Transformers Pop-Up Book

The Transformers Pop-Up Book is a UK storybook set in Generation 1 continuity.

I didn't know Magnus' gun could do that.

The Transformers Pop-up Book is a unique piece of Transformers merchandise. It's a story-book with no ending, is filled with unique pop-up features, is basically its own self-contained continuity, and is written in very explicit and violent prose.

Vital Statistics

ISBN 1-85155-021-6
Writer/Paper Engineering: Vic Duppa-Whyte and Damian Johnston
Illustrator: Terry Pastor/Aircraft (Look, that's what it lists, who knows who "Aircraft" is?)
Pagecount: 11pp (5 double-page spreads and the back cover.)

Major characters:

• Ultra Magnus
• Starscream
• Malevolent Giant Serpent

Capsule

The Autobots launch a shuttle attack on Castle Decepticon. Ultra Magnus' shuttle is shot down and after killing a giant serpent he finds himself fighting for his life against Starscream.

Synopsis

The Decepticons were in Castle Decepticon, plotting the final destruction of the heroic Autobots. The castle was guarded by various cunning devices and Megatron's newest ally, a malevolent giant serpent. Suddenly the warning alarms went off -- the Autobots had found Castle Decepticon!

Megatron sent his most loyal Decepticons to intercept the Autobots, and a massive battle soon erupted between Decepticon interceptors and Autobot shuttles. The lead shuttle was shot down by Starscream, but an escape pod was launched from it, saving the pilot.

He can deal with this now!

The pod contained Ultra Magnus who escaped from the pod only to find himself attacked by the giant serpent. Ultra Magnus shot into the Serpent's open mouth and roasted his head from the inside. No seriously, he totally does:

This time Ultra Magnus aimed a massive stream of energy into its cavernous throat. Unprotected, the serpent's vulnerable interior began to vaporize and soon all that remained of its head and neck was a husk.

Meanwhile, automated robots from Castle Decepticon had been repairing Ultra Magnus' shuttle, mistaking it for one of their own. A ray of hope for Magnus, then, right? No! Because at that moment Starscream found him...

And so the two deadly foes were facing each other on the landing strip, so very close to the shuttle... could Magnus make it to the shuttle? Who would triumph?

And that's where the game kicks in.

Game

The exact conclusion of the pop-up book is undetermined, it can go one of four ways, depending on the outcome of the game.

The game is basically a 50-50 thing, first you toss a coin to determine whether the shuttle is an Autobot shuttle or a Decepticon shuttle. Then you use spinners to determine whether Starscream can blast Magnus or if Magnus can blast Starscream.

The four outcomes are as follows:

• The shuttle is still programmed for Autobots, and Magnus manages to escape in it.
• The shuttle is still programmed for Autobots, but Starscream manages to vaporise Magnus before he can get to it.
• The shuttle is Decepticon and Magnus can't fly it, so he tries to fight his way out against Starscream and gets vaporised.
• The shuttle is Decepticon and Magnus can't fly it, so he tries to fight his way out and manages to blow Starscream away.

Continuity

Shockwave would be proud.

The pop-up book doesn't seem to place itself in any specific continuity. It takes most of its cues from the comic continuity, using things like Castle Decepticon, however this is definitely not the same Castle Decepticon from the first issue of the Marvel comics.

The art is explicitly toy-based, and the characters are shown with their earth-based alt-modes, suggesting the story took place after the crash-landing on Earth. However the story offers no clues as to an actual location of the battle except that it takes place in a far northern wilderness.

Then there's the matter of Jetfire's allegiance in the story. He has a Decepticon insignia and is not mentioned explicitly as an Autobot anywhere in the story. Could this be a continuity where Jetfire actually stayed a Decepticon? Nah. It's probably just an error.

Comments/Notes

• Starscream is identified among Megatron's "most loyal Decepticons" in the story.

• During the flying battle the Autobots are explicitly described as wearing jetpacks, while all the Decepticons appear in flight modes. The only Decepticon without a flight mode in the battle is a transforming Ravage who appears to eject from Starscream's cockpit. Despite this depiction Ravage is described as "waiting to pounce" in the text.

Cut-and-paste artwork is okay when it's pop-up pieces.

*The shuttles that appear in this story appear to be completely unique to the pop-up book, as is the escape pod and the construction robots who rebuild the shuttle.

• Ultra Magnus' escape pod has a fusion cannon, but it was damaged in the crash and he couldn't use it to kill the giant serpent.

• The serpent is truly massive. The pop-up of castle Decepticon gives the impression of a beast almost as big as the castle itself. Even in the more close-quartered shots of him with Ultra Magnus the beast is ENORMOUS. Too bad it wasn't tougher.

• Play features of the book include a pop-up castle Decepticon with a striking giant serpent, an openning iris for the escape pod, crashing shuttles, transformers on strings who can be moved throughout the battle, Ultra Magnus leaping behind a boulder and more.

• The book also includes a pop-up cut-out of Starscream's robot mode and his jet mode. The cut-outs are used as representative tokens in the battle game at the end of the story.
  
  
  From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.