Transformers! An overview of Giant Robots Punching, Part 1
December 9th 2006 08:48
Since my Fantastic Four fanatacism has gone off the boil, I need to change my focus for just a little bit. And since I watched a five-hour Transformers marathon today, I have had a brainstorm - for today I'm focussing on the Transformers comics, past and present.
Transformers, as a franchise, holds a special place in my heart. Along with G.I. Joe, it was the title that began my hardcore comic collecting (as opposed to just reading random stuff based on whatever had the coolest cover).
So sit back, relax, and let me take you on a journey, lo, into the mists of time, back and back to the distant past of... 1984!
TRANSFORMERS US
Back in the early 1980s, toy company Hasbro acquired the rights to a couple of failed toy lines from Japan. Obviously experiencing a creative shortfall at home, Hasbro went to Marvel Comics and asked them to come up with the storyline behind the toys. This task fell to Bob Budiansky, an infamous name in Transformers fandom. Budiansky came up with the basic premise and the personalities of all the characters, and was then installed as the writer of a comic based on the toy line. His work there went from good to abysmal, but his developmental work on the concept cannot be understated. Budiansky is the father of the Transformers, regardless of the quality of his later work.
So anyway, the US comic featured pretty much the same starting point as the cartoon: on the metallic planet Cybertron, two factions of transforming robots fought a civil war. The good guys, led by Optimus Prime, were called Autobots. The bad guys, led by Megatron, were called Decepticons. During a battle in space a whole lotta Transformers from both sides crash-landed on Earth. They lay dormant for millions of years, but now in the present they have been revived, and the war continues!
The series was originally envisaged as a four part miniseries, but the excellent sales figures guaranteed it would last longer than that. Many of the early comics were set squarely in the Marvel Universe, until some smart editor figured out that Marvel Earth would be impacted on far too heavily by the war - slowly but surely the references were filtered out, and the Transformers had their own reality to fight in.
The first two years or so went rather well, as far as toy tie-in comics go. The tone was a little more adult than the cartoon, as events and injuries had lasting consequences. Of particular note are issues #5-8, where Autobot medic Ratchet must face the entire Decepticon army alone, and #17-18, a story set on a bleak Cybertron where the Decepticons have won the war.
Things took a turn for the worse with issue #24. You see, at about the same time Transformers: The Movie was released (and yea, it was awesome). Sorry to spoil things, but Optimus Prime was killed off so Hasbro could see more toys. As a tie-in of sorts, the comic killed off Optimus Prime as well. Now in the movie, Prime goes down with dignity in a fight to the death with his arch-nemesis. Get this - in the comic, for reasons I may have permanently blanked from memory, Optimus and Megatron have to fight each other inside a virtual reality computer game. They have agreed that the loser of the game will voluntarily allow himself to be blown up. So Prime wins (because Prime always wins!), but he had to kill some of the VR critters in the game to do so. According to Prime that was unforgiveable, so he lets himself be blown up, while Megatron walks away. (Lucky someone downloaded Prime's entire personality onto a 5-inch floppy disk! Guy must've had serious bandwidth.)
Come again? It makes less sense every time I read it.
Anyway, this kicked of a chain of fairly ludicrous stories that lasted for another couple of years. The Mechanic. The Carwash of Doom! Monstercon from Mars. The Mecannibals The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship. I loved this stuff as a kid, but trust me, there are old-school Transformers fans having aneurysms out there right now.
Thankfully, salvation was at hand in the form of Simon Furman. Furman, in my opinion, was never particularly great as a writer, but he found a niche in Transformers that elevated his work. He'd been writing the Transformers UK title for a number of years (more on that tomorrow) and doing good stuff. With Budiansky leaving, it was a simple decision to instate the guy who was already kicking ass with the same characters.
And man, the next two years of Transformers kicked much ass indeed. The whole thing is a two-year arc, revealing the mythic origins of the Transformers and culminating in a final battle with the chaos god, Unicron. Furman did everything right, really. He ditched the newer characters and reintroduced some old favourites (Hasbro was always churning out new toys, so the old guys got written out to make way). The characters were suddenly alive, with real motivations and emotional arcs. The stories had direction. And the art! Andrew Wildman and Geoff Senior were brought on board as a sort of tag team. Their styles were wildly opposed - Wildman went for bright, cartoony and expressive, while Senior went for dark, blocky and foreboding. But it was light years ahead of what US audiences had seen before.
Alas, the upsurge in quality didn't help declining sales. The series was cancelled with issue #80 (though check out the cheeky tagline on the cover). There was a relaunch a few years later, but it was never quite the same (even though that relaunch was by the same writer and rather good as well). With Transformers gone I was forced to move on to different comics, but I still love the Transformers and always have. It's big robots that change into stuff and punch each other - what's not to love?
Highlights:
The complete run of US comics was reprinted a few years ago, and these are the best of the best:
Volume 1: Beginnings
This book reprints the first six issues. It's no great shakes as far as the storytelling goes, but it lays the foundation for the rest of the series. Plus, issues #5 and #6 are the beginning of the Ratchet arc, where the Autobots have been deactivated and he must face the Decepticons alone.
Volume 2: New Order
It's the conclusion of the Ratchet arc, plus new toys to buy kids! The Dinobots! Jetfire! The Constructicons! The stuff with Ratchet and the Dinobots is awesome, the rest is alright.
Volume 3: Cybertron Redux
The Decepticons have won the war, and Cybertron is a barren hell-hole. This arc is among Budiansky's best work, and it's about as dark as kid's toy comics get. Plus - more new toys! Buy 'em all!
Volume 11: Primal Scream
It's the beginning of Simon Furman's legendary run, as Megatron returns with a plan to destroy his enemies. Little does he know that events will lead deep into the heart of Cybertron, and reveal the origins of the Transformer race.
Volume 12: Matrix Quest
With the dark god Unicron on his way to Cybertron, the Autobots go hunting for the Matrix, the only thing that can defeat him. Things get a bit wayward when Furman starts doing pastiches of Moby Dick and the Maltese Falcon, but it all comes together with a brutal slugfest at the end.
Volume 13: All Fall Down
The Autobots and the Decepticons (and the humans!) have to make peace with each other before Unicron arrives. Complications arise, hard choices are made. Features some of the best character moments in the series history.
Volume 14: End of the Road
Unicron! It's the final battle, and its aftermath. Probably the best Transformers thing ever. (Plus it's got MEGATRON VS. GALVATRON!!!!!)
G2 Volume 1: Dark Designs
The franchise gets a relaunch, with a much darker tone, a real feeling of robots fighting an endless war. If you ever wanted to see Optimus Prime with thirty grenades strapped to his chest, this is the comic for you. As far from the cartoon series as it gets, really.
G2 Volume 2: A Rage in Heaven
The Autobots battle an interstellar Decepticon Empire, as well as an evil entity called The Swarm. The dark tone continues, and the last Transformers material from Marvel ends on a high note.
Tomorrow: Transformer UK - the really good stuff
Transformers, as a franchise, holds a special place in my heart. Along with G.I. Joe, it was the title that began my hardcore comic collecting (as opposed to just reading random stuff based on whatever had the coolest cover).
So sit back, relax, and let me take you on a journey, lo, into the mists of time, back and back to the distant past of... 1984!
TRANSFORMERS US
Back in the early 1980s, toy company Hasbro acquired the rights to a couple of failed toy lines from Japan. Obviously experiencing a creative shortfall at home, Hasbro went to Marvel Comics and asked them to come up with the storyline behind the toys. This task fell to Bob Budiansky, an infamous name in Transformers fandom. Budiansky came up with the basic premise and the personalities of all the characters, and was then installed as the writer of a comic based on the toy line. His work there went from good to abysmal, but his developmental work on the concept cannot be understated. Budiansky is the father of the Transformers, regardless of the quality of his later work.
So anyway, the US comic featured pretty much the same starting point as the cartoon: on the metallic planet Cybertron, two factions of transforming robots fought a civil war. The good guys, led by Optimus Prime, were called Autobots. The bad guys, led by Megatron, were called Decepticons. During a battle in space a whole lotta Transformers from both sides crash-landed on Earth. They lay dormant for millions of years, but now in the present they have been revived, and the war continues!
The series was originally envisaged as a four part miniseries, but the excellent sales figures guaranteed it would last longer than that. Many of the early comics were set squarely in the Marvel Universe, until some smart editor figured out that Marvel Earth would be impacted on far too heavily by the war - slowly but surely the references were filtered out, and the Transformers had their own reality to fight in.
The first two years or so went rather well, as far as toy tie-in comics go. The tone was a little more adult than the cartoon, as events and injuries had lasting consequences. Of particular note are issues #5-8, where Autobot medic Ratchet must face the entire Decepticon army alone, and #17-18, a story set on a bleak Cybertron where the Decepticons have won the war.
Come again? It makes less sense every time I read it.
Anyway, this kicked of a chain of fairly ludicrous stories that lasted for another couple of years. The Mechanic. The Carwash of Doom! Monstercon from Mars. The Mecannibals The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship. I loved this stuff as a kid, but trust me, there are old-school Transformers fans having aneurysms out there right now.
And man, the next two years of Transformers kicked much ass indeed. The whole thing is a two-year arc, revealing the mythic origins of the Transformers and culminating in a final battle with the chaos god, Unicron. Furman did everything right, really. He ditched the newer characters and reintroduced some old favourites (Hasbro was always churning out new toys, so the old guys got written out to make way). The characters were suddenly alive, with real motivations and emotional arcs. The stories had direction. And the art! Andrew Wildman and Geoff Senior were brought on board as a sort of tag team. Their styles were wildly opposed - Wildman went for bright, cartoony and expressive, while Senior went for dark, blocky and foreboding. But it was light years ahead of what US audiences had seen before.
Highlights:
The complete run of US comics was reprinted a few years ago, and these are the best of the best:
Volume 1: Beginnings
This book reprints the first six issues. It's no great shakes as far as the storytelling goes, but it lays the foundation for the rest of the series. Plus, issues #5 and #6 are the beginning of the Ratchet arc, where the Autobots have been deactivated and he must face the Decepticons alone.
Volume 2: New Order
It's the conclusion of the Ratchet arc, plus new toys to buy kids! The Dinobots! Jetfire! The Constructicons! The stuff with Ratchet and the Dinobots is awesome, the rest is alright.
Volume 3: Cybertron Redux
The Decepticons have won the war, and Cybertron is a barren hell-hole. This arc is among Budiansky's best work, and it's about as dark as kid's toy comics get. Plus - more new toys! Buy 'em all!
Volume 11: Primal Scream
It's the beginning of Simon Furman's legendary run, as Megatron returns with a plan to destroy his enemies. Little does he know that events will lead deep into the heart of Cybertron, and reveal the origins of the Transformer race.
Volume 12: Matrix Quest
With the dark god Unicron on his way to Cybertron, the Autobots go hunting for the Matrix, the only thing that can defeat him. Things get a bit wayward when Furman starts doing pastiches of Moby Dick and the Maltese Falcon, but it all comes together with a brutal slugfest at the end.
Volume 13: All Fall Down
The Autobots and the Decepticons (and the humans!) have to make peace with each other before Unicron arrives. Complications arise, hard choices are made. Features some of the best character moments in the series history.
Volume 14: End of the Road
Unicron! It's the final battle, and its aftermath. Probably the best Transformers thing ever. (Plus it's got MEGATRON VS. GALVATRON!!!!!)
G2 Volume 1: Dark Designs
The franchise gets a relaunch, with a much darker tone, a real feeling of robots fighting an endless war. If you ever wanted to see Optimus Prime with thirty grenades strapped to his chest, this is the comic for you. As far from the cartoon series as it gets, really.
G2 Volume 2: A Rage in Heaven
The Autobots battle an interstellar Decepticon Empire, as well as an evil entity called The Swarm. The dark tone continues, and the last Transformers material from Marvel ends on a high note.
Tomorrow: Transformer UK - the really good stuff
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