Hot on the heels of the Transformers movie, Marvel and IDW Publishing’s second issue of New Avengers/Transformers is set to arrive August 8. Marvel has sent us a sneak peek of of the the issue that finds Doc Doom and Megatron teaming up.

“In the debut issue, we built slowly to the big first meeting of these two famous groups, and here’s where the readers’ patience pays off,” said editor Bill Rosemann. “The Avengers–who have been pushed to a violent place due to the Decepticons chicanery–and the Autobots—who have rolled in to squash the rising tempers—run head-on into each other…as blood—and oil—will flow!”

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It’s been known for a while that Cartoon Network will be releasing an all new Transformers animated series set to air in 2008.

Each episode will present a standalone storyline featuring everyday heroes who do good deeds that triumph over evil. “Transformers Animated” series will be co-produced by Cartoon Network Studios.

Toon Zone has the list of voice actors and the parts they’ll play in the twenty-six half-hour series.

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In the six and a half days the Transformers have been on the screen, the film has raked in an estimated domestic take of $152.5 million, plus another $93.6 million from international screens, which is an impressive $246.1 million worldwide.

“Transformers,” which Bay recently said cost $150 million to make, is expected to easily climb well above the $200 million mark domestically. Penned by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtz-man, pic was produced by Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy.

I saw the movie last week. It was okay. It was a total Michael Bay film, complete with (human) characters I could give a rats ass about, rambling side plots that have very very very little to do with the overall story, some pretty kick ass effects, and of course giant robots. Now if someone could convince Bay to use a damn tripod and mix up his editing with a wide shot or two so we can take in the massiveness of a fight, the sequel would rock. I gave the film 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

Looks like fans are flocking into theatres this week, with most lining up to see Transformers taking in 79% or all box office dollars.  Monday’s haul was an impressive $8.8 million.

I’ll be checking out the movie this weekend, and even though Josh had issues with the film, most of the comments posted here have been very positive.

The movie has only been on screens for a few short hours and already Transformers has been greenlit for a sequel by Dreamworks and Paramount pictures. I gotta tell you, I’ve been pretty excited about seeing the Transformers movie, even though Michael Bay is the director. Typically I go into movies expecting the worst, and then am pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t suck.

Unfortunately my worst fear about this movie seem to be confirmed in the early review Josh Howard posted on his site.

You know that guy you work with or that relative of yours that likes to take your action figures and put them all in sexually suggestive poses while you’re not looking? That’s what this movie felt like.

When one of the “funny” moments includes one of the most loved and revered Autobots, Bumblebee, taking a piss on someone, you know you’ve fallen face down into the filthy, waste-encrusted gutter that is Hollywood.

Holy crap! I can’t wait to see the action figure based on that. “Bubblebee - Now with Pee Action!” No wonder those parents groups are all up in arms.

You can read the rest of the rant at Josh’s site, and if you’ve seen the movie already, post your comments and share your thoughts on The Transformers. If everything Josh says is true,this could mean even worse news for the next Star Trek movie being penned by Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the duo credited for writing Transformers.

via Josh Howard

Well Duh…

Actually the complaint by The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to the Federal Trade Commission is that ads and toys tied into the Transformers movie are aimed at kids under 13.

The Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood called on the commission to work with the toy industry and media companies to develop a uniform rating system so toys tied to PG-13 movies would not be marketed to children younger than 13. It also asked the FTC to investigate the marketing of PG-13 movies to children.

Don’t buy into the bullshit.  If you are a good parent, you don’t need a group of a-holes telling you what your kid should or should not be playing with.  Heck back in the 50s there were parents complaining the Superman TV show caused kids to jump out of trees attempting to fly.

If you are concerned about what your child is seeing on TV, you have several options:

1. Get involved with what your child is watching and make the call yourself
2. Change the channel
3. Turn the TV off and have your kids read comics

Now someone is going to say comics aren’t for kids under 13, but I’m going to have to disagree.  I’m not going to let my son read The Boys until he is old enough to understand everything that is going on in the title, but  as a young tyke, the Johnny DC line is more than age appropriate.  So are a most of the titles from the Silver Age.  The key factor here is I’m the one getting involved in what my son will watch or read, not some advocacy group.

Get involved in your kid’s life, don’t let them be raised by someone else.

Rant off :)

via Hollywood Reporter

If you were a fan of those robots in disguise, you’ll be happy to know Cartoon Network will be airing new series this fall called Transformers: Animated. The 26 episode series will be written by Marty Isenberg, who many will remember as having penned the Beast Machines series.

Few details have emerged so far about the premise of the show other than it will be set in a future Earth where humans and robots will co-exist. Optimus Prime and Megatron will continue in their roles along with many other familiar faces in new bodies. No information has been released so far as to what time of day the show will air.

via Toon Zone

You’ve probably already seen these, but I’m posting if for you anyway. Michael Bay has posted high resolution images of some of your favorite Transformers over at his blog site in an attempt to get you to forget about the Spider-Man movie and get fired up about this big budget production with robots. Robots!

I still don’t like Megatron, but Optimus Prime is looking pretty sharp, and unlike Spider-Man 3 (which I still haven’t seen), I’ll be there on opening day to see if Bay succeeds or fails with this pic.

Take the jump for the large Megatron image and the link to Bay’s site with all the rest of the ginormous images.

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The official Transformers website has been updated to not only include the winning line from the “Make Prime Speak” contest, but now has Peter Cullen voicing the top ten submissions. No, mine isn’t on there, I guess it sounds rather odd to have Optimus Prime saying, “That Shaft is one bad mutha-”

Anyway, you can get your Transformers fill for the day by heading over to the site.

The Michael Bay Transformers Movie hits theatres July 4, 2007

via Transformers.com (link)

Optimus Prime has made the big time, making the cover of Empire magazine.  We’ve seen the image before in pure render form, but for the cover some additional touch ups have been made with those fancy lens flares all the kids are using these days.  This magazine has a cover date of February 2007, which means it should be on shelves next month.  The only problem, you have to be in the UK.  Not there?  Take the jump for the cover.

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Holy Crap!  The Transformers trailer is now online for you to view - and we actually get to see Transformers this time.  Pretty freakin’ cool.  Even though this is a Michael Bay movie, and it will probably suck, this trailer has me wanting to head into the movie theatre just to check it out.  What would be even more cool is if the Transformer at the end of the trailer actually steps on the little girl - only joking!

via Paramount (link)

Diamond Select Toys let us know they are taking pre-orders for the Megatron wall statue.  This 9-inch statue will be available March 15, 2007.  The pre-order price is $89.00.

Looks pretty cool for Decepticon fans, but I’m not really sure a wall statue is all that.  Would rather see a maquette than something that will hang on the wall waiting for the little niece or nephew to come along and bash it off by “accident”.

via Diamond Select Toys (link)

Someone embedded in Michael Bay’s production company has been leaking photos of the transforming cast of the Transformers Movie.  Jalopnik has posted CGI images of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and (sadly) Megatron.  Here’s just a snippet of the OP goodness.

Gotta say, I like what I’m seeing both for Prime and Bumblebee.  While Jalopnik claims these are from the inside, today with the piracy of 3D software, any kid could be making these and posting.  Still, with what we have seen before, I’m going to believe it.  Now if only the movie would be as good as the leaks, everything would be right with the universe.
via Jalopnik (link)

Transformers World has a new picture of what may be Ratchet in robot mode from the upcoming Transformers movie.  If you want to see the whole thing, head over to the site.  I’m not too impressed with the artist rendering as it looks a lot like the other renderings we’ve seen floating around the Net.  Still if you are obsessed with the Transformers movie like we appear to be (Scott Johnson, we’re looking your way), then you’ll want to drool over the pictures post haste.

We’ll see how long this shot stays up before I get a C&D Letter.   Just to be on the safe side, if you want to see the big image, you’ll have to follow the link.
Here is a shot from the Transformers movie, that actually shows a Transformer.

original image (link)