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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jan 26, 2021 23:41:01 GMT
It is still a shame, that the best print quality version overall remains the UK comic, everyone of the trade paperback series published has either issues or omissions.
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 27, 2021 9:53:54 GMT
Indeed. This is why I still upgrade grotty copies of the comics with mintier ones from time to time.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 2, 2021 19:20:57 GMT
30 Years Ago This Week: Issue #308The Enemy Within - Part 1: Reprinted from #13 Eye of the Storm - Part 3: Optimus announces to the Autobots on the Ark that he intends to surrender to Scorponok to try and unite the Transformers before the arrival of Unicron. Meanwhile on Earth, Mindwipe and Triggerhappy desert Scorponok, later joining with Shockwave, Starscream and Ravage. Starscream exclaims he has declared war on Scorponok. Back in space, Grimlock commandeers a shuttle and departs for Hydrus Four with the dormant Dinobots. Optimus explains to the others he has gone in search of Nucleon, a powerful new energy source that could revitalise his friends. At that moment, Nightbeat's probe returns, quickly followed by a hideous amalgam of Megatron and Ratchet. Elsewhere, Transformation explains the next issue of Transformers will be on sale in two weeks and will feature a free bookmark, four extra pages and a glossy cover; Colin uses his biffer gun to avoid a collision with the pavement; the next week page gives a long introduction to 'new' back up strip star Machine Man; and on the letters' page, Blaster decides to retire the VVH and blast miscreant stubbies with awful music instead - starting with the post room chap still sending out toys with letters from Dreadwind, who will get Saviour's Day by Cliff Richard for two hours at full volume.  Note - the cover box for this issue says Feb 9th, which would be its intended off sale date if still being sold weekly. As the cover date for issue #309 is March 2nd and in two places inside this issue it is stated the publication is fortnightly as of now, the cover date should read Feb 16th. The erroneous date could either be a simple mistake, or evidence that the change to fortnightly was bumped forward an issue after the cover had already been prepared but before the editorial pages were written.
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 2, 2021 20:38:39 GMT
The last weekly issue!
*sniff*
And the cover to cover all-TF stories format didn't last long!
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 2, 2021 20:45:08 GMT
Three issues to be precise...
I must remember not to do #309 next week. This is going to get really dragged out now. 24 issues to go.
Actually, should this now be 30 Years ago this fortnight?
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 2, 2021 21:46:42 GMT
Yup.
-Ralph
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Post by HeliumAudio on Feb 3, 2021 4:25:46 GMT
Wow
Time flies
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,251
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Post by The Huff on Feb 3, 2021 9:04:24 GMT
Bit we do get some lovely covers from now on.
Edit: so we should actually - its pretty much the only job that needed doing!
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 3, 2021 14:43:38 GMT
Getting close to when I come back to reading the comic, with one of the best US covers of that era of TF.
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 9, 2021 19:18:12 GMT
30 years ago this week...
There was sadness and longing.
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Post by Shockprowl on Feb 10, 2021 12:33:13 GMT
Gosh I bet that was quite the body-blow, back in the day. The first week of not getting the comic when it went to fortnightly.
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 10, 2021 12:42:08 GMT
A dark day, and a sign the comic was doomed.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 10, 2021 18:49:56 GMT
Don't know how we're going to cope next January.
I might just start again.
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 10, 2021 18:50:12 GMT
Big gap until the paltry G2 effort comes round.
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 10, 2021 20:06:37 GMT
Big gap until the paltry G2 effort comes round. Paltry? Andu will ANNIHILATE YOU. -Ralph |
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 10, 2021 21:34:04 GMT
Paltry as in five issues, not paltry in terms of content. Panels from the G2 story are so good they're burnt into my mind more than a lot of G1. Yaniger is a master.
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 10, 2021 21:39:04 GMT
Too late. You're doomed.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 10, 2021 22:11:19 GMT
It was paltry! Five issues? Only two with UK content? Even the Armada comic managed nine! I own the original US and UK floppies, the Titan hardbacks and the Hachette ones. The only thing wrong with the G2 series was that there wasn't very much of it.
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 16, 2021 11:21:17 GMT
30 Years Ago This Fortnight: Issue #309The Price of Life! - Part 1: The hideous melded form of Megatron and Ratchet shocks everyone and Kup fires on it. Nightbeat stops him shooting again and explains there is hope they can be separated. Prime deliberates while Kup claims as security officer it's his job to destroy the 'creature'. Prime decides for now the creature will live. Meanwhile, on Hydrus 4, Grimlock is led towards Farooth and the source of the Nucleon. He encounters a half-living but incredibly powerful droid trying to defend the Nucleon. Defeating it, he wonders about the mysterious force that kept it animated and whether that counts as 'alive'. The Enemy Within - Part 2.1: Previously printed in #14 Machine Man 2020 - He Lives Again! - Part 1: Previously printed in #27 Elsewhere, Transformation frightens itself by looking at the cover of "Megan and Razza" before waxing lyrical about the new 28 page format; there's a free movie-mark sellotaped to the cover and the promise of a giant poster in a fortnight; The A-Z returns with a colour reprint of the Thundercracker/Thrust page that previously appeared in black and white; Colin encounters the Bobble-Hat of Doom; on the letters' page, James McDonald of Livingston asks why Transformer toys no longer transform because they are "useless and just sit there going bang bang"; and on the inside back page there's an advert for the Transform-A-Wall 1.5 metre high poster, featuring fluorescent blast sheets, reflective foil stickers, the exciting Escape to Earth game and apparently the 'true' Transformers story - a bargain at £2.99 plus £1 P&P. 
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 16, 2021 11:23:27 GMT
Who has the Transform-a-Wall poster then? What is the TRUE story of the Transformers?  |
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 16, 2021 13:50:33 GMT
The Moviemark is a really weird freebie. That and the cover suggest they were going for older readers with this relaunch issue. Even the editorial questions whether they've gone too far with it.  |
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 16, 2021 15:24:52 GMT
I don't recall the 28-page format lasting long, just like how the cover-to-cover TF story format lasted 3 issues.
The bookmark is great. I still have one somewhere.
-Ralph
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 16, 2021 15:48:41 GMT
It lasts for just this issue. The Enemy Within reprint vanishes in #310 along with four pages.
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tomwe
Empty
Tom reads comics
Posts: 1,037 
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Post by tomwe on Feb 16, 2021 16:08:00 GMT
My distinct memory of this issue is that the cover was awfully dark and that I didn't think the paper was much of an upgrade. it had always been glossy before. Then the sellotape ripped the cover as well, which was probably easier since it was 'so' dark, ie any amount of paper taken from the cover left white showing underneath.
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 16, 2021 16:21:46 GMT
Yes, the promised glossy cover is not glossy at all. The paper situation I can't work out here, a few issues back blaster claimed the cheaper paper gave better colour repro and that soon the comic would be on it throughout, but which paper is the cheaper one isn't clear and some of the inner pages in this issue are in the thinner glossier stuff.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 16, 2021 16:34:21 GMT
It lasts for just this issue. The Enemy Within reprint vanishes in #310 along with four pages. The Enemy Within reprint doesn't vanish, it's merely a brief hiatus and is back with 313. |
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 16, 2021 16:51:07 GMT
It lasts for just this issue. The Enemy Within reprint vanishes in #310 along with four pages. Shortest format change ever! -Ralph |
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 16, 2021 17:07:38 GMT
The Enemy Within reprint doesn't vanish, it's merely a brief hiatus and is back with 313. Well it vanished from 310, and then Machine Man goes while Enemy Within finishes. You can see that the intended 28 page/3 strip format changed immediately and they had to revolve the two in-progress backup strips to fit them in. It's a pity they obviously felt they had to finish the Machine Man story and stuck with that after Enemy Within instead of going on with Raiders. |
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 16, 2021 18:45:13 GMT
It does feel like there were a lot of sudden editorial changes when Blaster/the new editor took over.
-Ralph
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
Posts: 4,251
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Post by The Huff on Feb 16, 2021 20:17:01 GMT
Who has the Transform-a-Wall poster then? What is the TRUE story of the Transformers? ME! I still have mine. And I didn't ruin mine by colouring Powermaster Primes head in green!!! Perhaps the kid in the picture is German and is simply copying it from one of the covers of the great Comic Magazine. Although the Movie marker was missing from my copy back in the day. I'm sure that this is the first time I've seen what it was supposed to look like. |
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