IDW artist Nick Roche has posted in the IDW forums the line art that he had made for the first issue of the Beast Wars Source Book. Included in the post are a few drawings that didn't make it into the issue!

Click here to see his renditions of Apache, Autocrasher, BB, Big Convoy, Break, and Blackarachnia.

Over the weekend, a 13-page document purported to be a story treatment for Transformers II hit the internet, and naturally, all hell broke loose in the fandom. The ambitious alleged treatment included scenes on Cybertron, more backstory on the Allspark, rifts in the Decepticon ranks, and of course, huge action-packed battles in major U.S. cities. It was dated 10/02/2007, and the author's name was blacked out. Officially, the document was quickly denounced as a fake, via producer Don Murphy. However, speculation and discussion continued.

We will not be linking to the treatment itself, but feel it is important to recap some information that may either stimulate or stifle some of the speculation. On Sunday, Nelson of Michael Bay.com stopped by TFW2005 to offer this cryptic comment:  "What I can say is that treatment wasn't a fan concoction. Take it as you will." Naturally, that only piqued more interest. Next, it was discovered that the last two characters of the alleged author's name were visible on one page of the script, and that the name of the newly added screenwriter Ehren Kruger seemed to fit both those final letters, and the size of the blacked-out area. 

Today, Nelson posted on the Allspark, seeming to put most of the questions to bed: "[The treatment is] fake as in it's a treatment that won't be used? Yes. Real as in it was not a fan who wrote it? Yes." In other words, the treatment was written by someone in the industry (possibly Kruger), and may have at some point been under consideration as the basis for the sequel... but as of today, they're not going to use it.

To discuss the treatment, and see Nelson's post as well as the Photoshop tests on the author's name, check out Master Fwiffo's thread.

According to articles on IGN, CHUD, and ComingSoon.net, Steven Spielberg is pushing the Transformers II writing team to churn out a finalized story at breakneck speed. Spielberg held a "meet-and-greet" on the Universal Studios lot, and while all articles agree that the sequel will be happening quickly, they seem to conflict a bit on the details; ComingSoon says "there's already a story," CHUD says the story "will be turned in next week," and IGN asserts that the story is "going out within the next 30 days."

Either way, all articles acknowledge that Spielberg wants to get moving on the Transformers: The Movie follow-up before a potential Writers Guild strike, and that he confirmed Shia LaBeouf is signed for "multiple" giant-robot flicks.

View the original articles at IGN, CHUD, and ComingSoon.net, and discuss in Matrix Prime's thread.

IDW Publishing's "breakout year" is the subject of a new article in the San Diego Union-Tribune. IDW co-founder Ted Adams and representatives from Wizard, Comic Book Resources, and Diamond are on hand to discuss IDW's past successes, particularly with licensed properties such as Transformers and Transformers: The Movie, as well as the potential windfall from the upcoming 30 Days Of Night feature film. They also touch on the risks involved with comics publishing, including the relatively new threat of internet piracy, and how the comic industry is growing while similar businesses struggle to keep up with the times.

Visit the Union-Tribune's SignOnSanDiego.com for the full article.

Many fans have noticed several errors in the first Beast Wars: Source Book that IDW released last week. These amount anywhere from coloring errors to mistakes alphabetizing the characters names, and even improperly credited artwork. IDW Publishing Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall has posted in the IDW forums trying to ease these concerns.

Hey, everyone--

In the time we've been doing Transformers comics, there have been highs and lows for the fans, I know. As there's going to be on anything -- some projects work better than others, for various reasons. 

So what happened?

That's a good question. But there's really no need for me to make excuses or air any beasty-smelling laundry, so I'll just say that the book is, like everything we publish, ultimately my responsibility. This book was one that sort of slipped through the crack while I was dealing with an editorial shift, and it went out with some errors. Book Two was completed during this same period. But Andrew is here as the TF Editor now, and is extremely competent and he and I will do what we can to ensure the rest of the books are produced as they should be. As many errors are able to be corrected in the collected version will be fixed, too.

You can read the entire post here, and see our thread on the issue here. 

Simon Furman has updated his blog with some new, interesting information.

This past Sunday, he wrote a little about the Sub-Con he attended in Dublin. During his panel at the convention, he says that he revealed that a certain Headmaster commander would make his way into the pages of an IDW spotlight. Fort Max won't be the main character, it'll just a supporting role for a yet unnamed character spotlight.

Today he shares a little information about the Titan UK Transformers: The Movie Magazine #4 that is due out this week. This issue features free pin badges, a showdown between Prime and Megatron, and an appearance by Movie Devastator! 

You can see what he has to say about the Magazine and Spotlight issues by clicking here, and you can see the cover of the Magazine by clicking here. 

A new section of the Transformers: The Movie site has been created to promote the upcoming DVD release, and it makes Optimus Prime your trained telephone monkey! Visit http://optimus.transformersmovie.com/, answer a few questions, and Prime himself will ring up you or one of your buddies to warn about a potential Decepticon threat. He'll mention the DVD too, but that's probably just a coincidence. 

Check out http://optimus.transformersmovie.com/ yourself, and hope your name isn't too unusual for Prime's vocal processors to handle. Thanks to Jarodimus of the 2005 Boards for the tip!

And if that's not enough personal attention for you, upload a photo of yourself to http://www.suityourself.tv/ and see what you'd look like as a sort of freaky human/robot alien cyborg monstrosity. Use it as a template for a Halloween costume, or to scare your mom back home into thinking you've been blown up and resurrected as the new RoboCop.

Credit goes to Seibertron.com for pointing out the Suit Yourself site.