Transformers, Vol. 4: Showdown

Transformers US Titan Collections #4

by Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin (Illustrator), Herb Trimpe (Illustrator)

The collections of the classic comic strips from the 80's continue with one of the most dramatic and searing slices of Transformers action ever put to print As the Autobots unveil their new secret weapon, Omega Supreme, and the stage is set for their greatest triumph, so tragedy strikes at the very heart of their ranks. The action cranks up to fever pitch, as the Special Teams - The Protectobots, the Combaticons, the Aerialbots and the Stunticons- make their debut. But the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron will not be fought with cold, hard steel, but rather within the digital realm... of a computer game Never-before collected, these are the stories that created a legend

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2003

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

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning! Spoilers for 1986 coming up...

So... There was a lot of stuff going on in this one, and there are some bits that are hard to swallow, but Optimus Prime's death has to take the cake. He agrees to duel Megatron in a video game, with the looser really dying. Prime wins, but Megatron uses a cheat code to come back. Prime wins AGAIN, but some of the NPCs in the game die during the fight, so he INSISTS he is the real loser, and is blown to bits.

I think I was able to swallow that at age ten, but now it seems pretty weak.

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is where it really begins to fall apart. Now it seems we're either barreling through issues trying to introduce as many new characters as possible, or we're wasting time on issues with only one or two Transformers featured (and always some of the more....um, stupid ones in the spotlight). To cap it all off, the final issue in the collection features the death of a character, in what has to be one of the most ludicrous, unbelievable manners I have ever seen. It makes no sense from either a plot or character perspective and was obviously forced on the comic by Hasbro.