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14 July 2026

Marvel's The Transformers Year Three, Part II: Wanted: Galvatron, Dead or Alive (US #26-27 / UK #109-18 & 277-81)

Here, I have one last bit of jumping around between volumes 2 and 4 of the Til All Are One compendia, before things finally settle down and I just do the stories in the order they're presented... for a bit anyway. As I have been doing, I've incorporated the issues of Transformers Universe and G.I.Joe and the Transformers in publication order relative to the US stories.

from Transformers Universe #4
Steeljaw – Windsweeper & Arblus – Wreck-Gar, from Transformers Universe #4 (Mar. 1987), plus other issues; reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium Four (2025)
written by Bob Budiansky, illustrated by Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, lettered by Brenda Mings, colored by Nel Yomtov
 
The last set of Transformers Universe profiles is mostly notable because it contains the ones for characters from The Transformers: The Movie. I was mostly surprised to realize that the robots from Lithone (the planet Unicron devours at the beginning of the movie to prove the situation is serious) have detailed personalities and bios given they just get killed off!
 
"Funeral for a Friend!", from The Transformers US #26 (Mar. 1987) / Transformers UK #109-10 (18-25 Apr. 1987), reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium Two (2025)
written by Bob Budiansky, penciled by Don Perlin, inked by Brett Breeding, lettered by Janice Chiang, colored by Nel Yomtov

I want to like this issue, which focuses on one my favorite Autobots, Ratchet. But one has the feeling the Budiansky has lost interest in and control of his characters, and this story in particular is very contrived. Some random two-bit human crook called "The Mechanic" manages to take over Ratchet and gain access to the Ark while all the Autobots are away at Optimus Prime's funeral. It feels like Uncle Bob isn't really trying on this one.
 
from G.I.Joe and the Transformers #4
"...All Fall Down!", from G.I.Joe and the Transformers #4 (Apr. 1987) / Transformers UK #277-81 (7 July–4 Aug. 1990), reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium Four (2025)
written by Michael Higgins, penciled by Herb Trimpe, inked by Vince Colletta, lettered by Joe Rosen, colored by Nel Yomtov

At this point, I have lost all interest in this crossover. So too, it seems, has everyone involved in the regular Transformers book; earlier, there was sort of a sop that this could be taking place at the same time as it, but I don't see how this possibly fits it or around the events of "Funeral for a Friend" at all. Well, at least it's all over... though the UK version of the G.I.Joe crossover is coming up, so I haven't escaped yet.
 
"King of the Hill!" / Wanted: Galvatron, Dead or Alive / Burning Sky! / Hunters, from The Transformers US #27 (Apr. 1987) / Transformers UK #111-8 (2 May–20 June 1987), reprinted in The Transformers: Til All Are One Compendium Two (2025)
written by Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman; penciled by Don Perlin, Geoff Senior, Will Simpson, Dan Reed, and Jeff Anderson; inked by Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, Geoff Senior, Tim Perkins, Dan Reed, and Stephen Baskerville; lettered by Janice Chiang, Annie Halfacree, Starkings, and Mike Scott; colored by Nel Yomtov and Steve White

from The Transformers US #27
This sequence of stories starts with one US one, another one showing the fallout from the death of Optimus Prime. In this case: who will command the Autobots now that Optimus is dead? Unfortunately, the Autobots have no plan of succession, which seems pretty dumb for what is supposedly a military unit of some kind. This is especially dumb if you're reading this story in the context of the UK stories, because it's the third time in recent memory Optimus has "died" (see also Target: 2006 in post #7 below and Prey! in #9), leaving his subordinates in chaos. Like, c'mon dude, leave them directions, even if  they're just "Prowl is in charge now"! It gets even dumber, though, when Grimlock declares his intention to become leader, they reject him, and then in a contrived series of events, they decide Grimlock will make a good leader anyway. I think the idea of Grimlock as leader is potentially fun, but it has to be handled much more convincingly than this!
 
from The Transformers UK #115
Wisely, then, the next UK storyline largely avoids anything that's going on in the US books. For the first time, we pop back into the future world of Target: 2006 (though Galvatron did jump back to the present day in Fallen Angel, some ten issues ago): Rodimus Prime wants to take care of Galvatron, but is too busy mopping up the remaining Decepticons on Cybertron, so he puts a bounty on Galvatron's head. This bounty is taken up by Death's Head, who travels back in time to 1987... and then Rodimus follows him, when he realizes what a bad idea Galvatron fighting Death's Head in the 1980s is. Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus (the 1980s one) gets entangled in events and Bumblebee is killed!
 
from The Transformers UK #118
The story isn't done yet so I can't completely judge it, but it's enjoyable so far, particularly the first appearance of Death's Head, who basically emerges fully formed by Simon Furman and Geoff Senior. In classic Marvel UK fashion, the 66 pages here have four different pencilers, but of course Senior's work is the best. Some other points:  
  • Target: 2006 was eleven parts long. Someone must have decided that was a bad idea and shouldn't be repeated, because this story is nine parts long but divided into five separate "stories" of mostly two parts.
  • How can Ultra Magnus be wandering around the American countryside for months without finding the Ark? Is he stupid?
  • Kup is always portrayed as one of the longest-serving Autobots... yet whenever 2007 Kup travels back in time to 1987, none of the 1987 Autobots know who he is. So where did he serve and who with? 
This is the eleventh in a series of posts about Marvel's The Transformers. The next covers US issues #28-30 and UK issues #119-27 & 130-33. Previous installments are listed below:
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