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Transformers: Beast Wars #1-6
Transformers: Beast Wars, Vol. 1
Celebrate 25 years of Beast Wars! The Maximals and the Predacons are back in this all-new series.
“In the beginning came the beasts, and all that creeps, crawls and flies–but nature lies, they’re robots in disguise!” With this one line a whole new generation of Transformers toys and fans were created. Now, 25 years later, an all-new series brings your favorite characters back!
In the future, the planet Cybertron belongs to the scientific-minded Maximals and the action-oriented Predacons! When a crew of Predacons, led by the successor to the Megatron name, steal a golden disk and a ship capable of traveling through time, it’s up to Optimus Primal and his Maximal crew–Rattrap, Rhinox, Cheetor, and new character Nyx–to catch them!
Volume 1 collects issues #1-6 of the 12-issue series.
“In the beginning came the beasts, and all that creeps, crawls and flies–but nature lies, they’re robots in disguise!” With this one line a whole new generation of Transformers toys and fans were created. Now, 25 years later, an all-new series brings your favorite characters back!
In the future, the planet Cybertron belongs to the scientific-minded Maximals and the action-oriented Predacons! When a crew of Predacons, led by the successor to the Megatron name, steal a golden disk and a ship capable of traveling through time, it’s up to Optimus Primal and his Maximal crew–Rattrap, Rhinox, Cheetor, and new character Nyx–to catch them!
Volume 1 collects issues #1-6 of the 12-issue series.
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 22, 2022
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Erik Burnham
691 books74 followersErik Burnham is a Minnesotan writer and artist that first broke into comics with a series of humorous short stories in the Shooting Star Comics Anthology. These stories featured his original creation, Nick Landime, and culminated in a one-shot: Nick Landime vs. the World Crime League, published by Shooting Star in 2005.
Off and on, in this same time period, Erik also produced a short run of an online strip, The Down Side, until technical issues wore him down. He aims to return to the strip one day.
In 2007, Erik found produced work for two other anthologies – a short humor piece for History Graphics Press’ Civil War Adventures #1, and a horror story for Gene Simmons’ House of Horror #3, produced by IDW Publishing.
This lead to several other projects for IDW, up to and including his critically acclaimed run on the ongoing GHOSTBUSTERS comic book.
Erik has worked on other projects not related to comic books, and hopes one day to share those with the public at large. In the meantime, he still lives quietly in Minnesota; any rumors about this being because he’s completely afraid of the forty-nine other states (and Canada) remain unverified at this time.
Off and on, in this same time period, Erik also produced a short run of an online strip, The Down Side, until technical issues wore him down. He aims to return to the strip one day.
In 2007, Erik found produced work for two other anthologies – a short humor piece for History Graphics Press’ Civil War Adventures #1, and a horror story for Gene Simmons’ House of Horror #3, produced by IDW Publishing.
This lead to several other projects for IDW, up to and including his critically acclaimed run on the ongoing GHOSTBUSTERS comic book.
Erik has worked on other projects not related to comic books, and hopes one day to share those with the public at large. In the meantime, he still lives quietly in Minnesota; any rumors about this being because he’s completely afraid of the forty-nine other states (and Canada) remain unverified at this time.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 9, 2022
This is based on the original pilot for Beast Wars. It does have some differences and some new characters. The story is clearly geared towards kids and I think they'll get a kick out of it. Josh Burcham is a talented artist. I just don't think his art works well with this book. His work is really stylized. I want my robots to look like robots with squared off lines and the like. Burcham takes a lot of liberties along those lines and I didn't care for it. I hated his color palette. It's all a wash of purples, magentas, and nuclear waste greens. It made the characters hard to tell apart when they were all the same colors.
Received a review copy form IDW and Edelweiss.
Received a review copy form IDW and Edelweiss.
January 2, 2022
I watched the 1980’s Transformers cartoon when I was a child and loved it. I was hoping Transformers Beast Wars was going to be more like the 1980’s cartoon. The story was fun and had the standard good Transformers vs the bad guys story line. I did like that Megatron was in this comics series and also some other familiar faces.
The artwork was sleek yet simple. It was perfect for kids who watch the new cartoons. I liked the battle scenes, they were fun and violent but not too intense. So kids would enjoy the art and battles but not be frightened or overwhelmed but it.
Children are definitely the audience for this comic series. Kids at heart like me will enjoy Transformers: Beast Wars Vol. 1 but we are not the intended audience.
I do recommend Transformers: Beast Wars Vol. 1 for children. They will enjoy this book. Maybe reading this volume of Transformers stories will lead them back to watching the old cartoons I did as a child.
The artwork was sleek yet simple. It was perfect for kids who watch the new cartoons. I liked the battle scenes, they were fun and violent but not too intense. So kids would enjoy the art and battles but not be frightened or overwhelmed but it.
Children are definitely the audience for this comic series. Kids at heart like me will enjoy Transformers: Beast Wars Vol. 1 but we are not the intended audience.
I do recommend Transformers: Beast Wars Vol. 1 for children. They will enjoy this book. Maybe reading this volume of Transformers stories will lead them back to watching the old cartoons I did as a child.
December 2, 2021
I'll be straight up with you here, I'm possibly not the best person to review a Transformers book - I've not really been a fan of the franchise outside of the original cartoons, movie and toy line (I'm that old!). But with the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars upon us this year, I was curious to dip my toe back into the waters to see what I was missing.
From what I can conclude this is a retelling of the original Beast Wars story albeit with some differences and a little modernisation thrown in. The story seems to follow the familiar Transformers format; good bots Vs bad bots etc, but there are some added complexities to a few of the characters here. The art work isn't aligned to that of the original 3D animation, which I actually appreciated - that stuff hasn't aged well in today's world of super technology! But a special mention has to go to the colouring here - this alone will most definitely give you those nostalgic Transformers vibes!
Overall, I think my lack of pre-defined fandom here really hindered me with this book. Of course, that's totally on me, but sadly because of that I feel it struggled to keep my attention in places. That said, I can totally see how older fans of Beast Wars are going to get a super-massive nostalgia kick from this and I also think this would be a great read if you wanted to introduce your children to the franchise or to comic books in general.
From what I can conclude this is a retelling of the original Beast Wars story albeit with some differences and a little modernisation thrown in. The story seems to follow the familiar Transformers format; good bots Vs bad bots etc, but there are some added complexities to a few of the characters here. The art work isn't aligned to that of the original 3D animation, which I actually appreciated - that stuff hasn't aged well in today's world of super technology! But a special mention has to go to the colouring here - this alone will most definitely give you those nostalgic Transformers vibes!
Overall, I think my lack of pre-defined fandom here really hindered me with this book. Of course, that's totally on me, but sadly because of that I feel it struggled to keep my attention in places. That said, I can totally see how older fans of Beast Wars are going to get a super-massive nostalgia kick from this and I also think this would be a great read if you wanted to introduce your children to the franchise or to comic books in general.
August 24, 2022
Let me start off by saying that I am readily a fan of Transformers, however this was my first exposure to Beast Wars. I have not watched the cartoon, yet I did not find my enjoyment of the comic hindered at all. The story is simple, yet is very well paced and with some surprisingly good dialogue. As for the art style, I very much liked the angular style and the unnaturally colored backgrounds so you really get a feel of how alien everything is. Overall if you're interested in Transformers and remembered liking Beast Wars, you'll definitely enjoy this comic adaption. I'd certainly recommend it to a friend.
April 10, 2022
I think everyone is coming at this volume with their own specific contextual angle, and mine would be defined by a fascination with the 80s Transformers cartoons mostly because of the residual toys that bled into my 90s childhood and happy meals. It wasn’t until Fox Kids starting airing an all-CG Transformers series called Beast Wars. I watched it off and on (probably even taped episodes on VHS, since age 10-13 was when I got really into doing that for cartoons and WWF shows…). Later in college, I tracked down and watched all the episodes of Beast Wars and it’s much shorter-lived and very bizarre follow-up, Beast Machines. I actually grew pretty fond to the core roster of characters even though the shows were very much geared for children, especially at the level of humor. The drama, at times, did feel adult and got into plenty of weird stuff about ontology, existence, time travel, and the effects of war from legacy to PTSD.
I stumbled across this collection via Pima County Library holdings and having recently dipped into the new Animorphs graphic novel adaptations (which I’ve been, surprisingly, enjoying), I thought I’d pick this up. It has flaws, certainly — there’s a lot of overuse of shadows and dark spaces for stretches of the comic, some of the characters already are showing signs of the flat need to be there just to experience pratfalls and little else, and some of the blurring to indicate motion looks poor — but it’s generally fun and it’s clear the creative team is really interested in preserving the spirit of the kid’s show while adding new characters and character arcs to fit the world of today.
I can see where the attempt to harness the art-style of some of the recent Netflix and Cartoon Network runs of Transformers might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I just have the sense that this is targeting kids, who will like it if they like robots and animals and especially like dinosaurs and spaceships, or for nerdy millennials like me who grew up with the cartoon as part of their afternoon viewing schedule. If they can do for most characters what they do with Dinobot here (make him a noble turncoat while also heightening a level of personal tragedy in those actions), then I’m excited to see what else comes in the rest of this run.
I stumbled across this collection via Pima County Library holdings and having recently dipped into the new Animorphs graphic novel adaptations (which I’ve been, surprisingly, enjoying), I thought I’d pick this up. It has flaws, certainly — there’s a lot of overuse of shadows and dark spaces for stretches of the comic, some of the characters already are showing signs of the flat need to be there just to experience pratfalls and little else, and some of the blurring to indicate motion looks poor — but it’s generally fun and it’s clear the creative team is really interested in preserving the spirit of the kid’s show while adding new characters and character arcs to fit the world of today.
I can see where the attempt to harness the art-style of some of the recent Netflix and Cartoon Network runs of Transformers might not be everyone’s cup of tea. I just have the sense that this is targeting kids, who will like it if they like robots and animals and especially like dinosaurs and spaceships, or for nerdy millennials like me who grew up with the cartoon as part of their afternoon viewing schedule. If they can do for most characters what they do with Dinobot here (make him a noble turncoat while also heightening a level of personal tragedy in those actions), then I’m excited to see what else comes in the rest of this run.
April 21, 2022
Quick impressions: Overall, the series is mostly OK. It was a quick and entertaining read, but it is not really memorable. I wish the art was better on this. For libraries, I would consider this as an optional purchase. The volume includes issues 1-6 of the series.
(Full review on my blog)
(Full review on my blog)
March 13, 2022
Beast Wars is literally the only Transformers thing I've ever cared about, and to see it come back to comics again is a joy. To have it handled by a continuity master like Erik Burnham is an even bigger one. That said, this is a separate continuity to the previous Beast Wars stories (probably by necessity since that story was pretty much told by the end of Beast Machines anyway), but that doesn't mean it's just a strict retelling.
While the set-up is still the same (Predacons and Maximals arrive on prehistoric Earth), there are new characters and twists and turns here that will keep fans of the franchise guessing. The introduction of the Golden Disc, BlackArachnia, and even the Vok comes far earlier than before, and it allows for forward planning that even the original cartoon didn't have a chance to capitalise on.
The artwork's a tad scratchy in places - Josh Burcham captures everyone well, and has a good eye for the transformation sequences without making them too cluttered, but it sometimes feels like his guidelines have been left on the art, since some lines extend past the characters themselves. It's not massively distracting, but I've never seen it before.
Despite the sheen of originality, there's enough familiarity here to know that this is still the Beast Wars you know and love. Cheetor is a dork, Rattrap can't shut up, Optimus is...Optimus, Waspinator gets blown up, Megatron says 'yessssss' a lot. Everything you want is here, plus stuff you didn't know you wanted.
While the set-up is still the same (Predacons and Maximals arrive on prehistoric Earth), there are new characters and twists and turns here that will keep fans of the franchise guessing. The introduction of the Golden Disc, BlackArachnia, and even the Vok comes far earlier than before, and it allows for forward planning that even the original cartoon didn't have a chance to capitalise on.
The artwork's a tad scratchy in places - Josh Burcham captures everyone well, and has a good eye for the transformation sequences without making them too cluttered, but it sometimes feels like his guidelines have been left on the art, since some lines extend past the characters themselves. It's not massively distracting, but I've never seen it before.
Despite the sheen of originality, there's enough familiarity here to know that this is still the Beast Wars you know and love. Cheetor is a dork, Rattrap can't shut up, Optimus is...Optimus, Waspinator gets blown up, Megatron says 'yessssss' a lot. Everything you want is here, plus stuff you didn't know you wanted.
January 16, 2023
This was actually really well done.
As a huge fan of the original Beast Wars series I feel Erik Burnham took the original story and concept of the show and reworked it to not only be more believable in terms of the characters' choices and why someone like Dinobot would join the enemy side, but also giving the opposing factions more background and world-building so we--as the readers--understand WHO the Maximals and Predacons are and WHY they oppose each other so much.
Burnham does this (including adding 2 new characters to the original crews) and yet still keeps the series in the same vein of the original show--it is still just as cool and just as charming.
Josh Burcham does a great job with the art, making the characters look similar and recognizable to the original show, but in a style that makes me feel they will start moving at any moment.
This adaptation was approached and conducted with intelligence and care from everyone working on it. Looking forward to continuing the series.
As a huge fan of the original Beast Wars series I feel Erik Burnham took the original story and concept of the show and reworked it to not only be more believable in terms of the characters' choices and why someone like Dinobot would join the enemy side, but also giving the opposing factions more background and world-building so we--as the readers--understand WHO the Maximals and Predacons are and WHY they oppose each other so much.
Burnham does this (including adding 2 new characters to the original crews) and yet still keeps the series in the same vein of the original show--it is still just as cool and just as charming.
Josh Burcham does a great job with the art, making the characters look similar and recognizable to the original show, but in a style that makes me feel they will start moving at any moment.
This adaptation was approached and conducted with intelligence and care from everyone working on it. Looking forward to continuing the series.
June 16, 2023
I’m having a hard time deciding how I feel about this one… There isn’t anything obvious I can knock, and in fact it feels like it does everything quite well.
And yet, I kind of just wanted to get through it and move on and I don’t know why. I liked the art style and the writing felt authentic, so a lot of boxes were checked. Except there’s some ancient nostalgia at play - growing up as a diehard Beast Wars kid, this felt like revisiting that, but it was almost too unfamiliar?
Everything’s telling me I should love this and pick up the next book, but I don’t think I will? It’s not you, it’s me - and I guess with some things you can never go home again.
And yet, I kind of just wanted to get through it and move on and I don’t know why. I liked the art style and the writing felt authentic, so a lot of boxes were checked. Except there’s some ancient nostalgia at play - growing up as a diehard Beast Wars kid, this felt like revisiting that, but it was almost too unfamiliar?
Everything’s telling me I should love this and pick up the next book, but I don’t think I will? It’s not you, it’s me - and I guess with some things you can never go home again.
January 6, 2024
AMAZING!!!!! At Long Last, the return of my FAVORITE Transformers series!!! A reboot that echoes the original show with some new characters and twists. I LOVE it! I can hear the voices of the original actors in my head as I read the dialogues. I can see the pages move. Everything is as grand as I’d hoped. More so because two other volumes remain.
January 9, 2024
An interesting reimaging of the original Transformers Beast Wars series and I do praise the art as the character are a lot more expressive then the original characters are so we can better understand their emotional states and I do like we do get a bit more context about what the Maximals and Predacons were doing before crash landing and starting the Beast Wars.
September 30, 2024
I thought the story and dialogue were quite good, capturing the personalities of the characters well with some notable changes. The art style was fun at times, but unfortunately lacked the expressiveness (both facial and body language) that this comic really needed to give it something like the energy of the show. Still a fun read!
November 29, 2021
Just in time for the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars, this story re-tells said Beast Wars but there are differences which will either intrigue old fans or make them go "huh?" I can't be the only one reading each character in their TV voice actor's voice am I?
April 24, 2022
I was a huge fan of beast wars as a kid. I was worried after the first couple of pages that this was a waste of $25, but I really really enjoyed it.
November 22, 2022
I enjoyed this more than I expected, but not a surprise because Burnham is always good at making me interested in licensed books.
August 17, 2023
This made my child heart happy. Good mix of nostalgia while also being new. Recommended for any fans of the Beast Wars series.
December 29, 2023
A really solid re-telling/reimagining of the Beast Wars lore. I had a lot of fun reading it.
February 19, 2024
Okayyy….
February 19, 2022
The original Beast Wars cartoon series had a pretty rich story base to work with and I was rather curious to see how this comic would add a new spin to things. And I think it's safe to say that we got precisely that with this title where we see a lot of the same "shape" of that original Beast Wars story but with more modern sensibilities or however you want to term it.
We have more or less the same core cast of characters with a few female additions for both sides that are different from what we saw on TV. But that's fair enough since a comic book is not limited by a CGI animation series budget, thus more characters can make things cooler.
There are a lot of similarities between this volume and the pilot of the Beast Wars show, but I appreciate what was done to tweak things to still make things feel fresh and different. And the book still ended up shining a lot of focus on Dinobot, and perhaps rightly so because...he's Dinobot. And it totally works out to set the stage for a new generation of Beast Wars adventures. Again.
We have more or less the same core cast of characters with a few female additions for both sides that are different from what we saw on TV. But that's fair enough since a comic book is not limited by a CGI animation series budget, thus more characters can make things cooler.
There are a lot of similarities between this volume and the pilot of the Beast Wars show, but I appreciate what was done to tweak things to still make things feel fresh and different. And the book still ended up shining a lot of focus on Dinobot, and perhaps rightly so because...he's Dinobot. And it totally works out to set the stage for a new generation of Beast Wars adventures. Again.
April 9, 2024
An update to the original Beast Wars cartoon. While this is basically just a retelling of the premiere story - the specifics are changed, and there are two new characters, but it hits the same beats - it is well-executed and fairly entertaining. (B+)
July 16, 2023
Straight nostalgia
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews