|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 19, 2024 23:00:02 GMT
|
|
Nigel
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 5,049
|
Post by Nigel on Sept 20, 2024 9:09:43 GMT
I started my epic readthrough this morning.
It would have been dozens of issues before I had my first comic, so this will be my first time of reading from the start on a regular schedule.
As I recently read Skybound's 40th anniversary edition, I actually didn't absorb the main strip as much as I otherwise would have, but it was nice to read it in its original clarity, as compared to the various reprints, scans and remasters. But besides the Transformers strip, there was plenty to enjoy.
Machine Man was one of my favourite back-up strips but of course that was the future-set story that would be printed years later; I missed this strip first time around so it was fun to see an early story. I find the editorials quite charming in this issue, with the layouts marvellously unsophisticated, presumably reflecting literal cut-and-paste techniques of the day. I laughed at one reader's letter that said children would go out and buy the toys after reading and be disappointed that they couldn't do as much as in the strip, such as fly! The reply mentioned imagination, but at least the reader was savvy (or cynical) enough to recognise that this was an advert! Speaking of adverts, I recognised that the toy advert in this issue used artwork from one of the catalogues covered at the TFNation panel last month. Robot Roundup: I wish this feature would have lasted longer, even if it were just occasional, as I'd have enjoyed reading it as a child; this issue's was well researched and a pleasing read. I liked the reader survey, which amongst various things asked, how much pocket money do you get?
Whatever happened to children's clubs? Send us your money and we'll send you some factsheets and a birthday card! This issue had Smash instant potato and Pedigree Chum clubs!
My copy doesn't have the transfer sheet, but the transfers have been rubbed down on the poster inside. Unfortunately, the second poster was removed, so I have two missing pages. I shall have to make some notes about this sort of thing as I read through, in case I have chance of better copies at some point. Though it seems unlikely I'll ever have another No.1 - the only copy on eBay at the moment, the seller's asking £500!
|
|
|
|
Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 20, 2024 21:19:06 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by that_bluestreak on Sept 21, 2024 17:55:23 GMT
Like everyone else, I didn't get issue 1, and didn't read it until it was released in volume one of The Complete Works (which only made two volumes). Its not really very impressive but also there's nothing wrong with it, given the general standards of the day and the economics of toy selling. It sets the scene, introduces the product, introduces the product and the little aryan boy that is supposed to represent the everyman reader. I have an original copy but its pretty battered. I love that its full of other stuff as they threw everything at the wall. *checks content* lots of products mostly unrelated, Robot Round-Up, some posters (of which i have one remaining, nicely filled in with some transfers). Machine Man never did it for me, and a quick scan right now doesn't change anything. Were Transformers available in the shops when this came out? Had the cartoon been seen in the UK yet? I was six and hadn't heard of Tfs yet. I suppose it must have been, but if not it was pretty impressive that any copies got sold. Well done to Jonathan Dunn, previous owner of my copy whose name is all over it!
|
|
|
|
Post by pulsar on Sept 22, 2024 7:04:39 GMT
I first saw the toys a few weeks before the comic came out. I’d been collecting Robo Machines for most of 1984 and was intrigued by the larger, more intricate TFs and the bios on the back, but not enough to switch. The Robos were more affordable and had more interesting vehicle modes: you could get a train and a race car and a submarine for the same price as a strike jet.
That first issue changed everything. The cover really stood out among other comics. The characters look both impressive and toy accurate, both robotic and human. It helps that Soundwave and Optimus were really good toys — it might not have looked so good if Megatron had been released in the UK — but I still think it’s one of the best pieces of TF art. And it pays off years later when Soundwave leads the Decepticons to victory.
I still wasn’t completely sold, though: TFs were an unknown quantity to me and what I really wanted was a Robo Machines comic. Flicking through the first issue in Smith’s, I was reassured by the backup strips and other features like Robot Roundup, as well as by the editorial saying that it aimed to be a comic about all robots rather than just TFs. This gave it a wider appeal at a time before the TV show aired and the toys became a craze. I was a little disappointed when they moved away from the magazine format, and even more disappointed when they moved away from robot-focused backup strips like Spitfire and Iron Man of 2020.
The story grabbed me right from the first page, with the interaction of naturally-occurring gears, levers and pulleys. I started to make up fan theories immediately, specifically that “shaken loose” meant a test of the engines for the cosmic dreadnought. By the time I reached the accidental cliff hanger, I was hooked and never bought another Robo Machine.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Doctor on Sept 22, 2024 10:24:20 GMT
Robo Machines did get a fantastically violent comic strip back in the day. STRON-DOMEZ!!! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Robo_Machines_(comics)I have fond memories of it and would love a nice reprint volume, though I imagine the rights issues would be a nightmare for a niche publication. -Ralph |
|
|
|
Post by pulsar on Sept 25, 2024 14:08:05 GMT
I don't remember that at all, but I didn't often read Eagle. Perhaps I'd never have become a TF fan if it had been a standalone comic and/or published a month or two earlier.
|
|
