Editing The Transformers (Milton Bradley comic)

{{comicstory|seriesissue=''The Transformers''
|title="In the Transformers"
|image=In the Transformers cover.jpg
|caption=That's either one tiny jet or one giant hand gun.
|publisher=[[Milton Bradley]]
|coverdate=1985
}}
'''The million year war between the Autobots and Decepticons arrives on Earth.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Transformer]]s' civil war has knocked [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] from its orbit around [[Alpha Centauri]] and the planet is endangered by an asteroid belt. The [[Autobot]]s' heroic leader [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and his warriors launch in a spaceship named the "[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]" to try to create a path through the asteroids, but the Decepticons ambush them and board the ship. Jetfire steers the ark directly at [[Earth]], intent on taking the Decepticons down with them. Megatron has other plans and orders [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] to jump out moments before the ark crashes into a mountain.

Though damaged by the crash, the Ark's systems detect Soundwave and repair four Autobots—[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]], [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]], [[Slag (G1)|Slag]], and [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]—giving them new [[alternate mode]]s based on the dominant life form of the time. The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] take a shuttle out and soon locate Soundwave, who is shooting [[dinosaur (dinosaur)|dinosaurs]] in the face. The Dinobots attack, but quickly realize that even the four of them are no match for Soundwave. Thinking quickly, Grimlock bashes the side of the mountain with his tail, bringing tons of rocks down on them all.

Four million years later, a volcanic eruption reactivates the Ark's brain, which scans the planet's current dominant life forms and begins repairing both Autobot and Decepticon alike. The Transformer war is about to recommence on Earth!

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] (1)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] (2)
* [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (3)
* [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]  (4)
* [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (5)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (10)
* [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (11)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (12)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (13)
|c2=
* [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] (7)
* [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (8)
* [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (9)
* [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (14)
}}



==Notes==
===Original release===
[[File:Jetfire-MB-comic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|Guess which of these versions was created in the modern day.]]
This comic originated in the front of the [[catalog]] distributed with Transformers distributed in mainland Europe by [[Milton Bradley]]. As [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] was not released in the initial wave, this led to the oddity of Jetfire standing in as Autobot leader. An advertisement following the final page of the comic invites readers to watch out for more Transformers comics with Jetfire as Autobot leader. The comic and catalog were produced in all four languages featured on the MB-branded figures' packaging: French, Dutch, German, and Spanish. Oddly, a [[variant]] at least of the French version also exists, which replaces the more common "MB" branding on the front cover with a "Hasbro" branding.

The plot owes a lot to the [[Marvel Comics]] ''[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|The Transformers]]'' comic. Specifically the origin of the Dinobots is almost note-for-note their origin from "[[Repeat Performance!]]", though with Soundwave filling in for [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]. As a result, Soundwave (instead of Shockwave) missed out on getting rebuilt with an Earth mode by the Ark. Much like the storybook "[[Battle for Cybertron]]", [[dinosaur (dinosaur)|dinosaur]]s were alive and well as little as four million years ago.

The German version, uses a slightly odd, flowery tone, although it ''does'' match German translations of other comics at the time in that regard. For example, rather than "leader of the Autobots", Jetfire declares himself to be "lord over all Autobots", and the Dinobots' shocked reaction upon seeing Soundwave killing dinosaurs is rendered as "Such a villain! He's just turning these poor creatures into ground meat!!!" Also, true to form, the "war for Cybertron" is toned down to a mere "battle for Cybertron". Additionally, the German version of the introductory page spells the names of all characters, groups and locations (including "Alpha Centauri") in ALLCAPS, which the French, Dutch and Spanish versions don't do, and consistently refers to the Decepticons as "Decepticon Robots", also in allcaps.

The Spanish version, meanwhile, consistently spells the name "el arca" ("the Ark") in lowercase on the introductory page, instead placing it in quotation marks (the French and Dutch versions instead use it as a proper noun with a capitalized "A", "l'Arche" and "de Ark", respectively, while the German version spells it in allcaps, "die ARCHE"). Additionally, the Spanish version spells the name "Road Buster" in two words, both on the introductory page and on page 8, where it's broken up across two lines for space reasons (the French, Dutch and German versions spell it as one word, "Roadbuster", on the introductory page, and with a hyphen on page 8.)

===Reprints and English translations===
In 2013, an English fan translation, based on the Spanish version of the comic, was posted on the internet. The translation was done by Micah "Spark" Guy, while the lettering was provided by [[David Willis]].

In 2014, the German version of this comic, as well as the rest of the toy catalog, was reprinted in [[IDW Publishing]]'s [[The Transformers Classics UK Volume 5|''The Transformers Classics UK'' Volume 5]].

In 2022, a high quality reprint was published in IDW Publishing's ''[[Transformers: Best of the Rarities]]''. Rather than the original German (or French, or Dutch, or Spanish) version, this reprint featured an official English translation. While the introductory paragraph was given an entirely new translation, the translation of the comic itself was directly based on the 2013 fan translation (though seemingly double-checked with the Spanish version for accuracy), with David Willis and Spark even given a credit in the afterword. The lettering was completely redone from scratch, and some minor details were changed, with most of them fixing errors or deviations from the original version:
*On page 1, the caption in the first panel ends with an ellipsis instead of a period. In the second panel, Megatron says "Decepticon leaders like me also ''make'' plans" instead of "''have'' plans".
*After the first page, the fan translation lacks most of the '''bold-faced emphasis''' for certain words or names. The ''Rarities'' version restores all the emphasis based on the Spanish version.
*On page 2, Soundwave's speech balloon in the first panel ends with a period in the fan translation. The ''Rarities'' version has it end with an exclamation mark like in the original version. Meanwhile, the first caption in the third panel adds an error that was ''not'' present in the fan translation by misspelling "lifeform" as "lifef''ro''m".
*On page 3, the second caption has an extra space between "adapt" and "to" removed.
*On page 4, the final speech bubble has "these poor creatures" changed to "those poor creatures".
*On page 5, Soundwave's "Aaarg!" has an extra "r" and an "h" added, making it "Aaarrgh!" Additionally, his second speech balloon has "They ''seem to be'' creatures from this planet, but fight like Autobots" changed to "They ''look like'' creatures from this planet, but ''they'' fight like Autobots", and his third speech balloon has "they don't have the power to ''do battle with'' Soundwave" shortened to "they don't have the power to ''battle'' Soundwave".
*On page 6, the "...Ahhg!" in Soundwave's speech balloon in the second panel is changed to "Aaargh!", also dropping the ellipsis in the process. Additionally, the caption in the third panel is changed from "Then they were all paralyzed, staying in silence for much, much time." to "Then they were all paralyzed and it was silent for a long, long time."
*On page 7, the caption in the first panel has "the volcano where ''the starship'' crashed erupted" changed to "the volcano where ''{{'}}The Ark' had'' crashed erupted", thereby actually fixing an instance of the Spanish version deviating from the other versions.
*On page 8, the first caption has "commenced repairs ''upon'' both armies" shortened to "commenced repairs ''on'' both armies", and also drops an extra space between "commenced" and "repairs". Additionally, "vehicles or Earth weapons" is shortened to simply "vehicles or weapons".

It should also be noted that due to seemingly only referencing the Spanish version (but not the French, Dutch or German versions), both the fan translation and the ''Rarities'' version feature certain wordings, phrasings and other artifacts that are otherwise exclusive to the Spanish version, such as the persistence on putting the name "The Ark" in quotation marks, even though the Spanish version featured those ''in place'' of using the name "el arca" as a proper noun (i.e. with a capital "A"). Furthermore, Soundwave's line on page 5, "they don't have the power to battle Soundwave", was phrased more along the lines of "they are no match for Soundwave" in both the Dutch and German versions. Most notably, though, the name "Road Buster" is consistently spelled in two words, like in the Spanish version, in a case of misaimed hyper-accuracy.

Also, for reasons unknown, the name "Autobots" is put in quotation marks in one single instance on the introductory page, when it doesn't appear that way in the French, Dutch, German or Spanish versions, nor in the fan translation.
{{--}}

<gallery>
File:Classicuk5.jpg|'''''The Transformers Classics UK Volume 5'''''<br>(IDW Publishing, 2014)
File:TF RaritiesCover.jpg|'''''Transformers: Best of the Rarities'''''<br>(IDW Publishing, 2022)
</gallery>

==External links==
*[https://bwtf.com/articles/milton-bradley-1985-catalog Scans of the original Dutch version] at BWTF.com.
*[https://news.tfw2005.com/2013/02/03/generation-1-milton-bradley-european-transformers-mini-comic-translated-176802 English fan translation] at TFW2005.

[[Category:Generation 1 issues]]
[[Category:Pack-in material]]