Comic Book / The Transformers (Marvel)

aka: Transformers Generation 1

One side makes you bigger, the other makes you smaller...

"Four million years ago, they came from Cybertron, a world composed entirely of machinery... A world torn by an age-old war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. These incredibly powerful living robots, capable of converting themselves into land and air vehicles, weapons and other mechanical forms, continue their conflict here on Earth. They are...THE TRANSFORMERS."

—Introductory blurb of the US comic

As well as the Transformers cartoon, there was at the same time a comic published by Marvel Comics. It is sometimes stated that the comic came before the cartoon; in truth, both went into production at the same time, though the first issue of the comic was released some time before the first episode of the cartoon.

The comic was initially set in the main Marvel Universe (with Spider-Man even making an significant appearance in the third issue), but soon moved to a separate Alternate Universe along with the G.I. Joe comic to prevent Executive Meddling from Hasbro interfering with Marvel's own characters. Most of the early issues were written by Bob Budiansky; he and his successor, Simon Furman, would end up having more influence on the overall Transformers mythos than anyone else.

In America, the comic was originally a four-issue limited series written by Jim Salicrup and published bi-monthly. When it became an ongoing series, it was printed monthly and written by Budiansky. It was printed on higher-quality paper than most other comics, and as a result was also more expensive. While it used the same characters, setting, and premise as the cartoon, it told a significantly different set of stories. In particular, while the Transformers in the cartoon were built by Quintessons, in the comic, they originally arose from "naturally-evolving gears and pulleys." This was later Retconned into the Transformers being created by the god Primus, a part of canon later continuities adopted, such as the Unicron Trilogy and Transformers: Prime.

In the UK, the comic was published weekly for most of its run, and the American comics were commonly split in two in order to stretch the material. To make up for the dramatically shortened length, the UK comic also featured original material (much of it written by Simon Furman) in the gaps between the American issues. These stories usually fit in with the American continuity, albeit with occasional twisting. After the movie, Furman started using the future cast in his stories, both to make Hasbro happy and to avoid stepping on Budiansky's toes. Each issue also featured a backup story to increase the page count; these ranged from the sensible (Iron Man, Action Force) to the silly (Planet Terry.) Later on, after the comic went fortnightly, they were replaced by new Transformers material written by Furman; these were in colour at first, though later shifted to black and white as a cost-saving measure.

In addition, 1987 brought the new Headmaster and Targetmaster toys. Since this resulted in the appearance of a large number of toys with two gimmicks between them, Budiansky wrote a four-issue spinoff entitled Transformers: Headmasters (not to be confused with the Transformers: ★Headmasters anime), which introduced all the new characters as arrivals on the planet Nebulos. This series ended with the characters leaving Nebulos for Earth, to arrive in US issue 38 (UK 156.) In the UK, it was reprinted in 16 parts as the backup strip in the main comic during the lead-up.

After Budiansky suffered Creator Breakdown as a result of trying to keep Hasbro happy, Furman was brought on to write both the US and UK comics. His focus on Story Arcs and Character Development was considered the high point of the comic's run; however, due to a communications breakdown, the UK comics at this point drifted out of sync with the US publication. Furman initially tried to tie his backup stories more closely to the main action, but Marvel UK frequently reprinted a classic story without warning, which resulted in the backup strip referencing events that had yet to occur in the main strip. As a result, Furman said "screw this" and simply turned the backup strip into a series of light-hearted romps that never even tried to maintain continuity with the US series.

It finally ended after 80 issues in America (September, 1984-July, 1991) or 332 in Britain (September, 1984-January, 1992) due to declining interest in Transformers, though Marvel would later publish the short-lived Generation 2 comic as a sequel. Transformers Classics is an alternate sequel by Fun Publications, set in an Alternate Timeline ignoring the events of Generation 2.

Following what they've done with the Marvel continuity of the G.I. Joe comics, IDW Publishing announced the relaunch of the Marvel Transformers continuity under the title The Transformers: Regeneration One, picking up 21 years after issue 80. Furman returned to write the series, along with artists Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville (who worked with Furman to produce most of the final issues of the Marvel US series, as well as numerous UK stories.) A preview issue, 80.5, was distributed on Free Comic Book Day 2012, while the series proper (starting with issue 81) launched in July 2012. This series also treats the Generation 2 storyline as a divergent timeline, as the events of the G2 comic did not happen in the timeline of this series. Aside from the free issue, the series was slated for 20 issues, concluding with issue #100; an additional issue #0 was added between #94 and #95. The 100th issue was released on March 19, 2014.

Due to a scheduling issue, Guido Guidi (who has been providing the "B" covers) assumed Regeneration One art duties for Wildman on issues 93-99. Issue #0 featured artwork by Casey Collier, Geoff Senior, Jeff Anderson (no, not that one), José Delbo, and Nick Roche, all of whom have worked on Transformers for either Marvel or IDW. Issue 100 featured art by Wildman, Senior, and Guidi.

In 2019, Simon Furman wrote a one-shot prequel to the comic, Transformers '84, to mark the franchise's 35th anniversary. Told from the perspective of Punch, an Autobot that could infiltrate the Decepticons, and was never used in the Marvel comic, this story gave a new angle to the backstory. The unexpected positive reception led to a Secrets & Lies miniseries, occurring on Cybertron before and after the launch of the Ark, and Earth in the aftermath of the ship's crash.

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The Transformers provides examples of:

• Action Survivor: Buster Witwicky becomes this.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • In the cartoon, the Dinobots were practically unstoppable, routinely overwhelming the entirety of the Decepticon forces. Here, Megatron is able to beat all five with ease.
  • Its the same with the combiners. In the cartoon, it took another combiner (or an enemy of equal or greater size) to defeat one of them. In the US comic, Megatron defeats Predaking with a single blast from his fusion cannon, and in the UK comics, Galvatron easily defeats Piranacon (while underwater, even).
  • In the movie, Rodimus Prime easily overpowered Galvatron, with the cartoon often depicting him as his equal, or superior. But in both the UK and US comics, he is no match for him (with the US story "Rhythms of Darkness!" showing him dead by Galvatron's hand).
  • Fortress Maximus and Scorponok both get hit with this, being reduced from city sized Transformers to roughly the size of Optimus Prime. Maximus, like all his American exclusive appearances, also lacks the Master Sword.
• An Aesop: The main message of "Showdown!" is to make the best of the role in life you've been given. Charlene doesn't like being a cashier, instead yearning to live a life of adventure as romanticized in the Wild West. Skids doesn't wish to be an Autobot warrior and seeks a peaceful life on Earth with Charlene. This ultimately results in a Bittersweet Ending as Skids realizes that they both need to fulfill the roles they've been given, which means they must both say goodbye.
• A Day in the Limelight: Really, you'd be better off trying to find chapters that are not this, given the toy-advertising nature of the comic...
• Alas, Poor Villain:
  • Scorponok, or more accurately, Lord Zarak. After angsting over whether or not he deserved to continue as Decepticon leader, feeling that he's only been masquerading as Scorponok all this time, he suddenly finds himself having to suck it up and help Optimus Prime rally against Unicron. He is blasted by the Chaos Bringer while ripping open Unicron's leg relentlessly alone amidst a sea of dead Transformers, and dies asking Prime if he did good. His death is ultimately what gives Optimus the strength to purify the Matrix and destroy Unicron.
  • Parodied ruthlessly by Furman. Starscream enacts the classic scene with the exact line mockingly in Victory, while another parody is made on a cover of Generation 2, this time with Megatron carrying Bludgeon's head. In this case, however, Megatron does regret killing Bludgeon, considering him a worthy leader.
  • To a small extent Thunderwing, who, while a ruthless bastard, gets a tragic end when possessed by the Matrix. He regains his clarity and control of his mind briefly and painfully after remorsefully realising he had blasted his own Decepticon soldier — only for Prime to ruin it by bashing his face in and causing him to go berserk and be in the Matrix's thrall forever.
• Alternate Continuity / Alternate Universe: Canonically, the US and UK stories take place in different universes. Earthforce seems to be in a third universe.
  • Generation 2, Classics, and Regeneration One are all divergent versions of the events after the conclusion of the original series. RG1 goes even further and makes the Transformers multiverse a plot point.
  • This is also how the Marvel comics relate to the original cartoon and the rest of Generation 1.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba: Two different stories have a character make this kind of remark.
  • In "The Resurrection Gambit" (issue 57 in the US version, issues 243-245 in the UK version), a damaged Megatron proclaims his identity in front of an empty (Cybertronian vagabond). The empty replies "Yep, an' I'm Lord Straxus.."
  • "Bird of Prey" (issue 62 in the US version, issues 262-264 in the UK version) has a robotic gangster named B'hgdad confront Nightbeat and demand he hand over the bird sculpture because it is his property. Nightbeat replies that if the bird is truly B'hgdad's, then he's Peter Lorre.
• Animal Mecha: The Dinobots, most notably. There are also the Predacons, Seacons, half of the cassettes, Terrorcons, Scorponok...
• Anticlimax: The comic ended on one due to Marvel cutting it short over declining sales. There was supposed to be a proper finale storyline involving the Autobots going on a journey to find the Last Autobot whilst dealing with the Decepticons and Galvatron but Furman was forced to condense it into about four or five issues. Thus the war ends after a single battle on Klo, Galvatron is defeated by being tossed into a lake, the Last Autobot is found in two issues flat, and Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, and Ratchet are killed off before their storylines can be wrapped up. Subverted now thanks to Regeneration One, which is essentially giving the comic its' proper conclusion.
• Anti-Villain: Circuit Breaker, very much. The only reason for her vendetta against the Transformers is because Shockwave severely injured her.
• Anyone Can Die:
  • The original miniseries ends with Shockwave showing up out of nowhere and killing the entire Autobot force with one shot. Later, though, it's revealed that Optimus Prime's severed head is still alive.
  • A whole assload of characters are killed off by Starscream in the Underbase Saga, though some of them are eventually rebuilt. ^{Confirmed Casualty List}Jazz, Goldbug, Bluestreak, Gears, Mirage, Hound, Hoist, Brawn, Jetfire, the Dinobots, the Aerialbots, the Throttlebots, Blaster, Omega Supreme, the Technobots, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Octane, Ratbat, the Terrorcons, the Seacons, the Predacons and finally, Starscream himself.
  • At the same time in the UK comic, the Time Wars storyline featured Galvatron and Megatron similarly cleaning shop of many characters no longer on the shelves.
  • The "Rhythms of Darkness!" timeline from issue 67. Cybertron is gone, there's only a handful of Autobots left on Earth, and the corpse of Rodimus Prime is strung up between what's left of the Twin Towers. And it doesn't help that Galvatron is all too willing to exterminate his own troops for screwing up; just ask Cyclonus.
  • Despite its small death count, On the Edge of Extinction! is actually truer to the spirit of the trope, since all characters, regardless of whether they were new toys, or key characters in the saga, could die. Heck, the two main characters (Optimus and Scorponok) bit the dust.
• Apocalypse How: Bludgeon apparently seeks Species Extinction on Klo. Generation 2 sees Societal Disruption on Earth at minimum, while Regeneration One sees Megatron carry it out to Species Extinction levels, with the threat of achieving Total Extinction.
  • Then, there's Unicron, who eats entire planets.
• Art Evolution: Some of the artists undergo this. Most notably...
  • Geoff Senior — The best-remembered artist in the whole run. At first, in Crisis of Command his art, while already head and shoulders over most of his peers, was not yet fully-developed and was not quite as unique and dynamic. In Victory, his art starts getting more awesome/stylized, with many of his visuals tics becoming more prominent and the signature Senior side shot becoming more prevalent. The US run saw yet another art shift to a yet more refined, Mignola-esque style. His work in G2 was again very detailed, however, but this was more to fit in with Yaniger.
  • Andrew Wildman didn't really undergo art evolution, but when Baskerville started inking his stuff, it really came into its own.
  • Nel Yomtov never really cut down in block coloring (a lost art, mind you,) but he started getting better at block coloring characters into color schemes that clashed less with the background, and overall bettered his coloring techniques.
  • Wildman and Senior gave the US comic a much needed shake-up in the art department with their unique, dynamic, refined art styles when they came in with Furman.
  • In the UK comic, the Transformers became drawn in an overall more organic/life-like manner over time, initially being very toy-based and emotionless.
• Artistic License – Cars: In "Used Autobots", Big Steve is able to sabotage the Throttlebots by pouring multiple cans worth of soda into their gas tanks. Not only is the whole "sugar in the tank damages the car" idea a heavily-debunked urban myth, there's also the fact that the Throttlebots are advanced mechanical life forms rather than run-of-the-mill cars, leaving it highly unlikely that this kind of sabotage would have actually worked.
• Art Shift:
  • Most notably, the UK comic shifted from gorgeous hand-painted colors to the printing method more akin to those in the US, then black and white.
  • Kids in the UK at the time would be treated to constant art shifts as they got US stories between UK ones.
• Ascended Extra: Xaaron, who even managed to cross the Atlantic to the US and remain a key character.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Most of the leaders of either faction are much stronger than their underlings. Often, Optimus, Megatron, Galvatron, etc. would be shown as capable of taking apart the entire armies of the opposing force.
  • Grimlock, most definitely.
  • Notable subversions in Xaaron for the Autobots and Ratbat for the Decepticons.
• As You Know: Especially egregious in Furman's UK comics, which felt the need for the characters to remind the kids what happened the previous weeks.
• Author Appeal: Furman likes westerns and hard-boiled detective stories, and wrote a few issues which intentionally pastiche those genres.
• Author Tract: Bob Budinansky's final story, "The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!" ends with Roadhandler telling a group of humans not to look to the Autobot for heroes to look up to, and that they shouldn't bother looking for heroes in the first place. Instead, he implores them to have faith in themselves.
• Ax-Crazy:
  • While several Decepticons could certainly fit this bill, special mention goes out to Megatron. In the wake of Optimus Prime's death-from-video-game, Megs is so obsessed with not having personally destroyed his foe that he crushes Brawl's head in for trying to console him. And when Brawl, the most Ax-Crazy of the Combaticons, is trying to be the voice of reason, you know Megatron has lost it.
  • Straxus.
• Badass Bookworm: Shockwave is a calculating scientist who will kick your ass. The Dinobots learnt it the hard way.
• Badass Crew: The Wreckers. Their introduction has them planning how to massacre some of the most dangerous Decepticons alive, and going from there. They're not even afraid to fight Optimus or Galvatron. And then there's their battle cry.
  Wreck 'n' Rule!
• Badass Normal:
  • Ratchet. He bests Megatron twice despite being a weak, non-combat-ready medic through wits and force of will, and saves all the Autobots from Shockwave (save for Optimus Prime).
    • Also, Nightbeat, who's a detective who defeats the incredibly powerful Thunderwing twice (and once he was Matrix powered!) and the planet-destroying Deathbringer, also matrix-powered. For the latter he literally talked him to death.
    • And Xaaron, who leads the autobot resistance of Cybertron to great efficiency, without an ounce of fighting skill.
    • A villainous example is Ratbat, one of the weakest Decepticons who still manages to become leader, boss Shockwave around and come extremely close to total victory for the Decepticons.
• Badass Pacifist: Ultra Magnus is the strongest autobot in the first run, but is a pacifist who utterly despises war. You still don't want to piss him off, though.◊
• Bad Boss: Grimlock during his first run as Autobot commander. He had no concern for humans, and was more concerned with punishing Blaster and Goldbug than stopping the Decepticons. He basically gave Shockwave and Ratbat free reign until Fortress Maximus arrived on Earth; even then, Fort Max had to worry about the Shockwave/Ratbat faction and the Scorponok faction on his own!
  • Prowl thought Grimlock was this at first in his second stint, as Grimlock didn't show any interest in preserving the Autobot-Decepticon alliance post-Unicron, but Grimlock knew the Decepticons weren't going to keep the peace either.
  • Funnily enough, most of the Decepticon leaders aren't so bad, all things considered. Megatron had his moments though, and Shockwave once had Buzzsaw rip off Frenzy's arm, but apart from that they didn't do too bad. But then there's Straxus, who manages to outshine every other bad leader and then some.
  • As far as his troops are concerned, Scorponok is a terrible leader. Of course, he does let Starscream live for no real reason.
• Bad Future: "Rhythms of Darkness!", written in 1989 (cover date April 1990), set in a 2009 where Unicron has consumed Cybertron, and Galvatron rules North America, and is in the process of getting the humans to waste their remaining weapons so he can complete his conquest of Earth.
• BFG: Megatron obviously. Galvatron and Shockwave are equally notable examples. And Omega Supreme's left arm is a BFG.
• Big Bad: Constantly changing. Megatron only leads the Decepticons for a small part of the comic's run; Shockwave, Scorponok, Soundwave (in the UK series), and even Ratbat had noticeably longer terms.
  • Galvatron is the Big Bad in Marvel UK's prime, dominating several stories. Jhiaxus is the Big Bad of the G2 Run.
  • If you split the comics into arcs (a bit nebulous in the US, but the UK comic was neatly split into various story arcs), there is usually one clear Big Bad per storyline.
  • US Comics-
    • Transformers #1-4 (The Transformers) - Megatron
    • Tranformers #5-12 (The New Order)- Shockwave
    • Transformers #13-25 (Shockwave and Megatron's co-leadership)- Megatron/Shockwave
    • Transformers #17-18 (Return to Cybertron)- Straxus
    • Transformers #26-41 (Blaster and Goldbug desert)- Ratbat (although arguably also Grimlock)
    • Transformers Headmasters 4-parter and #38 (The Headmasters Saga)- Scorponok
    • Transformers #42- 46 (Random hijinks)- Scorponok
    • Transformers #47-50 (The Underbase Saga)- Starscream
    • Transformers #51-55 (Random hijinks...)- Scorponok
    • Transformers #56-#59 (The Return of Megatron!)- Megatron
    • Transformers #60-61 (Primal Scream)- Thunderwing
    • Transformers #62-66 (Matrix Quest)- Thunderwing
    • Transformers #67 (The Human Factor)- Starscream
    • Transformers #68 (Rhythms of Darkness)- Galvatron
    • Transformers #69-75 (Unicron Saga)- Unicron
    • Transformers #71-73 (Decepticon Civil War)- Shockwave
    • Transformers #76-80 (End of the Road!)- Bludgeon
    • Transformers #78-79 (The Last Autobot)- Galvatron
    • GI-Joe and the Transformers- Megatron/Shockwave and Cobra Commander/Serpentor
    • The Transformers: Generation 2- Jhiaxus
  • Marvel UK
    • Man of Iron- None, really. Starscream is the most senior Decepticon seen, although he's presumably been sent by Megatron.
    • The Enemy Within- Megatron
    • Raiders of the Last Ark- Aunty
    • The Wrath of Guardian/Grimlock!- Shockwave (he sets Guardian on the Ark)
    • Decepticon Dam-Busters!- Megatron
    • Christmas Breaker- Circuit Breaker
    • Crisis of Command!- Soundwave
    • The Icarus Theory- Professor Morris
    • Dinobot Hunt- Soundwave
    • Second Generation/Devastation Derby- Megatron/Shockwave
    • In the National Interest- Forsythe (Triple I) and Megatron
    • Target: 2006- Galvatron
    • Prey!- Straxus
    • Wanted: Galvatron- Dead or Alive/ Fallen Angel- Galvatron
    • Ancient Relics- Megatron
    • Worlds Apart/The Final Conflict- Scorponok
    • Kup's Story- Tyroxians
    • Headhunt/Ladies' Night- Shockwave
    • The Legacy of Unicron- Unicron
    • Enemy Action/Salvage/Wrecking Havoc/Dry run/Altered Image (Galvatron assorted stories)- Galvatron
    • City of Fear!- Flame
    • Deadly Games- Zabra
    • Space Pirates!- Ghyrik (Quintessons)
    • Time Wars- Galvatron
    • Survivors!- Limbo Creatures
    • Dark Rodimus saga- Unicron
    • Carnivac/Survivors/Mayhems saga- Snarler
    • (Double)Deal of the Century- Doubledealer
    • Deathbringer!- Deathbringer
    • The Big Shutdown!/Assault on the Ark!/Rage!- Thunderwing
    • Demons/Dawn of Darkness- Demons
    • Penchance to Dream- Galvatron
    • #261-277 (Transformers: Earthforce- Starting Over!)- Megatron/Shockwave
    • #278-#289 (Transformers: Earthforce- End of the Road)- Starscream/Soundwave
    • The Magnificent Six- Megadeath
    • Another Time and Place!- Bludgeon
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: Megatron and Shockwave from US #14-19, operating separately until #19, at which point Shockwave is relegated to The Dragon; Shockwave and Ratbat from #31-#39; Ratbat and Scorponok after that, up to #50.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Unicron, obviously, in both Legacy of Unicron and Issues 60-75 of the Marvel Run. In fact, Simon Furman's Marvel run was what established Unicron as more than simply a big robot or worse still, a fish-monkey's pet.
    • Galvatron is this in the UK comics even in arcs where he isn't the direct threat, as several arcs either focus on measures taken to deal with him or the impact of his mucking around with the timestream.
    • Liege Maximo in the G2 comics
• Big Damn Heroes: Optimus, as always, is a walking one.
  • First in Crisis of Command, where he wipes out the entire Decepticon army to save Bumblebee.
  • Also Time Wars when he escapes Limbo to battle Galvatron after all else have fallen.
  • Also when he saves Hot Rod and the Autobots from the malfunctioning Guardian Unit.
  • Ultra Magnus in Target: 2006.
  • Grimlock's party actually come to Optimus Prime's rescue with one of these in the last issue.
• Big Good:
  • Usually Optimus Prime, Emirate Xaaron or both, although a few other Autobots take turns, notably Grimlock and Fortress Maximus.
  • Rodimus Prime is the leading force of good in Marvel UK's post-movie stories.
  • And if we take this one by the various arcs:
  • US comic arcs:
    • Transformers #1-4 (The Transformers)-Optimus Prime
    • Transformers #5-8 (The New Order)-Ratchet
    • Transformers #9-12 (Prime Time)-Prowl
    • Transformers #13-24 (Megatron and Shockwave join leadership)-Optimus Prime
    • Transformers #17-18 (Return to Cybertron)-Perceptor
    • Transformers #25-27 (Funeral for a Friend)-Perceptor/Grimlock
    • Transformers #28-41 (Blaster and Goldbug desert)-Blaster
    • Headmasters miniseries and Transformers #38-40 (The Headmasters Saga)-Fortress Maximus
    • Transformers #42-59 (Random hi-jinks/Underbase/Return of Megatron)-Optimus Prime
    • Transformers #60-61 (Primal Scream)-Emirate Xaaron
    • Transformers #62-66 (Matrix Quest)-Optimus Prime
    • Transformers #67 (The Human Factor)-GB Blackrock
    • Transformers #68 (Rhythms of Darkness)-Prowl
    • Transformers #69-75 (Decepticon Civil War/Unicron)-Optimus Prime
    • Transformers #78-79 (The Last Autobot)-Fortress Maximus
    • Transformers #76-80 (End of the Road)-Grimlock/Optimus Prime
    • GI Joe and the Transformers-Optimus Prime/Blaster and Hawk
    • Generation 2-Optimus Prime
  • And the UK arcs:
    • Man of Iron/The Enemy Within/Raiders of the Last Ark/Decepticon Dam-Busters-Optimus Prime
    • The Wrath of Guardian/The Wrath of Grimlock-Ratchet/Prowl
    • Christmas Breaker/Crisis of Command/The Icarus Theory/Dinobot Hunt/Devastation Derby/Second Generation-Optimus Prime
    • In the National Interest-Grimlock
    • Target 2006-Jetfire
    • Prey-Optimus Prime/Emirate Xaaron
    • Fallen Angel-Grimlock
    • Wanted: Galvatron-Rodimus Prime
    • Ancient Relics/Grudge Match-Grimlock
    • Worlds Apart-Highbrow is the most senior Autobot seen, although he was presumably sent by Fortress Maximus
    • The Final Conflict-Fortress Maximus
    • Kup's Story-Kup
    • Headhunt/The Legacy of Unicron-Rodimus Prime
    • Ladies' Night-Goldbug
    • Enemy Action-Springer, although he may simply be representing Emirate Xaaron
    • Salvage/Deadly Games-Ultra Magnus
    • City of Fear/Wrecking Havoc-Emirate Xaaron
    • Space Pirates-Rodimus Prime
    • Time Wars-Optimus Prime
    • Survivors/Carnivac and Mayhems saga-Springer
    • Aspects of Evil/Dark Rodimus arc-Rodimus Prime
    • (Double)deal of the Century/Deathbringer/Assault on the Ark-Optimus Prime
    • The Big Shutdown-Nightbeat
    • A Small War/Demons/Dawn of Darkness-Emirate Xaaron
    • Perchance to Dream-Prowl
    • Earthforce-Grimlock
    • The Magnificent Six/Another Time and Place-Optimus Prime
• Blatant Lies: In #103 of the UK run, a 'valiant' Deception (Octane) back on Cybertron tells his superior, Straxus, of how he bravely stood up to the combined might of Optimus Prime (stranded there at the time) and Ultra Magnus, when they attacked a slave-labor camp... except that in reality, he turned tail and fled as soon as he was able. Straxus, being the intelligent Brain in a Jar that he is, (or rather, disembodied head in a jar) doesn't believe a word of it, and easily infers what really went on.
• Blood Oath: Transformers don't have blood. Instead, you see a variation in Issue #7 where Ratchet and Megatron mix each other's fuel as part of an oath.
• Body Horror: A space bridge explosion horrifically fuses Megatron and Ratchet into a single, pained misshapen creature, which runs rampant through the Autobots' base when Megatron has control, but begs for a Mercy Kill from Optimus when Ratchet has control in "The Price of Life!".
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Most of the Decepticon leaders at one point or another, but a rogue Autobot, Flame, is the one most played straight, since he really has no reason to leave Xaaron and the Wreckers alive.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The UK letters page was answered in-character by a Transformer (Soundwave, Ratchet, Grimlock, Dreadwind, and Blaster all had a spell on the page). Their answers frequently broke the fourth wall.
• Brick Joke: Issue 80, the final one of the US run, featured the legend "#80 in a four-issue limited series" above the title, referencing the series' origin as a mini-series that was expanded into an ongoing monthly title.^note It was unusual for Marvel, as at the time The Transformers became an ongoing, ongoing series that were spawned from limited series usually restarted the numbering. The ongoing spinoffs, though, often occurred months after the original miniseries ended, while The Transformers #5 came out one month after #4. By the time #80 came out, Marvel wasn't using that style of legend for their miniseries anymore, but the creative team brought it back anyway.
• Bring It: Galvatron to Hook, Line and Sinker in Primus' chamber.
• Call-Back:
  • A Savage Circle is more or less this, with the Ark once more falling to Earth, entombing all its occupants once more.
  • Only for the UK readers- the end of the issue right before the proper introduction of Ratchet (The Lesser of Two Evils in the US) has the blurb 'The Last Autobot?' (Ratchet, obviously). At the end of 'A Savage Circle', where Ratchet exits, stage right, we are treated to a blurb telling us the next issue is called 'The Last Autobot!'.
  • In the first issue, an offhand mention is given to Megatron's desire to turn Cybertron into a spacecraft and never mentioned again. 150+ issues in the UK later and its the central plot of the City of Fear storyline.
• Canon Discontinuity:
  • The miniseries adaptation of the movie is ignored by the US version of the main series.
  • An interesting case is given in the adaptation of the cartoon episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006", which obviously can't fit into the continuity of the US comic due to the aforementioned disregard of the movie. While the US run of the comic dismissed the story as taking place in an alternate timeline, the reprint in the UK version of the series edits the story so that it was a fabrication Wreck-Gar told to the Quintessons.
  • The crossover miniseries with G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel) wasn't reprinted in the UK version until much later in the comic's run due to the Action Force comics not yet being brought up to speed on the G.I. Joe comic's continuity. Consequently, Bumblebee was given a different explanation for becoming Goldbug (he was rebuilt by Wreck-Gar in "Hunters" after Death's Head killed him in "Wanted: Galvatron - Dead or Alive!") and Dirge remained alive in the UK continuity. When the time finally came to reprint the G.I. Joe crossover, it was stated to not be in continuity.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The reason Shockwave didn't kill Megatron when he took command the first time, though he makes it clear that if Megatron tries anything this might change.
• The Cavalry: During the "City of Fear" storyline, Xaaron sends Flywheels to find help against the hordes of zombie Transformers. Despite the Wreckers assuming the Decepticon will simply abandon them, Flywheels indeed returns, bringing Trypticon with him.
• Cerebus Syndrome:
  • Largely averted in the UK stories. In the US stories however, Furman's arrival marks the entrance of darker, more mature storylines.
  • The Generation 2 comic manages to be even darker in tone, with death being more prevalent than ever.
• Characters Dropping Like Flies: The main purpose of both the Underbase saga and the simultaneous "Time Wars" was to slaughter old toys and bring the cast down to a more manageable size.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
  • Ultra Magnus in the UK comics. He's left behind on Cybertron and never seen or mentioned again, not even when the characters return there. (The post-movie version of Magnus may well have had a bridge dropped on him, since he is last seen being carried away injured after having a trio of Decepticons tear into him, but he isn't mentioned again either so it's hard to be sure.)
  • Buster Witwicky just vanishes after the Underbase Saga.
• City of Adventure: Portland, Oregon.
• Clingy Costume: Thanks to the injuries she received from Shockwave, Circuit Breaker regains her mobility using a revealing suit of electronic armor that she apparently can't remove.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: While the comic book actually predates the cartoon, there was a three-issue miniseries that adapted the movie (which is only accepted as canon by the UK version of the comic series) and one issue was an adaptation of the cartoon episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006".
• Continuity Snarl:
  • In the very first issue, it is implicity stated that the Ark's computer couldn't scan organic life, leading it to mistake human vehicles and objects as the planet's native life forms, and scan these forms for the Transformers to disguise themselves as. Not long after, the Dinobots' backstory showed the Ark scanning dinosaurs for the Dinobots to resemble, despite dinosaurs being organic life, which it was incapable of recognising later. The only thing close to an explanation for this is a claim that the computer "wasn't feeling too well" at the time the Dinobots were deployed.
  • In one issue of the UK comic, Donny Finkleberg, aka "Robot-Master" broadcast a battle for Decepticon leadership between Megatron and Shockwave to the world, even being so kind as to explain who they were and why they were fighting. This contradicted the purpose of the whole "Robot-Master" persona (created by the government and encouraged by Megatron), which was to convince the people that there were no factions between the Transformers, and that they were all destructive machines under the command of a human villain.
  • The easiest way to resolve Earthforce is to stick it in an alternate universe.
  • After the "Time Wars" arc, it was revealed that the Megatron who worked with Galvatron was actually a clone of the original. This ignores how Galvatron was shown remembering events from the clone's perspective.
  • Near the end of the original comic's run, Megatron was given a dose of Nucleon, a highly dangerous fuel that induced unpredictable side effects. Despite this, neither Generation 2 nor Regeneration One ever showed him suffering from any kind of side effects.
• Crapsack World:
  • Modern day Cybertron is this for the Autobots.
  • Earth in the alternate 2009, overrun by Galvatron's Decepticons, although they're largely contained to North America.
• Crossover:
  • There was a four-issue miniseries that crossed over with G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel) which was only in continuity in the US version of the comic (it was reprinted in the UK comic, but several years later, and was clearly not in continuity with the UK strips). The only changes that carried on to the main comic were Dirge being destroyed and Bumblebee being rebuilt as Goldbug, the latter of which was given a different explanation in the UK comic and was eventually undone in both versions of the comic.
  • Generation 2 was in fact introduced in the form of a Poorly Disguised Pilot inside a later crossover with the aforementioned G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic.
  • The UK comics had its own crossover with their G.I. Joe counterpart, Action Force.
  • Spider-Man makes an appearance in the third issue of the US version (reprinted as issues 5 and 6 in the UK version), though this was subsequently ignored by the remainder of the series. Nick Fury gets a cameo, too — and makes a backhanded allusion to all the time Dum Dum Dugan spent fighting Godzilla! In the same issue, the army that attacked the Decepticons is armed with G.I. Joe gear.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Megatron and Shockwave's first fight lasts all of a few pages, and decidedly in Shockwave's favor (in Megatron's defense he was still recovering from wounds, and not in peak condition).
• Cybernetics Will Eat Your Soul: Shockwave, very much.
• Death Is Cheap:
  • Optimus Prime gets killed, but survives thanks to having his mind preserved on a floppy disk before he can get a new body built. But then, that's a given.
  • Megatron appears to get killed when he makes a space bridge explode while he's still on it, but he later returns unscathed.
  • Lampshaded in Generation 2 and Regeneration One.
• Defeating the Undefeatable: In the UK storyline "Salvage!", Ultra Magnus recovers from his Heroic BSoD and soundly defeats Galavatron, breaking his long losing streak, and wounding Galvatron badly enough to force him to retreat.
• Depending on the Artist:
  • Jose Delbo draws Soundwave with an actual face. Nel Yomtov colored him purple, though the UK artists kept him his proper blue.
  • The character models could change from toy-based to animation-based from one story to the next. Most early UK-exclusive stories tended to have more toy-accurate characters.
• Depending on the Writer: Happens with some of the characters, particularly when comparing their behavior in stories written by Bob Budiansky vs. those by Simon Furman. Grimlock, for example, was a vain, power-mad Designated Hero under Budiansky, whereas Furman depicts him as a Noble Savage of a Proud Warrior Race.
• Destroy the Security Camera: In Issue #13 ("Shooting Star"), a damaged, mindless Megatron is found by Joey Slick, a small-time crook, who uses him in gun mode to go on a crime spree. When Joey robs a bank, he orders Megatron to take out the security cameras first.
• Deus est Machina: Primus and Unicron are more important in the Marvel series than in the rest of G1.
• Deus ex Machina: In "Rhythms of Darkness", Galvatron is just about to shoot Spike, when Hook, Line and Sinker (Unicron's minions) show up, capture him and drag him to the past. Granted, Unicron sent them forward in time for that specific purpose, but it's still remarkably coincidental that they'd arrive at that specific moment.
• Diabolus ex Machina: Shockwave at the end of the first 4-part miniseries, where he appears with little foreshadowing and takes down all the Autobots in one shot.
• Distracted by My Own Sexy: Sunstreaker in Penchance to Dream.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him:
  • Poor, poor Ultra Magnus.
  • Blurr is another notable case, being decapitated by Galvatron so he can present his head to Rodimus Prime and drive him towards The Dark Side.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Darkwing and Dreadwind in Out for Lunch!.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • At the beginning of the series, both sides used "fuel", and figuring out how to create it from Earth's resources was a major plot point. By issue 14, energon cubes, along with their being created from almost any "energy source" along the lines of the cartoon had appeared, but fuel would continue to be used and referenced for a while, until energon fully took its place.
  • The first few issues were written as if the series took place in the main Marvel Universe; Spider-Man guest-starred in #3 while Shockwave and the Dinobots are explicitly said to have crash-landed in the Savage Land. Later issues jettison this and position the story in a separate continuity, likely due to the constraints that a shared setting would place on both The Transformers and Marvel Universe.
  • When The Big Broadcast of 2006! was reprinted in the UK, Simon Furman came up with a Framing Device claiming it was a story made up by Wreck-Gar, which also allowed him to make an uncalled for Take That! at the filler issue. A few years later, Marvel UK reprinted G.I. Joe and the Transformers after having halted US reprints to reprint UK stories and the story was presented as a US tale from the outset with no attempt to tie it in to the UK continuity.
  • The "Man of Iron!" story (first UK and then reprinted in the US later on) is quite dark such as the Decepticons never talking, one missile launch reducing Trailbreaker to a pile of scrap and the Man of Iron and the Navigator being brutally killed.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: The first few issues based characters' appearances exclusively on their action figures, which resulted in characters having extremely deformed-looking vehicle modes with robot kibble hanging off them, characters that had no hands, characters who had no heads...
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The 80th and final issue of the original run ends with the power of the Autobot Matrix and The Last Autobot restoring Cybertron and the Autobots vowing to help the Klozians rebuild their world and usher in a new era of peace while the surviving Decepticons are forced to make a temporary retreat.
• Eldritch Abomination:
  • Unicron is larger than any of the Transformers and is also the most powerful villain.
  • The dark Matrix creature. Especially in Regeneration One.
• Enemy Civil War: At various points, there has been Megatron vs Shockwave, Shockwave vs Ratbat, Ratbat vs Scorponok, Scorponok vs Shockwave again, Scorponok vs Megatron, and Scorponok vs Megatron vs Galvatron.
• Enemy Mine: In several UK stories, Autobots and Decepticons must join forces against a greater threat, such as Flame and Unicron. The US series saw them join forces against Starscream in the Underbase saga.
  • A particularly unique example is in Time Wars where the Autobots and Decepticons of two eras band together to stop the Con's own leaders- Galvatron and Megatron.
• Enemy Within: Megatron finds the strength to face and defeat his demons in the form of Straxus in Salvage!. Then it is retconned away.
• Eviler than Thou: In "On The Edge of Extinction!", the Dark Matrix creature attacks Unicron, threatening to destroy him. After a moment's struggle, Unicron realizes that the pure good within the Matrix that he feared has been smothered. He points out that what remains is evil, an area in which he has no equal - which he proves by destroying the Dark Matrix creature.
• Flash Step: Blurr's special ability.
• First-Name Basis:
  • Impactor with Emirate Xaaron.
  • Optimus with his closest allies- the 'cons and most bots call him 'Prime'.
• Freelance Peacekeeping Agent: Death's Head
• Forced Euthanasia: The Deathbringers are mechanoids tasked with travelling through space and offering the release of death to those who seek it. However, a damaged and dying Deathbringer comes into contact with the damaged Matrix of Leadership, which corrupts its programming into concluding all life is suffering. The corrupted Deathbringer makes its way to Earth, raining destruction on a human city and killing a healthy Autobot reconnaissance team. The battle with it is complicated by the fact Optimus Prime desperately wants to keep the Deathbringer in one piece so they can try to find out where it came into contact with the Matrix.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: (US) Issue #13 "Shooting Star!" At the time, it was advertised as the weirdest Transformers story yet ("Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom!" had yet to be written). The plot concerns a small-time crook named Joey Slick gaining possession of Megatron (who's damaged and mostly stuck in his gun mode) and becoming one of Portland's most feared criminals. TFWiki notes that it's one of the few stories to make use of the fact that Megatron's altmode is a realistic weapon.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Kup ends up becoming this, constantly questioning Optimus's orders and always being proven wrong. About the only thing that no one criticizes him for is pointing out Primus somehow missed Unicron being right above Cybertron.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Xaaron to Springer after he has a brief Heroic BSoD.
  • Ravage has an epic one when he manages to cure Shockwave of his insanity with logic.
• Giant Mook: The gestalts.
  • Also, Guardian Units.
• Gladiator Games:
  • Popular on Cybertron before the Decepticon uprising. Megatron himself started off as a gladiator.
  • Ultra Magnus becomes an unwilling participant of one in Deadly Games
  • In The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire, Megatron is subjected to this by the Decepticon Tirumvirate...only to rile the audiences in his favor and have them blow the Tirumvirate's heads off.
• Godzilla Threshold:
  • Space Pirates has Autobot City under siege by the Quintessons and most of the Autobots captured. Out of options, Hot Rod is forced to activate the core of Autobot City, Metroplex, despite the damage his waking up will do to the city.
  • After Optimus mysteriously vanishes, three nigh-invincible Decepticons from the future turn up and kick everyone's ass, with one of them (ole' Galvy) just literally laughing off the Autobots' full prowess. Ironhide despairs enough for him to free Megatron and ask for his leadership to stop the 2006 Decepticons.
  • Used again in the Unicron Saga, with Prime surrendering to the 'cons to convince them to work with him to defeat Unicron. Viewed a necessity at the time as Thunderwing had disappeared with the Matrix, and Optimus was out of options.
  • And also in Time Wars.
  • And in Space Pirates, making it a story where two thresholds are crossed to deal with the threat.
  • And in G2. Funnily enough all of these are written by Simon Furman.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Apeface incapacitates Rampage with his arm. Sounds normal? Well, mind you, that arm had been recently ripped off by Rampage...
  • Galvatron incapacitates Kup and Blurr for several issues by throwing Magnus at them.
• The Grim Reaper: Deathbringers are a unique variant, who basically euthanize planets which are already dying.
• Gut Punch:
  • Xaaron's death in On the Edge of Extinction! indicates that yes, major characters can and will die.
  • Shockwave's death in the Legacy of Unicron story showed that the gloves were off- in a future timeline, no one was safe.
• The Heartless: The Limbo creatures in both G2 and Resurrection! feed off negative emotions and subject their victims to death Freddy-Krueger style in their dreams.
• Harmful Healing: A substance called "Nucleon" was developed on a robotic planet to serve as a miracle cure, but the patients who were treated with it went insane and murdered their doctors. Grimlock tries to access Nucleon in order to revive his deactivated Dinobot comrades and battles through a series of robotic zombies. Once at the island where the Nucleon is stored, he learns that the patients were not hoarding the substance, but protecting others from it. Nucleon revitalizes mechanoids but has horrible side effects; in one instance, a patient was brought back to life along with the malfunction that killed him, and must now suffer through yet another slow, painful death. Grimlock tests Nucleon on himself and it results in paralysis, followed by the loss of his transforming ability. He has to literally shed his old body and get a vastly superior and improved form of his humanoid self, though without any transforming ability.
• Heel–Face Turn: Walter Barnett, head of the government branch Triple I. He initially saw all Transformers as dangerous menaces, but over time, realized that the Autobots were friendly. Unfortunately, he was unable to convince his superiors of this.
• Hero Antagonist: The Wreckers and Ultra Magnus serve the roles of antagonists who are technically the good guys in the story "Prey!", where they believe that the real Optimus is a Decepticon impersonator due to bad intel.
• Heroic BSoD: Ultra Magnus falls into this after repeated defeats at Galvatron's hands. When they encounter each other again in the "Salvage" two-parter, he reacts by falling to his knees, and emitting a Big "NO!". Fortunately, he recovers upon seeing Galvatron beating up the Sparkabots, and finally defeats Galvatron.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • The UK series' "City of Fear" storyline ends with the zombified Impactor sacrificing himself to prevent Cybertron from being destroyed.
  • The Generation 2 comic has Fortress Maximus and Spike Witwicky give their lives to stop Megatron after he stole the Ark.
• Honest John's Dealership: The story "Used Autobots" gives us Big Steve, a Con Artist who knows every trick in the book, rolling back his cars' mileometers to make them seem less used, and tricking some new parents into buying a shabby old car, claiming it to be a perfect family vehicle.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • Optimus Prime asks a human to destroy him because he endangered bystanders in a video game fight against the Decepticons... even though Megatron was cheating at the time. It Makes Sense in Context, but Optimus' action was still stupid.
  • Averted in the Ratchet/Megatron two parter Warrior School/Repeat Performances, in which the two make a deal, with Ratchet promising to defeat Shockwave if Megatron frees the Autobots. Despite both making an oath, Ratchet knows Megatron will betray him, so he frees the Dinobots and sets a trap for him instead.
• Hopeless War: The entire story, essentially, and the tragedy of the Autobot-Decepticon war (well summed up by Soundwave's Killing Joke homage in Space Pirates). Also, the key idea behind the first half of G2, as we learn in the first issue (as well as the Marvel UK future timeline) that the only 2 outcomes to the war are either its eternal continuation or self-destruction of both races. The Regeneration One series subverts this, ending with the Autobots and Decepticons making peace with each other, and finding a new destiny as explorers.
• Hope Spot:
  • Various through the Wanted: Galvatron arc, first with Galvatron's temporary defeat at Magnus' hands, then his temporary KO after Rodimus Prime frying him with his own siphon's power. Problem is, Galvy is easy to knock down but taking him out is a whole 'nother story....
  • Then when they supposedly finally get him back to the future, he is revealed a few panels later to have succeeded at interfering with the time travel device such that it would not affect him...
  • The greatest one, however, is easily the the Autobots' victory at the end of the first mini...only for them to be obliterated by Shockwave.
  • In a similar vein, the ending of the first issue of Matrix Quest, Birds of Prey!, where Nightbeat and his team restores Pzazz before being blasted in the back by the Decepticons.
  • In Dark Creation, after getting their asses thrashed, it appears that Bumblebee finally manages to retrieve the Matrix while Thunderwing is distracted in combat with the Matrix-spawn creature, and the issue even appears to end with Optimus welcoming his warriors home....only to find out Thunderwing had managed to recapture the Matrix and had hijacked the Autobots' ship.
• Hostile Show Takeover: The UK issue where Ratchet took over the letters page due to Soundwave being indisposed.
• Human Aliens: The Nebulans even refer to themselves as humans a few times.
• Hunting the Rogue:
  • In an early issue, the Autobot Brawn suffers mental damage from an accident and wanders off, even attacking humans. Fearing that this will worsen already bad ties with the humans, Optimus Prime dispatches troops to find Brawn and bring him in. While they succeed and manage to repair him, Brawn is so consumed with guilt he becomes a Death Seeker for a time.
  • Taken to its Logical Extreme with Grimlock's disastrous tenure as Autobot leader: a number of Autobots refuse to continue serving under him and desert, including Blaster and Goldbug. A furious Grimlock puts them on a wanted list, and this further undermines his leadership with members of the Protectobots and Aerialbots grumbling that rather than hunt the deserters, they'd rather join them.
• I Am Your Opponent: Magnus to Galvatron in the final issue of the Wanted: Galvatron epic.
• Idealist vs. Pragmatist:
  • Prowl and several other Autobots suggest using the life-granting power of the Creation Matrix to create Ultimate Autobots: powerful warriors they can use to crush the Decepticons. Their argument is Pragmatic: the longer the war carries on the more damage is done to Earth, therefore anything that brings about the end of the war sooner is a good thing. Optimus Prime's opposition is Idealist: The Creation Matrix is meant to bring about life, and using its life-giving properties to create beings meant only to kill would be a perversion of that function. He also fears an escalation: the creation of Ultimate Autobots would most likely lead to the Decepticons creating Ultimate Decepticons to counter them. Unusually, the Matrix itself grants Optimus Prime a vision that implies it agreed with Prowl's Pragmatism, leading to the creation of the Aerialbots as dedicated war machines. Alas, Optimus's fears turn out to be accurate, as the Decepticons create the Stunticons to counter the Aerialbots.
  • In the Earthforce comics (exclusive to the Transformers UK continuity), Grimlock is very much on the Pragmatist side and actively mocks Optimus Prime's Idealist stance, viewing it as weakness. In one comic he derides and sneers at the Autobot Code as being outdated and useless. That said, the time he actually led the Autobots as a whole his leadership was disastrous: he spent most of his time picking fights with other Autobots for challenging his authority and openly considered human casualties to be "acceptable". This cost him the respect of the other Autobots, and so when Optimus Prime returned the Autobots kicked Grimlock out of his post and welcomed Optimus back.
• I Hate Past Me: Galvatron doesn't take seeing Megatron again very well. He just barely stops himself from crushing Megatron's head.
  • In the UK comics Galvatron objects less violently to his past self but still (justifiably, since Galvatron attempted to reason with Megatron in both cases only for the latter to thoughtlessly and pointlessly attack him.) views him as an irrational and a lesser embarrassment.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: Megatron's black hole cannon is incredibly powerful, but if used will destroy all around him.
• Interspecies Romance: Sludge falls for a human reporter, who is a bit weirded out by the concept of a giant alien robot crushing on her. His fellow Dinobots mock him for it.
  • And in the UK comics, a woman named Cindy falls for Ultra Magnus.
• Introdump/Product-Promotion Parade: Especially egregious in issue #1, where over two-dozen Autobots and Decepticons were introduced in the span of two-and-a-half pages.
• I Owe You My Life: Outback's reason for following Optimus and helping him against the Wreckers and freaking Ultra Magnus in Prey!.
• The Juggernaut:
  • How do you kill Galvatron? It took time itself to finally put him down for good.
  • Metroplex appears once in the comic, at the climax of Space Pirates, having been awoken by Hot Rod to deal with an invading Quintesson army. He quickly establishes himself as this, with nothing that the Quintessons throw at him having any effect whatsoever as he single-handedly turns the tide of battle in the Autobots' favor.
• Kid-Appeal Character: Bumblebee, at first. Then Spike.
• Large Ham: You'd think it's a requisite for being in charge of the Decepticons. Tropes Are Not Bad, though. Averted in the case of Thunderwing, who only becomes a ham when he's undergoing some serious Sanity Slippage.
• Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Susan Hoffman's assistants in the UK-exclusive story "Race with the Devil" bear a noticable resemblance to three of the four Ghostbusters (Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman) as depicted in The Real Ghostbusters.
• Lower-Deck Episode: A shit ton given the toy-advertising nature of the comic.
  • In terms of 'epics', we have the Survivors/Carnivac/Mayhems saga, focusing on minor toys and forgotten characters.
• Machine Blood: Invoked in one issue when Jetfire discovers a puddle of leaked Transformer fuel and, after verifying that's what it is, calls it "the lifeblood of my people".
• Mad Scientist: Flame, who suggests turning Cybertron into a mobile warworld, while looking like an absolute nut-job all the while. His story arc also involves him raising dead Cybertronians as zombies. Amazingly, this guy's an Autobot. Well, until he got kicked out.
• Magic Floppy Disk: After getting destroyed over a video game (see Honor Before Reason, above), Optimus Prime's entire personality was backed up on a single 5¼" floppy disk. Let's put that in perspective: those disks can hold 1.2 mb of data. How big was the last mp3 file you listened to, let alone the mind of an insanely advanced, sentient, mechanical life form that puts supercomputers to shame?
• The Man Behind the Monsters: Flame is behind the robot zombie infestation in the City of Fear storyline.
• Manipulative Bastard: That Xaaron was a wily old buzzard. It's because of him that Optimus managed to be in charge of the entire Autobot army.
• Map Stabbing: After the fight against Unicron shatters the Decepticons and Autobots, they briefly try working together before the more aggressive Decepticons get sick of it and elect Bludgeon as their new leader. He decides that they're going to go off and invade a planet, choosing which one by blindly stabbing a map with his sword.
• May It Never Happen Again:
  • After the devastation left in the aftermath of the arrival of the Transformers on Nebulos, the Nebulans developed a formula that poisoned all their fuel sources in order to create a hostile environment for any Transformers who came calling. The Decepticons Darkwing and Dreadwind ground to a halt due to this poisoning, and a group of Autobots led by Goldbug who came to Nebulos hoping to revive Optimus Prime likewise found themselves on the brink.
  • In the aftermath of the UK-exclusive "Time Wars" storyline (where space and time almost collapsed due to the presence of Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge, exacerbated by Cyclonus dying more than twenty years before he was even created), both Future Autobots and Decepticons resolve to destroy all their time machines in order to prevent even the remotest chance of such a catastrophe happening again.
• Mechanical Evolution: Issue 1 makes an offhand mention about Transformers evolving from naturally-occurring simple machines.
• Mental World: Used more frequently than you would expect from a series about robots. First used in Resurrection!, although this is influenced by Limbo beings. Next utilised in Salvage, where Megatron engages in (what should have been) his final battle against Straxus.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Happens to Impactor (mentor to the Wreckers, particularly Springer) when he gives his life to foil an attempt to assassinate Xaaron.
• "Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: In the UK-exclusive story "Break-Away" (issue 263) Optimus Prime makes Grimlock Autobot Leader of Earth on the condition that he show some restraint. Grimlock replies that restraint is his middle name.
• Mexican Standoff: Galvatron and Rodimus have a brief one in the UK Story Fire on High. Roddy wins, but it does little more than annoy Galvatron.
• Mind Screw: With the Decepticon leader already losing his head, Shockwave uses the idea that Optimus may still live to push Megatron over the edge and kill himself.
  • Two Megatrons is confusing even in-universe that one of the Megatrons kills himself.
• Misfit Mobilization Moment: Happens in issue #79. Spike Witwicky, mentally fused with the Autobot Fortress Maximus, goes to Canada to stop a crazed, rampaging Galvatron. The Misfit Mobilization Moment occurs when the war-weary Spike accepts his fate and coordinates with Fortress Maximus to win the fight.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • The ending of the first mini.
  • Also the sudden arrival of Thunderwing while the Autobots are celebrating Pzazz's ressurection.
  • Between Scorponok's epic last stand against Unicron and his heartwrenching death is a comedy sequence where Grimlock punches Unicron across the face with the Ark and Prowl takes the piss out of him before Grimmy takes the piss out of Wheeljack.
• Moral Myopia: Big Steve. Despite making a living out of conning people into buying his old cars, and selling out the Throttlebots to Triple I, he has the gall to claim that it's "not fair" when Blaster destroys the cheque Walter Barnett gave him as payment.
• Most Writers Are Human: For inorganic mechanical life forms that have lived for thousands or millions of years, the Transformers as a whole certainly behave no different than humans do (though one member of Triple-I notes that Transformers are prone to "highly imitative behavior when exposed to humans").
• Motormouth: Blurr eventually starts speaking in a manner similar to his animated counterpart.
• Mythology Gag: A pretty elaborate one. In the early stages of planning the toyline, Swoop was to be called Divebomb. Later, when the Predacons were introduced, the flying one was called Divebomb. Furman used this coincidence to give them a backstory - Swoop was originally called Divebomb, but was defeated by a Decepticon who rubbed salt into the wound by stealing his name. Swoop is still bitter about it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Galvatron returned to 1986 barely holding on to his sanity, not helped by being attacked by a group of Autobots. Then Blaster shot him with his electro-scrambler, and that was pretty much that for Galvatron's sanity.
• No-Sell: The Autobots unleash everything they have at Galvatron, mentioned to be enough to level a small city. He just stands there and laughs, before mopping the floor with them.
• Our Zombies Are Different: The Cybertronian zombies in the City of Fear storyline are controlled by Flame via computer.
• Painless Death for a Price: When Autobot spy Scrounge is captured and brought before Decepticon leader Straxus, he is interrogated. Scrounge refuses to talk even when Straxus effortlessly rips off his arm, and remains silent even when Straxus offers him either a quick death if he talks, or a slow, agonizing one in the Smelting Pits. Scrounge's friend Blaster finds him in the Pits, melted into little more than his head and torso, but Scrounge clings to life long enough to give him the info he'd learned: Optimus Prime is alive! This news reinvigorates the demoralised Autobot resistance.
• Planet Eater: Unicron.
• Planet Spaceship: Both Megatron and Flame tried to turn Cybertron into this.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot: The Neo-Knights were Simon Furman's attempt to get his foot in the door as one of Marvel Comics main writers. Circuit Breaker was already owned by Marvel and Rapture and Thunderpunch were all but stated to be mutants. In the letters page of the final issue, Furman even remarked that he believed the Transformers brand as a whole was at its end and that his new aim would be to create a Neo-Knights spinoff.
• Prequel: The Transformers '84 one-shot and the Secrets & Lies miniseries following it both serve as prequels to this comics continuity. Both have a Framing Device of the Autobot Punch narrating the events, with the former establishing the circumstances that led to the Autobots' exodus from Cybertron using the Ark and the latter explaining what was going on at Cybertron and on Earth before the Autobots and Decepticons aboard the Ark were eventually rebuilt and reactivated in the 1980's.
• Put on a Bus: The UK version of the comic had Skids phased out by having him displaced into limbo because of time travel. To avoid inconsistencies with continuity, reprints of US stories featuring him at the time (which only had him in background roles anyway) were altered by editing Skids out or replacing him with a generic Autobot.
• Recycled Title: "The Void" is used as the title of two completely different stories, one from the US version of the comic and one from the UK version of the comic. Considering that reprints of every US story constituted roughly half of the UK series, this likely caused some confusion.
• Religion of Evil: Unicron's got cultists, programmed to assasinate Primus' chosen warrior before Unicron's arrival. Optimus suggests they're brainwashed.
• Rescue Equipment Attack:
  • In Issue 7, Ratchet has returned to the Ark to discover the other Autobots inactive. He comes under attack by Megatron, and in a desperate attempt to fight back, he tries to use two of his medical tools (a laser scalpel and cryogenic spray) against his assailant to no effect.
  • In Issue 8, he uses his laser scalpel to chase off an attacking snake.
• Retcon: A few.
  • Salicrup's offhand mention in the first issue of the Transformers evolving from naturally-occurring wheels, levers, and pulleys in issue 1 is replaced by a story about them being created by Primus during Furman's run.
  • When Simon Furman reintroduced Megatron to the US series, he concocted a story about how he was blasted back to Cybertron at the end of "Gone But Not Forgotten!"; since this conflicted with established continuity, a short UK story established that the Megatron seen in "Ancient Relics!" and "Time Wars!" was actually a clone with Straxus' mind who thought he was Megatron. The two Megatrons eventually fight, and the real Megatron defeats the Straxus clone.
  • The Matrix was originally a highly advanced program (of sorts), and contained within Optimus Prime's head. The "Matrix Quest" storyline changed this so that, like the movie, it was a tangible object, contained within Optimus's chest, and formed from the essence of Primus himself.
• Right Hand Versus Left Hand: Take a shot every time the human authorities fire on the Autobots, either ignoring the Decepticons outright or softening the heroes up just in time for the bad guys to swoop in.
• Robot Master: Played with by Donny Finkleberg, who called himself Robot-Master and claimed responsibility behind the Transformers' various rampages. In reality, he was recruited by the United States government, using the ruse to avoid a public panic over alien robots (no, it doesn't make sense).
• Sanity Slippage:
  • Megatron doesn't take Optimus' Heroic Sacrifice well.
  • Thunderwing goes mad in his attempts to beat the Autobots to the Matrix.
  • Galvatron, repeatedly, becomes more and more insane in his desperate attempts to change the future.
  • Shockwave, in the UK comics, takes the knowledge of his future demise badly, but when Megatron and Galvatron start working together, he goes right off the deep end.
• Saved by Canon: The Secrets & Lies miniseries ends with the Dinobots apparently deactivated for good after Grimlock's squabble with the Ark's computer AUNTIE, but the fact that the Marvel Comics continuity has the Dinobots join the Autobots after being uncovered and revived by Ratchet as well as survive the entire run of the series makes it clear to people who've read the original Marvel Comics that the Dinobots aren't down for the count.
• Screw the Rules, They Broke Them First!: A pre-emptive version; In "Warrior School", Ratchet strikes a bargain with Megatron. To seal the deal, Megatron insists on them carrying out "The Rite of Oneness", a ritual that no Autobot has ever gone back on. Ratchet grudgingly agrees, but ultimately decides that since Megatron will undoubtedly double-cross him, he doesn't have to hold up his end of the bargain.
• Sealed Evil in Another World: The prequel Transformers (1984) reveals that Optimus' goal from the very start was to lure Megatron and his greatest warriors aboard the Ark, and then slam it onto the nearest lifeless planet he could find, hoping that even if Megatron wasn't outright killed he'd be trapped forever. To his horror, he realizes it never occurred to him that just because a world seems lifeless, that doesn't mean life can't evolve there later, having accidentally subjected Earth and the humans upon it to the Decepticon's alien terrorism.
• Sequel Series: This continuity has three different official continuations, all of which are incompatible with one another.
  • After the end of the main series, Marvel published a direct continuation titled Transformers: Generation 2, which lasted 13 issues (including a zero-numbered issue) after beginning with a five-part arc in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel).
  • Fun Publications ran a comic taking place after the Marvel Comics continuity in their Transformers Official Club Magazine titled Transformers Classics, which was notable for crossing over with Transformers: Shattered Glass in an arc that ended with the Classics universe destroyed and the survivors having to share their new home with the good Shattered Glass characters.
  • The IDW Publishing maxiseries Regeneration One is a continuation of the original Marvel comic that takes place 21 years after the last issue and disregards the stories exclusive to the UK version of the comic as well as the Generation 2 comic and Transformers Classics.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The entire Underbase Saga AKA Starscream Triumphant. The Autobots and Decepticons team up to stop Starscream from gaining the vast powers of the Underbase and suffer tremendous casualties while fighting him thanks to the power he already gained from it. He's defeated... by letting him drain the rest of the power from the Underbase, which is far too much for any one being to hold and consequently causes him to explode. The Autobots and Decepticons would have been better off had they just ignored him. Of course, the real reason for the story was killing off all the characters who no longer had toys that were being sold.
• Shout-Out:
  • The first four issues of the Matrix Quest storyline feature full-issue genre homages, often referencing a specific work: #62 references The Maltese Falcon; #63 is a Space Western; #64 is Moby-Dick IN SPACE!; and #65 is an Alien homage.
  • The denouement of the UK Space Pirates story is one to The Killing Joke with Ultra Magnus and Soundwave in place of Batman and The Joker. Soundwave even makes the same pose as Joker when he bitterly refuses Magnus' overture for any sort of peaceful coexistence, saying it's far too late for that.
  • The Unicron cultists wield sais and have prominent three-toed feet. This is almost certainly a deliberate artistic choice.
• The Smurfette Principle: Arcee is the only female Autobot in the Generation 1 cartoon to be featured in the comic, and even then, she's only included in the UK version of the main series and the US version regards the three-issue adaptation of the movie as non-canon.
• Space Age Stasis: Very little change seems to take place on Cybertron in the 4 million years the Ark's crew is in stasis. Taken to an incredible extreme when Shockwave and Starscream are trying to repair the Ark to escape Cybertron after Unicron's attack, and Shockwave describes the ship as being one of the best and most advanced ships available - and it's been sitting under a volcano for 4 millions years? Even worse when you think about all the advances made during the short time after the Ark-based transformers awaken (both on Earth and elsewhere): combiners, head-, target- and power-masters, pretenders, micromasters, etc.
• Space Romans: Pre-civil war Cybertronian society is basically Ancient Rome WITH ROBOTS!
• Spaceship Girl: Aunty, the ship's artificial intelligence. The Ark was originally gonna be named Aunty.
• The Starscream:
  • OK, Starscream is in it, but Shockwave and Soundwave both pull it off much more successfully.
  • In the future, Cyclonus and Scourge are this to Shockwave himself. They succeed, albeit while under mind control.
  • Galvatron. Both in the UK and US comics, any time Unicron tries to control him, he immediately starts thinking of ways to betray him.
• Straw Feminist: The UK version of the comic established in the story "Prime's Rib" that Arcee was built to appease complaints from feminists that whined about the Autobots all identifying as male even after being told that Transformers were technically genderless. Even after her creation, the feminists continued to complain over the fact that there was only one female Autobot on the team and also objected to her looking weak and being colored pink. Their ire increased when Hot Rod stated his approval for female Transformers after inadvertently colliding into Arcee.
• Super Team: The Neo-Knights are a team brought together to make a difference in the Transformers' war. Their members consist of Rapture, Thunderpunch, Dynamo, and recurring antagonist Circuit Breaker.
• Take That!!: Issue 181 of the UK comics has one at the US story it's reprinting by having the Quintession Judge in the framing device tell the interrogator: "Imbecile! Wreck-Gar's whole account is full of absurdities and contradictions, not to mention lies! ...You have fallen for the equivalent of a children's story! I accuse you of feeble-minded stupidity!" The US story (The Big Broadcast of 2006!) was a fill in issue with Simon Furman whipping up a framing device for the UK print because it completely contradicted the UK timeline.
• Teleporter Accident: A dimensional portal exploding with Megatron and Ratchet on it fuses them into a singular, misshapen entity that gets trapped in the void outside reality until the Autobots recover their screaming form at the end of "Eye of the Storm". The Autobots later manage to separate them physically, but they are linked to each other at a subatomic level due to the fusion, and one cannot live without the other's survival.
• Third-Party Peacekeeper: the Decepticons have splintered into a civil war between Megatron and Shockwave. Attempts at peace talks were deliberately sabotaged by the Autobot unit known as Earthforce, since it's in their best interests that the 'cons spend as much time fighting each other as possible. However, eventually Soundwave and Starscream try to get Megatron and Shockwave to reconcile again, recognising the Civil War is detrimental to the Decepticons as a whole. When the attempt fails, the duo instead seize power for themselves, reunifying the Decepticons under their joint command. Ironically, Megatron and Shockwave wind up allying with each other in order to reclaim their leadership status.
• Time Travel: The conflict of many stories in the UK comics are brought on by Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Scourge appearing in present day from the future.
• Transplant: At the end of "The Legacy of Unicron", Death's Head falls sideways through time and ends up in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips, making him part of the Doctor Who Expanded Universe.
• Took a Level in Badass: Bumblebee when he gets resurrected as a Pretender is visibly in awe of how much more powerful he is than before. He quickly transitions into a frontline fighter, becoming the de-facto leader of a squad composed of himself, Jazz and Grimlock.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Grimlock when he becomes leader, though he snaps out of it in Totaled! and is much nicer towards the end. Kup after Optimus is revived, always questioning Optimus Prime's orders such as surrendering to Scorponok for an Enemy Mine against Unicron.
• "Too Young to Die" Lamentation: In the Marvel run of the series, issue #59, Blurr once laments that he is too young to die, as he is "only" 4 million years old. While it sounds like it was intended for comedy, given the ridiculous length of time that is to a human, it actually isn't. Cybertronians are so ridiculously long-lived that a million years is very close to their age equivalent of a human decade. As such, Blurr is reasonably dismayed at the prospect of being blown up by Decepticons in what would be his early 40s.
• Unbuilt Trope: As one of the first bits of Transformers media, it was quite in-depth about the nature of living robots and the horrors of war. Characters would die and stay dead including the humans, Bad Boss/General Failure Megatron gets replaced when he can't do his job, victories were often heavy in cost and the Decepticons would win their fair share.
• Verbal Tic: Several characters have them.
  • Him Grimlock have particularly noticeable one. It become more prominent after resurrection. An early explanation was that Grimlock did it to hide his intelligence. When he gets resurrected, it's because his vocal circuits didn't make the return trip.
  • Wreck-Gar still talks in TV Shout Outs, though given most of his appearances were in the UK comics, they're naturally based on things a British reader would get.
  • Wheelie and his rhymes, again in the UK comics. Weirdwolf also talked in rhyme, but only when Budiansky was writing.
  • Though brief his appearance was, had one Slog did.
  • Statement: Shockwave had a more mechanical speaking pattern on his return to the US comics. Hypothesis: Suggested to be the result of his long plummet to the ground in his last appearance. Acknowledgement: Scorponok calls him on it when they fight.
  • Death's Head also has a verbal tic, yes?
• Villain World: Present-day Cybertron is under Decepticon control for almost the entire series (the last few issues see an Autobot-Decepticon alliance, and the planet being abandoned). Though the Autobots have reclaimed part of the planet in the main alternate future.
• War Comes Home: In the backstory, the city-states of Tarn and Vos fought several small-scale skirmishes over dwindling energy supplies before agreeing to participate in a series of Games meant to provide a less destructive outlet. Unfortunately, war erupted anyway when participants from Vos sabotaged Tarn's energy reactor. As this went on, the Autobot Council ruling in the city-state of Iacon tended to refugees but refused to send peacekeepers, with some on the council even feeling it was to Iacon's advantage Vos and Tarn destroy each other. They did indeed destroy each other... but the survivors united under a former gladiator of Tarn who pointed out Iacon let their homes burn and so led his new army to return the favor. As Megatron and his new army (now calling themselves "the Decepticons") brought the war to Iacon itself, the Autobot Council no longer thought the Vos-Tarn war to be advantageous...
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • A lot of effort is expended to recover Grand Slam and Rain Dance's warning about the Underbase, but once that's done, they're completely forgotten. Also the fact that Centurion is a non-sentient robot being remotely controlled by Professor Morris is completely forgotten for his final appearance in Ancient Relics
  • The Mechanic, a human car thief who steals some Autobot weapons. The Autobots make one attempt to track him down, the Mechanic escapes with the weapons for a second time, and he's never mentioned again.
  • After being forced to build the Space Bridge, the Neutralist scientist Spanner was incorporated into his creation. Despite Spanner's begging, Blaster couldn't bring himself to destroy him, leaving him stuck as the Decepticon's unwitting servant. Over thirty issues later, the Space Bridge had been phased out in favor of a new method of inter-dimensional travel, with Spanner's fate never being mentioned.
    • An editor's note in the Classic trade comments on this: For all intents and purposes, Spanner is considered dead, already dying after being incorporated into the Space Bridge in the first place.
  • The Roadjammers; at the end of their one and only appearance, they drove off into the night, still in possession of the devices that could freeze a Transformer in vehicle mode, never to be seen again.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Inverted. The first issue has the Transformers astonished to discover the existence of non-mechanical life on Earth, and struggling a bit to acknowledge the humans as sentient, living beings. The Decepticons, of course, never do concede the worth of human life.
• You're Insane!: UK Issue #117; Galvatron is about to siphon all the energy of a soon-to-erupt volcano and, instead of offing Ultra Magnus when he had the chance, drags his beaten arse to the volcano, shows him his fancy energy-stealing device, and then gloats about it. Ultra Magnus has this to say: "You're insane. Completely and utterly insane!"
  • Xaaron similarly calls out Flame on his suicidal plan which would have destroyed Cybertron if not thwarted, a term the mad scientist happily accepts.
• Zombie Apocalypse: "City of the Dead", a storyline in the UK comics revolves around one caused by a Mad Scientist Autobot named Flame.

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