Archive / Comics
The comics
Forty years of Transformers in print, from Bob Budiansky building a mythology the cartoon never had, through Simon Furman's UK weeklies, IDW's reboot, and Skybound's Energon Universe. 457 issues archived, each with its cover, its creators and where to find a copy.
Where to start
If you only read one run, read Marvel US #1 to #80. It is darker and more coherent than the cartoon, it kills and resurrects on its own terms, and the Underbase saga is still the high-water mark. If you want the best-written Transformers comics ever published, go to IDW's More Than Meets The Eye. If you want what is good right now, Skybound.
The runs
Four decades, four publishers
Collecting
Key issues across every run
First appearances, deaths and the issues that turned the story. Values shown are indicative only and grade moves them a very long way.
| Issue | Run | Why it matters | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Marvel UK | First issue of the UK weekly, cover-dated 20 September 1984; reprints Marvel US #1. | $18 |
| #9 | Marvel UK | Start of 'Man of Iron', the first UK-originated Transformers strip (Steve Parkhouse / John Ridgway); later reprinted in the US as issues #33-34. | $18 |
| #13 | Marvel UK | Start of 'The Enemy Within', Simon Furman's first Transformers script. | $18 |
| #78 | Marvel UK | 'Target: 2006' begins - the UK's first large-scale original epic, bringing Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge back from 2006 into the 1986 storyline. | $ |
| #82 | Marvel UK | The Wreckers and their leader Impactor are introduced. | $ |
| #88 | Marvel UK | 'Target: 2006' concludes. | $ |
| #106 | Marvel UK | Optimus Prime dies in 'Afterdeath' (reprint of US #24). | $ |
| #113 | Marvel UK | First appearance of Death's Head, the freelance peacekeeping agent created by Furman and Geoff Senior; the single most collected issue of the run. | $ |
| #130 | Marvel UK | 'Worlds Apart' introduces the Headmasters to the UK strip. | $ |
| #146 | Marvel UK | 'The Legacy of Unicron' begins; Unicron's influence returns to the storyline. | $ |
| #199 | Marvel UK | 'Time Wars' begins, the last and largest UK-original epic. | $ |
| #205 | Marvel UK | 'Time Wars' concludes; after this the weekly runs almost entirely US material and UK reprints. | $ |
| #332 | Marvel UK | Final issue, cover-dated 18 January 1992; reprints US #80 'End of the Road!'. | $ |
| #1 | Marvel (US) | The first Transformers fiction ever published, and the issue that established the Marvel continuity the entire franchise mythology grew out of. | $90 |
| #3 | Marvel (US) | The first Marvel Universe crossover in the title, cementing that the Transformers shared a world with Marvel's superheroes. | $35 |
| #4 | Marvel (US) | The intended final issue of the miniseries; instead it ends on the single most famous cliffhanger of the run and introduces Shockwave and the Dinobots. | $35 |
| #5 | Marvel (US) | First issue of Bob Budiansky's long tenure and the debut of the Creation Matrix, the concept that separates Marvel's mythology from the cartoon's. | $22 |
| #6 | Marvel (US) | Introduces Blackrock and Josie Beller, the human throughline of the entire Budiansky era, and confirms Shockwave has genuinely deposed Megatron. | $22 |
| #9 | Marvel (US) | First appearance of Circuit Breaker, the run's defining human antagonist and its clearest statement that humans are not simply bystanders. | $22 |
| #10 | Marvel (US) | First appearance of the Constructicons, Devastator and Jetfire, and the reveal of the Matrix-in-Buster plot. | $22 |
| #12 | Marvel (US) | Resolves the year-long Shockwave arc and restores Optimus Prime to full command with the Matrix returned to him. | $22 |
| #17 | Marvel (US) | Opens the Cybertron half of the Marvel continuity, introduces Straxus, Darkmount and Blaster, and sets the run's grimmest tone. | $14 |
| #18 | Marvel (US) | Introduces the space bridge, the device that connects the Earth and Cybertron halves of the series for the rest of the run. | $14 |
| #21 | Marvel (US) | First appearance of the Aerialbots and Superion, and the first on-panel use of the space bridge as a two-way pipeline. | $14 |
| #24 | Marvel (US) | The death of Optimus Prime, one of the most talked-about issues of the run and a shock the cartoon would not deliver until the movie. | $14 |
| #25 | Marvel (US) | The apparent death of Megatron, first appearance of the Predacons and Predaking, and the start of the Grimlock leadership era. | $14 |
| #27 | Marvel (US) | Grimlock becomes Autobot leader and Ratbat, the Decepticons' fuel auditor and one of Marvel's most distinctive original characters, debuts. | $14 |
| #33 | Marvel (US) | The first Marvel UK story imported into the American book, and the reason UK material entered US continuity at all. | $14 |
| #38 | Marvel (US) | Spike Witwicky becomes Fortress Maximus and the Headmasters and Scorponok enter the main title. | $14 |
| #42 | Marvel (US) | Optimus Prime returns to life as a Powermaster, binary-bonded to Hi-Q, a bond that pays off in issue 80. | $10 |
| #43 | Marvel (US) | The only Marvel US issue set in the cartoon movie's 2006 continuity and the only US appearance of the Quintessons, Rodimus Prime and Junkions. | $10 |
| #48 | Marvel (US) | Origin of the Underbase and the flashback that sets up the biggest event of the run. | $10 |
| #50 | Marvel (US) | The peak of the Underbase Saga and the single most infamous issue of the run: a double-sized massacre that killed off most of the toy line in one go, plus the deaths of Starscream and Ratbat. | $10 |
| #55 | Marvel (US) | Bob Budiansky's last issue as writer of the series. | $10 |
| #56 | Marvel (US) | Simon Furman's first issue and the return of Megatron, the pivot from Budiansky's tone to Furman's. | $10 |
| #60 | Marvel (US) | First appearance of Thunderwing and the Mayhem Attack Squad, and the first glimpse of Primus. | $10 |
| #61 | Marvel (US) | The issue that gave the franchise the Primus and Unicron creation myth, later adopted as the backbone of Transformers cosmology across every continuity. | $10 |
| #62 | Marvel (US) | Opens the Matrix Quest and introduces Nightbeat, arguably the most fan-beloved character Furman created for the book. | $10 |
| #65 | Marvel (US) | The Matrix turns malevolent and Thunderwing claims it, the turn that drives the rest of the run. | $10 |
| #67 | Marvel (US) | A standalone dystopian issue widely rated among the best single issues Marvel published on the licence. | $10 |
| #69 | Marvel (US) | Andrew Wildman's first issue, the introduction of Nucleon, and the return of Ratchet and Megatron as one body. | $10 |
| #75 | Marvel (US) | The double-sized climax of the entire run: Unicron's defeat, the second death of Optimus Prime, and the payoff to the Primus mythology begun in issue 61. | $10 |
| #80 | Marvel (US) | The final issue of the original run, and the ending Furman later picked straight back up in Generation 2 and Regeneration One. | $10 |
| #1 | Skybound / Image | Series debut. Bumblebee killed by Starscream on-panel; Jetfire shot down; Ravage destroyed. First Energon Universe appearances of Optimus Prime, Starscream, Soundwave, Skywarp, Ratchet, Teletraan 1, Spike, Carly and Sparkplug Witwicky. | $12 |
| #2 | Skybound / Image | First appearance of Laserbeak. First Energon Universe appearance of Conrad 'Duke' Hauser, ahead of his own Skybound title. Cliffjumper debuts. Sold out and went to a second printing. | $12 |
| #6 | Skybound / Image | Death of Sparkplug 'Sparky' Witwicky. Finale of the 'Robots in Disguise' arc. The Optimus-suplexes-Devastator sequence is the run's most-cited moment. | $12 |
| #7 | Skybound / Image | Art changeover: Jorge Corona replaces Daniel Warren Johnson on interiors, with Johnson continuing as writer. Soundwave deposes Starscream. First appearance of Elita One and of the prisoner later identified as Ultra Magnus. Start of the 'Transport to Oblivion' arc. | $12 |
| #9 | Skybound / Image | Death of Ratchet. Shockwave arrives on Earth. First appearances of Beachcomber and the Combaticons. Cliffjumper and Jazz captured. | $12 |
| #12 | Skybound / Image | Optimus Prime kills Shockwave. Finale of 'Transport to Oblivion'. Optimus and Elita One split over harvesting Earth; Cliffjumper stranded on Cybertron. | $ |
| #13 | Skybound / Image | Starscream's origin. Confirms his original name as Ulchtar. First appearance of Genvo; Omega Supreme flashback cameo that pays off in #24. | $ |
| #17 | Skybound / Image | First appearance of SHREDHEAD, the first all-new Transformers character created for the Skybound run. Traded as a key first appearance. | $ |
| #19 | Skybound / Image | Megatron's origin and the introduction of the dark Matrix, the source of his gun mode's mind control and of the corruption in Optimus. First appearances of Dezimir and the Mechanokoar. | $ |
| #24 | Skybound / Image | Finale of Daniel Warren Johnson's 24-issue run. Apparent death of Starscream by suicide (he is revealed alive in #33). Shredhead slices Megatron in half and cuts down Soundwave; the Matrix reactivates and Optimus is cured. | $ |
| #25 | Skybound / Image | First Kirkman issue and Jorge Corona's send-off from the Daniel Warren Johnson era. Miles Mayhem (V.E.N.O.M. / M.A.S.K.) revealed as head of Shadow Watch. Oversized, $4.99. | $ |
| #28 | Skybound / Image | DEATH: Megatron crushes Trailbreaker's head, tears him in half and drains his spark, framed as a permanent kill. FIRST APPEARANCE: Arcee Magnus. | $ |
| #30 | Skybound / Image | Optimus Prime gives up the Matrix. Elita One becomes Elita Prime and the Autobots split into two separate wars. Dan Mora's last issue as interior artist. | $ |
| #31 | Skybound / Image | REVEAL: the power behind Megatron is Megatronus, a.k.a. The Fallen. His matrix is named the Matrix of Oppression. Straxus and Trannis also appear. Ludo Lullabi's only issue as interior artist in the Kirkman run. | $ |
| #32 | Skybound / Image | Jason Howard's first issue as regular series artist. Star Saber debuts in the Energon Universe. A large wave of Animated/Prime-derived characters enters continuity. Also carries a 16-page M.A.S.K. story by Dan Watters and Simon Parr. | $ |
| #34 | Skybound / Image | FIRST APPEARANCE: Doctor Henri Arkeville in the Energon Universe, the character's first substantial use since the 1984 cartoon. Thundercracker formally joins the Aerialbots. | $ |
Keep reading