I started on the G2 comics when I came across issue 8 of the G2 comic in a newsagent way back when. I think it was my first ever comic, actually. I then got issue 10 and, luckily, issue 12 which wrapped everything up.

I loved those comics and read them till their covers fell off. It was great seeing some of my toys in the comics and I love some of the characterisations, particularly Grimlock as a smart tactical commander rather than a belligerent/comedic oaf.

The story made a surprising amount of sense, given the huge gaps in my reading. I read the re-released collections a little while ago and I think I was just lucky to pick up the right issues so nothing crucial got missed out. The first half of the run is definitely weaker - there's a lot of time dedicated to tying up threads from the Marvel G1 run and the GI Joe crossover, which wouldn't have meant anything to me back then (and still not much now!). The series really comes into it's own with the fight against the Swarm in the second half. I loved the idea of Autobots and Decepticons having to form an alliance and overcoming their differing ideologies to fight a common enemy in the Swarm and Jhiaxus' army.

It's quite a dark story with big guns and gratuitous character deaths, many of which meant little to me at the time, given the limited toys and tv episodes. In that way I suppose it mirrors real conflicts in which people die senselessly. It made the fight seem a lot more frantic and real when any character could meet their end on the next page.

Technically, I think the detail on the speech bubbles was really clever. Autobots had square blocks on the edges while Decepticons had triangles. Dinobots had trapezoids as they were never fully aligned with the Autobot ideals and cause. Some of the characters even changed from triangles to squares as their allegiance shifted over the course of the story.

I think the second half is worth a read. Not having read the G1 or GI Joe comics when I was young, I'm still not sold on the first half. The art style is a far cry from modern comics with a limited colour palette and heavy lines, but I think it fits in well with the tone of the story. It's shame it had its run cut short as I think there were some interesting stories left to tell.