The Transformers Classics, Volume 2

Transformers Classics #2

by Bob Budiansky, Len Kaminski, Don Perlin (Artist)

The historic comic book roots of The Transformers are re-presented for maximum Cybertronian enjoyment. Collecting issues #14-25 from the original run, rejoin Optimus Prime and Megatron and their competing factions as their war stretches across the cosmos. Freshly re-mastered and re-colored, these stories are accompanied by an in-depth introduction as well as select issue notes by Mark W. Bellomo.

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Marvel, Fiction

276 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 2008

About the author

American comic book writer, editor, and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel's Transformers comic. He also created the Marvel character Sleepwalker and wrote all 33 issues of that comic.

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really where the comic took off in many ways. True it has weaknesses. With so many new toys coming out since Transformers were wildly popular (and Hasbro bought just about every Japanese transforming robot toy to head off GoBots). Budiansky had to jam a lot into a few issues. Yet, there are real gems here, and I am not talking about the Brick Springstern concert. The smelting pool is a classic, complete with Straxus, the most psychotic of all the Decepticons. Skids, who is barely in the TV show (blink, and you will miss him because his toy was not very common and so no need to boost sales) has a whole issue to himself that is fun and creative. The weaker issues are far out done by the stronger ones.

The bringing in of new characters means plenty of old ones die off, giving some issues a real shock factor. Starscream is killed off ingloriously. More controversial is Optimus Prime's death because he "cheated" in a video game. I like the issue. Its imaginative and well drawn, although Optimus Prime takes his honor code a little far. Still, his death is rather sudden and shocking, made even better by the art. Megatron's death in the next issue is one of the best Transformers comics of all time, made believable because the Megatron of the comics is unhinged and violent, just a step removed from becoming a total lunatic.

So there you have it. 25 issues in and Megatron, Starscream, and Optimus Prime, three of the five most iconic Transformers (along with Bumblebee and Soundwave) are dead. I am sure I will see them again, but still this is a series forced to take risks by the 1986 prerogative to sell toys. It might be the most fun and creative commercial of all time.

[Kavinay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Smelting Pool and The Bridge to Nowhere, a 2-issue story (#17,#18) are outstanding. They make up significantly for what is otherwise a jumbled mess due to the need for Budiansky to constantly introduce new toys with progressively more whacky plots.

[John Parungao · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always loved the Transformers comics from Marvel and this volume covers a lot of ground! Introducing a huge number of characters. I admire the efforts of Bob Budiansky to keep up with the slate of toys and characters that were released over this period of the comic. There are some interesting differences between the Transformers characters in this comic series and the continuity of the cartoon series. My personal favorite was the size changing gimmick that is present in the comic series, best example is the Insecticons. On the cartoon they are gigantic in size and very intimidating, in the comic book they shrink down to the size of Earth insects and are perfect for sneaking into various locations including Autobot headquarters!
Most shocking moments from this volume are the destructions of both Optimus Prime and Megatron. This collection brings me back to my childhood.

[Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The toy commercial continues in this second volume that have none of the tragically bad clunkers that volume one was saddled with, while having a really good two-issue arc set on cybertron that seemed to take a lot of inspiration from the future in terminator and even some cronenbergian bodyhorror. The only real problem with this volume would probably be the huge amount of characters introduced. Since at this time combining robots is what Hasbro seem to have been focusing on, characters often get introduced in groups as large as five, way too many to get any sense of individual personalities.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are entertaining stories. Lots of action and several new characters introduced. As a "toy" comic, there's pressure to keep putting the latest releases into the story and I was amazed at the very creative and unique ways this got done. I think in this arc we met six new combiner teams and a bunch of new characters from Cybertron. That's impressive! The Bridge to Nowhere story with Blaster was a great couple issues, definitely the high water mark.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

About this time in the comics you start to hate that it is tied to the toys. It really seems like every issue has yet another group of characters while you start to miss some of the older ones. Where is Bumblebee? Prowl? Starscream? That being said, some of the action gets ramped up and there is a great story that takes place on Cybertron itself. Could have been a five star book though.

[Matthew Hyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great 80's classic comic book series with great plots and action.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally every issue there’s at least one group of new robots who combine to form an 80-foot giant. What more could you want?

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this series because of the combiners, but it moved too fast to just read through one after another instead of once a month like when they came out.

[Jedi Sunni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Issue #14 Rock and Roll Out

off to a slow start but not bad. I did like the introduction of 5 new characters and how bumble bee was in charge of training. There was also a certain song with the lyrics change that I remember from my youth. Overall this story gets a 3.9 out of 5.0.

issue #15 I, Robot Master

This story could very well reiterated what our government does well in trying to cover things up. To make things look different from which they actually are. I like were they took this story and how it ended. Oh the heartlessness of Megatron. Overall rating of this story is 4.1 out of 5.0

issue #16 Plight of the Bumblebees

After feeling incredibly bad for himself Bumblebees sets off on a path that is well, I cant can't spoil it. Lets just say that some interesting things happen and I thought the story was OK but lacked more action. Overall I would rate this story a 3.2 out of 5.0.

issue #17 Into the smelting

One of my favorite stories so far, what a show of heroics and self sacrifice. I really enjoyed this Cybertron story. Being introduced to some new characters was fun and intriguing. Overall I rate this story a 4.8 out of 5.0. Just great stuff!

issue #18 The bridge to nowhere

The ultimate showdown between straxus and blaster along with a number of other great surprises. Not a bad story but not great either. I still thought it was pretty enjoyable read. Overall I rate this story a 4.0 out of 5.0.

issue #19 command Performances!

I thought the appearance of omega supreme was sweet! The power struggle still continues in the decepticon camp as well. This was a pretty go story with some of the best action in the book so far. Overall I rate this story a 4.4 out of 5.0.

issue #20 Showdown!

One autobot facing his fears, looking right in eyes of danger. This story included ravage, skids and a young lady who found him on his side abandoned. The rest is history and now we have ourselves a showday. I give is story 4.0 put of 5.0.

issue #21 Aerielbots Over America!

The Aerielbots were pretty sweet, and they totally crashed the party. On the other hand the story was not very original and I kind of knew what to expect. I have to say I still enjoyed the story with the arrival of the insecticons and seekers. I give this story a 4.2 out of 5.0.

issue #22 Heavy Traffic!

In one corner we have menasor and inquest the other superion. This epic clash of the titen's is worth the read alone. I have yo admit that I am a little surprised finkleburg is still around. I will say this was a pretty good story with a good plot and a decent amount of action. I give is story a 4.5 out of 5.0.

issue #23 Decepticon GRAFFITI!

A couple crazy decepticons follow the antics of a young man on vacation with his family. This leads to real problems! I thought this was a creative idea and I did enjoy this story overall. I give this story a 4.1 out of 5.0.

issue #24 AFTERDEATH!

Wow! we get a faceoff between defensor and Bruticus, but not really. Nevertheless I still enjoyed this story, but the ending is breath taking. I give this story a 3.9 out of 5.0.

issue #25 Gone but not forgotten!

One of the best stories in this volume, hands down. Being a spiritual person I really can see how a kingdom divided against it's self cannot stand. There are truly times when the decepticon spend more time fighting against one another then the autobots. Not many drawbacks on this story. I give this story a 4.8 out 5.0. Great moral value.

According to the numbers my overall acessment of this book is a 4.1583.....

[Ashly Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

The story picks up where the first one left off. Optimus Prime and his gang of Autobots are back and trying to sabotage the Deceptiocons’ plans to take over earth (what else do they ever get up to?). In this collection, we are given insight into what is happening back on Cybertron, where the Decepticons rule. They’ve built a space bridge that will successfully transport them to earth, where they plan to join forces with Shockwave in order to rid the earth of humans and take it over for themselves once and for all. Will Optimus and the other Autobots be able to thwart their master plan?

This collection binds up issues 14-25 of Transformers comics first published in the mid-’80s.

So, I’m kind of just a little bit obsessed with The Transformers. I’ve loved them since I started watching the animated series when I was a kid. I’m a huge fan of the movie series that features Shia Le Bouf and will fight anyone over how good they are. And, I have to say its so fun to notice how much of those plot points were actually pulled out of the original comics. I get all giddy each time I notice a direct correlation.

Now, all that being said, if I were to look at this objectively, I would probably say this deserves more of a 4-star rating, but I’m not willing to look at this collection objectively, so it gets the 5 stars from me.

I honestly loved this collection. It’s so fun to see the coloring and experience how this series started way back when. (These issues were published 30 years ago!) There’s tons of humor in this series, but there are also themes such as learning to do the right thing and trusting in the power of friendship. The fun parts of the plots are well-balanced with real-life concepts that all of us try to explain, define, and survive. There’s even a bit of exploration into the concept of depression, so that was kind of cool to see.

There’s also some lovely female characters in this collection (as well as in the first one). I really like seeing that in comic books, especially ones from so long ago. I think I also like Transformers so much because they’re machines so they don’t really have a gender. I understand that gender is implied, but they are machines so they don’t need gender defined. They are robots for ANYONE to identify with, which is just pretty awesome, I think.

The only real complaint I have is that Optimus Prime’s death scene in this comic series is a little (okay…a lot…) lame. I mean, it’s kind of a cool and innovative and interesting to see the technology of the era and what the creators thought it would become. So, I guess it’s actually a pretty awesome concept, but the way it was introduced was kind of silly, but it was still fun. (But, maybe I’m just saying that because I don’t actually want to say anything bad about this collection)

Overall, if you���re a Transformers fan, this is a great read for you! I highly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. I can’t wait till I can afford volume 3!

Review originally published on my Wordpress blog Dreaming Through Literature.

[James Zanghi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume Two of Transformers Classics is quite a good read, but I highly recommend that you start with volume one first as it will help you keep track of everything. However, this book is not perfect and I should mention a few things about that.

Read on if you want spoilers...

There are a few things of note I should mention:
- There's a similar story arc that is very much like Age of Extinction, with the US Government trying to capture the Transformers and dissect them, only they do it with the help of a mysterious woman known as Circuit Breaker, who has her own personal vendetta against the Robots
- Also, the amount of characters Marvel brought into this franchise now is a bit overwhelming since over the course of about five issues, they bring in most of the combiner teams like the Aerialbots, Protectobots, Stunticons, Predacons, and Combaticons.
- Megatron, following an important event, goes totally insane for seemingly no apparent reason.
- Finally, and this is very important, Prime's death sequence is probably the worst death that Optimus Prime has ever endured: Being defeated in a video game by Megatron then blown up. Seriously, I'm not kidding. That's how Prime dies in this comic! He loses in a Tron-like video game against Megatron and a human is forced to blow him up! I thought his death in Revenge of the Fallen was considerably more dramatic than that!

However, if you can get past the extremely bad death of Optimus Prime sequence and Megatron going looney-tunes, this is a fantastic look into how Marvel did Transformers. Can't wait to read Volume Three.

[H M Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book out of nostagia for the Transformers comic I used to get as a child - certainly a superior incarnation than the current films.

The book comes with a bit of background about how it came to be created, which is quite interesting.
Credit is deserved for creating an interesting plot around something which could have been seen as a cynical marketing exercise.

Did find I got tired of the constant changing of the characters eventually, but the comics did have a good run and there were some exciting stories with clever ideas.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this one three and a half - it's fun, but purely nostalgic entertainment. The campy elements may be hard for anybody else to overcome (how about the battle at the Brick Springstern and the 10th Avenue Band concert?! or the never-ending Robot Master?!), but I had fun with it.

[Villate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still fun to read, but the typos, spelling and grammar errors, and weird continuity issues continue to bug me. I'm glad I only borrowed this from the library.

[Drew Dennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduces several more characters to the mythos. I enjoyed it more than Classics Volume 1.