IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe

Saturday, April 19th, 2014 11:53AM CDT

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Thanks to Seibertron.com staff member Supreme Convoy, we get a look at what was said during the 'IDW Publishing and Hasbro: Transformers, G.I. Joe and More!' panel event over at WonderCon, on Friday evening! Below is a summary of the main points made by the various speakers: John Barber moderated the panel, which consisted of editor Carlos Guzman, and writers Mairghread Scott, Tony Fleecs, and Flint Dille. They touched upon Dawn of the Autobots, the new Decepticon leadership, G.I. Joe specials and a new Flint Dille book, sequel to Monstrosity - Primacy. Read on below, and check out some of the G.I. Joe crossover images courtesy of Tom Scioli's Tumblr!

Dawn of the Autobots started on Wednesday. Megatron has joined the Autobots, and is now captain of the Lost Light in More than Meets the Eye.

Windblade just started. The lead character is apparently a descendant of Cybertron.

Robots in Disguise, written by John Barber and art by Andrew Griffith, is set back on Earth and stars Optimus Prime, Jazz and Sideswipe (among others). The planet is probably not going to have a welcoming reaction to the return of Optimus Prime and the Autobots.

In More than Meets the Eye, written by James Roberts and art by Alex Milne, Megatron is now leading the Lost Light. The book was called "Really crazy, really lot of fun."

Windblade, the four-issue mini series written by Mairghread Scott and art by Sarah Stone, is billed as new reader friendly. Windblade comes into conflict with Starscream. Really fun and Mairghread believes it's an "expressive, hopeful book."

We were reminded that Windblade is the result of a series of polls taken by the fans. She recently made debut in the Dark Cybertron event, along with Nautica and Chromia.

The new book was announced! Primacy, written by Flint Dille and Chris Metzen, and art by Livio Ramondelli. This will be the last part of the trilogy starting with Autocracy and Monstrosity. Dille described it as a war book and "carnage fest." This is the moment where we see the characters become what we're familiar with. Dille teased that Sharkticons and Quintessons might show up.

They mentioned Transformers vs GI Joe, written by John barber and Tom Scioli, and art by Scioli too. Barber says it's probably the craziest book he's worked on. Things get nuts.

As GI Joe corners Cobra Commander, Starscream purses Bumblebee and the story takes off from there. It's pure comics. Guzman said that he had no idea how Tom was going to draw some of the story elements until he sees the pages that get turned in.

GI Joe: The Real American Hero #200 was just released and the series is still going strong. The slideshow showed issue #201 will have a Liefeld cover. Guzman joked that the series probably going to make it to #300.

IDW Publishing is working on a deluxe hardcover anniversary edition of GI Joe #21, The Silent Interlude. IDW is going back and reshooting original art as well as recoloring it.. and adding even more extra material and commentaries.

IDW teased Fall of GI Joe for September 2014. They're not ready to make announcement just yet. Barber claimed it will please a lot of fans.

As for the background on the decision on making Megatron an Autobot, it goes back to September 2011. James Roberts, Phil Jimenez, and John Barber broke down Dark Cybertron at Hasbro. Barber seems to remember Mark Weber (Global Brand Development Manager for Hasbro) suggested Megatron being an Autobot and was shocked Hasbro allowed it.

As for who's leading the Decepticons.. They have lost the war. Lots of Decepticons might defect to Autobot side. Some believe Megatron sold out. Galvatron gathers and forms new Decepticon group on Cybertron with new agenda. Soundwave and Galvatron will lead group, for now.

Transformers News: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, G.I. Joe

Credit(s): Supreme Convoy, IDW

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Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566569)
Posted by Downbeat on April 19th, 2014 @ 12:29pm CDT

Quick correction to the story, I believe that it's Jeff Webber, not Mark Webber.
http://jeff-webber.com/
Jeff Webber is IDW's vice president, whereas I can't find a Mark Webber in connection to IDW anywhere.

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566571)
Posted by Nemesis_Apoc on April 19th, 2014 @ 12:37pm CDT

I will never in a million years understand how in the hell rob liefeld is still allowed to draw comics. If anyone should ever think they are inadequate for the comics industry, look now further than liefeld for a little insight into just how low comic art standards really are.

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566598)
Posted by Tigertrack on April 19th, 2014 @ 2:59pm CDT

I have a very hard time with the Bazooka on the crossover page. Expect to see the headhunter and Beetlejuice nearby somewhere.

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566616)
Posted by Dead Metal on April 19th, 2014 @ 4:03pm CDT

While the Liefeld cover is terrible (the other one is also bad, but also kinda cool in how intricately bad it is), you gotta admit that Rob is actually improving. Scarlet doesn't look like her spine is going to snap in half and looks human. But WTF is going on with that Optimus in the background?
I would say that it's baffling how idw would have so little regard for their properties as to pay Liefeld for that and actually use it as a cover, but then I realized both of these are for the GI Joe vs TF comic idw is producing, which is already full of terrible art and thankfully not part of the actual canon. So this is just more of idw not giving a f**k about TF vs Joe crossovers, which is good in my book.

Now for some positives, I'm really exited for RID, MTMTE and Windblade, can't wait for the trades to hit.

Edit:
Totally forgot about giving my opinion on Primacy. I'll get it once idw has their 50% off sale on it. Was really unimpressed and underwhelmed by the last two. Autocracy was pretty good till we had the crappy overdone ending with the misuse of the "One shall stand" line. A line that only really had any impact and meaning because it was the last time Megatron and Prime fought in the cartoon, but here it's used for their very first fight. :roll:

So yea, not going jump on it like the last one.

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566620)
Posted by Bumblevivisector on April 19th, 2014 @ 4:22pm CDT

Yeesh. Are both these pics supposed to be counter-concept art? You know, like, "Draw the book in any crazy-ass style you wish, but try to avoid doing what Donny Don't did."

I agree with Dead Metal, if IDW wants to use this new continuity as a dumping ground from which a few interesting ideas might be harvested while none of the crap can infect their established universes, then go hog-wild. I'll buy it. Eventually.

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566623)
Posted by Amelie on April 19th, 2014 @ 4:32pm CDT

Va'al wrote:

Thats some damn-cool old school styling right there. Its not "good" Transformers art (or good art in the traditional sense), but I don't think its trying to be. Love the quirkiness of it as it reminds me of cheap licensed products made for Transformers back in the 80s that often had strange art errors or was drawn by someone that only had a vague idea what a Transformer was.

Wouldn't mind a mini poster of it

:edit: I suck at PHP apparently

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566950)
Posted by leokearon on April 21st, 2014 @ 2:13am CDT

Livio has revealed the follow up to Monstrocity. It will be called Primacy and will be written by Chris Metzen and Flint Dille and drawn be Livio. It will be the third and final series in the Autocracy trilogy. It will appear in August

http://livioramondelli.deviantart.com/a ... -449056320

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566958)
Posted by Va'al on April 21st, 2014 @ 3:45am CDT

Courtesy of IDW Transformers artist Livio Ramondelli, via Seibertron.com user leokearon, we take a look at the interlocking cover for the newly announced third installment of the prequel series, after Autocracy and Monstrosity: Primacy! The artwork features all the main players, from Optimus Prime and Megatron, to Shockwave, Grimlock, Metroplex, Trypticon, Starscream, Ironhide, Soundwave and Bumblebee. Check it out below, and head to Livio's deviantArt page for more.

Revealed at Wondercon over the weekend, this is the interlocking cover image for Primacy. Written by Chris Metzen and Flint Dille and drawn be me, it will be the third and final series in our trilogy that began with Autocracy. Coming in August from IDW!

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566964)
Posted by Henry921 on April 21st, 2014 @ 4:57am CDT

That is gorgeous.

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566968)
Posted by BumbleDouche on April 21st, 2014 @ 6:36am CDT

There's no way to say this without sounding nasty, but I wish they'd just get rid of this guy already. His actual 'artwork' notwithstanding, though I personally don't like his style, is not so much the issue. I know everyone at IDW says he's a great guy, really friendly, etc. but at what point does that stop being enough? His storytelling, in a visual sense, can be so difficult to follow (particularly when there is no dialogue on the page). One shouldn't have to go back several pages to try and figure out which character was which and what the heck the artist was trying to express in order to make sense of the story. If he has good ideas, is a great guy and the IDW staff generally like having him around, then great: hire him as a consultant. But honestly, at what point do they take a step back and critically evaluate his visual storytelling abilities? The more stuff this guy produces, the more I can't help but feel that he wouldn't survive at Marvel or DC, simply due to the ambiguous nature of his drawings. I'll buy this series regardless, because I'm an anal-retentive completist, I'll likely even enjoy the story... My point is I know that, after reading, I know I'm sure to wonder "How much better could this have been with a "better" different artist?"

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1566970)
Posted by Va'al on April 21st, 2014 @ 7:14am CDT

As we promised with the summary of the IDW Publishing panel at Wondercon the other day, and thanks again to staff member Supreme Convoy, we have a good look at all the slides from the presentation featuring all sorts of Transformers comics: Windblade, Primacy, Robots in Disguise, More than Meets the Eye, and Transformers vs G.I. Joe (plus a teaser for Fall of G.I. Joe). Check them all out below, and read the summary again here!

Re: IDW Publishing Panel at WonderCon - Summary: Dawn of the Autobots, Primacy, Fall of G.I. Joe (1567063)
Posted by Va'al on April 21st, 2014 @ 11:54am CDT

After the Hasbro panel slideshow images and summary we've posted so far, here comes the official IDW Publishing press release with all the announcements made over the weekend at WonderCon! We've higlighted the parts related (even vaguely) to Transformers, but read on below for more.

IDW Announcements Roll Out
at Wonder Con 2014
Multiple New Projects Coming From Publisher

San Diego, CA (April 21, 2014) – At this year’s Wonder Con in Anaheim, IDW unleashed an impressive array of announcements, bolstering its lineup through the fall of 2014 and beyond. Brand-new titles, miniseries featuring fan-favorite characters, new Artist’s Editions, new television deals, and a first-of-its-kind exclusive creator deal rounded out the action-packed weekend.

IDW has secured the amazing talents of Locke & Key co-creator Gabriel Rodriguez by signing him to an exclusive deal. His work has appeared in IDW comics since the very beginning, and will continue to do so exclusively, with his next project being the hotly anticipated Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland with Eisner Award-winning writer, Eric Shanower.

IDW Entertainment, along with George Lopez and his Travieso Production Company, announced they are developing Wormwood as an animated television series based on the acclaimed IDW title created by Ben Templesmith. David M. Stern (Ugly Americans, The Simpsons) has been tapped to write the pilot episode and serve as an executive producer on the series. Circle of Confusion (Walking Dead) will also executive produce the show. IDW Entertainment will fund development of the series, which will soon be marketed to the networks.

At the Artist’s Edition panel, Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier showed off some of the amazing art included in the Marvel Cover’s Artist’s Edition and announced that John Buscema’s Silver Surfer (in cooperation with Marvel Comics), and two more projects with Walter Simonson, Walter Simonson’s Manhunter & Other Stories (in cooperation with DC Entertainment), and Walter Simonson’s Lawnmower Man Artist’s Edition portfolio, collecting the entire Stephen King-penned story into a deluxe portfolio, will soon join the IDW Artist’s Edition catalog!

The acclaimed videogame franchise Borderlands is returning to IDW with a brand new miniseries “The Fall Of Fyrestone.” Written by the original game writer Mikey Neumann, the new series promises the dark humor and high-end action that fans love about the videogames.

IDW’s Star Trek comics continue to break new ground and delight fans with two stories that are Star Trek “firsts.” Star Trek #35 starts “The Q Gambit,” which crosses the paths of the omnipotent (and beloved) Q and the crew of the recent 2009 film franchise for the first time. In July, fans will get the chance to see all six Star Trek medical officers ban together for the first time as they fight a mysterious virus in the one-shot Star Trek Special: Flesh and Stone.

Traveling back to the ‘40s, the new miniseries The X-Files: Year Zero by writer Karl Kesel and artists Vic Malhotra and Greg Scott explores the mysterious origins of the department and the strange connections Mulder and Scully now find themselves up against.

A new five-part miniseries set in the world of Judge Dredd focusing on Judge Anderson will debut this August: Judge Dredd: Anderson, Psi-Division, by writer Matt Smith and artist Carl Critchlow, will continue to explore Dredd’s early years in this follow-up to Smith’s Judge Dredd: Year One series.

IDW returns to Konami’s horror masterpiece with Silent Hill Downpour: Anne’s Story. Written by Tom Waltz (Silent Hill: Sinner’s Reward, Silent Hill: Past Life and the Silent Hill Downpour video game), with artwork by Tristan Jones (Ghostbusters, Hoax Hunters). Waltz, further acclaimed for his writing on IDW’s ongoing TMNT revival, will also launch a sci-fi action-adventure epic with artist Casey Maloney, The Last Fall.

The partnership between IDW and 44FLOOD was announced at New York Comic-Con 2013, and this weekend it was made public that the second release from this collaboration is Ben Templesmith’s The Squidder, a new four-issue series coming this August.

Also on the creator-owned front, Angel: After the Fall fan-favorite writer Brian Lynch will launch Monster Motors in July. Announced at “The Greatest Panel in the Known Universe,” the action-comedy features art and cover by Transformers artist Nick Roche.

Transformers: Primacy is coming this August! Writers Chris Metzen and Flint Dille with artist Livio Ramondelli guide us through the war for Cybertron that will shake the world of the TRANSFORMERS to the core, in this, the final chapter of the Cybertron War trilogy.

And finally (for now), IDW’s partnership with Darby Pop Publishing grows with the upcoming July release of Doberman. From the minds of Rob Rosell and Scott Marder, known from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Unsupervised, with writer Jack Lambert and artist Brandon McKinney (Army of Two) the story of Frank Doberman comes to life and he wants a six-pack and vengeance!