We also have a few stills, from the first episode of the prequel digital comic series, which can be seen at our sister site,
comicbookmovie.com. A new prequel motion comic will debut each Tuesday until the main animated show premieres on August 02. The first prequel episode focuses on Optimus Prime with subsequent installments shining the spotlight on Starscream, Windblade and Victorion.
Transformers is a multiplatform franchise that consists of toys, comic books, video games, films and television shows. The toyline was the first to debut in 1984 as a joint venture between the American toy company Hasbor and Japanese toy maker, Takara. The Autobots and Decepticons originally started life as part of Takara's Diaclone and Microman toylines before being rebranded. That same year, Habro and Takara hired Marvel comic book writers Jim Shooter, Bob Budiansky and Denny O'Neil to develop the backstory for the characters and the three went on to divide the robots into two main groups, Autobots and Decepticons. A comic book line was also started at Marvel with the Transformers initially debuting as part of the main comic book line and sharing adventures with Spider-Man, Nick Fury and The Avengers. Also "rolling out" in 1984 was the animated series, which was written in the US and animated in Korea and Japan. In Japan the series was titled, In Japan, the series was called Tatakae! Chō Robotto Seimei-Tai Toransufōmā (Fight! Super Robot Life-Form Transformers).
To date, their have been four live-action films with a fifth set for release in 2017. The Marvel Comics title ran for 80 issues from September 1984 - July 1991 and produced a number of spinoffs. IDW began publishing a continuation of the Marvel Comics run in 2011.