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In addition, there was a short-lived Transformers: Armada comic released in the UK in 2003 aimed at the under 10s market published by Panini Comics. MARVEL COMICS Transformers Generation One, Marvel, U.S. The ''Transformers'' comic by Marvel was the first and arguably the best known Transformers comic. Although it was originally intended to be a 4-issue limited series, it expanded into an ongoing series, which ran for 80 issues before being cancelled. Issues 1 - 4 (mini-series) The Autobot s and Decepticon s land on Earth via the Ark , paralleling the cartoon. The Autobots are reformatted by the Ark to resemble Car s and Truck s; the Decepticons take the form of Jets , Weapon s or in the case of Soundwave , a Cassette Deck with tapes. The Decepticons wreak havoc, steal energy and build a fortress. The Autobots, seen here as very weak underdogs, unsuited for war, fight valiantly to stop their foes. Ultimately, it's the Human s that the Autobots befriend that save the day. Buster Witwicky 's dad, captured by the Decepticons to formulate a Fuel for them, secretly poisons his captors. In the final battle, five Autobots (joining them is Spider-Man) take on the entire Decepticon army. On the cusp of defeat, the tainted fuel concocted by Mr. Witwicky kicks in and the Decepticons fall. The Autobots don't even have time to celebrate however as the 4-part mini-series ends with Shockwave making an appearance at the end, blowing the remaining Autobots to pieces, and thus beginning the run of monthly Marvel comics. Ongoing series (5-80) Starting with issue 5 (cover-dated June, 1985), ''Transformers'' had more drastic changes. Before reaching its 30th issue, both Optimus Prime and Megatron had been killed off to make way for newer characters. Starting in issue 35 (cover-dated December, 1987), the events became less Earth-centric, as the Transformers got their spacecraft working and were able to revisit their homeworld Cybertron and other planets. This aspect was particularly prominent in the Matrix Quest sub-plot. In issue 75 (cover-dated February, 1991), the Autobots and Decepticons had united under one banner after Autobot commander Optimus Prime surrendered to . The Transformers won, but with heavy losses, including the deaths of Scorponok and Optimus Prime (again). Peace between the two Transformers factions was shortlived after Unicron's death. Bludgeon , the new Decepticon leader, tried to strand the Autobots on Cybertron, which was apparently destroying itself. His plan failed and the final confrontation between the two factions played out, with the Autobots lead again by Grimlock . Optimus Prime is united with Hi-Q (his Powermaster) and given life by The Last Autobot. He returns to battle to save the Autobots and then exiles the Decepticons forever (until ''Transformers: Generation 2''). After the battle for Unicron, the comic ran for only five issues before being cancelled. The final issue had the mini series banner above the title; "#80 IN A FOUR ISSUE LIMITED SERIES". Transformers Universe, Marvel, 1986 A four issue limited series in the style of Marvel Universe and G.I. Joe: Order of the Battle, featuring lengthy bios of all the Transformers of the period. Most of the text was the same as the (1986), including characters that were not made as toys at the time. Transformers the Movie, Marvel, 1986 A three issue mini-series adaptation of the feature film, with no continuity ties to the regular comic series. G.I. Joe vs. Transformers, Marvel, 1986 A four issue limited series that teamed-up the Transformers with the other popular Hasbro property of the 1980 s, G.I. Joe . The Joes and the Autobots must join forces to stop the Decepticons and Cobra from destroying the world. The story suffered from the need to maintain extremely tight continuity among Marvel Comics titles at the time, that is events that happened in the ongoing monthly titles must reflect in the limited series too. However, while there were references in the regular monthly issues of the Transformers comic to the story line of this crossover series, there were no such matching references in the monthly issues of G. I. Joe. That comic's lead writer, Larry Hama , did not consider the events of the cross-over series to be "canon", though a later crossover that he DID take part in led to the Generation Two relaunch of the Transformers comic. Transformers: Headmasters, Marvel, 1986 A four issue mini-series introducing new characters that were later incorporated into the ongoing series. Differences to the animated feature include the original designs for the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and Ultra Magnus' original death at the hand of Scourge and his Sweeps. Transformers Generation One, Marvel, UK
Transformers Generation Two, Marvel, U.S. A 12 issue series, the series expanded the original G1 mythos from the small War on Earth and Cybertron to enclose the whole of the Galaxy that was fast being altered into a likeness of Cybertron itself by the Cybertronian Empire, a race of later generation Transformers that evolved while the earthbound Autobots and Decepticons were deactivated. The events of this series were actually set in motion with a crossover from the G.I. Joe comic books #138-142, in 1993 . Megatron returns to reclaim his leadership off Bludgeon and by the end of the series joins with Optimus Prime to fight against the G2 Decepticons and their genetic offshoot, the Swarm . The series ended with an epic battle between the "Generation 1" Transformers, the Cybertronians and the Swarm. The final page reveals the Empire's true scale as its leader, identified as the Liege Maximo, dismisses the final battle as insignificant to his Empire as a whole. He also remarks that Megatron, the Decepticon leader, is more like an offspring than an ancestor to him implying the Empire precedes even known Transformer history. The story was concluded later by Simon Furman (the same writer for the Generation 2 comics) for a fan convention in the UK called Transforce. The first part of the story—called Allignment—came out in 2002, with the last part coming out in 2005. While mostly a text story, it did include art by veteran Transformer comic artists such as Lee Sullivan, Andrew Wildman, Geoff Senior, Jeff Anderson, and Lew Stringer. In this series, the Autobots face off against the Generation 2 Liege Maximo to stop his attempts at God-hood with many big name characters (including Furman's favorite character) being killed in the process Since Allignment was not published by an "official" comic book publisher, there is a question as to whether or not it is considered part of the Generation 2 cannon. However, as Allignement was written by the same person who wrote the original comics—and the chances of a continuation of the Marvel comic storyline seems extremely improbable—it is as close to official cannon as possible. Note The Marvel Comics character Death's Head, a character created by Simon Furman, appeared in certain Marvel UK ''Transformers'' stories. In the third issue of the ''All-New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A-Z'' (released on March 22, 2006), the entry for Death's Head's describes his encounters with the Transformers to have taken place in an alternate reality, referred to as Earth-120185, thus separating these stories from existence in standard Marvel Universe continuity. This raises the question of whether or not any of the Marvel Comics ''Transformers'' stories take place in the Marvel Universe "proper" ( Earth-616 ), despite such tie-ins as Spider-Man 's guest-starring appearance in the original Marvel limited series and Circuit Breaker , a character that originated in the ''Transformers'' comics, having a cameo appearance in Marvel's '' Secret Wars II '' limited series. A case can be made that only the stories that featured Death's Head are separate from standard Marvel continuity, since the character's adventures often involved travel across time and dimensions, not to mention genres; Death's Head also encountered the British Science Fiction icon Doctor Who on occasion. BENCHPRESS COMICS Spring 1999, new publishing upstart Benchpress Comics proudly announced the acquisition of the rights to produce new G.I. Joe and Transformers comics. The plan was to release two Transformers monthly series, one would feature the Generation 1 cast of characters while a second title would focus on Beast Wars . For various reasons, the negotiations fell, Benchpress went bankrupt and before even one issue was published, Transformers comics was in limbo once more. DREAMWAVE PRODUCTIONS Transformers G1 Volume One: ''Prime Directive'', Dreamwave, U.S. (2002)
Transformers G1 Volume Two: ''War and Peace'', Dreamwave, U.S. (2003)
Transformers G1 Volume Three: Ongoing, Dreamwave, 2004, U.S.
Transformers: Armada (2002-2003) This comic series is based on the new Transformers toyline of that year, the following issue. Transformers: Energon (2003-2005) The story to picks up years after events in Armada. The first issue is #19 since Armada was not cancelled but rather retitled. The series is discontinued at issue #30 due to Dreamwave's bankruptcy while being written by Simon Furman , and drawn by Alex Milne . Transformers/G.I. Joe With the success of Transformers and the same with Devil's Due Productions 's revival of G.I. Joe, it did not take long for fans of both properties to speculate on a cross-over and their wishes were answered. Dreamwave and Devil's Due each produced their own six-issue mini-series and continuity. Rather than follow the previous efforts of Marvel Comics, the story is set in an alternate continuity, a time of World War II where Cobra , instead of Nazi Germany, is poised to take over all of Europe. Cobra finds the Decepticons and reformats their alt modes into 1940s era war vehicles. The G.I. Joe Team finds the Autobots who aid them in stopping both Cobra and Decepticons. A second volume was produced. Dreamwave managed to release one issue before their financial troubles put a halt to their operations. The story would have followed G.I. Joe and Transformers in the present time and the connection to the first volume's story explained. ''See also Devil's Due's G.I. Joe Vs. Transformers section in G.I. Joe (Comic) .'' Transformers: The War Within Volume One
Volume Two: The Dark Ages
Volume Three: Age of Wrath
Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye
Transformers Armada: More Than Meets The Eye
Transformers Summer Special
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