Transformers Comic-Taschenbuch issue 1

Transformers Comic-Taschenbuch #1 »
Tangerine flavored Megatron VS Optimus Prime!
Publisher	Condor Verlag
First published	1990
Editor	Wolfgang M. Biehler
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity
Price	4 DM

Contents

Transformers — The Universe Is Expanding!

A nonfiction article explaining the origins of the Transformers as comic book characters, Hasbro's dealings with Marvel that also included G.I. Joe, a summary of the Transformers' in-story origins, the setting and some of the key characters. In fact, this article is mostly a direct translation of the original announcement of the Marvel Transformers comic book that was originally published in Marvel Age #17, although for inexplicable reasons, the translated article is credited to a "Michael Landmann" (which is actually a pseudonym for Michael Nagula, who worked as Condor's primary translator of Marvel comics from 1989 through 1996, and who would occasionally use that pseudonym for nonfiction articles published in Condor's Marvel publications) instead of the original author of the Marvel Age article, Dwight Jon Zimmerman.

A few sentences are cut for space; for example, all references to the creative team beyond Jim Shooter and Denny O'Neil are dropped. Furthermore, some sections are rearranged for dramatic effect; notably, the "The saga of the Transformers begins billions of years ago…" portion that begins halfway through the original article is used as a teaser at the beginning of the German article. And of course, the translation still uses the early working names "Blow-Out" and "Spin-Out" for Cliffjumper and Sunstreaker, respectively, because how should Condor have known otherwise?

However, Condor wouldn't be Condor if they hadn't managed to insert a few original quirks into the translation:

• The description of Optimus Prime is basically correct, but the way the translation interprets "tractor trailer" reduces him entirely to a truck cab without any mention of a trailer whatsoever, and then goes on say he can "break apart into three parts", which sounds just confusing.
• Likewise, the next paragraph elaborates on how Optimus Prime can "produce a deadly combat deck", but the translation misinterprets the term "produce" to mean Optimus can manufacture a combat deck on the spot.
• The original text refers to Cliffjumper and Sunstreaker as "exotic sportscars", but the translation explicitly interprets that to mean "foreign sports cars"… even though Cliffjumper turns into a Porsche, a German model.
• The weirdest of all misinterpretations can be found in the section that describes how the Autobots' ship adapts the Transformers to life on Earth: Whereas the original text states that Aunty "matched" the personalities of each Transformer to a particular "inhabitant" of Earth (as in, found an alternate mode that matched the Transformer's existing personality), the translation takes that to literally mean that "each Transformer was given the personality structure of a specific inhabitant of Earth". Shadowplay much?

Reprints

• The Transformers (Marvel US) #19 - "Command Performances!"
• The Transformers (Marvel US) # 20 - "Showdown!"
• The Transformers (Marvel US) # 21 - "Aerialbots over America!"
• The Transformers (Marvel US) # 22 - "Heavy Traffic!"

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