Manga are typically black and white comic books which read from right to left. They are published in Japan by various Shonen (boys) magazines, such as TV Magazine and Comic Bom Bom. The Transformers have almost always had a consistent manga series in every line.
Transformers manga series and specials
Generation 1
- Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers
- "Full Throttle Scramble Power!"
- The Transformers (featuring Transformers 2010 characters)
- Transformers Big War
- "Great Decisive Battle of Planet Beest!" (Transformers/Beastformers special)
- The Headmasters
- Super-God Masterforce
- Victory
- Zone
- Battlestars: The Return of Convoy
- Transformer PD Type
Generation 2
- Generation 2 (mini-manga)
- "The Earth is in Danger" (Generation 2 special)
Beast Wars
- Beast Wars II
- Beast Wars Neo
- Beast Wars Metals
Kiss Players
- Kiss Players (manga) (set in 2006, between The Transformers: The Movie and 2010)
Unicron Trilogy
- Transformer Micron Legend
- Transformer Superlink
- Transformer Galaxy Force
Continuity
The Generation 1 manga acts as both a suppliment to the television series as well as an alternate telling, depending on the line. "Fight! Super Robot Lifeform", "2010", "Headmasters", "Zone", "Battlestars", "Generation 2", and "Kiss Players" take place in the animated universe, expanding and continuing its story.
Conversely, "Masterforce" and "Victory" are alternate tellings of the storyline and do not take place in the same animated universe.
"Headmasters" is somewhat unusual, with a relationship to the cartoon that would best be described as being similar to the relationship between the US Marvel Comics and their UK counterpart - it is a universe in which the majority of events from the animated series take place, but with some extra stories and some differences... most notably, an alternate depiction of the beginning of Daniel and Sixshot's friendship and the presence of Stepper and Artfire. Stepper and Artfire's appearances were later retconed via toy bios to avoid contradiction, though the wackiness with Daniel and Sixshot still remain.
"Generation 2" is also a bit strange. The story pages and mini-comics by Hidetsugu Yoshioka take place within the confines of the animated universe, continuing the storyline after Battlestars and Operation Combination. The Comics Bom Bom manga special, "The Earth is in Danger", is a separate continuity from the Hidetsugu Yoshioka-produced works. It takes place in its own universe with the events happening in the year 199X (basically, some time in the 1990's).
The Beast Wars mangas are all alternate timelines from the television series, although the events of Season 1 of Beast Wars took place in the Beast Wars Metals Manga.