Transformers and GI Joe comics have left IDW

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IDW has bid farewell to the GI and Transformers licenses

Transformers/GI Joe: Revolution
Transformers/GI Joe: Revolution (Image credit: IDW)

IDW Publishing's long-standing license to publish comic books based on the Hasbro toy line franchises G.I. Joe and Transformers seems to have ended, with longtime IDW editor David Mariotte tweeting a farewell to the Transformers franchise on his personal Twitter account on the occasion of the publication of the last IDW Transformers issue. 

IDW published Transformers comics starting in 2005, and G.I. Joe comics starting in 2008. The original announcement of the change came through The Hollywood Reporter, who reported in December 2021 that Robert Kirkman's Skybound imprint of Image Comics was in talks to pick up the license.

"At the end of 2022, IDW will bid a fond farewell to the publication of G.I. Joe and Transformers comic books and graphic novels. We’re exceedingly proud of our stewardship of these titles — 17 years with the Robots in Disguise and 14 years with A Real American Hero — and thank the legion of fans for their unwavering support, month in and month out," read a statement from IDW provided to THR at the time of the initial announcement. "We're also eternally grateful to every one of the talented creators who helped bring these characters to four-color life through our comics."

IDW published one final major G.I. Joe story for 2022 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the revamped GI Joe: A Real American Hero toy line, which revised the original GI Joe soldier toy into the concept of a fighting force made up of unique and distinct characters, with equally colorful enemies to match.

No announcement has been made regarding where the publishing licenses for G.I. Joe and Transformers will wind up following IDW's deal ending and Skybound never commented on THR's December 2021 report. IDW will apparently retain the license to publish comics based on other Hasbro properties including MASK, Visionaries, ROM, and more.

In addition, IDW has been publishing more Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons licensed comics in recent months.

The best place to get G.I. Joe and Transformers comics is at your local comic shop.

George Marston
George Marston
Entertainment Writer

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)