This is the last we’ll see of Derek Yaniger’s wonderful art on the blog. The final edition of Marvel US’ Transformers: Generation 2 has 48-pages with 37 of strip broken down into chapters of varying length called Judgement, Twilight, Siege and Creation. All written by Simon Furman, coloured by Sarra Mossoff and lettered by Richard Starkings, with alternate chapters drawn by either Manny Galan and Jim Amash or Geoff Senior, making it feel even more special. The annoying adverts breaking the up strip are also limited, with the final 17 pages left as one long chunk.
Things kick off with something I enjoy but which seems to irk the all-too-ready-to-criticise folks when another movie drops. I don’t like retcons if we have to ignore previous storylines in order to make them work, but unlike some I’ve never thought that about the films. Instead, just like the G1 comic which (and this is not a complaint) was made up as it went along, I enjoy a storyline that adds background, depth and builds upon what we thought we knew. This is what has happened with the G2 comic. At least, until the final page anyway.
So our memories have been refreshed about the ‘evolution’ of these mechanical beings and Simon’s clever way of integrating the comic’s necessary name change into the story, then there’s some surprisingly good comedy as Starscream finds himself battling with his own consciousness. His natural desire to conquer is in a losing battle with the power of the Autobot Creation Matrix and he finds himself unwillingly saving the lives of others. Hilariously he’s never anything other than the Starscream we all know and love to hate, and he hates every moment of it! Eventually he relents and passes the Matrix back to Optimus Prime like a child forced to give up their toy until they’ve eaten their dinner. This is a brilliant swan song for him.
Moving on to book two and Geoff’s easily recognisable style instantly elevates an already enjoyable story. We find out The Swarm is something “between matter and energy” and we witness it destroying a battleship, killing its 16,000 troops in seconds. It falls on Megatron of all characters to bring some levity to the proceedings. He’s a far cry from the megalomaniacal ranter in G1, continuing his entertaining line in dark quips from last issue.
The two leaders have a plan but it’s not revealed yet, leaving us to enjoy the tension as things continue to worsen. After years of knowing these characters it’s fascinating watching Megatron go about something with all of his usual verve while treating Prime as his equal. Speaking of Optimus, he senses some form of intelligence within The Swarm and believes if he can reason with Jhiaxus he can contact it on some form of psychic level through one of the second generation. Given the twists and turns and shocks the original comic gave us over seven years, it would really take something to shock us by this stage, right? Correct.
There’s some gloriously detailed art here, some of Geoff’s finest in fact. Could a shock conclusion see the end of Optimus? No, that’d be too easy. Instead he’s forced to fight through the pain and the temptation to give up and simply pass away. This gets dark at times. But in the end it plays to the strength of this character.
It feels less like a sequel and more like an epilogue to the original epic 332+ issue run
As far as Jhiaxus is concerned the original generation of Transformers have compassion and empathy, and he believes caring about those other than yourself (or indeed for those worse off than you) is a weakness and must be torn out. In the end it’s the Swarm that gets him, tearing him apart in a burst of agony and the ship’s reactor blows, pushing Prime into space and leaving Megatron as the last hope for both Autobot and Decepticon alike.
The Rheanimum he mentions is the mineral his Decepticons mined in #7 and here it’s explained it could be the key to their survival. It makes metal super dense and resistant to damage, you see. It’s exciting to see Megatron racing to save everyone, even if Earth continues to look like any barren bit of space rock. Why not set the story somewhere recognisable like G1 did, even just a named place (like Portland in the original). It takes away any potential drama of having this happen on our own planet.
The characters make up for this though. I mean, come on, seeing Grimlock and Soundwave side-by-side is something else! Then new Decepticon Manta Ray hears Razorclaw’s orders but looks to Grimlock before following them. That’s the final straw for the Predacon, who attempts to kill his brother in arms but Autobot Leadfoot saves the Decepticon. We’ve had moments of truce between the factions before in comics, cartoons and movies, but it feels so much bigger, more impactful and more permanent this time.
Then everything happens at once! Starscream saves Prime and hands him Rhanianimum, but he refuses it. There’s even a reference to the Scraplets by Starscream, who spends a lot of time worrying his co-operation isn’t like him and that the Matrix has done him permanent damage! Frenzy gets some funny moments, Nightbeat dies (nooooo!) and Megatron politely introduces himself to Grimlock. Then Prime insists that for his desperate plan to work, he must die. Thing is, while it tears his physical body apart, the Swarm doesn’t kill him. Instead he ends up in a void, seemingly forgetting he was in a void before in the UK comic (Furman annoyingly ignoring his own UK continuity), and he gets the feeling the Swarm is like an innocent child clamouring to be taught.
This review was almost twice as long as it is because there’s so much going on in this issue. I’ve had to edit this post down and cut so much out I could get a job on Film4’s daytime schedule team. So, Prime wants to let the Swarm take him, absolutely and completely, letting it consume him and fulfilling his visions which began way back in #1. The nightmares weren’t to be feared, they were instructions. The ultimate sacrifice. It’s portrayed brilliantly by Geoff above and you can feel the agony Prime goes through.
Then there’s darkness… before he suddenly sees, well, everything!
He sees and feels everything the Swarm does. While he still has a consciousness the Matrix sustains his mind and uses the pure essence of their creator Primus to educate the Swarm. From the outside its misshapen form becomes a dazzlingly bright light and all who witness it are filled with a feeling of peace and joy, their fear dissolving in an instant. Then, out of the light steps a new creation, the Swarm now knowing what it is and where it’s come from, and it uses its immense power to create instead of destroy.
The Optimus Prime you see below is based on the ‘Hero’ version of the toy, the most recent plastic incarnation of him at the time. But what exactly was the Swarm? The whole “byproduct of the second generation of Transformers” is never fully explained. How was it produced in the first place? We don’t know. (Nor do we get an answer about that strange moment with Onslaught.) What is explained is that the second generation of Transformers lacked any kind of morality, just a legacy of destruction and, like a child, the Swarm was searching for something more. It knew it wanted something better and was destroying all Transformers because it thought they were all fascist killers; it didn’t know there was an earlier generation or why the species had been created in the first place (to fight evil and save the universe).
Exposed to the original Primus ‘code’ it’s reprogrammed and from the lives it took it constructed a new life, a new leader for a new future for their whole race, not just the Autobots. The story ends with what feels like both sides genuinely wanting to work together. It certainly feels a lot more permanent than the truce at the end of the 80s cartoon movie. Then, after months of wondering we’re finally introduced to the Leige Maximo. This is the one bit of the whole issue that I’m not sure about.
These will forever sit at the end of my original Marvel UK collection as an integral part of that lifelong favourite
The thought of the comic continuing beyond this resolution is an exciting prospect, with the Transformers (no longer Autobots and Decepticons) fighting a new war together against this new foe. However, the Decepticons weren’t a separate race, they were an offshoot who’d had enough of how things were being run. I hope Simon would have eventually interwoven this new backstory in with what came before if the comic had continued. However, I’m more annoyed with Megatron being sidelined in the final pages for Prime’s speech when he should’ve been standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
I had no expectations of this sequel, especially since there were only 12 issues. But what a rush! Some complained it retconned things (much like we constantly hear from moaners about the live-action movies, Star Wars or Doctor Who… etc.) but surely things would be boring if we knew everything there was to know about characters right from the off. This comic felt like an elaboration of what came before, using the millions of years between their leaving Cybertron and arriving on Earth to its advantage. It was a gap of four million years after all! It was also a clever way of working in the toy line’s new name, so kudos one final time to Simon for that.
Before we finish up completely, there are a couple of the usual extras to cover. After acknowledging G.I. Joe’s 150th edition, the final issue of this spectacular comic isn’t given any such coverage on the Bullpen Bulletin news page, however the letters page is rather unique. It takes up more space and begins with a missive from letterer (and Marvel UK editor) Richard Starkings. It’s interesting but I must point out the UK Transformers comic lasted a lot longer than 250 issues (332 plus annuals, specials etc) and I happen to love his Dragon’s Claws logo!
The second letter reminds me of my mum’s confession later in life that she didn’t actually mind buying me comics as a child, the letter from OiNK Blog reader James Healy asks us to remain positive before being negative about the original comic’s ending (I must say I disagree with him on this), and in Simon’s farewell message there’s an interesting snippet that it was colourist Sarra Mossoff who decided the idents in speech balloons should be coloured to match the speaker. Unfortunately, she’s also the victim of a rather cringey description.
Below this are some unused pieces of art by Derek and a Decepticon image by Chia-Chi Wang (The Punisher, Ren & Stimpy, G.I. Joe). Whether these were unused covers/posters is unclear and I wish they were bigger. I know the issue already has more pages, but a few more so we could see these at their full size would’ve really added to what has been a great send off.
During this real time read through I found out the name ‘Jhiaxus’ is pronounced “gee, axe us”, an in-joke by Simon who anticipated a quick cancellation by Marvel of another toy comic. He wasn’t wrong. While it was designed to last much longer, I haven’t felt short-changed. Yes, it was obvious things were being ramped up to get to a suitable conclusion but I’m left feeling completely satisfied, and not just with this as an end to its own series.
Now that it’s over it feels less like a sequel and more like an epilogue to the original epic 332+ issue run, like this was a story that had always occurred and just needed to be told before we could properly say goodbye to these original versions of beloved characters. Characters who have been reinvented many times since. As such, this hasn’t felt like a short run but an addition to the longest running comic I’ve ever collected, and these will forever sit at the end of my original Marvel UK collection as an integral part of that lifelong favourite.
Well, this bold Derek Yaniger cover for #11 of Marvel US’ Transformers: Generation 2 would certainly have stood out on the shelves. And at least Starscream’s teeth are suitably horrifying instead of comically human-like for once. Simon Furman’sDark Shadows (pencilled by Manny Galan, inked by Jim Amash, coloured by Sarra Mossoff, lettered by Richard Starkings) begins with the traitorous Decepticon in a seemingly unstoppable position on the Warworld ship.
In fact, as the story develops we (and he) find out that he’s no longer simply on the ship, he is the ship! The Matrix has afforded him the power to meld with it, morphing corridors and walls and trapping the newly aligned Optimus Prime and Megatron is his grasp. Does he instantly kill them? Of course not, he has to boast and gloat first.
One of Jhiaxus’ troops by the name of Rook is concerned about his commander’s obsession with tracking down the Autobots and Decepticons. He’s seen this side of him before, back when he was the tyrant that Jhiaxus himself lamented ever being back in #3. Rook worries that Jhiaxus is somehow regressing evolutionarily and so decides he must speak with Leige Maximo. Finally! Well, next month it’ll be “finally”, as this is the only mention of the unknown character this issue.
Prime explains to Megatron how the Matrix has become corrupted by evil once more, much like it did with Thunderwing back in the Matrix Quest epic in the G1 comic. Between this and the ongoing similarity between the Starscreem here and the Starscream during writer Bob Budiansky’sUnderbase Saga several years prior, this usually highly original comic feels like it’s slipping back into familiar territory. But then this happened…
I’ll readily admit that if I hadn’t been holding this comic with both hands as I read it I’d have punched the air triumphantly upon seeing Megatron save Optimus Prime! Both were being flooded down a large vent, at the end of which is a huge fall into the plasma core of the ship. Megatron is able to stop himself and I fully expected him to let Prime fall, not out of hatred but because he’d be too busy saving himself. The fact he puts his own life at risk to save him and calls out to Prime to trust him reminds me very much of Transformers One.
The fact this comic was decades before that film just adds to the excitement and this must’ve been a huge moment for readers at the time. He can’t hold him for long though, so they agree he’ll swing him off to the side where Prime can grab hold of some dangling cables. But their plan doesn’t work. At least not as they intended. Prime misses the cables but then they move by themselves into a new position! The comic tries to play this out as a mystery, I guessed it was the Matrix. Was I right?
Ol’ Megs continues to get some of the best lines, like when he transforms into his tank mode to get himself free of the previous predicament and comes out with a perfect 90s action movie line, below. Optimus’ inner thoughts show an admiration for what he sees as Megatron’s instinctive and unselfish tactics, and he wishes this could be more than a mere alliance of convenience. This is a real revelation, to see these two characters in such a fresh way even all these decades later.
Prime then discovers the ship’s walls, corridors and doors are morphing as if to lead him somewhere, with his sneaking about possible because Starscream isn’t really the god-like creator he believes himself to be. Unable to concentrate on more than one thing at once and with Jhiaxus’ army attacking, Starscream must leave these two to their own devices. The ship itself appears to lead Prime right to where he needs to be.
The final page of the main strip ends with Prime trying his best to reason with Jhiaxus and explain what they’ve discovered about the Swarm, but it takes place over a communications signal that frustratingly keeps breaking up. Not that this really matters. Jhiaxus is too far gone and the cliffhanger (before the back up strip) sees him giving the order to pick out random targets on Earth’s surface and blow the planet apart.
This feels like the perfect time to shift to legendary Transformers artist Geoff Senior for part eight of Tales of Earth.
Wait a minute. Wasn’t it previously established that all of Earth’s cities were devastated by Skullgrin’s Decepticons and the Warworld? Even if San Francisco escaped, this paints a picture of a city without a care in the world. Oh well, discrepancy aside this raises the bar in terms of the threat Earth faces! This opening spread is very reminiscent of Judgement Day from Terminator 2, which had been released in the UK less than two years previous and was very much still in the public consciousness after its home release.
Being familiar with the film doesn’t detract from this opening scene. In fact, it adds to the feeling of the end of everything! Even Grimlock and Predacon leader Razorclaw concur, stating, “It over now. For us all. They did it… they dropped The Big One”. On board the Warworld Prime is devastated, heartbroken. He screams into the void but Jhiaxus orders another attack on another highly populated city, despite the fact his troops are all over the planet. But then, Earth’s salvation comes from an unlikely source: Starscream!
As the Warworld attacks Jhiaxus’ ship with all of its Matrix-powered might, it appears the Autobot trinket is tainting the Deception rather than the other way around, which means those scenes reminiscent of the Matrix/Thunderwing G1 story were a nice bit of misdirection. Starscream doesn’t care about us of course but he has an uncontrollable urge to save us. Doing so is even more important to him than the very thing he previously thought was the most important thing in the universe: himself!
I did laugh as Starscream yells out how he doesn’t want to be good. Prime realises it was him that was subconsciously helping all along within the ship, and he sees hope in the very essence of the thing he’s carried in his chest for millennia. However, suddenly, with only one page to go, the Swarm is here. The previous scene just suddenly stops to give us this cliffhanger.
This felt like a very sudden, very unnatural jump in the story, like the pages were running out and we needed a cliffhanger and, more importably, the Swarm needed to be in place for the final issue. I’m not saying that’s the case, after all we’ve learned how terrifyingly quick it is and how it’s impossible to see it coming. That’s the whole point of it after all. But I can’t help feeling a bit unsatisfied with how this absolutely superb chapter ended.
A necessary evil perhaps with only one issue left. It’s a bumper-sized one next month, with the promise of 36 pages of strip action. Given how things have escalated in the last couple of months, and how amazing this issue was, I have every faith Simon will pull off a satisfying conclusion for a comic cancelled way too early in its run. How he’ll do that I have no idea! We’ll find out together in five weeks on Sunday 31st August 2025.
It’s another issue without any of Derek Yaniger’s artwork inside but don’t lament, #10 of Marvel US’ Transformers: Generation 2 more than makes up for it. Not only with this fantastic image by Derek but also by welcoming back Geoff Senior for the back up strip. We’ll get to that in a bit. First, the escalation of events is clear from the cover and inside the comic the main 16-page strip Total War! doesn’t hold back.
Thanks to Starscream, the combined Autobot and Decepticon forces have been found and their defences bypassed. An epic battle breaks out at Autobase on Earth, which should be an exciting prospect, right? The thing is, despite writer Simon Furman’s electrifying script this may as well be taking place on any of the barren space rocks calling themselves planets we’ve visited throughout the series.
That’s a shame because in every other aspect penciller Manny Galan, inker Jim Amash, colourist Sarra Mossoff and letterer Richard Starkings are on sizzling form (with only the occasional silly elongated neck). Things kick off with what almost amounts to an all-out slaughter of their forces by Jhiaxus and his highly evolved troops. The dialogue between Optimus Prime and Megatron is natural, exciting and at times even funny. In fact, Megatron gets a lot of the best lines in the comic!
Elsewhere, on board the Decepticon’s now-shared Warworld spaceship things are going equally badly as Starscream forces his way on board. Even the silly human-shaped teeth glinting in his silhouette can’t ruin the moment for once. Yes, yes, I know I’ve whined on about them in recent months. I’ll forgive them this one time though, especially since by the end of the issue Starscream may have finally upgraded them to something more palatable. More on that below.
I know the characters are based on toys but for the most part depictions of our toys in our comics haven’t felt that way. Look at the brilliant (but criminally short-lived) Ring Raiders to see how tiny Matchbox planes were depicted, for example. But I must say, Manny’s very toy-like. Transformers when they’re in their aeroplane alt modes really pleases me. It takes me right back to the battles I’d wage in my childhood bedroom with my old Hasbro toys.
There are some nice interactions here which really play up to the characters’ strengths, such as Tracks and Manta Ray above, then the Predacons and Dinobots too! Not that Jhiaxus appreciates their strength in diversity, but then again given what his ultimate goal is of course he wouldn’t. His gall at the “adversity, guile and sheer bloody-mindedness” of his foes is fun to read before he dials things up and calls in his second wave. Yup, everything that went before was just the appetiser.
On the Warworld the troops sent up with Starscream discover the bridge has been abandoned and escape pods are leaving for the surface. They race off in pursuit, assuming Starscream is behind them. But this is Starscream, he has bigger and much more selfish plans afoot and heads off to find the Autobot Matrix of Leadership wired into the centre of the craft.
Back on Earth we get possibly one of my favourite moments in the entire G2 series. Even though Megatron is in his new form, the panel below still harkens back to the earliest days of Marvel UK’s G1 comic. The layout, angle and most of all the depiction of Prime. We also get another funny moment from Megatron, even if it’s also a bit frustrating because he’s never actually given us the reason behind his choice of second-in-command (beyond the comic following the new toy line).
Surely a fan favourite panel, right there!
Megatron does have a plan, though. In fact it’s revealed he had several back up escape routes when he walked into Autobase to form an alliance with Optimus. One such plan was a cruiser with an invisibility cloak parked right next door. Smart. However, while Prime is grateful he’s also very aware they’re still fighting for two very different sides. Retreating to the Warworld he wants to use it as a powerful communications tool to try to reason with Jhiaxus against the new threat, while Megatron sees it as the ultimate weapon. Time for a quick break between strips.
This month’s Bullpen Bulletin contains a few interesting snippets. In the border we find out The Iron Man of 2020 was to get his own mini-series. I really enjoyed this character when he appeared twice in the back up strip in Marvel UK’s Transformers. Former Transformers writer Bob Budiansky was now Special Projects Executive Editor and The Incredible Hulk comic really did sound like it was unmissable. Also, if you read the ‘Question of the Month’ column, the writer of the Alice Cooper comic (there was an Alice Cooper comic?) has a response which in light of this last year or so seems rather telling!
Then it’s straight on to the six-page Tales of Earth back up strip and that exciting moment of welcoming Geoff Senior back to Transformers. Again, this is a straight continuation of the main strip instead of a separate story but I’m not complaining. The whole issue has been action with great characterisation sprinkled throughout and that continues with these last half dozen pages. Jhiaxus’ troops are fired upon and quickly destroyed by incredibly powerful weaponry from the Warworld. But it was reported the ship was secured and in their control. Prime and Megatron witness this as they approach and Megatron continues with his quips.
The battle continues on the surface too and the Dinobots and Predacons are fighting side-by-side in what must’ve been a fan dream come true (even though the Predacons weren’t G2 toys). I particularly like the very Geoff-esque additions such as seeing Razorclaw’s leap, transformation and attack in one panel and Grimlock’s bandana and the ‘Big Grim’ on his arm! Brilliant stuff. Even just seeing the close up of Prime’s eyes drawn by Geoff brings back all the feels.
This is fantastic stuff. The interactions between the characters, the humour, the explosive action and of course elsewhere there are still knife-edge tensions between the usually opposing sides. For example, Razorclaw thinks Megatron’s new troops are enjoying fighting alongside the Autobots a little too much. It all builds up to what is ultimately a letdown of a final page.
Starscream has absorbed the power of the Matrix and melded with the ship. However, a fantastically rendered page by the legendary artist is let down by suddenly atrocious dialogue and an over familiarity with G1’s Underbase Saga, when Starscream absorbed the all-powerful database of information and became a similarly all-powerful entity. It’s the only disappointment in an incredible issue though.
It should come as no surprise to find the Transmissions letters page is chock full of complaints, anger and disbelief at the upcoming cancellation of the comic (announced in #8). While Simon’s response that it was always intended for the first 12 issues to form one story is completely understandable, I do believe the last couple of issues have seen a ramping up of events, perhaps moreso than he originally intended in order to complete as many stories and character arcs as possible.
That’s a rather silly (not to mention expensive) idea from reader Adam Edward Patyk! Not only would it be expensive for all the readers he’s asking to partake in his idea but he seems to have already spent a lot of money and all for nowt. The reply is interesting however, with retailers refusing to acknowledge the title was selling well and instead cutting orders. The curse of being a toy licence comic in the 90s. I’d also forgotten about the mysterious mention of the Leige Maximo way back in #4, so let’s hope that’s resolved over the next two months.
The only reason that final strip page was so disappointing is because every page before it was so perfect. The story, the characterisations, the dialogue, the action, the art… this would’ve been the best issue by far if it weren’t for that cliffhanger. But I’m still positive that the final two issues are going to be incredible and I can’t wait for Sunday 27th July 2025 for the penultimate chapter.
As Optimus Prime watches on, portrayed as a dust cloud in the gathering storm, Jhiaxus’ minions crumble to dust as the mysterious dark force in the universe wrecks havoc on Derek Yaniger’s latest Transformers: Generation 2 cover from Marvel in 1994. It may be a more basic cover than what we’re used to from Derek but you may enjoy it, because he’s nowhere to be found inside for the first time in this series.
Simon Furman’sSwarm kicks off with the Autobots examining a planet ravaged by this… whatever it is, while Megatron looks on impatiently. Just as with the original series, the comic (which remember is primarily aimed at children) can get away with showing the husks of dead, rotting – or rather, rusting – bodies because they’re robots, not flesh. This is the first time they’ve found physical evidence of Prime’s visions.
Megatron knows Jhiaxus isn’t to blame so he isn’t interested, meaning Prime still hasn’t told him the truth behind his visions. I still can’t wrap my head around that decision, it feels so out of character for him. We do get a moment of Grimlock and Megatron agreeing (which is a shock in itself, I think to them too) when they both seem equally concerned about still being on this planet whenever whatever is responsible returns.
But Prime is committed to this path and assembles a scientific team to investigate, temporarily ignoring the pleas to leave. Megatron sincerely believes Jhiaxus could wipe them from the universe and this is just a distraction, but Prime is convinced it’s the real threat, that there’s a link somehow, although he’s no idea how. Hey Prime, maybe talk to your new ally and work it out?
We the readers zoom off to a primitive planet across the galaxy where the aforementioned next generation of Cybertronians are laying waste to the land and its people who have suddenly found themselves on the brink of extinction. But the ease at which they’re being wiped out by Mindset and his Stormtroopers (another reference to the World Wars after Jhiaxus’ goal in previous issues, nothing to do with Star Wars) comes to a shocking premature end as they look to the sky.
The time it takes to move from its position on the horizon to killing them is apparently so quick they don’t even have time to form thoughts, which is a rather terrifying idea worthy of a good horror film. This thing is alive and begins to react to the attacks from Jhiaxus’ troops, reconfiguring itself into different shapes to take on their various forms. Is it transforming?
It absorbs the metal of its enemies to grow and completely ignores the organic species. We get a brief look inside its mind as it transforms (my word use) into a familiar bipedal shape, beginning to feel some form of familiarity with the ‘food’ it’s just consumed. As Mindset stands up to it, it notices this one is stronger. However, it also realises it has a purpose and a need. But what could that be? Cue Mindset’s last desperate bid to survive.
His fate sealed we take a trip to the Warworld, the Decepticon spaceship being used by both them and the Autobots. Having finally left the planet they’ve taken off in search of Jhiaxus again. Prime laments the choice and once again is off thinking to himself. Then he feels something inside his body as Mindset and his troops are wiped out. He knows “it has begun” and at the exact moment elsewhere on board Onslaught of the Combaticons has some kind of reaction too. Why Onslaught? And I love that description of the Combaticons!
A following caption says this bond between the team members goes deeper than they know. How so? I’m intrigued. The story ends as Starscream (with a head full of stupid-looking human teeth again, hence no photo) approaches Jhiaxus and offers the heads of Prime and Megatron in return for a position of power. Then it’s on to the Tales of Earth back up strip.
Finally Optimus is opening up to Megatron about this new foe. The results from the survey are in and presented by Preceptor (naturally). He concludes that on a genetic level the entity’s configuration is identical to theirs. Megatron takes it surprisingly well and seems to understand Prime wanted proof before telling him. Seeing the two of them actually discuss their situation and work together is really interesting to this long-time reader. It reminds me of Prime and Scorponok’s mutual respect towards the end of G1, a high point of the original comic.
Prime isn’t even particularly pissed off that Megatron stole the Matrix anymore and they seem to respect why they each do things the other diametrically opposes. It feels like a maturely-written situation and I commend Simon for being able to bring something fresh and original to these two characters after so many stories by this point. Prime admits he previously left the mind machine early, which was when we readers found out this entity is a byproduct of the evolution of their race beyond Primus’ intentions.
You’ll notice Derek Yaniger isn’t the artist for Tales of Earth this issue and he’s certainly missed. Don’t get me wrong, Manny Galan is on top form (as are inker Jim Amash, letterer Richard Starkings and colourist Sarra Mossoff) but it does strike me there’s no need for a back up strip without a change of artist. This month it’s a continuation of the main story rather than a parallel tale and it’d all work just as well as one. It ends with Jhiaxus attacking them on Earth. It’s been another incredible issue.
Below, you can see this month’s Bullpen Bulletin contained a small snippet about one of Marvel US’ licenced titles, something which very rarely happened in these news columns. The 150th issue of G.I. Joe, a comic which began two years before Generation 1 of Transformers, was about to hit stores. Surely a huge event, yes? Indeed. Little did fans know only five issues later the comic would be cancelled.
Looking back we can find solace in the fact IDW would resurrect the series in the next millennium and produce #156 to #300 and now Image Comics and Skybound have taken up the mantle from #301 onwards, all still written by Larry Hama. You can check out the phenomenal box set of the original Marvel comics released by Skybound on the blog too.
On the letters page Derek is praised by both readers and the comic, however it’s announced another artist will be taking over the back up strip next issue. The fact it’s none other than Geoff Senior softens the blow somewhat! Now that’s something to look forward to. There’s also a brief mention of the rumour of a UK G2 comic which may have elicited excitement at the time, given the epic G1 UK comic’s legendary status. Unfortunately it’d be a quickly cancelled five-issue run (from Fleetway, not Marvel).
A reader asks if a Jhiaxus toy was available and the comic tells him the answer is no but that it “doesn’t matter” because “in #12 he – ah, but that would be telling!” That sounds like a rather large spoiler if you ask me. Finally, on the inside back cover is an advert for The Shadow starring Alec Baldwin. I remember this being on TV one afternoon about a decade ago and, having nothing better to do, I sat down and watched it. You know what? I’d never even heard of the character but I really enjoyed it. I must watch it again sometime.
While I obviously wish the comic had carried on for many more years the ramping up of the story feels more organic this month, with the Optimus Prime/Megatron scenes the standout moments for me. It all points towards something really rather special to come in that final issue. We’ll take another step closer in five weeks on Sunday 29th June 2025.
Having only finished the real time read through of the original G1 comic last year it doesn’t feel too long ago that the Autobots and Decepticons teamed up to defeat Unicron, so the big selling point of this admittedly brilliant Derek Yaniger cover doesn’t feel as epic as it was originally intended. Inside, three pages after the man strip begins it’s interrupted by the 6-page back up strip, before that story just ends and returns to the main one!
Those first few pages are basically Jhiaxus again stating the mission of his overly-evolved Cybertronians as the Nazis of the universe, invading planets to wipe out all inferior (in his eyes) life. Seeing his troops in chunky tank forms wiping out whole civilisations I can’t help but compare them to the Daleks. Their missions are basically the same after all.
Things properly kick off in Tales of Earth: Part Five when the half-destroyed form of Megatron standing over the similarly brutally beaten Optimus Prime somewhat triggers Grimlock. The ability of Megatron to wipe them out if he so wished is very apparent across these pages, which makes Prime’s belief (and Megatron’s confirmation) all the more dramatic. And that’s even with the aforementioned G1 truce still fresh in my mind, so kudos to the comic that this still works.
However, by contrast the back up’s cliffhanger is a bit of a damp squib, seeing as how it’s Starscream thinking about leaving the Decepticons to go out on his own. As usual. Back to the main Escalation story and Manny Galan’s pencils (with Jim Amash inking and the excellent Sarra Mossoff colouring) have improved immensely. Things seem more focussed, the characters more solid and the wobbly wire necks are gone.
Prime is questioning their very existence. If their creator, Primus did indeed stop their evolution because he knew their race would eventually become one devoid of basic compassion and morality, then how was their creation ever justified? After all, as Ian Malcolm would say, life finds a way. Not even a planet-sized robotic god can avoid the key rule of Jurassic Park.
Oh, we almost got some transformation images there! But more importantly there’s Slapdash. The yellow F1-type car was a Headmaster toy I loved so much as a kid. Sometimes it’s the littlest things that can bring joy. Or indeed the largest, dinosaur-shaped things. While I questioned why Starscream had teeth and a snake-like tongue in a previous issue, below they make much more sense. I love Manny’s depiction of these fan favourites. Thank goodness Sarra has kept them to their original color schemes too instead of the gaudy 90s style of the toy line.
Smokescreen buys it when he tries to take a more aggressive approach. He underestimates the enemy’s strength compared to the Decepticons they’ve fought for so long and ends up exploding in a fireball. Inferno rushes in to dampen the flames but it’s too late. Apparently he now has a fiery temper to go with his fire engine alt mode and he ends up killing those responsible, while putting himself directly in harm’s way.
Luckily he escapes (briefly) but I just had to include this panel to show off Richard Starkings’ and Bill O’Neil’s lettering. I’ve raved about the bold design of the speech balloons from the beginning of the series and this really shows how much their sound effects add to the strip too. In fact, everything to do with the art seems to have been dialled up to eleven this month.
I love this panel of Optimus unloading on Jhaixus’ warriors. It feels very animated, like it could be a still frame from a cartoon and seeing the blasts reflected on his chest windscreens is a nice touch. Manny is really going for it in the action scenes! I just wish he’d attempt to show the characters transforming instead of only showing them in before and after poses. Come on Manny, you’ve only got four issues left.
Back to the battle and things aren’t going well for the Autobots. Inferno bites the dust when the building he jumped into for safety collapses, reinforcements for the enemy are on the way, every move they make is countered and in the air the Aerialbots are outnumbered and outgunned. Fireflight is hit and proclaims things are so desperate he’s going to shut his optical sensors and hope for some kind of…
It might not feel as original as writer Simon Furman probably wanted but it’s still great fun seeing Combaticon Vortex and another Decepticon called Ransack (a G2 creation who also appeared in Revenge of the Fallen, a similarly-named robot was a Deluxe Insecticon in the G1 toy line) rush in to save the Aerialbots. Meanwhile, on the ground Megatron and his ground based warriors are taking great pleasure in destroying what he describes as the “pale imitation” Decepticons.
The issue ends with Prime’s inner thoughts confusing me somewhat. He’s weighing up whether he should tell Megatron about his visions of the black mass making its way across the universe and dissolving all life. I mean, it sounds like something important he should share with the enemy he’s now in an uneasy alliance with if they’re to save their race together. But nope, he keeps it to himself. Perhaps this from the previous page sheds a bit of light on his decision?
This, plus Megatron’s insistence he’s only playing nice because of his desire to kill Jhiaxus, seems to result in Prime keeping things close to his chest. After everything that happened at the end of G1 this seems a rather dubious decision and only taken to serve the story, rather than the story serving the characters. As I took this issue off my shelf to read it I spotted the next issue’s cover shows Jhiaxus’ troops dissolving, so Prime better get talking.
As per usual, near the end the strip breaks off for the Bullpen Bulletin and this issue’s is part of a tribute to Jack Kirby who had passed away that year. The bulletins were updated weekly across Marvel’s range so we’re only seeing this part in Transformers. It contains a couple of quotes from names familiar with our G1 comic, namely Jim Salicrup (the original 8-part Transformers story and Visionaries) and George Roussos (G.I. Joe).
At the back of the comic comes the latest Transmissions letters page and the sad news the comic wouldn’t be continuing past its 12th issue. There are some hints about the conclusion too. Strangely, the first letter states they’re happy G2 is more realistic “like the animated movie”. Um, okay. I’m not the only one who agrees Manny’s work has improved immensely, however I don’t understand the comic’s “theory” about the Matrix. The Matrix itself wasn’t destroyed when it stopped Unicron, surely that was evident from the end of the movie too? The fact the writer doesn’t seem to understand why his character has it again (after he’s written it back in) is a bit strange!
That aside, it’s been another great issue and as we rocket towards the now-announced finale I fully expect the pace to pick up incrementally, even from this high-octane outing. I just hope the characters lead the way and aren’t forced into various decisions and/or positions just to get us there. As ever though, I look forward to the next issue. That ninth edition will be up for review on the blog on Sunday 25th May 2025.
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