This list is dope but it's not exactly what I was expecting based on the thread title. This is basically a chronological list of when the issues came out; the title implies that it's the chronological list of the events depicted in the issues. So for example, Chaos Theory would happen before Megatron: Origin, which would happen before Spotlight: Hot Rod, which would happen before Infiltration, which would happen before All Hail Megatron, which would happen before Chaos, which would happen before MTMTE #1, which would happen before Windblade, which would happen before Unicron. I know that would be complicated because some issues are flashback-heavy (so, for example, the late-run Optimus Prime issues that go into the origins of Galvatron and the true origins of the Primes happen both very early and very late in the chronology of that 'verse) but I also think it would be INSANELY useful. Any change you've got some more blackout time? LOL

 

Ah, I think I actually did start an "IDW Flashback Project" a while back, but never finished/finalized it. You want I should post it here as-is?

I don't really see what you mean about the title but the list itself is actually a bit of an antithesis to the other "chronological" reading orders out there, it's more meant to be a hybrid or soft-massage of publication order into blended chronological and flashbacks. So all the present stories are ~95% chronological but the past stories are folded in based on my judgement.

 

You know what it was more done than I remembered it being, so I ended up just adding the last few issues in. Mostly the latter issues of Optimus Prime and that I was still debating whether or not to include all the time-travel.

 

Hey, I wanted to post a thank you! I found this in a google search and it has been SUPER helpful.

I've always been a TF fan. I'm 32 so... what was interesting is that when I was a kid, TF had mostly vanished from the airwaves, but my local library had the TF movie and some other tapes so I would watch it religiously. Then when I was about 10 or so, Beast Wars came out. And as a geek, I've read all the usual stuff. That said. It's certainly isn't something I kept up with. Tho, over the years, I've enjoyed reading the wiki articles and tracking all the diff series. So as a TF fan, compare to what I can imagine our some real transformers junkies, I'd probably rate myself around a 5 out of 10. Just to give folks a bit of background on my opinion.

Also the other thing about me is that I can't do large volumes of genre schlock so there was a bit of me the was hesitant to dive in. That said about 4 or 5 years ago, I had bought a lot of the TF run on comixology up to about Devestation. So Comixology just recently did a series and said "f it" let me buy everything up to Phase 2, then Phase 2 vol 4 collection (Cuz i can sign up to unlimited and read the first 3 vol.).

THIS GUIDE HAS BEEN SUPER HELPFUL especially in the beginning. Also Humble Bundle randomly is running a sale on the IDW Crossover stuff so I wasn't planning on reading that stuff, but now I am.

I do want share some thoughts, which run a little counter to other people's feelings, etc I think. I now currently finished "All Hail Megatron."

First off, it was an interesting ride with Furman.

In terms of story structure, when I look back on his run. It's really really smart and innovative. I think Infiltration on its own is pretty boring and mediocre, but in terms of setting up the saga I really like it. I think someone earlier in this thread hit the nail on the head in that there really isn't a characer to root for in that series. The humans are such generic fodder and don't really serve any purpose other than introducing us to the 'bots, also the stakes are so low and weird. It's like... What's going on? What's this time line. Etc. But Prime shows up in the end and that's cool.

But then it's what it sets up which is what I like. Furman did such a wonderfully fantastic job at setting up the scope of Transformers. It makes me a little sad that so many people don't seem to appreciate that about his writing. Writing Transformers is a challenge because its an inherently stupid concept. That does not make it bad, obviously I am a fan, but Transformers is about the visuals and imagination. But when you sit down to figure out how does this work, why does it work... It can fall apart. And so, what Furman did in terms of saying... Let's not worry about the "computer" angle and let's look at this like a battlefield... Was mega cool. It was really rewarding over the course of his 4 years, to see the tapestry he was building across the galaxy. And that Earth was just one small piece of a larger puzzle and for the most part was inconsequential.

Then to see how each of the bots had very specific functions and there was a whole culture. And towards the end, you had some really cool stories forming around each bot. It was really cool stuff and ultimately, building towards this question of "Why are we fighting this war?" It was all very cool stuff. Now to be fair, some of the spotlights fall flat and at times, it's hard to be emotionally invested in that story because we're constantly bopping around, and it's also like... what is this all really mean or leading to.

That said... All Hail Megatron to me was such ridiculous fan-pandering that it made me a little angry while reading it. I am of the probably not so popular opinion that fans in general should always be disregarded. That's not to say their opinion isn't important, but more so from a business standpoint. Because if it were up to the average fan, you'd simply see the same stories over and over again, but with different coats of paint. All one has to do is look at the absolutely dreadful war for cybertron on Netflix to see that. So All Hail Megatron to me was an obvious... The fans wants more Autobots vs Decepticons on earth, more classic bots, etc. And it felt like a retread of G1 the Cartoon. But my bigger thing is when we read stories... It's gotta have an inner life and every creator is going to be different/weird. So I like just seeing that quirkiness come out.

Example. I don't know how much I love the headmasters idea that Furman had. More so because it didn't feel in spirit of what the headmasters concept was. That said. It was definitely way diff than anything I'd really seen in TF before and the effect it had on sunstreaker had a powerful pay off. So, I'm in the camp that is... Make it your own. Which like I said... I don't think is the most popular opinion  . But for me personally.

That said. It wasn't all bad, it just felt like it was arbitrarily resetting everything. And I like the autobots being stranded, etc. And the Codas were actually really solid in how they tied things back to the continuity. I think on the whole All Hail Megatron is fine in that it did manage to build off of Furman's run, but my hope is that the TF series doesn't completely disregard the tapestry that Furman built to just tell small earth stories. My feeling is that eventually we go back in that direction in phase 2 as I just read the Drift 1-4 (Which was great) and the whole lost light society is brought up... ANd I see there's a series named lost light.

So we shall see.

But that said. So far, I've been very charmed by the fun, adventure, and heart of it all. And look forward to continuing to truck through the rest of the series. And I hope the gripes of the fans don't derail it too much. As the the thing I liked most about it was... Furman obviously loved the material and has a deep understanding of it, but was going in an interesting direction. And All Hail Megatron was nope... we need to take this interesting world and somehow appease people that want more of G1-sameness. So we shall see. Given the universal praise for phase 2. I'm assuming they manage to find a happy middle ground.

 

All right... Mike Costas run is bleh. It's not terrible, but it's pretty bland.

Towards the end of Furman's run, there was this whole galaxy-wide war waging and it felt so big and filled with adventure. Also all the bots felt so diff. Then we got All Hail Megatron.

Now. Costas run it's like where just stuck on earth. And, it feels so small in comparison. Also, very few of the bots have really great personalities. And my big gripe is that it's so hugely focused on Sam and Skywatch. It's like... Who care about another generic government shadow organization. Also the stuff with Optimus.

Optimus comes off as this narcissistic buffoon. He says he's going away and then is literally just sitting in a cell next door to the rest of the autobots, and for all intends and purposes is still the leader.

And it's the overall direction of the story. It doesn't feel like we're building towards anything except for Megatron's eventual return. Like in Furman's run it was ... You had all these diff teams and objectives... This is just the Autobots twiddling their thumbs on earth till Megs comes back. Also... I'm not a huge fan of the art.

Also Infestation... Yaaaaaaaaackkkkkkkkkk.

So far I'd rank the run as follows

Furman's Run - 7.5/10
Fun. Inventive. A bit silly at times, but you can't help marvel at its ambition and how well he knows the lore.

All Hail Megatron - 6.5/10
Serviceable. Overall a fun ride. With decent characterization. The big issue being is that it just took everything before it and chucked it, and in doing so becomes pretty generic TF g1 stuff. That said. A lot of the character stuff is fun.

Costas Run - 5/10 -      

Holding out till the end, which people have noted is better and then phase 2.

 

This is a great list, although it is a little short to read.

 

I really need to save this.

 

I'm also late to the game in this thread, but...this is amazing and exactly what I was looking for. You see, I got my son into the Marvel G1 comics via the TPBs and he loved them. So then it was onto IDW for him, and I managed to get all the TPBs from Infiltration all the way through to All Hail Megatron. But when it comes to IDW Phase 2...reading order just seemed to befuddle me with all the fragmentation (I originally read them all in real-time as they released, so I didn't have a problem back then).

So what I'm doing for my son for his upcoming birthday is surprising him with a new tablet, specifically configured for just comic reading (all other apps are hidden), but I wanted to get the reading order set...when Google led me here. And this is absolutely perfect for what I need. It's going to take me a little while to get filenames all ordered among the various titles, but it's going to be so, so worth it in the end. He's going to lose his mind.

So, I give you a very sincere thank you for this list!

 

I'm trying to organize my downloads from Humble Bundle and this has been helpful.

But boy, in retrospect...did IDW make a mess of things or what? So convoluted....