Transformers Compendium Vol. 1 (TRANSFORMERS COMPENDIUM TP)

With the recent Michael Bay films proving to be huge blockbuster hits now is the perfect time to revisit these old comics from the 80's. For something that started off as just an advert to sell toys, there has actually been a lot of thought and plot put into these comics full of great characters and even set in the Marvel Universe with guest appearance from Spiderman and cameo from Nick Fury in one issue. A lot of fun to read though i suspect this book will simply appeal to fans only with fond memories of the original comics or fans of the new films curious to see where it all started but if you are a fan then these comics are pretty much as i remember from the 80's and will no doubt love. Graphic novel contains the first 12 issues and sees the arrival from the Transformers home planet Cybertron.

This New Collection Of The US Comics Is, In My Opinion, The Best Version To Start Collecting.The Artwork Has Been Beautifully Restored Throughout And Is Much Better Than The Previous Release Of This Collection. Also, The Price Is A Lot More Reasonable Than The Price Of The Previous Hardback Versions (I Managed To Buy My Copy For Less Than £15, A Real Bargain!)Another Plus For This New Release Is That You Get More Issues Of The US Comics In One Volume Which Is An Improvement On The Previous Release Which Had Less Stories Per Volume.I Shall Be Investing In These New Collections In Future. Well Done IDW!

I bought this collection to try out my new kindle fire hd and I was not disappointed. I was a huge fan of transformers in the early 80s and have all the comics from issue 40 right to the sad end of the run with issue 300. It was great to be able to read the original American marvel stories from issue 1 to 13. The strips display well and are easy to read and follow. I'm off now to get vol 2 and I can't wait to get up to the UK comics. This is a must for any fan of the original series or comic.

First a note as to what is actually contained in this volume as the marketing blurb is just plain wrong. This is a reprint of the first 13 issues of the Marvel (US) Transformer series which started in 1984. UK readers will recognise these as they all appeared in early issues of our comic too.On to the quality of the collection. Unlike previous Classics reprints, there are no issues missed here - IDW and Marvel have sorted out their licensing quibbles so that characters like Spiderman and Circuit Breaker no longer cause anything to be missed. Also different is the colouring - gone are the dot matrix grids, replaced by solids. This doesn't really improve the look in my view - these are old comics, and I'd prefer them to look as they did originally. The solid colours give everything a rather flat look and highlight any problems with the artwork. It's not a dealbreaker however. The cover is embossed and it's a fairly handsome trade paperback. There is a new two page introduction and three small notes highlighting trivia on a few of the comics - these are fine but more could certainly have been done from an editorial standpoint. The covers of each issue are reproduced.As for the content itself, it's aged a bit but not as badly as I expected. These were written to sell toys and for the first four issues it really shows as both writer and artist struggle to breathe life into the robot characters. Credit is due though for establishing the Transformers mythology. When Budiansky gets hands on with scripting duties things start to improve. These comics could easily have been terrible given the huge roster of toys to sell, but he quickly focuses on a few and isn't afraid to build up an overarching plot between many issues - something that kept me hooked as a kid. Included here are Shockwave's grand entrance, the plight of Ratchet as last remaining Autobot, and the return of Prime and Megatron after long absences. There isn't a settled artistic team, and some people get to grips with the subject better than others (William Johnson in Warrior School is the first to get the Bots to show some kind of emotion) however it's passable for the most part. They stand up OK for what they are, and if you are buying as a Transformers fan, or just to indulge in nostalgia, then you'll enjoy them again. I wouldn't recommend them to a neutral reader of course.Finally, if you want a copy of this I wouldn't hang about. IDW has a terrible record of keeping stuff in print, and Amazon UK seem useless at getting much stock - use a reliable Marketplace seller or order directly from Amazon.com rather than wait.

Bought this book out of nostagia for the Transformers comic I used to get as a child - certainly a superior incarnation than the current films.The book comes with a bit of background about how it came to be created, which is quite interesting.Credit is deserved for creating an interesting plot around something which could have been seen as a cynical marketing exercise.Did find I got tired of the constant changing of the characters eventually, but the comics did have a good run and there were some exciting stories with clever ideas.

Loved this book.

My son was asking for a Transformers book in English for ages (we only have them in Chinese). It's a really good quality book if you have a 6 year old who loves Transformers...much better than anything new Though I have to say the inclusion of Spiderman to sell more copies in one of the early stories is quite bizarre editorial decision!

If like me, you grew up reading these comics then this collection is perfect.Reprinted in high quality and additional notes on the writers and artists who worked on them.