Looking Back, Over My Shoulder.
The 1987 Annual.
Comic Stories:
What's in a Name?
Vicious Circle!
Ark Duty.
Text Stories:
The Headmasters Saga:
Chapter One: Doomsday For Nebulos.
Chapter Two: Stylor's Story.
Chapter Three: The Final Conflict.
Face it Galvatron, neither of us were supposed to get off that easily. For better or worse this is just how it’s got to be. At least until we... Finish it?!
Back in the early 1990's this was one of the two really ubiquitous Annuals, as it and its 1988 counterpart could be found clogging up the shelves of every local branch of Oxfam and it certainly stands a good chance of being the most widely read of the books by a considerable margin, and though I didn't own it when it was first released I have many happy memories of reading it ragged during the last days of the comic.
So it was a surprise to read in the fourth Classics UK book that this is regarded as a lesser Annual between two classics, due to various factors such as the perceived weakness of two of the comics, the generally lacklustre presentation (most notably there's no "Story so far" recap so as to make room for the Headmasters Saga), possibly due to it being edited by a Marvel freelancer from outside the book with little experience of the franchise, one Jenny O’Connor. So how fair is this, and how right was my childhood view?
Prime's only appearance in the whole Annual.
Things certainly get off to a cracking start with What's in a Name?, the story that fits smoothly between pages of Grudge Match!, recounting the full story of Swoop's fateful encounter with "Divebomb" and how Optimus Prime became involved in a way that so shamed him.
The actual fight between Swoop and the Decepticon who stole his name is all stuff that was covered by the two part story (though this was written first. This will get confusing), but it's handled with a great deal of style. It's a master class of character development for Swoop, as his inner monologue quickly and neatly conveys his tension and desperation as he sneaks behind enemy lines against orders to finally finish the Decepticon who humiliated him in battle. In just a page the bitterness and fear hidden beneath his bluster is perfectly conveyed.
His playmate also gets some neat work, loving every second of their fight and cheerfully mocking his Autobot foe, making for an engaging antagonist and the aerial combat lets Will Simpson show off with some of his best art, including some very well realised Cybertronian modes for the two stars. I especially love how Swoop comes so close to winning, but a slow Transformation on his part let's Divebomb bring things to a head.
This brings us to the one thing we were teased with but not told in the weekly story, the exact involvement of Optimus Prime. As I said at the time, this made an effective thing to leave hanging, being insignificant enough not to hurt the flow of the two parter but interesting enough to make the idea of finding out the truth exciting, and the reveal doesn't disappoint, being delightfully unexpected. Optimus Prime, the commanding officer Swoop hates with a passion, completely humiliates his underling by doing the worst thing possible... Saving him.
It's blackly funny, and manages to say some interesting things about Prime as we see him from Swoop's perspective. It seems (though this may be Swoop's paranoia) Prime deliberately waited until he was on the verge of being killed to intervene so as to teach him a lesson, but at the same time never actually filed a report on what happened, creating all sorts of layers for a dead character who only appears in one panel.
The story ends with things segwaying back into Grudge Match! in the present, and though this isn't essential to enjoying that story, it's still a great read and the highlight of the Annual for me.
The actual fight between Swoop and the Decepticon who stole his name is all stuff that was covered by the two part story (though this was written first. This will get confusing), but it's handled with a great deal of style. It's a master class of character development for Swoop, as his inner monologue quickly and neatly conveys his tension and desperation as he sneaks behind enemy lines against orders to finally finish the Decepticon who humiliated him in battle. In just a page the bitterness and fear hidden beneath his bluster is perfectly conveyed.
His playmate also gets some neat work, loving every second of their fight and cheerfully mocking his Autobot foe, making for an engaging antagonist and the aerial combat lets Will Simpson show off with some of his best art, including some very well realised Cybertronian modes for the two stars. I especially love how Swoop comes so close to winning, but a slow Transformation on his part let's Divebomb bring things to a head.
This brings us to the one thing we were teased with but not told in the weekly story, the exact involvement of Optimus Prime. As I said at the time, this made an effective thing to leave hanging, being insignificant enough not to hurt the flow of the two parter but interesting enough to make the idea of finding out the truth exciting, and the reveal doesn't disappoint, being delightfully unexpected. Optimus Prime, the commanding officer Swoop hates with a passion, completely humiliates his underling by doing the worst thing possible... Saving him.
It's blackly funny, and manages to say some interesting things about Prime as we see him from Swoop's perspective. It seems (though this may be Swoop's paranoia) Prime deliberately waited until he was on the verge of being killed to intervene so as to teach him a lesson, but at the same time never actually filed a report on what happened, creating all sorts of layers for a dead character who only appears in one panel.
The story ends with things segwaying back into Grudge Match! in the present, and though this isn't essential to enjoying that story, it's still a great read and the highlight of the Annual for me.
Zarak's description of Maximus' head gave the game away he was lying.
The text content is handled somewhat differently this year, instead of a few stories we get an Ian Rimmer written three part adaptation of Headmasters, presumably at the behest of Hasbro and likely as a quid pro quo for being allowed to run the actual comic as a backup rather than the lead strip.
The interesting thing though, is that at the point Rimmer was writing (and when the book was actually released the fourth issue of the miniseries hadn't been released, indeed, it's odd to think that British readers who got the book right off the press would have read the whole story before their American counterparts) he clearly had access to at least fairly final scripts for the first two issues, but at best a first draft synopsis for the conclusion. This means two thirds of Rimmer's adaptation focuses on that first half, and in particular the second issue that actually introduced the Headmasters concept.
Opening chapter, Doomsday for Nebulos, shows Rimmer is keen not to just re-enact the events he's got the most information about word for word (and which kids who got the book for Christmas would have only just finished reading, this will get confusing), and instead retells it from the perspective of a specific character who would normally be an unusual choice for this sort of thing.
Here it's Zarak, as he meets the Decepticons he's summoned to Nebulos for the first time. He's scared stiff and trying to put on a brave face for both his troops and visitors, meaning the early parts of the miniseries are recapped by him in the most biased way possible so as to make him look great and the Autobots look bastards. Pleasingly, though Scorponok doesn't believe a word of it the truth of what actually happened isn't spelt out, meaning the reader has to do a bit of work.
It's hard to tell at this point what differences from the comic are down to the early nature of the script being used and what are Rimmer streamlining things. Zarak being a more straightforward cowardly custard with no mention of a daughter could be either, but Galen being called Kord is certainly a result of Rimmer using an early working name (It's hard to tell if "Grot" for Gort is the same or if there was a typo in the reference material sent that stuck). Overall though, this is a strong summary of the opening of the miniseries that ends will with the scared Zarak now unable to stop himself blurting out the fears he was trying to keep internal at the start. Love Scorponok talking in BLOCK CAPITALS just for this chapter as well.
The interesting thing though, is that at the point Rimmer was writing (and when the book was actually released the fourth issue of the miniseries hadn't been released, indeed, it's odd to think that British readers who got the book right off the press would have read the whole story before their American counterparts) he clearly had access to at least fairly final scripts for the first two issues, but at best a first draft synopsis for the conclusion. This means two thirds of Rimmer's adaptation focuses on that first half, and in particular the second issue that actually introduced the Headmasters concept.
Opening chapter, Doomsday for Nebulos, shows Rimmer is keen not to just re-enact the events he's got the most information about word for word (and which kids who got the book for Christmas would have only just finished reading, this will get confusing), and instead retells it from the perspective of a specific character who would normally be an unusual choice for this sort of thing.
Here it's Zarak, as he meets the Decepticons he's summoned to Nebulos for the first time. He's scared stiff and trying to put on a brave face for both his troops and visitors, meaning the early parts of the miniseries are recapped by him in the most biased way possible so as to make him look great and the Autobots look bastards. Pleasingly, though Scorponok doesn't believe a word of it the truth of what actually happened isn't spelt out, meaning the reader has to do a bit of work.
It's hard to tell at this point what differences from the comic are down to the early nature of the script being used and what are Rimmer streamlining things. Zarak being a more straightforward cowardly custard with no mention of a daughter could be either, but Galen being called Kord is certainly a result of Rimmer using an early working name (It's hard to tell if "Grot" for Gort is the same or if there was a typo in the reference material sent that stuck). Overall though, this is a strong summary of the opening of the miniseries that ends will with the scared Zarak now unable to stop himself blurting out the fears he was trying to keep internal at the start. Love Scorponok talking in BLOCK CAPITALS just for this chapter as well.
He's been reading this storyline.
It’s the second story, the centrepiece of the Annual that has been the main focus of the promotion in the normal comic, where things fall apart, unsurprisingly as it’s the long awaited conclusion to the drawn out Volcano storyline.
The issue with Vicious Circle! is that the Volcano story reached its natural conclusion and then passed it, but to try and give people who only buy the Annual their monies worth it has to try and do a song and dance to fill its eleven pages meaning even more padding.
So Ultra Magnus has survived being thrown into the volcano, and the convenience of him having missed out on Fire on High! means Goldbug can spend a page recapping events to both Magnus and new or forgetful readers, whilst at the same time filling up space.
Another way of filling up time is Magnus having a crisis of faith and deciding he’s not going to fight Galvatron anymore. There’s absolutely no tension here and it’s basically a more wrought version of Jetfire’s similar decision and subsequent change of heart in Target: 2006. So there’s exactly zero surprise when, as Goldbug is having the snot beaten out of him, Magnus turns up, because of course it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
So we have another Magnus/Galvatron fight that, despite a couple of nice lines, feels old hat and it’s actually a relief when Galvatron accidentally smashes his own machine in such a way that causes the entire volcano to explode destroying everything.
Magnus does get one great moment when he decides to stay and make sure Galvatron gets caught up in the blast, allowing Goldbug to flee, indeed in retrospect knowing how this will play out it might actually have been better if he had actually died here. However, some unusually weak Jeff Anderson art (and terrible lettering) don’t help a story that is well past its sell by date and likely helped create any negative reputation the Annual might have.
The issue with Vicious Circle! is that the Volcano story reached its natural conclusion and then passed it, but to try and give people who only buy the Annual their monies worth it has to try and do a song and dance to fill its eleven pages meaning even more padding.
So Ultra Magnus has survived being thrown into the volcano, and the convenience of him having missed out on Fire on High! means Goldbug can spend a page recapping events to both Magnus and new or forgetful readers, whilst at the same time filling up space.
Another way of filling up time is Magnus having a crisis of faith and deciding he’s not going to fight Galvatron anymore. There’s absolutely no tension here and it’s basically a more wrought version of Jetfire’s similar decision and subsequent change of heart in Target: 2006. So there’s exactly zero surprise when, as Goldbug is having the snot beaten out of him, Magnus turns up, because of course it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
So we have another Magnus/Galvatron fight that, despite a couple of nice lines, feels old hat and it’s actually a relief when Galvatron accidentally smashes his own machine in such a way that causes the entire volcano to explode destroying everything.
Magnus does get one great moment when he decides to stay and make sure Galvatron gets caught up in the blast, allowing Goldbug to flee, indeed in retrospect knowing how this will play out it might actually have been better if he had actually died here. However, some unusually weak Jeff Anderson art (and terrible lettering) don’t help a story that is well past its sell by date and likely helped create any negative reputation the Annual might have.
A dedicated follower of fashion.
The second chapter of The Headmasters Saga, Stylor’s Story was easily my favourite part of the book when I was a kid and it still stands up today. It’s a straightforward retelling of the Decepticon attack on the City that led to the creation of the Headmasters through to the initial Autobot victory, but it’s also huge fun.
The conceit is that it’s Stylor bigging himself up and trying to shift the new range of metal based fashion he thinks will be taking off on Nebulos, and is told entirely in the first person. Not only is it nice to see Stylor get some attention for the first and only time, it’s very funny and puts a whole new spin on the events of the comic (ironically the only chapter in the first person- and thus with an excuse for any differences from the “Real” events we saw is the most faithful to the events of the miniseries) meaning it actually works independently from the other two Chapters as a standalone addition to the comic.
It’s also the only indication that Rimmer had anything other than written descriptions of what Bob was planning as Stylor’s mocking description of Arcana’s clothes is both spot on a nice tongue in cheek send up of the SPACE fashions Springer came up with for the Nebulons.
The conceit is that it’s Stylor bigging himself up and trying to shift the new range of metal based fashion he thinks will be taking off on Nebulos, and is told entirely in the first person. Not only is it nice to see Stylor get some attention for the first and only time, it’s very funny and puts a whole new spin on the events of the comic (ironically the only chapter in the first person- and thus with an excuse for any differences from the “Real” events we saw is the most faithful to the events of the miniseries) meaning it actually works independently from the other two Chapters as a standalone addition to the comic.
It’s also the only indication that Rimmer had anything other than written descriptions of what Bob was planning as Stylor’s mocking description of Arcana’s clothes is both spot on a nice tongue in cheek send up of the SPACE fashions Springer came up with for the Nebulons.
Especially as you'll be moving to Autobot City soon.
The third and final comic of the Annual, Ark Duty, is also written by Rimmer and is both the only story in the book not connected to an ongoing plots and the last work we’ll be seeing from Will Simpson (though his work we saw earlier in 1987 was done afterwards, this will get confusing).
It’s a fairly simple story, in 2003 Kup has the special mission of delivering the plans for Autobot City to “Earth’s Government”, but sneaky Ravage finds out and has the Stunticons attack the old timer on the road to steal it. Hot Rod breaks orders to stay in the Ark on duty to go get in back... and takes a beating for his troubles before it turns out letting them steal the actually fake plans was all part of real plan.
Despite the slightness and it being more of a recent toy advert (or in the case of Hot Rod, Blurr and Kup rereleased toys. It’s actually surprising they’re not Targetmasters, considering they’re not mentioned by name in the text story I wonder if the decision to reuse them had been made by the point this was written?), it flows well enough and has some nice lines, including Motormaster’s “After all, Kup might have a crash, and we Stunticons would like to be on hand to make sure it’s fatal!”. It’s also a solid swan song for Simpson, even if it’s not quite up to the same standard as the opening story. It’s just not an especially memorable end to the Annual’s comic content.
It’s a fairly simple story, in 2003 Kup has the special mission of delivering the plans for Autobot City to “Earth’s Government”, but sneaky Ravage finds out and has the Stunticons attack the old timer on the road to steal it. Hot Rod breaks orders to stay in the Ark on duty to go get in back... and takes a beating for his troubles before it turns out letting them steal the actually fake plans was all part of real plan.
Despite the slightness and it being more of a recent toy advert (or in the case of Hot Rod, Blurr and Kup rereleased toys. It’s actually surprising they’re not Targetmasters, considering they’re not mentioned by name in the text story I wonder if the decision to reuse them had been made by the point this was written?), it flows well enough and has some nice lines, including Motormaster’s “After all, Kup might have a crash, and we Stunticons would like to be on hand to make sure it’s fatal!”. It’s also a solid swan song for Simpson, even if it’s not quite up to the same standard as the opening story. It’s just not an especially memorable end to the Annual’s comic content.
Just to show Frank Springer wasn't the only one with an odd idea about character models.
Headmasters Saga Chapter Three: The Final Conflict is the most pedestrian of the three- Fortress Maximus just isn’t as interesting a focus as Zarak or Stylor- but actually winds up being the most interesting as it’s very obviously based on a very rough early idea for the end of the comic.
So, instead of the Transformers’ departure from Nebulos being forced by the psychological struggle between Zarak and the alien mind coming to dominate his own, it boils down to “Let’s have a duel to the death! HAHHAHA tricked you! We’ve stolen your secret fuel instead and are going to Earth instead! So long suckers!”
It’s easy to see why Bob Budiansky abandoned this idea in the end, and it makes you wonder if, once he decided to make it about Zarak’s inner turmoil; he went back into the earlier scripts and added a daughter for him to bring it more into focus. Seeing how the story was worked and developed through different drafts and synopses- especially coming at a point in the year where it’s hard not to wonder if Uncle Bob is doing more than one draft of anything- is fascinating even at one point removed.
There’s also an odd version of the Headmasters process that might be all Ian Rimmer, as Maximus keeps his own head on his shoulders when “Kord” isn’t with him, but then pops it in a chest compartment when they merge. That actually sort of makes sense.
So, instead of the Transformers’ departure from Nebulos being forced by the psychological struggle between Zarak and the alien mind coming to dominate his own, it boils down to “Let’s have a duel to the death! HAHHAHA tricked you! We’ve stolen your secret fuel instead and are going to Earth instead! So long suckers!”
It’s easy to see why Bob Budiansky abandoned this idea in the end, and it makes you wonder if, once he decided to make it about Zarak’s inner turmoil; he went back into the earlier scripts and added a daughter for him to bring it more into focus. Seeing how the story was worked and developed through different drafts and synopses- especially coming at a point in the year where it’s hard not to wonder if Uncle Bob is doing more than one draft of anything- is fascinating even at one point removed.
There’s also an odd version of the Headmasters process that might be all Ian Rimmer, as Maximus keeps his own head on his shoulders when “Kord” isn’t with him, but then pops it in a chest compartment when they merge. That actually sort of makes sense.
Good luck getting this if you only read the comic.
There’s very little in the way of extra content this year, with your options being limited to a quiz based on the comic that has a slightly unfair question based on identifying Jazz’ Cybertron mode which has never appeared in the UK comic and is therefore dependant on the player having seen Arrival From Cybertron. Though that’s as good a place as any to mention to anyone wondering why I haven’t covered it, thanks to some help from my old mucker Cliffjumper I now have confirmation (thanks to him finding a coupon in issue 198) that Transformers Universe- where the drawing of his Cybertron mode is also present- wasn’t actually published in the UK till late 1988 despite what copyright date might claim- presumably as a result of it just being recovered US stock.
The other bonus is a collection of AtoZ profiles on the smaller Headmasters, which are only really notable for being the first profiles under that name to use toy box art rather than adapted character models.
Despite the weakness of the main comic, I still have rather a soft spot for this Annual, and if you can forgive that there’s still a lot of good solid entertainment to be had here, with some especially nice work from Ian Rimmer on the prose.
Next, I wrap up the year with a look at all the reprints and Collected Comics the series enjoyed in 1987.
ISSUE 145
1987
COMMENT
The other bonus is a collection of AtoZ profiles on the smaller Headmasters, which are only really notable for being the first profiles under that name to use toy box art rather than adapted character models.
Despite the weakness of the main comic, I still have rather a soft spot for this Annual, and if you can forgive that there’s still a lot of good solid entertainment to be had here, with some especially nice work from Ian Rimmer on the prose.
Next, I wrap up the year with a look at all the reprints and Collected Comics the series enjoyed in 1987.
ISSUE 145
1987
COMMENT
