Recently, sentiment has been building among Transformers fans on social media for a new Transformers Generation One comic. A book that takes place within the original 1980's Transformers Cartoon universe. Both John-Paul Bove and Case Coller have expressed a personal interest in working on such a comic book.

Let's let IDW Publishing know that we're all interested in a new Transformers Generation One comic book and that will happily buy each monthly issue.

Q: Are you a comic book writer/artist pitching this to IDW?

A: No.  I’m just a Transformers fan like you.  But if IDW sees that there is a large interest from many people who want to buy this comic, they’ll listen.  Writer/colorist John-Paul Bove and artist Casey Coller have expressed interest in this idea, and they are also Transformers fans who would love to see this book become a reality, but there is no concrete pitch from them or anyone else on the table.  This is entirely a grassroots campaign to show IDW that there is support for this idea.

Q: Didn’t we already get this with Regeneration One?

A: Regeneration One was a continuation of the original Marvel Transformers comic series, with one of the original writers (Simon Furman) and original artists (Andrew Wildman, Stephen Baskerville) returning to give a definitive conclusion to that series.  This new series would focus on the universe of the original cartoon series, in particular the 20-year gap between the end of Season 2 (that takes place in 1985-86) and the 1986 animated movie (that takes place in 2005).  There is limitless storytelling potential in this 20-year time period for an ongoing comic series to mine.

Q: I’m not a fan of G1 and haven’t seen the original cartoon.  Why should I support something like this?

A: The G1 cartoon series defined the characterizations of many of the Transformers, and laid the groundwork for a lot of concepts that continue to be part of the mythos.  I think it would be amazing to see what modern comic book writers and artists who are also Transformers fans could do with many of the original stories and plot threads that were never continued.  As an example, see these 2 one-page stories John-Paul Bove wrote for the Transformers Mosaic project a few years ago: “The Year is 2004” and “Beyond Great” Also, the G1 cartoon series is currently available on Netflix USA if you’re curious.

Q: The Transformers comics market is saturated with already great product.  There’s no room for this comic.  Why should I give up RID, MTMTE, Windblade, Transformers vs G.I. Joe, etc. for this?

A: We’re not asking IDW to cancel any of its current Transformers titles or change any of their current plans.  We are all fans of IDW’s current Transformers comics.  We do believe that there is still room for a comic that focuses on classic G1 stories that particularly derive from the original cartoon.  Many Transformers fans grew up on the G1 cartoon and have never been interested in the comics.  This could be a gateway for them.

Q: Why should IDW listen to you about what Transformers comics they publish?

A: IDW is a very successful company and we are not making any demands on them.  We want to show them that there is widespread support for this project and a new potential market for them.  If we are wrong about that, so be it.  If IDW is not interested, so be it.  But we think getting 5,000 people to pledge their support for a new comic might be convincing.

Q: Sorry, I’d prefer a continuation of Transformers Animated, Beast Machines, the Japanese series, etc.

A: Supporting this effort doesn’t mean you can’t support anything else in the franchise.  If you have no interest in returning to G1, that’s fine.  But having this succeed doesn’t mean any other future effort to bring back another series won’t be possible.  If we can show there is a comic-buying market for a series and there are artists interested and enthusiastic about the project, we think IDW will listen.

Q: If you don’t match the exact tone and lightheartedness of the cartoon, along with all its shallow character development and weak plots, it’s not really the G1 cartoon and it won’t work.

A: We are not comic creators, so we are not putting any mandate or constraints on what IDW could do with this idea.  The G1 cartoon was written by many different writers and episodes had uneven tone and quality.  Some episodes were significantly serious and plot heavy for a kid’s cartoon, while others were lighthearted and shallow.  If IDW wants to move forward with this, we’re willing to give the creative team the chance to get it right.  Every fan wants something a little bit different out of Transformers, but we ultimately trust quality writers and artists to deliver quality product.  It’s already working with their current IDW Transformers series.  And look at the Mars Attacks Transformers one-shot comic IDW produced last year as an example of getting the lighthearted spirit of the cartoon right.

Q: Why would I want a new comic series as lame and shallow as the G1 cartoon?  Modern Transformers comics have much better depth, character development and storytelling.

A: See above answer.

Image by Todd Ferguson, who is creating his own G1 Cartoon Universe fan comic here. This is an example of what could be!