Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection

4/5 of a grand tale.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection is a fortnightly 100-volume partwork from Hachette, edited by Simon Furman. Partworks are a Hachette specialty: a series will be collected out of order (the first Definitive was volume 6) for commercial purposes but can be collected on your shelf in order with a fancy picture on the collective spines. The collection aims to republish every single "Generation 1" comic ever made, including the original Marvel Comics run—UK and US—in order for the very first time. Each issue has a special cover and bonus content, and Fantastic FREE! Gifts are provided for subscribers. Marvel UK strips which were originally printed in black-and-white have been given brand new colours by John-Paul Bove using emulations of both 1980s American and latter-day Marvel UK techniques. These include "Raiders of the Last Ark" in volume 1 and many later strips starting with "Race with the Devil" in volume 16.

The series was initially announced in September 2016 to contain 60 issues—ending with the Dark Cybertron crossover—but by the time of its launch in December, it had already been extended to 80 issues, with volume 80 providing some closure in the form of Till All Are One and Requiem of the Wreckers. In 2018, upon the conclusion of IDW's first continuity, fan observed that it would take around ten extra volumes to reprint the entire IDW catalogue—and on the 18th of July 2019, Simon Furman confirmed on Twitter that the collection had been extended by twenty issues for a total of 100.

Sounds great, right?

Well... not if you live outside the United Kingdom and Ireland. The partwork was given a trial-run in parts of the UK before a national release started in early 2017. In August 2017, the subscription also became available in Australia, but became unavailable in July 2018 due to the closure of the Australian distributor. In January 2019, it became available in Poland, with volumes being released in proper chronological order.

Even for those who were able to subscribe, the partwork ended up not being quite as definitive as advertised. The reprints of Marvel US material were taken from IDW's Transformers Classic 'remasters', complete with newly-introduced typos and haphazard attempts to 'fix' errors. As such, many of the minor edits made to those stories for their original UK printings (to better jive with Furman's expanded continuity) are absent. Furthermore, thanks to the dreadfully-flat colouring of the Classics reprints, John Paul Bove's newly-coloured versions of the black-and-white UK strips—intended to match surrounding US stories—end up looking out of place anyway!

Cover galleries include the covers for both the US and UK stories, but not the UK-exclusive covers for US stories. Additionally, it's apparent that Hatchette mapped out the partwork with the intent of being the first company to reprint the latter-day Dreamwave material such as the Sunstorm arc and Micromasters, in volumes 27 and 28—but those volumes wound up containing issues from Dreamwave's Armada comic, which merely guest-starred G1 characters and seem very out of place in a "Definitive G1 Collection". Presumably, this late change occurred for the same reason those stories have never been reprinted in the first place—nobody's sure whether the creative teams were actually paid for their work.

To make matters worse, the order in which much of the material is presented—particularly with IDW's stories—can often only be described as baffling. Furthermore, many issues were first printed with glaring errors, and Hatchette's own notoriously-bad customer service made obtaining corrected replacements a nightmare for many subscribers.

Volumes

Each volume contains cover art from the original issues, plus a new introduction by Simon Furman. The bonus features below are in addition to these.

Vol.	Issue	Title	Contents	Bonus Features	Release date
06	01	Target: 2006	Marvel UK #78–83 "Cybertron: The Middle Years!" Marvel UK #84–88 Marvel US #21–23	A guide to the launch of The Transformers: The Movie in the UK and its marketing purposes for Marvel UK, a "Meet... The Wreckers" feature, a behind-the-scenes look at the development of "Target: 2006", and a spotlight on Geoff Senior.	30/12/2016
36	02	Stormbringer	Spotlight: Shockwave, Spotlight: Soundwave Stormbringer #1–4 Spotlight: Nightbeat, Spotlight: Hot Rod	An article on the beginning of IDW-verse production and several sketches by Figueroa.	11/01/2017
16	03	The Primal Scream	Marvel UK #198, #213–222 Marvel US #56–61	An overview of the change in format of the UK series and the introduction of 5-page black-and-white strips, and an article by Bove on the colouring techniques used at Marvel UK and Marvel US in the 1980s, and how he emulated them for colourising the UK strips.	27/01/2017
18	04	Edge of Extinction	Marvel US #67–75	An overview of Marvel's Unicron and a spotlight on Andrew Wildman.	08/02/2017
29	05	The War Within	The War Within #1–6 and preview	Various character design sketches by Don Figueroa and an article on the making of The War Within.	22/02/2017
37	06	Escalation	Spotlight: Sixshot, Spotlight: Ultra Magnus Escalation #1–6	Sketches by E. J. Su, bios on IDW Ultra Magnus & IDW Sixshot, an article on creating the IDW Spotlights, and an interview with Su.	08/03/2017
08	07	Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive	Marvel US #27–28 Marvel UK #113–120 "Vicious Circle!" (Annual 1997)	An overview of the Marvel UK Annuals and a bio on Marvel Goldbug.	22/03/2017
39	08	Hearts of Steel	Hearts of Steel #1–4 Spotlight: Galvatron, Spotlight: Optimus Prime, Spotlight: Mirage	Concept art by Guido Guidi and an article about the creation of Hearts of Steel.	05/04/2017
10	09	Trial by Fire	Headmasters #1–4 Marvel US #38–39 Marvel UK #130–132	A retrospective on the Headmasters miniseries and an overview of how Marvel UK handled toy marketing.	19/04/2017
21	10	Regeneration One	Regeneration One #80.5–85	A commentary on issue #81 by Simon Furman, an overview on production leading up to Regeneration One, and several cover sketches.	03/05/2017
31	11	The Iron Fist	Transformers/G.I. Joe #1–6	Various character design sketches by Figueroa and an overview of the many G.I. Joe crossovers across the comics.	17/05/2017
50	12	Heart of Darkness	The Transformers: Infestation #1–2 Heart of Darkness #1–4	A post-mortem on "Zombots" across the various comics and a bio on IDW Hardhead.	31/05/2017
59	13	Dark Cybertron, Part 1	Dark Cybertron one-shot More than Meets the Eye #22–25 Robots in Disguise #23–24	A bio on the Titans and the making of Dark Cybertron with John Barber and James Roberts.	14/06/2017
01	14	Power Play	Marvel US #1–4 Marvel UK #9–#21	The alternate ending of Marvel US #4, unused artwork from issue #1 by Frank Springer, and an overview of how Marvel UK first approached The Transformers.	28/06/2017
26	15	War and Peace	Transformers: Generation 1 vol. 2 #1–6 and preview	Top 10 Easter eggs for "War and Peace" and scorecards listing each faction and their crew members during the arc.	12/07/2017
35	16	Primacy	Monstrosity #1–4 Primacy #1–4	An interview with Flint Dille about his work on the G1 cartoon and his involvement in the Autocracy trilogy.	26/07/2017
64	17	Windblade	Windblade vol. 1 #1–4 The Transformers vol. 2 #35–38	A bio for Windblade, an overview of her conception, pictures of her Thrilling 30 toy, and early design sketches by Hasbro.	09/08/2017
19	18	Perchance to Dream	Marvel UK #240–260 Marvel US #76–77	A Marvel UK Classic Heroes Competition! page, an overview of Furman's attempts to connect Marvel UK's black-and-white strips to the US stories and how he would eventually have to abandon doing so, an article on the "Two Megatrons!" confusion, and a bio on Marvel Thunderwing.	23/08/2017
40	19	Maximum Dinobots	Maximum Dinobots #1–5 Spotlight: Grimlock, Spotlight: Wheelie	Dinobot sketches by Nick Roche and Klaus Scherwinski's Spotlight: Wheelie sketchbook.	06/09/2017
22	20	Natural Selection	Regeneration One #86–90 "Peace" (Annual 1989)	An overview of the Marvel Generation 2 comic and several cover sketches.	20/09/2017
46	21	Things Fall Apart	The Transformers vol. 1 #2–8	Character design sketches by Figueroa, an extract from Decepticomments from The Transformers #4 by Mike Costa, and a bio on IDW Swindle.	04/10/2017
07	22	The Harder They Die	Marvel UK #96–104 Marvel US #24–26	An analysis of the many deaths of Optimus Prime in Generation 1.	18/10/2017
33	23	Megatron: Origin	Megatron: Origin #1–4 Spotlight: Blurr, Spotlight: Orion Pax	A discussion of the production stages on Megatron: Origin by Eric Holmes.	01/11/2017
14	24	Space Pirates	Marvel UK #172–173, #180–189 Marvel US #43 & #51, "Altered Image!" (Annual 1989)	How Marvel UK incorporated The Big Broadcast of 2006 into the timeline.	15/11/2017
43	25	All Hail Megatron, Part 1	All Hail Megatron #1–8	An article on creating All Hail Megatron, character design sketches by Guidi, and the series pitch by Shane McCarthy.	29/11/2017
52	26	The Death of Optimus Prime	The Transformers vol. 1 #24, 26, 28, 30, 31 The Death of Optimus Prime	An interview with James Roberts on how he worked his way up to become an ongoing writer, and character design sketches by Livio Ramondelli.	13/12/2017
44	27	All Hail Megatron, Part 2	All Hail Megatron #9–16	A Decepticon Roll Call with mini-bios, and trivia about All Hail Megatron #13–16, pointing out notable plot points in the Coda issues.	27/12/2017
20	28	End of the Road	Marvel UK #261–289 Marvel US #78–80	Articles about the ends of the US and UK series, including discussion of "Another Time & Place," the final letters page from #80, and script pages from #80.	10/01/2018
72	29	The Dying of the Light	More than Meets the Eye #50–55	The bonus story "No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases and essential background material on the DJD	24/01/2018
75	30	Titans Return, Part 1	Till All Are One #1–4 Titans Return one-shot The Transformers vol. 2 #56–57 More than Meets the Eye #56–57	"Creating the IDW-Verse" — a two-page article on the beginning of More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise.	07/02/2018
60	31	Dark Cybertron, Part 2	Robots in Disguise #25–27 More than Meets the Eye #26–27 Dark Cybertron: Finale one-shot	A blow-by-blow account of Dark Cybertron's hidden secrets	21/02/2018
71	32	All Hail Optimus	The Transformers vol. 2 #50–55	Background material on the Council of Worlds	07/03/2018
02	33	New Order	Marvel US #5–#10 Marvel UK #29–#32 "And There Shall Come...a Leader!" (Annual 1995)	Insights into Marvel UK's efforts to ease the transition between the US and UK material	21/03/2018
03	34	Dinobot Hunt	Marvel UK #41–50 Marvel US #11–#12	A look at the UK Christmas story tradition	04/04/2018
23	35	Destiny	Regeneration One #91–95, #0 "Destiny of the Dinobots!" (Annual 1990)	A feature on Regeneration One issue #0 and rare/unseen sketchbook art	18/04/2018
30	36	War Within: The Dark Ages	War Within: The Dark Ages #1–6	Synopsis of War Within: the Age of Wrath, including art from unfinished issues.	02/05/2018
45	37	Last Stand of the Wreckers	Last Stand of the Wreckers #1–5 Spotlight: Prowl The Transformers vol. 1 #1	Interview with Nick Roche, pre-production sketches and story drafts	16/05/2018
49	38	The Iron Age	Ironhide #1–4 The Transformers vol. 1 #19–21 ("Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix" only).	Casey Coller's Ironhide sketchbook	30/05/2018
11	39	The Legacy of Unicron	Marvel UK #133–138, "What's in a Name?" (Annual 1997), #146–151 "Ark Duty" (Annual 1997) Marvel US #40–41	A feature on the origins of the origin of the Transformers	13/06/2018
17	40	Matrix Quest	Marvel US #62–66 Marvel UK #223–239 "The Chain Gang!" (Annual 1990)	Features on the stories behind "Matrix Quest" and, Marvel UK's crossover "Deathbringer" saga	27/06/2018
73	41	Transformers vs G.I. Joe, Part 1	Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #0–7	A creator commentary on issue #0 and an exclusive interview with Tom Scioli	11/07/2018
76	42	Titans Return, Part 2	Till All Are One #5–11	Article on Revolution	25/07/2018
62	43	Earthfall	Robots in Disguise #28–34	The lowdown on the (new) human cast and rare promotional posters for the Dawn of the Autobots event	08/08/2018
04	44	Second Generation	Marvel US #13–16 Marvel UK #59–65 "To a Power Unknown!" (Annual 1996)	The story behind Marvel UK's Special Teams promotion	22/08/2018
32	45	Infiltration	Infiltration #0–6	An article on "Creating the IDW-Verse: From the Ground Up", "The Pitch" - Furman's original pitch to IDW for Infiltration, and some sketches by E. J. Su.	05/09/2018
24	46	The War to End All Wars	Regeneration One #96–100	the prose story "King of Shadows" and rare/unseen sketchbook art	19/09/2018
28	47	Worlds Collide Part 2	Armada #14–18 Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye #8	A brief overview of Dreamwave's Energon comic and a bonus glossary section dedicated entirely to background material from the Dreamwave G1-verse	03/10/2018
42	48	Revelation	Spotlights: Arcee, Cyclonus, Hardhead, Doubledealer, Sideswipe, Jazz, Metroplex	"-Ations" retrospective, sketchbook art from Alex Milne and E. J. Su reprinted from individual Spotlights	17/10/2018
65	49	Combiner Wars	The Transformers vol. 2 #39–42 Windblade vol. 2 #1–4	An article on the Prime Wars Trilogy	31/10/2018
79	50	Primeless	Optimus Prime #9–12 Lost Light #9–12	A one-page editorial by Simon Furman that mentions the IDW universe's impending end	14/11/2018
12	51	Cosmic Carnival	Marvel UK #145, 152–153, 160–161 Marvel US #42, 44–46	A behind-the-scenes look at the UK-only return of Megatron	28/11/2018
25	52	Prime Directive	Tranformers: Generation 1 vol. 1 #1–6 (plus Preview)	A two-page article on 'the in-between years' covering the time when no-one had the Transformers licence for comics.	12/12/2018
53	53	Liars, A to D	More than Meets the Eye #1–6, Spotlight: Trailcutter and Spotlight: Hoist	An all-new interview with James Roberts, rare archive material from the dawn of MTMTE, Alex Milne's sketchbook.	26/12/2018
55	54	Shadowplay	More than Meets the Eye #7–13, plus the 2012 Annual	The second of a new three-part interview with Roberts, early pages of scripts, and design sketches from Alex Milne.	09/01/2019
13	55	City of Fear	Marvel UK #164–171 Marvel US #47–50 "Dreadwing Down!" (Annual 1990) "Plague of the Insecticons!" (Annual 1985)	A behind-the scenes look at a sea change moment for the US comic (Furman's takeover as head writer) and a Bob Budiansky sketchbook.	23/01/2019
41	56	Drift	The Transformers: Drift #1–4 Spotlight: Drift, Spotlight: Blaster	An article on creating Drift and some design sketches by Guido Guidi.	06/02/2019
74	57	Transformers vs G.I. Joe, Part 2	Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #8–13	No extras, but still has the cover art and intro from Furman present on all issues.	20/02/2019
47	58	International Incident	The Transformers: Bumblebee #1–4 The Transformers vol. 1 #9–12	An interview with Zander Cannon and breakdowns for pages 1–4 of each issue of the Bumblebee mini-series.	06/03/2019
05	59	The Smelting Pool	Marvel US #17–#20 "Victory!" (Annual 1996) Marvel UK #74–77	Background material on the planet Cybertron with map.	20/03/2019
54	60	A Better Tomorrow	Robots in Disguise #1–7	A new interview with John Barber	03/04/2019
48	61	Revenge of the Decepticons	The Transformers vol. 1 #13–18 Spotlight: Megatron	A Spotlight: Megatron sketchbook	17/04/2019
15	62	Time Wars	Marvel UK #199–205 "All in the Minds!" (Annual 1989) Marvel US #52–55.	A behind-the-scenes look at Galvatron's storyline	01/05/2019
58	63	Shockpoint	Robots in Disguise #15–22	A 2-page history of IDW Shockwave's history-setting plans.	15/05/2019
80	64	Requiem of the Wreckers	Till All Are One #12 Till Are Are One Annual 2017 Transformers Annual Requiem of the Wreckers	Wreckers sketchbook and notebook material from Nick Roche.	29/05/2019
63	65	Elegant Chaos	More than Meets the Eye #35–42	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	12/06/2019
09	66	Toy Soldiers	Marvel US #29–#32, #35–#37 Marvel UK #125 and Action Force #24–27	A one-page behind-the-scenes feature on "Man of Iron" and how it got reprinted in the US comic.	26/06/2019
78	67	New Cybertron	Optimus Prime #1–8	A sketch gallery by Kei Zama	10/07/2019
67	68	Conquerors	The Transformers vol. 2 #43–49 Combiner Hunters one-shot	Development art by Andrew Griffith	24/07/2019
38	69	Devastation	The Transformers: Devastation miniseries Spotlights for Kup, Ramjet and Cliffjumper	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	07/08/2019
57	70	Remain in Light	More than Meets the Eye #14–21 Prose stories "Signal to Noise" and "The Sound of Breaking Glass"	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	21/08/2019
77	71	Dissolution	The Transformers: Lost Light #1–8	A sketch gallery by Jack Lawrence	04/09/2019
69	72	Sins of the Wreckers	Sins of the Wreckers miniseries The Transformers Holiday Special	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	18/09/2019
56	73	City On Fire	Robots in Disguise #8–14 2012 Annual	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	02/10/2019
34	74	Autocracy	The Transformers: Autocracy miniseries Spotlight: Thundercracker	A one-page article on Autocracy, including an interview with co-writer Chris Metzen.	16/10/2019
70	75	Punishment	The Transformers: Punishment miniseries The Transformers: Redemption one-shot The Transformers: Salvation one-shot	An article about the Motion Book Tool app used for the digital version of The Transformers: Punishment, a "Brief History of the (IDW) Dinobots", and a Livio Ramondelli sketchbook.	30/10/2019
27	76	Worlds Collide Part 1	Armada #8–13 More than Meets the Eye: Armada (select material)	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	13/11/2019
68	77	Empire of Stone	Drift - Empire of Stone miniseries Windblade vol. 2 issues 5–7	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	27/11/2019
51	78	Chaos Theory	The Transformers vol. 1 #21 ("Police Action: Prologue" only), #22–23, 25, 27, 29 Spotlight: Bumblebee	A one-page article exploring the origins of the "Chaos" arc and beyond.	11/12/2019
66	79	Speak, Memory	More than Meets the Eye #43–49	A one-page article about the Scavengers.	25/12/2019
61	80	World, Shut Your Mouth	More than Meets the Eye #28–34	A page of "Season 2" character posters.	08/01/2020
84	81	The Falling: Part 1	Optimus Prime #13–17 Optimus Prime Annual 2018	A one-page article about the Primes.	22/01/2020
90	82	Generation 2: Part 1	Transformers: Generation 2 #0–6	An article about Fleetway's UK Generation 2 comic, including [small-scale scans of] "War Without End", their first UK-original G2 strip.	05/02/2020
81	83	Revolution	Revolution #0–5 The Transformers Revolution one-shot Till All Are One Revolution one-shot More than Meets the Eye Revolution one-shot	No bonus aside from Furman's intro.	19/02/2020
89	84	Realignments	G.I. Joe and the Transformers #1–4 Marvel's G.I. Joe #138–142	No bonus aside from Furman's intro and a cover gallery.	04/03/2020
82	85	Revolutionaries	Revolutionaries #1–8	A two-page timeline of major IDW continuity events from issue #1, and the character profiles also from issue #1.	18/03/2020
92	86	Transformers: The Movie	Marvel's adaption of the 1986 animated movie IDW's adaption of that same movie	A one-page article about the movie-verse in comics.	01/04/2020
83	87	First Strike	First Strike #0–6 First Strike: Transformers one-shot First Strike: Optimus Prime one-shot	A one-page "Prelude to...Unicron!" article, preceding the reprint of "The Signal".	22/04/2020
95	88	G.I. Joe vs. Transformers, Part 1	Devil's Due's G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #1–6		13/05/2020
85	89	The Falling, Part 2	Optimus Prime #18–25 (assumed)		03/06/2020
93	90	Beast Wars: The Gathering	Beast Wars: The Gathering #1–4 (assumed)		17/06/2020
86	91	The Everlasting Voices	The Transformers: Lost Light #13–18 (assumed)		01/07/2020
96	92	G.I. Joe vs. Transformers, Part 2	Devil's Due's G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #1–4 (assumed)		15/07/2020
87	93	Crucible	The Transformers: Lost Light #19–25 (assumed)		27/07/2020
91	94	Generation 2, Part 2	Transformers: Generation 2 #7–12 (assumed)		12/08/2020
88	95	Unicron	Transformers: Unicron #0–6 (assumed)		26/08/2020
94	96	Beast Wars: The Ascending	Beast Wars: The Ascending #1–4 (assumed)		09/09/2020
97	97	G.I. Joe vs. Transformers, Part 3	Devil's Due's G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: The Art of War #1–5 (assumed)		23/09/2020
98	98	The World In Your Eyes	Transformers #1–6 (assumed)		07/10/2020
99	99	The Cracks Beneath Your Feet	Transformers #7–12 (assumed)		21/10/2020
100	100	Constructicons Rising	Transformers: Galaxies #1–6 (assumed)		04/11/2020

Notes

• The free gifts shipped to subscribers with the first five deliveries (each consisting of two isses - except the first, which included a third issue free) were:
  • Autobot/Decepticon insignia keyrings!
  • A wallet!
  • A tin-plate version of the cover to "Dark Star", featuring a cosmically-empowered Starscream!
  • A mug!
  • A pair of metal Autobot/Decepticon insignia bookends!
• Before the partwork launched, the second free gift was advertised as an Autobrand belt buckle.
• The first issue collected "Target: 2006", and was coincidentally out at newsagents thirty years after the story originally ran.
• The printings of Marvel material aren't really identical to those released by IDW—for instance, issue 1 (volume 6 - confused yet?) includes various Marvel trademarks (such as the superheroes around the edge of the cover to "Heavy Traffic" and the kid wearing a Spider-Man t-shirt in "Decepticon Graffiti") which were painted out of IDW's reprints due to rights issues.

Errors

• When the website launched, it accidentally credited Andrew Wlidman.
• Copies of the first issue provided to general retail and initial subscribers had an error on the spine, with the black volume number box at the top being the wrong size. Subscribers received free corrected copies, while those who bought theirs at newsagents had to wait for replacements which were included with issue 7. Hachette were seen giving away error-stricken copies for free at a signing event at a London comic shop. This error shouldn't be confused with the change in spine art for the first four issues made between the limited trial run and the mass release, which means that anyone who subscribed to the series from its trial will end up with three different copies of issue 1.
• The poster included with issue 1 includes a bio for Jazz... which uses an image of Prowl.
• The trial versions of issues 1 and 2 had the inside cover art swapped: the "Target: 2006" book had artwork for Stormbringer, and vice versa.
• A feature in issue 1 states that the Marvel UK comic sold 200,000 copies per week, when really it only sold 100,000 per week at its peak. This error presumably stems from the fact that Marvel (and other publishers at the time) multiplied their circulation figures by 2.5 to calculate their readership, as they estimated that many issues would be shared between friends and siblings. This error was not present in IDW's original reprints.
• The bio for John Paul Bove included in issue 3 (volume 16) was apparently written by himself in the first person, then edited into the third person—one of the sentences written in first person remains!
• Some copies of volume 22 had a number erroneously printed on one of the pages.
• The first print run for volume 35 had an error where the last two pages of Monstrosity #11 were swapped with two from "War and Peace" #3.
• Many volumes include pages which are stuck together, though this is easy enough for the reader to fix.
• Though some readers may try to convince you otherwise, Mister Johnson is not an error.

Reading order

• Within individual volumes, Marvel material is segregated between US and UK stories—even when those stories were originally interspersed, with connected narratives!
  • The material in volume 2 should be ordered US #5-8, UK #29-32, US #9-10. "And There Shall Come...a Leader!" is a Furman-penned comic from the 1995 annual, but it's a standalone flashback that isn't referenced until UK #44. "Plague of the Insecticons!" (the other comic from the annual) is set in the present day but doesn't match up with the continuity at large—for some reason it's included as backmatter to volume 13, alongside stories released three years later!
  • Volume 3 presents UK #41-50 before US #11-12. This should be the other way around!
  • The pack-in comic "The Special Teams Have Arrived" is absent—but of course, it was completely retold in UK #63-65, included here in volume 4.
  • The two comic stories from the 1986 annual aren't directly connected to specific issues; "To a Power Unknown!" doesn't really fit into continuity at all, but certainly takes place after UK #65—which is where the partwork puts it—while "Victory!" (which explains what happened to the Dinobots between UK #50 and #65) is placed before UK #74-77, another Dinobot-centric story which touches on its events.
  • "The Gift", UK #93's seasonal story by James Hill, is omitted; it should be placed in volume 6 between US #22 and US #23.
  • Volume 8 presents US #28 before UK #113-120, despite it having been published afterwards as UK #121-122.
  • The stories from the 1987 annual are scattered. "Vicious Circle!" is placed in volume 8 alongside UK #113-120, collectively forming the first "post-movie" storyline. "What's In a Name?" is set during UK #135-136, but for some reason is placed after UK #137-138 in volume 11. "Ark Duty" is also thrown into volume 11, after UK #146-151... despite chronologically taking place some time before that story.
• Presumably as an editorial decision, the partwork omits a large quantity of prose material.
  • Marvel UK's prose content is mostly omitted, although it bears mentioning that much of it is tricky to reconcile with the continuity proper anyway. This includes James Hill's four stories from the 1985 and 1986 annuals ("Missing in Action", "Hunted!", "The Return of the Transformers" and "State Games"), Jamie Delano's "The Mission" (also from 1986), Furman's in-universe recaps from the 1986 and 1989 annuals ("In the Beginning..." and "The Saga of the Transformers — So Far!"), Ian Rimmer's "Prime Bomb!" (also from 1989), both stories from the 1990 annual ("The Quest!" and "Trigger-Happy!"), the 1991 annual's "The Magnificent Six!", and the 1992 annual's "Another Time & Place". UK #302's "Dreadwind's Xmas!" is absent too.
  • The various prose stories, profiles and comics first printed with the collected editions of Last Stand of the Wreckers are absent.
  • Tom Scioli's four-page "Black Cybertron" prose story from Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #10 is omitted, along with the creators' commentaries which graced the other issues in the series.

Covers

• Marvel (US & UK)
• 
  Vol 1: Power Play
• 
  Vol 2: New Order
• 
  Vol 3: Dinobot Hunt
• 
  Vol 4: Second Generation
• 
  Vol 5: The Smelting Pool
• 
  Vol 6: Target: 2006
• 
  Vol 7: The Harder They Die
• 
  Vol 8: Wanted:
  Galvatron - Dead or Alive
• 
  Vol 9: Toy Soldiers
• 
  Vol 10: Trial by Fire
• 
  Vol 11:
  The Legacy of Unicron
• 
  Vol 12: Cosmic Carnival
• 
  Vol 13: City of Fear
• 
  Vol 14: Space Pirates
• 
  Vol 15: Time Wars
• 
  Vol 16: The Primal Scream
• 
  Vol 17: Matrix Quest
• 
  Vol 18: Edge of Extinction
• 
  Vol 19:
  Perchance to Dream
• 
  Vol 20: End of the Road

• Marvel's Generation 2
• 
  Vol 89: Realignments
• 
  Vol 90: Generation 2 Part 1

• IDW's Regeneration One
• 
  Vol 21: Regeneration One
• 
  Vol 22: Natural Selection
• 
  Vol 23: Destiny
• 
  Vol 24:
  The War to End All Wars

• Dreamwave Productions
• 
  Vol 25: Prime Directive
• 
  Vol 26: War and Peace
• 
  Vol 27:
  Worlds Collide Part 1
• 
  Vol 28:
  Worlds Collide Part 2
• 
  Vol 29: The War Within
• 
  Vol 30:
  War Within: The Dark Ages
• 
  Vol 31: The Iron Fist

• 2005 IDW continuity
• 
  Vol 32: Infiltration
• 
  Vol 33: Megatron Origin
• 
  Vol 34: Autocracy
• 
  Vol 35: Primacy
• 
  Vol 36: Stormbringer
• 
  Vol 37: Escalation
• 
  Vol 38: Devastation
• 
  Vol 39: Hearts of Steel
• 
  Vol 40: Maximum Dinobots
• 
  Vol 41: Drift
• 
  Vol 42: Revelation
• 
  Vol 43:
  All Hail Megatron, Part 1
• 
  Vol 44:
  All Hail Megatron, Part 2
• 
  Vol 45:
  Last Stand of the Wreckers
• 
  Vol 46: Things Fall Apart
• 
  Vol 47:
  International Incident
• 
  Vol 48:
  Revenge of the Decepticons
• 
  Vol 49: The Iron Age
• 
  Vol 50: Heart of Darkness
• 
  Vol 51: Chaos Theory
• 
  Vol 52: The Death of
  Optimus Prime
• 
  Vol 53: Liars, A to D
• 
  Vol 54: A Better Tomorrow
• 
  Vol 55: Shadowplay
• 
  Vol 56: City On Fire
• 
  Vol 57: Remain In Light
• 
  Vol 58: Shockpoint
• 
  Vol 59:
  Dark Cybertron, Part 1
• 
  Vol 60:
  Dark Cybertron, Part 2
• 
  Vol 61:
  World Shut Your Mouth
• 
  Vol 62: Earthfall
• 
  Vol 63: Elegant Chaos
• 
  Vol 64: Windblade
• 
  Vol 65: Combiner Wars
• 
  Vol 66: Speak, Memory
• 
  Vol 67: Conquerors
• 
  Vol 68: Empire of Stone
• 
  Vol 69: Sins of the Wreckers
• 
  Vol 70: Punishment
• 
  Vol 71: All Hail Optimus
• 
  Vol 72:
  The Dying of the Light
• 
  Vol 75:
  Titans Return, Part 1
• 
  Vol 76:
  Titans Return, Part 2
• 
  Vol 77: Dissolution
• 
  Vol 78: New Cybertron
• 
  Vol 79: Primeless
• 
  Vol 80: Requiem of the Wreckers
• 
  Vol 81: Revolution
• 
  Vol 82: Revolutionaries
• 
  Vol 83: First Strike
• 
  Vol 84: The Falling Part 1

• Miscellaneous
• 
  Vol 73:
  Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Part 1
• 
  Vol 74:
  Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Part 2
• 
  Vol 92:
  Transformers: The Movie

Extended cover gallery

External links

• Official website