CYBERTRON LEGACY - Transformers: Regeneration One

NOTHING brings me back to my childhood more than pawing over the few issues of Marvel UK's Transformers comic which remain in my possession. Each one triggers a particular memory, especially the later issues of 1991-92, a time I remember quite vividly. Simon Furman's final stories for the comic remain imprinted in my brain, not least for the way they ended, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Issue #332 arrived on my doorstep one Saturday morning in January 1992 the week before my ninth birthday, the cover image dramatically announcing 'THE FINAL CUT!' alongside an image of Bludgeon approaching a near victory, with an ominous shadow behind. Feverishly, I turned the page, to read the crushing words on page 2: "Sadly, contrary to earlier news, issue 333 will not materialise!"

Of course, being only nine years old, I wasn't aware that the 11-or so pages of story I got in my TF weekly came, for the most part, from a monthly comic book published by Marvel in the US, which had already ended by this point with its eightieth issue. Originally intended as a four-issue limited series commissioned at the height of the cartoon's popularity, the (initially bi-monthly) US title ran from 1984 to 1991, and followed an entirely self-contained continuity unrelated to the TV cartoon and theatrical movie. In tandem, the US stories were reprinted in the UK comic, with 'fill-in' stories plugging the gaps in the publication schedule - thus establishing a second continuity for the UK comics, carefully constructed so as not to undermine the US stories.NB some of these stories have been reprinted in various collections, the best of which are the 'Target: 2006' and 'Time Wars' sagas, which intertwined complex stories into the US continuity, notably introducing Galvatron from the movie continuity into a time travel paradox mind-boggler of epic proportions.



Simon Furman was one of the most accomplished and prolific writers on the UK comic, so it made complete sense when he took on writing duties for the US title from issue 56. Free to focus on only one continuity, he was able to bring some more complex ideas to the narrative and build mythologies which not only expanded the universe(s) of the Transformers but also developed the robots as real characters with their own personalities, conflicts and ambitions. The final, gripping stages of the book, centred on the genesis of the Transformers as a race, positioning their creator Primus as an age-old force of good against his counterpart, the demi-god Unicron. Autobots and Decepticons create an uneasy truce as Primus' children to defeat Unicron in issue 75, in an epic carnage-fest called 'On the Edge of Extinction'.



The battle is won by the ultimate sacrifice of Optimus Prime, who reclaims the matrix of leadership (which had been stolen by Darkwing and tainted by evil) to destroy Unicron, and sadly, himself. Following this, however, the truce between the Autobots and Decepticons breaks down, and the war begins anew. Eventually, the remaining warriors do battle on the remote planet of Klo, where it looks like all is lost until...


You see, Optimus was revived by an entity called THE LAST AUTOBOT, a gigantic Transformer and final guardian of Cybertron, created by Primus, who slept deep within the planet until a 'chosen one' appeared in the form of Optimus' human counterpart Hi-Q, whom the Last Autobot uses to rebuild the fallen hero. With Prime back in control, the battle is swiftly won, and it's revealed that the Last Autobot has renewed Cybertron to its former glories, and everyone can return home in peace.

A bit rushed? Yes - because the series was cancelled abruptly, Furman was never given the chance to give his vision of the saga  true ending. That only comes now, 21 years later, as IDW unleash 'Regeneration One' - which obviously I could not be more excited about!!!



Issue #80.5 was published as part of Free Comic Book Day earlier this year, and as well as a catch up not dissimilar to the one above (but probably way more new-reader friendly, sorry) it featured the big bombshell - the death of the Last Autobot at the hands of the Decepticons! 21 years after their defeat on Klo, the Decepticons have returned to reclaim Cybertron and take out the Autobots once and for all... and so the conflict begins again. Immediately in #80.5 and 81, I was drawn back into the same world I left many years ago. The characters feel like the ones I knew, and while the art feels different - modern colouring techniques do set the book apart - reading the books for me is like stepping back in time. If you're a new reader, however, don't let that stop you either. Join the best possible version of the TF universe for one last time!!!