The Transformers Issue 1
Robot Invaders! They're evil machines from another world! They want out planet! How can the Autobots save us? The fight begins inside!
Published: Thursday 20th September 1984
UK No. 1: “I Just Called to Say I Love You” - Stevie Wonder
1984… the year the Apple Macintosh was introduced to the world via an Orwellian advert directed by Ridley Scott, the year the rock musical Starlight Express opened in London’s West End, the year Michael Jackson hair was set on fire whilst filming a Pepsi commercial… but more important than all that, the year The Transformers toy line and even MORE importantly issue one of the tie in comic book hit the shelves at all good newsagents across Great Britain.
Sadly I was too young and stupid to pick up a copy, as a result the copy I now have looks like this!
I’m sure you will agree, it has seen better days! It is torn, creased and held together by aging yellowed Sellotape. This came to me as part of a large ‘lot’ of issues that my ‘We’ve Got Back Issues’ co-host Galactosh spotted on eBay. There was no way of knowing what issues it contained… the seller didn’t appear to know one issue from another and provided only the most vague discerption and inconclusive photographs. It was a total lottery… so regardless of its condition I was overjoyed to discover the debut issue amongst my bounty.
The cover is by British comic book artist Jerry Paris. It’s a striking tableau of a red truck robot grappling with a menacing blue robot out in space surrounded by crackling energy above what appears to be the planet earth. Of course at the time we knew nothing of their identities… but man, did we want to learn! How could any young boy in 1984 possibly leave such an artifact on the shelf without first losing the battle for the 25p required to purchase it with his parent or guardian?
Sadly the first couple of pages are not nearly as exciting. “Openers”, as this page is called, claims to contain Reviews, Letters, News and Penpals, but no one would expect readers letters in the first issue… right? WRONG! How is this possible!?
A clue to the answer lies in the fact that all correspondence appears to originate from the now defunct county of Middlesex. After careful research (AKA TFwiki) I have learnt that the pupils of Greycourt School in Ham had visited the Marvel UK offices, sometime before publication, and received a sneak peek at the as yet unpublished comic! Those lucky little so and sos!
With that fluff out of the way we get into the metallic filling of this robotic sandwich, that of The Transformers comic proper. This is a largely unchanged reprint of the first half of issue 1 of the US comic published four months previously state-side. Scripted by Ralph Macchio, Plotted Bill Mantlo, with Frank Springer on pencils…. but wait who’s that? Editor: Bob Budiansky? More on him later.
The ‘nuts and bolts’ of this story is much the same as has been told and retold many, many times over the past 40+ years. On the entirely mechanical world of Cybertron, where all life is robotic and evolved from "naturally-occurring gears, levers, and pulleys" (no seriously that's what it says) the peaceful inhabitants ‘the Autobots’ are plunged into civil war with group calling themselves ‘the Decepticons’ lead by a canon toting lunatic named Megatron.
Interestingly, in the first of many departures from the cartoon, the ‘cassetticon’ Ravage is the first Decepticon to talk! A shocker to those familiar with the animated version of the character, who’s ‘speech’ and intelligence is more akin to the jaguar his robot mode mimics.
Transforming robots being such a novel concept at the time the writers take the time flesh out how they came to do so. In this version of their origin the Decepticons, motivated by something between boredom and a feeling that conflict is the catalyst needed for the cybertronian race to take the next steps in its evolution, develop technology that modifies their bodies to transform back and forth into “weapons of unprecedented power”. A body modification arms race follows as the Autobots modify themselves to transform as well, giving rise to the term “The Transformers”. Cool right? Not so cool however is that the sheer force this conflict, rather improbably, shakes the planet Cybertron from its orbit and it begins to hurtle through space!
We are quickly introduced to our hero, the leader of the Autobots… the one, the only… Optimus Prime! Sadly, his awesome robot mode is immediately undermined by his ridiculous, thrown-together in two minutes, box on wheels with a gun balanced on top, alternate mode seen for the first and thankfully only time…(well that's not entirely true) in the next panel.
For thousands of years the war rages until Cybertron runs into an obstacle in it’s voyage through the cosmos. Autobot astronomers discover an asteroid belt right slap bang in the middle of Cybertron’s trajectory. Optimus pledges to lead a group of Autobots into space to clear a path and (Seemingly for the benefit of Ravage who is spying from a nearby balcony) he also outlines how this this would be the perfect opportunity for Megatron and his Decepticons to bump him (and some of his best troops) off…. silly sausage.
Time for a commercial break!
I told you Prime’s lame alt-mode would be back didn't I? For some reason, of all the panels in this story, Marvel UK chose to use it as the spot the difference in a competition for 25 readers to win their very own Autobot toy. I can only guess it was some sort of joke?
“Meanwhile inside the foreboding Castle Decepticon” (yes the Decepticons have a castle, what is this He-man?) Megatron learns of the Autobot plan. Inevitably, he constructs his own spacecraft and heads into space to destroy the Ark and it’s Autobot crew, which he expects to demoralise their remaining forces on Cybertron into surrendering. Weary from a day of asteroid smashing they are quickly overpowered by Megatron’s attack and, like all good leaders, Optimus decides the fate of everyone on board and plots a suicidal heading directly into the third planet of a nearby solar system! Heroic or psychopathic? You decide.
Either way this begins the now age old plot device of the Ark smashing into a mountain and its inhabitants sitting there offline for 4 million of years… at which point a volcanic eruption uncovers the ark and apparently reboots the ship's computer.
“In the side of the great ship, a hatch that has remained closed for millennia now opens.”
And out pops a probe that heads off into this strange new world to “explore… explore”. It is explained that the probe possesses only the capability of perceiving mechanical life-forms, and therefore disregards the carbon based organic life it glides over.
We now reach the centre pages of the comic and we are treated to a couple of pull out posters! You would be forgiven for assuming the image of Prowl, Sideswipe and Jazz is a scene from the cartoon but actually it’s not! This is a still from a TV commercial for the comic itself (well, the US version at least), which features early production models, designs and colour schemes that didn’t quite make it into the cartoon proper. If you are interested you can watch it here.
The opposite page depicts a street scene including Witwacky(sic) Auto Repairs. This exists purely to accommodate the free “action transfers” given away with this issue. The included ‘coin-rub’ transfers of various Transformers characters, explosions, flames, rockets and planets could be applied to this page or anywhere really, I’m fairly sure I had some plastered on my childhood furniture.
After a page of adverts for other tie-in Marvel UK comics magazines we return to our intrepid probe and its adventure across what is we now discover is the northwest US state of Oregon. The probe, scans fighter jets and a traffic jam but also a boombox and a television.. a reference to the alt-mode later selected for Soundwave for sure, but why no Transformer that turns into a telly!?
Back at the ark the “ship’s brain” dispatches revival drones to reawaken its long dormant crew. The drone looks suspiciously like (exactly like) the repair drone found in the trailer of the Optimus Prime toy. Itself a hangover from the Japanese piloted robot toy line ‘Diaclone’ from which Transformers borrowed the majority of its first couple of years worth of toys. Go ahead look it up! You have time because with that story abruptly ends “Continued next issue”.
The reason for this sudden suspension of the story is down to the difference in how US and UK comics were published at the time. Traditionally, children's comics here in blighty were published weekly or (like this comic) fortnightly as opposed to the monthly model used in the US. So this story, from issue 1 of the US title, has been split in two! Thus spreading the Transformers story thinly across more issues so as not to run out of US stories to (re)print. Due to this what now follows is filler!
As this is a newsletter primarily concerned with the Transformers we wont concern ourselves too much with such things but I will give you an overview.
“Introducing Machine Man” declares this page accompanied by some art that is (sorry Frank Springer) far superior to that preceding it. Not surprise really, because it's only by comic book legend and Spider-man co-creator Steve Ditko!
Machine Man is an android superhero created by another giant in Marvel’s history Jack Kirby. This reprints issue 11 which is the first issue of the 1979 relaunch of Machine Man written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by, like I said, Steve Ditko.
However this abruptly and regularly interrupted by features such as “Robot Round Up!” an informative two page spread that delves into the world of robotics… real life or otherwise, including Denis Western of Leeds and his car washing robot ‘Tinker’, A Tokyo car factory robot that accidentally stabbed a man to death and a joke about C3PO getting ‘legless’… how supremely kid friendly!
Finally we come to the “Transformers Data Bank” which invites readers to complete a form and attach it to any correspondence sent into the comic. This seems like a crude attempt at market research on Marvel UKs part.
Across from this are details on what's coming in issue two and a handy little subscription form. For a paltry £8 a child (with permission from their parent or guardian) can gain access to years subscription of The Transformers which, they helpfully explain (complete with working out) will save the subscriber a whopping £2.66 for the year and reward them further with a bonus glossy wall poster! “We must be mad!” they say, and they must.
Baring the ‘Best Pal’s Club’ advertisement on the back cover, in which Pal dog food try to take their cut of the readers hard earned paper round money, that's issue one of The Transformers cover to cover and what a fun packed debut issue it was! Are you excited for issue 2? I know I am!
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