Marvel's The Transformers Year Two, Part VI: Resurrection! (US #23 / UK #93-104)

Finally we come to the end of the the first Til All Are One Compendium! Its pages aren't numbered, but the PDF copy included with the Kickstarter runs 1,234 pages including covers and stuff. I started reading it back in January, so it took me just about five months. If that rate continues, I guess I can expect to finish the whole Marvel run sometime in the middle of 2027. But for now, it's on to volume two!

I did read "The Gift" (UK issue #93) after "Decepticon Graffiti!" (UK issues #94-95), which is  out of publication sequence, because this is where the compendium places it. It doesn't really make a difference, as "The Gift" and "Decepticon Graffiti!" have no characters in common and thus can take place simultaneously. (Well, except that "Decepticon Graffiti!" has a summer setting. Oops! But "The Gift" definitely goes here, because it refers to the events of "Heavy Traffic!" as being recent.)

Like many of the stories from the annuals, "The Return of the Transformers" isn't (according to the fine folks at the Transformers wiki, anyway) a perfect fit for continuity, and thus placed in compendium four. However, I read it in, essentially, publication order, right after the 1986 UK Christmas story (since the annuals were given as Christmas presents). This worked well. Like "The Gift," it has a winter setting; also like "The Gift," it focuses on Jetfire and his anxieties. "The Return of the Transformers" is actually a sequel to a previous annual story, "Missing in Action" (see item #5 in the list below), and it also smooths out a continuity error: in the UK story Crisis of Command! (see #4 below), Optimus decided he wouldn't use the Creation Matrix to make special Autobots on Earth, but in Second Generation! (see #6 below) and "Aerialbots over America!" (see #8 below) he went ahead and did that anyway! "The Return of the Transformers" retroactively explains why. So it's clear that even if there are errors, writer James Hill saw it and its predecessor as being part of the regular comics continuity.

from The Transformers US #23

"Decepticon Graffiti!" / "The Gift", from The Transformers US #23 (Dec. 1986) / The Transformers UK #93-95 (27 Dec. 1986.–10 Jan. 1987), reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium One (2025)

written by Bob Budiansky and James Hill, penciled by Don Perlin and Martin Griffiths, inked by Ian Akin & Brian Garvey and Tim Perkins, lettered by Janice Chiang and Robin Riggs, colored by Nel Yomtov and Steve White

When I think of "bad late period Bob Budiansky stories," "Decepticon Graffiti!" is exactly what springs to mind; when I reviewed these stories before, I wrote, "This isn't great comics; it's not even great hokum." Yet... I kind of liked them this time? There's a certain charm to the idea that a pair of newly arrived Decepticons on Earth, ordered by Megatron to deliver a message to Optimus Prime, decide instead to follow a random human family around writing insults on U.S. monuments. And the stuff here with Circuit Breaker and Robot Master is probably the best either character has ever been. This was cute. Give me more Runabout and Runamuck, please.

 

"The Gift" is this year's Christmas story. Buster helps Jetfire deal with a crisis of confidence. It's fine. Martin Griffiths draws Buster as so jacked; maybe this explains what Jesse sees in him.

 

from The Transformers Annual [1986]

"The Return of the Transformers", from The Transformers Annual [1986], reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium Four (2025)

written by James Hill, art by John Stokes

This story brings back Danny, the kid who also appeared in the previous year's annual, in "Missing in Action." Here he's become obsessed with the Transformers, and his grades and slipping and his relationship with his mother is falling apart. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime is worried about the Aerialbots' performance, so he puts them under the command of Jetfire. They perform poorly in battle, even worse when they combine into Superion—but they can't admit this to Optimus. The story ends with everyone dispirited, disconnected, and depressed. Wow! Probably the best thing James Hill ever wrote for Transformers.

Prey! / "...the Harder They Die!" / "Under Fire!" / "Distant Thunder!" / Fallen Angel / Resurrection!, from The Transformers UK #96-104 (17 Jan.–14 Mar. 1987), reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium Two (2025)

scripts by Simon Furman; pencils by Will Simpson, Jeff Anderson, and Geoff Senior; inks by Tim Perkins, Jeff Anderson, Geoff Senior, and Will Simpson; letters by Annie Halfacree; colour by Steve White

Here we have a solid nine-issue run of UK stories, set between US issues #23 and 24. In these, worried about how the Autobots performed when they thought he was dead during Target: 2006, Optimus elects to... fake his death and see how they do? I am not sure why he thinks this is a good plan; he already knows how they did, they did badly. Surely he should do some training or something to enable them to perform better and then fake his death? 

 

from The Transformers UK #96

In any case, Optimus battles Megatron only for the two to accidentally cross the Decepticon spacebridge to Cybertron. On Cybertron, Megatron puts out rumors that the Decepticons are trying to infiltrate the Autobots in the form of Optimus, so when Optimus meets up with Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers, he gets attacked by them, and only Outback believes him. I really liked all this stuff: Outback is a great character, no hero, but determined to do the right thing anyway. The flashback to what Optimus was up to in the void during Target: 2006 is kind of random and unneeded, but the end of this strand, where Optimus finally proves himself to the Cybertron Autobots by sticking by Outback (who nearly dies for his belief in Optimus) is great stuff, probably the best the character has ever been written. I think Will Simpson is probably my least favorite UK penciler, but thankfully there's some Geoff Senior art in this arc, and Jeff Anderson is decent enough. We also get a return for Galvatron and Ultra Magnus on Earth, but those are more setups for future stories than stories in themselves, so we'll see where it goes. Man, I love Ultra Magnus, though.

 

This is the ninth in a series of posts about Marvel's The Transformers. The next covers US issues #24-25 and UK issues #105-8 & 265-76. Previous installments are listed below:

1. US #1-3 & 33-34 / UK #1-6 & 9-17 (1984-85)
2. US #4-8 / UK #7-8 & 18-30 (1984-85) 
3. US #9-12 / UK #31-41 (1985-86) 
4. US #13-14 / UK #42-54 (1985-86) 
5. US #15-16 / UK #54-63 (1985-86)
6. US #17-20 / UK #64-74 (1986)
7. UK #75-84 (1986-87) 
• Budianskian vs. Furmanist 
8. US #21-22 / UK #85-92 (1986-87)