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''The Transformers'' is a comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's Transformers characters and toy line. Following Dreamwave Productions' bankruptcy in 2005, IDW picked up the rights and hired long-time ''Transformers'' writer Simon Furman to craft a rebooted Generation 1-based continuity, similar to Ultimate Marvel. An issue #0 was published in October 2005, and the ongoing series began in January 2006. For the first four years of its run, the series was marketed as various limited series for each story, in published order as ''The Transformers: Infiltration'', ''Stormbringer'', ''Escalation'', ''Megatron Origin'', ''Devastation'', ''Revelation'', ''All Hail Megatron'' and ''Maximum Dinobots''. The series also had a sister title of ongoing one-shots entitled ''The Transformers: Spotlight'' which began in September 2006, each focusing on a particular character and affecting the storyline of the main title. 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'' and ''Heart of Darkness''. Following a one-shot titled ''The Death of Optimus Prime'', two new ongoing series started in January 2012, ''Robots in Disguise'' and ''More Than Meets the Eye''. A digital Transformers comic also became available titled ''Autocracy'', consisting of 12 eight-page issues.〔(SDCC 2011 - IDW 2012 Transformations Panel - Furman, Wildman Return for Transformers #81; 2 Books w/ Roberts, Roche, Barber )〕〔(Chris Metzen Writer of … The Transformers: Autocracy )〕 Two sequels to ''Autocracy'' titled ''Monstrosity'' and ''Primacy'' started publishing in March 2013 and August 2014, respectively.〔(IDW Announces New Digital ‘Transformers’ Series! )〕〔(Transformers Primacy From IDW In August 2014 , GI Joe: A Real American Hero Will Continue... And So Will Normal GI Joe! )〕 In April and November 2014, the ''Windblade'' and ''Drift - Empire of Stone'' mini-series were also published. In addition, in November 2014, ''The Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' changed its title to just ''The Transformers''. A second ongoing series of ''Windblade'' started in March 2015. == Publication == Dreamwave Productions shut down on January 4, 2005, and announced they would cease publication of all their comics, leaving ''Transformers: Generation One'' and its prequel series, ''Transformers: The War Within'' incomplete. Chris Ryall, editor-in-chief of IDW Publishing, leaped at the chance to bid on the property. 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 entitled ''The Transformers: Infiltration'' to begin in January 2006. Beforehand, Ryall met up with long-time writer Simon Furman. Furman aimed for a contemporary version of the ''Generation 1'' incarnation to appeal to new and old fans alike. They both cited a focus on the "Robots in ''Disguise''" element of the characters, aiming to bring back their "myth and majesty". Overall, Furman described it as, "This was, at last (after 20-plus years) MY take on Transformers." Furman also aimed for a real time approach, using maps to help guide his stories. ''Infiltrations issue #0 sold 100,000 copies in pre-orders, a record for the company. Furman focused the story on Autobot medic Ratchet and broke new ground for ''G1''-based storylines by excluding the ''Ark'' crash storyline, to give proper intent to the Transformers being on Earth,〔 thus separating the fictional universe from the ''Beast Wars'' one.〔 E. J. Su was hired as the artist, and was given free rein to re-design characters slightly. ''Infiltration'' received mixed reviews. Furman's decision to put leaders Optimus Prime and Megatron on the sidelines divided fans,〔 as did the slow pace〔 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. ''The Transformers: Stormbringer'' followed in July, set around the same time frame as ''Infiltration'', and had art by Don Figueroa. The four issue tale was intended to be a weekly event, but Diamond Comic Distributors' resistance meant it became monthly. Furman had planned to visit Cybertron later on, but the fans demanded a human-less story, and ''Stormbringer'' 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. Furman intentionally wanted a larger scale and "took Cybertron out of the equation" to shape the overall arc.〔 The story also allowed him to reinvent Thunderwing and the Pretenders, which he felt was one of the sillier concepts.〔 In September, the companion series, ''The Transformers: Spotlight'' was launched, set to last for five issues. Furman drew upon classic stories for Shockwave,〔 re-created the personalities of Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus, and wrote Sixshot for the first time.〔 Nightbeat's story laid a vital seed for future stories, as well as allowing him to re-invent the Micromasters.〔 In November ''The Transformers: Escalation'' began, a direct sequel to ''Infiltration''. It put Optimus and Megatron center stage, and brought in characters from the ''Spotlights''.〔 The ''Spotlights'' expanded as IDW accepted Furman's willingness to write for any character. This has even included Wheelie,〔 a character he has personally voiced criticism of in the past. Furman took a break from the main storyline in June to allow Eric Holmes to write the prequel, ''The Transformers: Megatron Origin'' over four months. Holmes conceived the tale for his favorite character, Megatron, and to explore the beginnings of the Autobot-Decepticon war, collaborating with Furman to further tie-in the story into the existing continuity and taking historical inspiration from the decline of the Roman Empire. In addition, Furman allowed Nick Roche to write and draw a ''Spotlight'' for Kup, and Roche also wishes to create another one for Rumble. Furman returned for ''The Transformers: Devastation'', which will be affected by Galvatron's ''Spotlight'' (itself spinning out of Nightbeat's), before leading into ''The Transformers: Revelation''.〔 Galvatron was re-invented as a separate character from Megatron, and Optimus Prime himself received a ''Spotlight'', with both one-shots including major revelations that will affect storylines beyond ''Revelation''.〔 ''Devastation'' had a faster pace and explored rebellion in the Decepticon ranks, similar to the early Marvel stories. With the conclusion of ''Devastation'', ''Revelation'' began in June. However, this series had a different format to that seen previously, and consisted of four interrelated ''Spotlight'' issues that brought several of the elements of the storyline thus far, most notably the Dead Universe storyline, to a conclusion. The arc following ''Revelation'' was a twelve-issue limited series, later expanded to sixteen issues, titled ''All Hail Megatron'' which began in July 2008, taking place a year after the end of ''Devastation'' and focusing on an Earth conquered by the Decepticons without the Autobots around to stop them, this time written by Shane McCarthy. A planned storyline, ''Expansion'', has now been canceled, although some of the themes the series would have dealt with may still appear.〔 A new mini-series by Furman, ''Maximum Dinobots'', spun out of ''Spotlight: Grimlock'' and featured the Dinobots, Sunstreaker, and the Machination, beginning in December after the conclusion of ''Revelation'', with art by ''Spotlight'' artist Nick Roche. For the future, Furman has completely ruled out Unicron,〔 the Quintessons,〔 (this is no longer accurate, as the Quintessons appeared in a wall painting in ''Spotlight: Wheelie'', as well as one named Pentius physically appearing in ''Monstrosity''), and the Liege Maximo.〔 Furman has also expressed interest in re-inventing Japanese-exclusive characters〔 and female Transformers, exploring the challenge of rationalizing sex/gender in giant robots.〔 Furman addressed the issue of gender in Transformers in a ''Spotlight'' issue on Arcee, rationalizing them as a failed attempt to introduce gender into the Transformer race by Jhiaxus.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=And the next Spotlight is... )〕 Elita One and a few other female Transformers later appeared in the ''Megatron Origin'' mini-series. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Transformers (IDW Publishing)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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