Is there anything that Nick Roche isn’t capable of?

Judging by his work for IDW Publishing’s Transformers comics, Nick is both a writer and an artist without compare. But what other talents can this man boast?

What are the odds on today being your birthday? 1 in 365, I would imagine. But whether or not it is your birthday, The Transformers want to make sure you celebrate it with one of their cards! Or at least, they did 20 years ago. Showcased here are three official Transformers birthday cards published in the UK in 1986/1987.

The Top 5 Transformers Comic Books published by IDW in 2009

Does a robot die a little each time it’s rebooted? When “The Transformers” first appeared in the eighties in its comic book and cartoon series incarnations, words like “brand”, “franchise” and “reboot” were seldom applied outside the slick, knife-edged world of corporate business. But capitalism has come a long, long way since then. In these times of ratings chasers, bean counters and brand shouters, beloved character-centric storylines have been price-tagged and bagged.

Presenting the must-have accessory for schoolchildren (and the cooler University students) up and down the length of Italy. No, not Diva Girls for the Nintendo DS but the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen academic diary!

In 1988 Hasbro released a sub-group of Mini-Autobots called the “Sparkabots”. At the same time, Marvel UK introduced the team as the “Sparkler Mini-Bots”. Something didn’t quite add up.

In 1986, Marvel UK published two hardcover “Complete Works” books that reprinted the first four issues of Marvel US’s Transformers. Only this time, that Autobot double-page spread was included… with one major difference: Yes, they replaced two entire panels!

Double-page spreads are something of a rarity in Transformers comics. They pose tremendous amounts of difficulty in production (particularly if a comic features mid-story advertising) in both the pre-press and printing stages.

The Hub puts forth the testimony provided by an alien tape recorder and how its insidious brainwashing convinced an entire generation to hate a Saturday morning cartoon show.

Stephen Baskerville lent his inking (and sometimes penciling) talents to many Marvel UK and US Transformers comics in the 1980s/90s. The Hub invites Stephen to share his experiences.