Revelation then followed. The series is available in The Transformers: Volume 3.
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 miniseries, 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 line by IDW Publishing based upon Hasbro's Transformers characters and toy line, featuring many writers and artists across multiple series. It is notable for being the longest continuously running Transformers continuity to date, beginning in October 2005 with The Transformers: Infiltration and ending in November 2018, after the six-issue Unicron event comic. The following year, it would be rebooted and succeeded by a new comic book series on 2019.
Alex Milne is a Canadian comic book artist, best known for his work on various Transformers comic books.
Transformers: Beast Wars is the name of several comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's toy line and the original television series.
Transformers is a comic book series by IDW Publishing, spun off from the Transformers film series.
Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies is an American comic book limited series written by Simon Furman, drawn by Guido Guidi and published by IDW Publishing. Based on the Transformers franchise by Hasbro, the series is meant to be a prequel to both the continuity established on the original comic book by Marvel Comics, and the other continuity established on the alternate comic book by Marvel UK.
Transformers: Beast Wars is an American comic book ongoing series by IDW Publishing that debuted in 2021, written by Erik Burnham and drawn by Josh Burcham, celebrating the twentieth-fifth anniversary of the Beast Wars brand of the Transformers franchise by Hasbro.
