The last surviving Transformer revealed in Last Bot Standing

Transformers: Last Bot Standing #1 cover art (Image credit: IDW Publishing)

IDW isn't giving up the Transformers comic book license without a final blowout.

In the spirit of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, the publisher is preparing to tell the 'last' Transformers story in Transformers: Last Bot Standing, a four-issue series launching in May.

(Sorry, we couldn't resist).

IDW calls Last Bot Standing a hypothetical last story set in the far-flung future, asking "When the last stars flicker and fade, who will be the only Cybertronian left?"

The series is created by Transformers comic book veterans Nick Roche and E.J. Su.

According to the publisher, while the war over Cybertron is long over, the war that began on the Autobots and Decepticons' home planet is neverending. But when a Transformer from the long-dead civilization falls from the sky, life on the planet Donnokt - just on the verge of an industrial revolution - will never be the same.

"The last remaining Cybertronian, stalked by the sins of their entire race, must save the world one final time," says series writer Nick Roche in IDW's announcement, who will also illustrate some of the series. "In a way, Last Bot Standing is a proper farewell, as our creative team bows out of IDW's Transformers universe in the most explosive and apocalyptic way imaginable."

Last month IDW confirmed its longtime license for the Hasbro properties G.I. Joe and Transformers was ending later this year.

A new comic book licensee hasn't been officially announced. IDW will apparently retain the license to publish comics based on other Hasbro properties including MASK, Visionaries, ROM, and more.

"The Transformers franchise has come a long way since we laid our eyes on the first episode of the cartoon, and it's amazing how many writers can put so many different spins on the core characters," says artist Su. "Nick has masterfully crafted some of the most memorable Transformers comic stories, and this one will be no exception as the readers weave their way through the mystery and find out how our beloved characters came to this situation. We hope that they enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed making it."

Transformers: Last Bot Standing #1 (of 4) goes on sale in May.

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I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.