Beast Wars (IDW Publishing)
Encyclopedia
Beast Wars is a comic book
series by IDW Publishing
, based upon Hasbro
's toy line and the original television series
. The series is set in-continuity with the television series, but also uses characters that were made into toys but not featured in the series.
The first miniseries, The Gathering
, was released between February and May 2006
. The second miniseries, The Ascending, was a direct sequel and debuted in October 2007
.
finished airing in 2000, there was no official revisiting of the Transformers continuity established by the Beast Wars animated series until after publisher Dreamwave Productions
acquired the rights to the Transformers comic franchise from Hasbro
. Although the Transformers convention Botcon
created several storylines external to the Beast Wars continuity (such as The Wreckers and a continuation of Beast Machines entitled Transformers: Universe
) as various comic book miniseries, the canonicity of such stories is disputable. Dreamwave first touched on the Beast Wars series with a prequel in 2003's Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. In 2004, the publisher's Transformers Summer Special featured Ain't No Rat, which was the first officially approved comic story to carry on directly from the events seen in the final Beast Wars cartoon. Dreamwave held a contest to select which Transformers continuity (Beast Wars or Robots in Disguise
) would be the next to get its own book, and Beast Wars was the victor, with writers James McDonough and Adam Patyk and artist Don Figueroa
as the initially planned creative team for the new series. However, despite several pieces of artwork being released (and according to those involved with the project some impressive pieces remaining unreleased), Dreamwave's bankruptcy caused the end of the series before it began.
The story Dreamwave tried to produce will most likely remain lost, and it wasn't until 2006, when IDW began publishing Beast Wars: The Gathering, that the Beast Wars continuity was again officially revisited.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
, based upon Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's toy line and the original television series
Beast Wars
Transformers: Beast Wars is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 2000, and a Daytime Emmy Award winning full-CG animated television series spawned by it that debuted in 1996...
. The series is set in-continuity with the television series, but also uses characters that were made into toys but not featured in the series.
The first miniseries, The Gathering
Beast Wars: The Gathering
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....
, was released between February and May 2006
2006 in comics
-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
. The second miniseries, The Ascending, was a direct sequel and debuted in October 2007
2007 in comics
-January:*January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released.*January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6.-February:*February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment....
.
Background
After Beast MachinesBeast Machines
Beast Machines is an animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. Hasbro has the full distribution rights to the show as of 2011. It was a direct sequel to Beast Wars taking place within the continuity of the original Transformers series...
finished airing in 2000, there was no official revisiting of the Transformers continuity established by the Beast Wars animated series until after publisher Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 and is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series...
acquired the rights to the Transformers comic franchise from Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
. Although the Transformers convention Botcon
BotCon
BotCon, briefly known as "The Official Transformers Collectors' Convention" , is an annual convention for Transformers fans and collectors. BotCon has been held annually since 1994...
created several storylines external to the Beast Wars continuity (such as The Wreckers and a continuation of Beast Machines entitled Transformers: Universe
Transformers: Universe
Transformers: Universe is a line of toys that consists of re-painted and re-released toys from various Transformers lines of toys. For the comic book series see Transformers Universe .- Toy line :...
) as various comic book miniseries, the canonicity of such stories is disputable. Dreamwave first touched on the Beast Wars series with a prequel in 2003's Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. In 2004, the publisher's Transformers Summer Special featured Ain't No Rat, which was the first officially approved comic story to carry on directly from the events seen in the final Beast Wars cartoon. Dreamwave held a contest to select which Transformers continuity (Beast Wars or Robots in Disguise
Transformers: Robots in Disguise
Transformers: Robots in Disguise, known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series and serves as a self-contained universe separate from any of the other existing Transformers universes...
) would be the next to get its own book, and Beast Wars was the victor, with writers James McDonough and Adam Patyk and artist Don Figueroa
Don Figueroa
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.-Dreamwave Productions:...
as the initially planned creative team for the new series. However, despite several pieces of artwork being released (and according to those involved with the project some impressive pieces remaining unreleased), Dreamwave's bankruptcy caused the end of the series before it began.
The story Dreamwave tried to produce will most likely remain lost, and it wasn't until 2006, when IDW began publishing Beast Wars: The Gathering, that the Beast Wars continuity was again officially revisited.