Release Date: October 5th, 1985
Cover art: Mike Collins
Writer: Simon Furman
This issue actually contains the first appearance of Inferno. The second of the 1985 cars releases that appeared first in the UK comics. Although it’s a one panel cameo (unnamed)
Release Date: October 12th, 1985
Cover art: Will Simpson
Writer: Simon Furman
The best part about this issue may be the reference to the Alice Cooper song. But it’s also a nice Dinobot team cover (although missing is Swoop) and is the first cover appearance of Snarl, who was left off the cover of US issue #8. It will be a while before Swoop gets his shot.
Release Date: October 26th, 1985
Cover art: John Higgins
Writer: Bob Budiansky
This issue is the first part of US Issue #9, however it is the first relevant cover appearance of Wheeljack (part of his arms could be seen hanging in UK issue #23).
Release Date: December 17th, 1985
Cover art: Bob Budiansky & Mike Esposito
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Issue #14 we get officially introduced to the 1985 release of the autobot cars. Interestingly, Red Alert and Inferno are not among them (however they did appear in prior UK issues).
Release Date: December 21st, 1985
Cover art: Mike Collins
Writer: James Hill
One thing the UK issues did, that the US issues did not, was provide Christmas themed covers and stories, typically around mid to late December. This one was the first in the series.
Release Date: Late 1985
Cover art: John Higgins
Writer: Various
Another thing the UK issues did, that the US issues did not, were annuals. Hasbro wanted to sell some toys that Christmas, so this annual introduces the Insecticons in one of several stories contained within.
UK Annuals typically were released later in the year, so exact release dates are unknown. But since the Insecticons in the US series were in 1986, we can safely conclude the 1985 Annual is their first true appearance in comics.
Other characters making appearances in this annual before their comic appearances in 1986 (or later) were Twin Twist and Warpath.
Lastly, there is a lesser known character by the name of Emirate Xaaron. He was mainly known for leading and autobot underground resistance movement, and forming an autobot assault team known as the Wreckers (who will be highlighted in later issues of the UK comic). He also nominated a certain Optimus Prime to take control of the Autobot forces.
Release Date: January 25th, 1986
Cover art: Jeff Anderson
Writer: Simon Furman
Swoop finally gets his cover appearance.
Release Date: January 21st, 1986
Cover art: Herb Trimpe
Writer: Bob Budiansky
A few first cover appearances, albeit in the background and the wrong color. Optimus does say “Transform…and roll out!” for the first time in this issue.
Release Date: March 15th, 1986
Cover art: Robin Smith
Writer: Bob Budianski
This is the same story from US issue #14, which the characters on the cover first appeared. Hoist, Tracks and Skids already made cover appearances in the US comic, but for the other two, this is officially their first cover. Overall, this is a better cover as it features all 5 new characters.
Release Date: March 18th, 1986
Cover art: Herb Trimpe
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Several first appearances for Autobots and Decepticons in this issue. This is also the first cover appearance of fan favoriate Blaster, the autobot cassette deck. Although none of his cassettes would appear for quite a while in the comics.
This issue, and the next, take place on Cybertron. The first of such stories in the Marvel Comics. The predominantly orange cover compliments issue #18’s predominantly green cover.
A Decepticon by the name of Straxus also makes his first appearance. This character was a ruthless, fearmongering dictator, Lord High Governor of the Decepticons. He made various appearances over the years so is familiar to long time comic readers.
Release Date: March 22nd, 1986
Cover art: Unknown
Writer:Simon Furman
UK issue #54 was actually the US comic #14. So the issue itself doesn’t provide any new material. However this issue contained a special “insert” depicting all new transformers yet to make their appearance in the US comic.
Hasbro requested the UK Transformers comic do a tie-in story to promote the new combiner transformers toys that were hitting shelves in the country at the time. The only problem was, the issues of the US comic introducing the characters were still several months away from being reprinted in the UK title. To circumvent this continuity roadblock, this insert was created in which the Autobots and Decepticons were granted a brief look into the future, to a point in time when the Special Teams had already been created.
A glossy four-page mini-comic (including the cover) that folded out into a poster showing off the toys (see below), which was given away free at toy shops, and was also included with this issue.
So, although this contains a comic story, it’s not actually a comic book. So although technically not first “cover” appearances, they do technically appear here first in a story.
Release Date: April 26th, 1986
Cover art: Geoff Senior
Writer: Simon Furman
This issue doesn’t debut any new “characters”, yet it does debut a popular attribute for Buster Witwicky. The Battlesuit. Wheeljack and Ratchet put this suit together so Buster could fight along side the autobots, but Prime was not having any of it, of forbid him to use it (Buster used it anyway).
This suit did not appear in the US Marvel side of the continuity, it did appear in the IDW Regeneration One series. The US cartoon also had similar plot lines with robot suits or bodies for humans.
It would be cool if this suit was brought back, or paid homage to, in the Image series. Either way, it’s a cool cover.
Release Date: May 13th, 1986
Cover art: Herb Trimpe
Writer: Bob Budiansky
New toys were coming out fast an furious middle of 1986. This issue debuts the former Cybertronian turned Autobot, Omega Supreme. Along with a cover appearance.
Release Date: May 24th, 1986
Cover art: Alan Stevens (Toy package art)
Writer: Simon Furman
If you didn’t consider the insert of UK issues #54 to be the first appearance of the combiners, then this would technically be the first issue. They don’t start appearing in Marvel Comics until Issue #21.
Another “sort of” first is I believe the first mention of the Matrix of Leadership. It had been “mentally stored” in the mind of Buster Witwicky, back in US Transformers #6. But it wasn’t referred to as the Matrix at that time.
Side Note: This issue included a “Special Teams Special Collection Wallchart,” a fold-out poster profiling all twenty members of the Special Teams and their combined forms (below). The spots for the four leaders and the four combined robots were left blank; the illustrations to fill these spots were included as free “collector cards” with the next seven issues, which buyers would stick in place on the chart.
This issue came with Onslaught’s card. Followed by Hot Spot (64), Silverbolt (65), Motormaster (66), Bruticus (67), Defensor (68), Superion (69).
Release Date: June 21st, 1986
Cover art: John Higgins
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Release Date: July 15th, 1986
Cover art: Herb Trimpe
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Although the combiner transformers characters had already made appearances in the UK comics, this book is where they begin to make their US appearances.
What is interesting is that for the UK cover, they changed the background cover and added word bubbles.
Release Date: August 12th, 1986
Cover art: Herb Trimpe
Writer: Bob Budiansky
The Stunticons make their US debut. What’s odd about this cover, is that it features Menasor being surrounded by the 25th Anniversary boarder, as opposed to a more well known character such as Optimus Prime or Megatron.
Release Date: September 2nd, 1986
Cover art: Don Perlin
Writer: Ralph Macchio
Adaptation of the Movie that traumatized many a Transformer loving child, with the horrific death of Optimus Prime. Parents had to consult their children afterwards and wrote angry letters to Habro, demanding Optimus return.
After Transformers #1, there aren’t a lot of “big” key issues, or hugely popular first appearances. However this book is one of them. Although controversial at the time, so many of these new characters became mainstays and popular themselves, despite this being set in the “future”, the year 2006!
