Editing The Transformers Four-Issue Limited Series

The '''Four Issue Limited Series''' is the story arc that kicked-off the original [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|G1 US Marvel comic]]. The series was reportedly only slated to run for four issues, but, due to popular demand, was extended beyond that. The Four Issue Limited Series ultimately ended with [[End of the Road! (US)|issue #80]].

The first four issues of the originally planned run began by introducing the [[Transformer]]s as the inhabitants of the planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] which were engaged in a global civil war. It told of how the war was taken to the planet [[Earth]] when [[Ark (G1)|a starship]] containing combatants from both sides of the conflict crashed and lay dormant for four million years until [[Mount St. Hilary|the volcano]] they were buried under erupted, reactivating the ship's onboard computer. The computer then repaired its Transformer occupants.

The story then centered around the Transformers acclimating themselves to their new surroundings, first encounters with the planet's inhabitants, and their desperate need to obtain the fuel they need to function. The evil Decepticons' strategy of violently taking what they need from the humans leads the noble Autobots to try to stop them, continuing their civil war. The initial four issues ends in a climactic battle where the Autobots have apparently beaten the Decepticons with the help of the human [[Sparkplug Witwicky]]. The tables are turned when [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] arrives and buries them all under a pile of rubble with a blast from his laser gun mode, leading into the next chapter of the continuing story.

The initial four issues include:
*1 - [[The Transformers (issue)|The Transformers]]

*2 - [[Power Play!]]

*3 - [[Prisoner of War!]]

*4 - [[The Last Stand]]

==Notes==
* An [http://www.tfarchive.com/comics/faq/alternate.jpg alternate ending] was scripted and drawn for a UK reprint of issue #4 in Transformers: The Complete Works, Volume 2; in this version, Shockwave never strikes, and the series ends with Optimus Prime declaring the Decepticons defeated once and for all. Some have theorised that this ending was created by the US comics in case the series failed to progress past issue #4. However, the art on these panels, particularly a closeup of Optimus Prime's face, in the very final panel, is markedly different to Springer's so it seems much more likely that this version was simply drawn for the UK printing by one of their own artists.

[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics]]