Here’s a little secret about Transformers: They can’t die. After the events of Transformers #32’s “The Wrath of Grimlock”, the Autobots thought that Swoop was liquefied by the explosive effects of a high density thermo-nuclear bomb. The readers did, too.

Things like “prequels” and “adaptations” usually reek of cash-ins, adding dead weight to overburdened
bandwagons. Usually. Chris Ryall joins veteran scribe Simon Furman to turn in a fast-paced script with considered depth.

“First Contact”, the first five-issue storyline of Dreamwave’s Transformers Armada comic, introduces the reader not only to a host of new characters but an entirely new fictional universe. Many of the original Transformers concepts remain, but one major new facet of the Autobot/Decepticon war is added—a third faction known as Mini-Cons.

If ever a “golden age” of Transformers comics should be defined, then “The Wrath of Guardian/Grimlock” should be the story that starts it off. Thirty issues into the Transformers run, and this is the first story to really force the reader to sit up and pay attention.

It certainly seems like tapes of the Transformers cartoon have arrived at Marvel UK’s offices. Either that, or the staff are avid fans of Roland Rat on a Saturday morning. Transformers 29-30’s two-part “Decepticon Dam-Busters” borrows heavily from the Transformers cartoon in more ways than one.

“Raiders of the Last Ark” proceeds with Marvel UK’s mission to forge Transformers as Britain’s premier action/adventure comic. With much the same flavour of story as “The Enemy Within”, the pace here is just as energetic and explosive.

Simon Furman’s first-ever foray into the world of the Transformers yields an all-action script that roars unabashedly in stark contrast to last issue’s “Man of Iron” comic strip story. The alien nature of the Transformers is rolled over to make room for bolder, brasher heroes and villains.

“Spotlight Ultra Magnus” provides two things: a glib exploration of Ultra Magnus’s reinvented character, and a generous feeding of writer Simon Furman’s sapling new Transformers universe. The story itself focuses its narrow spotlight beam on just three Transformers: Scorponok, Swindle and, of course, Ultra Magnus.

The “Spotlight” format is the model opportunity to delve deep into a Transformer’s character, to really get under their armour and see what sparks their circuits. So far, with the Spotlight series, each issue has been more of a story that happens to feature the spotlight character rather than any in-depth psycho-examination.

Nick Roche’s artwork makes a most welcome return to Transformers with “Spotlight Hot Rod”, a pneumatic actioner where Evil Kneival meets Mission: Impossible meets The Chronicles of Riddick.