UK G1 comics

[Metallikato]

I was thinking of finally checking out the UK version of the G1 comic but a few questions first. I understand the story has some continuity problems so for anyone who's familiar with them I ask what's best way of reading the story so it makes as much sense as possible? Just going from issue 1 onwards? I remember a number of years back there were those tpb's that were released covering the run but from what I recall reading some parts of the story were left out...?

Also, were any issues of the UK comic ever released here? I remember having a couple of the US comics back in the day, namely the ones where Roadhandler becomes a pro wrestler and when Ratchet was repairing a bunch of dead Autobots and got shanghaied by the sports car patrol (I read the scans of the whole run about 10 years back which jogged my memory) but I could always remember an image of Sunrunner standing with Arcee, which obviously never appeared in the US story. I was looking at Flaks' page on tf wiki earlier (exciting weekend I'm having) and found the image below and that's definitely what I remember seeing way back but I've got no idea how. Any thoughts?

[Sky Shadow]

I was thinking of finally checking out the UK version of the G1 comic but a few questions first. I understand the story has some continuity problems so for anyone who's familiar with them I ask what's best way of reading the story so it makes as much sense as possible? Just going from issue 1 onwards? I remember a number of years back there were those tpb's that were released covering the run but from what I recall reading some parts of the story were left out...?

Also, were any issues of the UK comic ever released here?

All of the UK comics from #78 to #332 were released in Australia. There are no real continuity issues worth worrying about for now - your only real difficulty may be in knowing where each story fits between the US issues. This is one of the best times for you to start reading these since the eighties, since IDW have started releasing The Transformers Classics UK Volumes. Just get Volume 1 and 2 for now and if you have any questions, just ask us.

Also, you may have had UK issue #251, which had the US story with Ratchet repairing the Classic Pretenders as the lead story, and one with Flak and Arcee in the second story. You may also have had UK #224 which is where that image of Flak, Sunrunner and Arcee was from.

[GoktimusPrime]

Also, were any issues of the UK comic ever released here?

Absolutely! I remember pestering my mum to take me to the newsagents to get my TF comics (both US and UK issues). Although getting to the newsagents on a weekly basis was hard cos my mum wouldn't have time to take me there that frequently (whereas US issues are monthly) -- so I have more gaps in my UK collection than my US. I didn't discover comic book shops until 1990 and even then they only stocked US comics, so I still had to rely on newsagents for my UK comic hits. This became harder too during the early 90s as some newsagents stopped stocking TF comics as sales dwindled.

I remember having a couple of the US comics back in the day, namely the ones where Roadhandler becomes a pro wrestler and when Ratchet was repairing a bunch of dead Autobots and got shanghaied by the sports car patrol

Whoa, those were the later issues - when Bob Budiansky quit TFs and Simon Furman took over. Mind you, I find the Furman run to be the best. (although the Budiansky issues were awesome in their own way)

but I could always remember an image of Sunrunner standing with Arcee, which obviously never appeared in the US story. I was looking at Flaks' page on tf wiki earlier (exciting weekend I'm having) and found the image below and that's definitely what I remember seeing way back but I've got no idea how. Any thoughts?

Sounds like you picked up a UK issue at some point, which wouldn't be surprising considering that US and UK issues were sold together at Australian newsagents. You still have your comics?

[Metallikato]

All of the UK comics from #78 to #332 were released in Australia. There are no real continuity issues worth worrying about for now - your only real difficulty may be in knowing where each story fits between the US issues. This is one of the best times for you to start reading these since the eighties, since IDW have started releasing The Transformers Classics UK Volumes. Just get Volume 1 and 2 for now and if you have any questions, just ask us.

Also, you may have had UK issue #251, which had the US story with Ratchet repairing the Classic Pretenders as the lead story, and one with Flak and Arcee in the second story. You may also have had UK #224 which is where that image of Flak, Sunrunner and Arcee was from.

Ok cool, thanks for the info. I've honestly never been a massive comic fan, Issue #1 of the original DW comic is the only "new" comic I own. I never really followed what DW and IDW have done since so I didnt know about the Classic Volumes you mentioned, although I see they're only a new thing anyway but sound like exactly what I'm after. Cheers again.

[Metallikato]

Absolutely! I didn't discover comic book shops until 1990 and even then they only stocked US comics, so I still had to rely on newsagents for my UK comic hits. This became harder too during the early 90s as some newsagents stopped stocking TF comics as sales dwindled.

Rightio. Well that now fills a void in my TF knowledge.

Whoa, those were the later issues

I was born in '85, I believe those were '89 comics. Probably would of been pointless for someone aged 0 to 3 to of owned any earlier issues. If I remember correctly I had those issues in the car with me while the family were driving from Sydney to Cairns for a reunion.

Sounds like you picked up a UK issue at some point, which wouldn't be surprising considering that US and UK issues were sold together at Australian newsagents. You still have your comics?

Fair enough. During my serious collecting days between 2000-05 I never actively looked for UK comics anywhere like say ebay Australia, and having no real memories of the comics bar what I mentioned above while they were in print, I didnt know for certain they were readily available in Australia until now.
To answer your question, no. I don't have any G1 comics originally purchased back in the day. In the early 2000's a got a few issues off ebay and also picked up a stack from a collectable fair at Parra Town Hall in 2002 but all together probably only have about 25, most of which I think were from between Issues #1 to #20. I also have 2 of the 4 Universe issues and all 4 issues of the original TF/Joe crossover. The only ones I've still got from childhood are an issue of GI Joe (which I remember buying from Seaworld of all places) which I only got because G2 Megatron was on the cover stepping on Scarlett and Issue #11 of G2, I got the rest of G2 off ebay later.

[Cat]

IDW is actually now doing reprints of solely the UK material. (Transformers UK Classics is the name of the volumes).

Volume 2 came out last week.

Titan did also release quite a bit of them, printed at the larger UK size (IDW shrinks them to 'regular' comic size, which isn't noticeable IMO. They still look and read great).

Titan also did the 'Earthforce' stuff and a few other of the black and white stories in smaller digests.

Cheapest way would be via the IDW reprints. You get a LOT of material in them.

They've also done individual tpbs of some of the UK stuff, but this way you get them all, the great along with the.....not so great.

[Metallikato]

Sweet, will definitely look in to getting them.

[Cat]

Sweet, will definitely look in to getting them.

Just remember to be specific.

IDW are reprinting both the US and the UK material, separately, as 'Classics'.

So make sure you get 'UK Classics'.

[Sky Shadow]

Just remember to be specific.

IDW are reprinting both the US and the UK material, separately, as 'Classics'.

So make sure you get 'UK Classics'.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone involved in Transformers owns a thesaurus.

"Let's call it Classics!"

"Um... that term's already been used for Pretenders, nineties reissues and G1 tribute toys. And we called the previous reprint volumes 'Classic' without the 's'. Can you think of anything else?"

"Generations!"

"Yeah, we already used that one when we reprinted some of these issues the first time. Plus that's what the Japanese guidebook is called. And Hasbro's deluxe toyline."

"More Than Meets The Eye?"

"Cartoon pilot, Dreamwave profile books and we're using it for our ongoing title."

"Robots In Disguise?"

"A franchise, toyline and our other ongoing title."

"Generation 1?"

"<sigh> #@*% it! Classics it is!"

[Metallikato]

Just remember to be specific.

IDW are reprinting both the US and the UK material, separately, as 'Classics'.

So make sure you get 'UK Classics'.

Will do, thanks