In 1984, Marvel Comics produced the first and best-known run of Transformers comics. The series was originally intended as a limited, four-issue run, but strong sales of the title encouraged Marvel to extend the number well beyond this, with the final issue (in 1991) titled as ‘#80 In A Four Issue Limited Series’. Written primarily by Bob Budiansky (the man responsible for naming a number of the Autobots and Decepticons, as well as writing many of the toy’s ‘Tech Specs’) and soon-to-be-legendary-Transformers-writer Simon Furman, the Marvel comic was independent of the TV show and forged it’s own take on Transformers lore, although the premise of crash landing the Ark on Earth remained the same. Featuring memorable events such as Ratchet taking on Megatron and the introduction of the Dinobots in “Warrior School”, Blaster and Straxus‘ Cybertronian battles in “The Bridge To Nowhere”, the shocking events of “Afterdeath” and the demise and resurrection of various Autobots and Decepticons, the Marvel comics series remains, for many, the ultimate Transformers comic.
In the UK, Marvel produced a sister series utilising reprints of the US content while integrating original UK material throughout, totalling more than 160 new stories. The principal scribe was Simon Furman and the UK series ran to 332 issues! While many of the UK story arcs were highly regarded, it could be argued that the stand-out tale was “Target: 2006”, a time-travelling episode that introduced characters such as Galvatron, Ultra Magnus and Springer from the 1986 Transformers animated movie into comic book continuity.
You will find issues ranging from the beginning to the end of both the US and UK series of Transformers in our eBay Back Issue Store, as well as the spin-off miniseries and one-shots. Hit the image below to start browsing!
