The Transformers Universe (Marvel)

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The name or term "Universe" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Universe (disambiguation).
YELLOW POWER!

The Transformers Universe is a four-issue limited series published by Marvel Comics in 1986 featuring expanded profiles for the Transformers that had appeared thus far in the comic and toy lines. The entries were organized alphabetically, with the exception that characters who first appeared in The Transformers: The Movie were held until Issue 4. Each character had inked and colored versions of the character models and lengthy write-up, divided into three sections: Profile, Abilities, and Weaknesses. A header section gave the character's name, allegiance, function, and the issue number of their first Marvel Comics appearance, for those who had appeared in the book (which included the bulk of the entries).

Entries for characters from The Transformers: The Movie differ greatly in style from the rest, sometimes omitting sections entirely. The writing style for these characters suggests that their profiles are actually pre-production notes from very early in the characters' development, before their character models had actually been designed; Cyclonus, for example, is described as a "multi-engine, and perhaps multi-wing" spacecraft, with weapons such as "an incendiary bomb rack" which are clearly not present on his character model.

Issue #1

"Beginning a 4-issue guide to all the Autobots and Decepticons." Well... except Barrage and Camshaft. And Chop Shop and Downshift. And that's just this issue!
  • Cover: red background; Bumblebee on the front; Bruticus on the back. "1st Collector's Item Issue! Beginning a 4-issue guide to all the Autobots and Decepticons-- their powers and weaknesses -- and more!"

Issue #2

Both leaders are terrible shots.
  • Cover: yellow background; Optimus Prime on the front, firing at Megatron on the back cover, who returns fire. "2nd sensational issue! Continuing a 4-issue guide to everything you ever wanted to know about the Autobots and Decepticons!"

Issue #3

The audience must die!
  • Cover: blue background; dino-mode Sludge, Snarl and Slag on the front; Shockwave on the back (perhaps a nod to their clashes in issue #8.) "3rd tantalizing issue! Continuing a 4-issue guide to the biggest stars of TV, MOVIES, and COMICS!"

Issue #4

"Scale"? What's that?
  • Cover: black background; Arcee and Ultra Magnus on the front; Unicron on the back. "4th final issue! Concluding a 4-part guide to all the Autobots and Decepticons! BONUS! All the new Transformers from the hit movie included in this issue!"

Omissions

  • Divebomb's eagle mode is not shown at all.
  • Metroplex's entry includes no individual art for Scamper, Six Gun and Slammer.
  • Perceptor's third "artillery piece" mode is mentioned but not shown.
  • Sky Lynx's combined bird-lynx mode is omitted.
  • Tracks' flying car mode is omitted.
  • Like Metroplex, Trypticon's entry contains no artwork for Brunt and Full-Tilt (or even Wipe-Out).
  • The "base" modes for the four Scramble City combiner team leaders are neither mentioned nor portrayed.
  • Characters entirely missing include the Omnibots, the two Deluxe Vehicles (Roadbuster and Whirl), the four Deluxe Insecticons (Barrage, Chop Shop, Ransack and Venom), Reflector and... Hubcap and Swerve. This despite Budiansky actually writing bios for all of these guys with the possible exception of Reflector. Many of them not having character models played a role in this omission.

Errors

  • Bluestreak's name is parsed as two words: Blue Streak.
  • Bluestreak is missing his shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
  • Cassette-mode Buzzsaw is colored almost entirely red.
  • Cliffjumper's "Weaknesses" are written as if he still has his preliminary nomenclature of 'Blow-Out'.
  • Hot Spot's name is parsed as "Hotspot".
  • Huffer's art features a rounded hood behind his head, out of keeping with his toy, alternate mode, and usual character model.
  • The lower half of Kickback's face is colored the same blue-black as his body, as if he had a faceplate instead of a standard mouth.
  • Megatron's art is based on his pre-animation model, including the differently-shaped head and a trigger on his fusion cannon. His pistol mode is mostly colored blue-black.
  • Marvel had misplaced the model sheet for the front of Optimus Prime's vehicle mode, explaining why it is shown from behind.
  • Ramhorn has a Decepticon symbol on both his rhino mode and his cassette mode.
  • Roller and the Combat Deck are likewise not shown in Optimus Prime's entry.
  • Perceptor's face gets the same colored-lower-half treatment as Kickback.
  • The faces of Shrapnel, Sideswipe, Skywarp, Snarl and Slag are colored the same blue-black as their heads. Most should be white or light gray.
  • Sideswipe is missing his shoulder missile launcher.
  • Soundwave is drawn as though he has a mouth. He's colored purple instead of blue, but this is consistent with his appearance in the Marvel comics.
  • Sunstreaker's entry notes his disdain for his brother Sideswipe's rear-mounted engine... even though Sunstreaker is the one with said engine.
  • Steeljaw's entry is placed out of alphabetical order.
  • Trailbreaker's forcefield projector is missing.
  • Scourge's alternate mode is shown in the earlier (less toy-like) version which features his head poking out of the top, though his eyes have been replaced with some kind of scanner reading panel.
  • The Movie characters' write-ups are incomplete. Arblus, Arcee, the Quintessons, and the Sharkticon are missing the "Abilities" section; Blurr, Cyclonus, Galvatron, Kup, Springer, Ultra Magnus, Wheelie and Wreck-Gar have no "Weaknesses" section.

Notes

Eject? You're not even in this magazine. Let's put you on the cover and on the back. Arcee? Bottom of the back page for you!
  • The series was later republished in a single volume although a handful of character profiles, such as Eject, Rewind, Inferno, Steeljaw, Sandstorm, Tailgate, Top Spin, Twin Twist and Pipes were left out (their pictures still appeared on the cover).
  • Although cleaned up by artists Ian Akin and Brian Garvey, all the character artwork was based upon character models for the animated series.
  • Characters such as Cyclonus who had two different character models generally use the earlier version, showcasing the divide between models used for the cartoon and models used for the comic.
  • Issue 4 includes The Transformers: The Movie characters, including several non-toy characters.
  • The profiles were also used as part of the UK comic's Transformers AtoZ feature.
  • Scans of the series frequently appear on the Internet.
  • Although the title on the cover is Transformers Universe, the title in the indicia is The Transformers Universe.
  • Transformers Universe has essentially been supplanted by the More than Meets the Eye guide books, which include profiles for every toy-based G1 Transformer, including the Micromasters.

Addenda

A second series was mentioned in the Marvel Comic's letter column but it never appeared. Instead starting with issue #47 of the Marvel Comic, new post-1986 character entries under the Transformers Universe heading began appearing on a semi-regular basis featuring artwork that was based upon the character models used in the US toy commercials. Although this process continued for the rest of the series, ending in issue #79, many 1987 and 1988 characters were ultimately denied a profile of their own.

Issue #47

Issue #48

Issue #49

Issue #56

Issue #57

Issue #58

Issue #59

Issue #60

Issue #61

Issue #62

Issue #63

Issue #64

Issue #65

Issue #66

Issue #67

Issue #68

Issue #69

Issue #70

Issue #71

Issue #72

Issue #74

Issue #75

Issue #76

Issue #77

Issue #78

Issue #79

1987–1988 Omissions

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