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.