Beast Wars (2021) ongoing series

[Sparky Prime]

The Hollywood Reporter today revealed IDW will be launching a Beast Wars comic book series next year, written by Erik Burnham and art by Josh Burcham.

IDW Publishing has announced plans to celebrate next year’s 25th anniversary of Transformers: Beast Wars — the 1990s reinvention of the classic franchise — with an all-new comic book series launching in early 2021.

The new series will be written by Erik Burnham (Transformers/Ghostbusters) with longtime Transformers artist Josh Burcham on board to illustrate. The two will reintroduce the future tribes of Cybertron — the heroic Maximals and villainous Predacons — and mix familiar faces with new characters as Optimus Primal, Rattrap, and friends set out to stop the Predacons from using a stolen time machine.

“Beast Wars is a beloved part of the Transformers legacy,” editor David Mariotte said in a statement. “That’s why we couldn’t pass up launching a new series in tandem with the 25th anniversary! Erik and Josh are going to take everything that’s beloved about Beast Wars — the characterization, the drama, the jokes — and start fresh with a series that will feel at home for fans of 25 years and first-timers alike.”

The series will launch in February, with a first issue featuring covers by Burcham, Pico Ossio, Dan Schoening, and Nick Brokenshire. Below, Burcham and Brokenshire’s covers for that issue, as well as Winston Chan’s cover for the second issue.

I've seen it mentioned on other sites that the new bat character shown on one of the covers is named Nyx, a new female character.

[Shockwave]

I'm looking forward to this, and hoping that they break away from the cartoon and do something completely new and different.

[andersonh1]

Sounds interesting, I will certainly give this book a try.

[andersonh1]

Some preview art gives the book an almost "Animated" look. I like it. I think it will distinguish the series from the tv show, as well as offering some nice visuals.

https://tformers.com/more-idw-transform ... /news.html

[Shockwave]

I'm most excited by the fact that they're not limited by the show. It looks like there's going to be a much larger cast of characters this time around. That image of Spittor at least opens the possibility. It also looks like it will feature characters from Kingdom with that pic of Optimus Primal wearing Paleotrex.

[andersonh1]

Waspinator looks like Invader Zim in that last picture.

There are a number of interesting things. Looks like the bat version of Optimus Primal in one drawing, a Transmetal Airrazor maybe, Dinobot II, an Alligator bot (another version of Megatron? I can't remember all these early Beast Wars variations), and Transmetal Optimus Primal with Rhinox at a table. I wonder if the comic will jump around as far as time periods when it takes place?

[Ursus mellifera]

I'm on the fence about the art. In some images I like it; in others I don't.

I'm definitely going to give it a try, but my expectations aren't high.

[Shockwave]

I'm on the fence about the art. In some images I like it; in others I don't.

I'm definitely going to give it a try, but my expectations aren't high.

I felt the same way about Animated when we first saw the designs for that show and hated them. I even called it "Powerpuff Transformers". Then I watched it and it was awesome and those designs became some of my favorites for the characters. I think this is largely going to be carried by the story.

[Ursus mellifera]

I'm on the fence about the art. In some images I like it; in others I don't.

I'm definitely going to give it a try, but my expectations aren't high.

I felt the same way about Animated when we first saw the designs for that show and hated them. I even called it "Powerpuff Transformers". Then I watched it and it was awesome and those designs became some of my favorites for the characters. I think this is largely going to be carried by the story.

I agree. I love Animated, and I only love the character designs because they were part of such a good story. With Animated-style art, the new BW comic can't ever count on the art to carry it. It is going to be all about the story quality.

[Sparky Prime]

A five-page preview for issue #1 is out. The issue is scheduled to be released tomorrow.

Not a big fan of Josh Burcham's art style personally. I think he's a great colorist, but his drawing style just isn't to my taste. Plot wise, looks like they're starting with the Golden Disk heist, which we've seen covered in convention comics before. Although with that only being a single issue, it felt really compressed and a little too easy for what is said to be the most well guarded relic on Cybertron. With this being an ongoing, hopefully they'll flesh it out better.