The Transformers

by Dwight Jon Zimmerman
From Marvel Age #17, March 1984

In 1984, before Hasbro unleased the Transformers toys on an unsuspecting public, they contacted Marvel Comics to produce a comic book promoting the line. Marvel responded with a four-issue limited series, which eventually snowballed into an eighty-issue ongoing series.

The following article is from Marvel Age Magazine, Marvel's in-house promotional title. Near as I can tell, this is the first mention of Transformers in any Marvel media. While it's a bit heavy with the hype, long-time TransFans will enjoy reading this, especially the early profiles of as-yet-unknown characters...

This latest series from Marvel combines science fiction speculation with human drama, powerful and sizzling graphics with an innovative and provocative storyline! When you hear us tell you about the care and planning that went into developing THE TRANSFORMERS, you'll hardly be able to wait for issue #1. Sit back and read about the origins of THE TRANSFORMERS -- we know we've got you fascinated already!

Editor in Chief Jim Shooter told MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE the whole story. "Marvel Comics is so successful that we're constantly in demand for our creative services. People from outside the comics field come to us with an idea, a concept, or a character - and ask us to help develop their idea into a fully realized fictional reality. For example, you all know that Hasbro came to Marvel to help create G.I. Joe. In fact, when they contacted us, all Hasbro had was the name 'G.I. Joe' kicking around -- and we did the rest!

"It's one of the most challenging and exciting parts of my job to gather up the right creative people to work on such projects. The Transformers caught my attention right away. Hasbro had already created the toy figures -- fascinating robots unlike anything I had ever seen. I saw a wealth of possibilities for these imaginative figures, so I immediately contacted Denny O'Nell to help me create a full history for them. Denny is one of the best idea men in the business, and his contribution to the Transformers legend is brilliant."

When Jim and Denny had finished creative development for The Transformers, they knew they had a guaranteed blockbuster on their hands. However, Jim's and Denny's work schedules were too full for them to carry out the comic book project themselves. They assembled a creative team for THE TRANSFORMERS series who could do their carefully-crafted concepts justice. Bill Mantlo, experienced at bringing incredible concepts like ROM and THE MICRONAUTS to the comics page, was a logical choice. Bill's excitement reached stratospheric levels when he read the thick background file Jim and Denny had developed for each character. For, Jim and Denny had created a detailed history of the Transformer's mechanical home planet Cybertron and solid, distinct characterizations for twenty-eight major heroes and villains!

When artist Frank Springer saw the sample designs Hasbro had brought to Jim Shooter's office, he fell in love with these amazing robots. The quality of their construction and their ability to assemble and re-assemble into different shapes had DAZZLER's penciler nearly begging for the TRANSFORMERS assignment. News that Frank would pencil THE TRANSFORMERS thrilled inker Kim DeMulder. Kim, the talented embellisher for THE NEW DEFENDERS and the upcoming BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Limited Series, had always regarded Frank Springer as his artistic mentor. Here was an inking assignment that project editor Bob Budiansky was only too happy to give!

With the creative team in place and the project underway, Bob acknowledged to MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE that he found himself in an editorial cat-bird set. "Bill's story is original and scintillating. Frank's pencils are polished and powerful. I admire the level of detail in Frank's work, sustained in spite of the fact that he has so many characters to draw!"

The Transformers are not ordinary robots. They are sophisticated, shape-changing, fully-sentient mechanical beings. Each possesses a complex array of incomparable weaponry. Optimus Prime leads the Autobots -- those Transformers who defend the Earth against the merciless Decepticons, led by the evil Megatron. See for yourselves what makes these mechanical beings so compelling, as we describe their full range and complexity.

The Autobots, essentially noble characters, can transform themselves into useful transportation vehicles. They range in size. Optimus Prime, the strongest and wisest of the group, can become a tractor trailer and split into three parts. Bumblebee, the spy, can become a Volkwagen beetle. The warriors named Sideswipe, Blow-Out, and Spin-Out can transform into exotic sportscars. Ratchet, Huffer, and Hound, respectively the Autobot's medic, construction engineer, and scout, can become an ambulance, a cab-over truck, and a Jeep.

The Autobots' peaceful transportation abilities belie their stunning combat prowess. Optimus Prime, for example, can produce a deadly combat deck which bristles with artillery and radiation weapons. Blow-Out can fire projectiles filled with a special compound called "glass gas." When the glass gas projectile shatters against an object it temporarily disrupts the atomic bonding of that object, making it brittle as common glass. Sideswipe possesses piledriver arms and a rocket back-pack that can supersonically fly him to wherever he is needed. Spin-Out is equipped with an ultra-accurate missile launcher and an electron pulse-gun that can burn through a thickness of titanium steel in two seconds. Hound, as befits his role as a scout, has encyclopedic memory banks and an infra-red detector that can identify an enemy by its traces of heat. Ratchet, the medic, uses lasers, welders, and many other cutting and binding instruments to repair a damaged Autobot in no time and ready him for battle. Huffer is the construction genius of the group. The only Transformer that doesn't posses a weapon, Huffer derives joy from building a veritable arsenal of useful devices.

Cunning, sinister, and warlike, the Decepticons assume disguises of destruction to serve what they feel is their destiny to rule. Megatron is known as the "Slag-Maker," a nickname he relishes. His deadly fusion cannon can annihilate a major city. Starscream, Megatron's second-in-command, can become a deadly fighter plane, with incredible speed, range, and weaponry. Ravage, the Decepticons' saboteur, can become the mechanical counterpart of a jaguar. To enhance his terrifying methods of murder, Ravage can become invisible under subdued light conditions. Rumble, who possesses the power of the earthquake, can transform himself into a stereo cassette for deadly espionage work. Laserbeak, who can transform himself into a condor, is a sadistic interrogation expert who takes particular delight in using his lasers to extract information from helpless captives.

The saga of the Transformers begins billions of years ago on the planet Cybertron. Located In a distant solar system, the home of the Transformers is a completely mechanized world where mountains are skyscrapers and rivers are highways. Civil war between the Decepticons and Autobots raged for centuries.

One of the many battles between Autobot and Decepticon reached the Earth. Optimus Prime was leading a contingent of Autobots on a secret mission, when the Decepticons found him out and attacked. Megatron and his men infiltrated Aunty, the Autobots' intelligent space ship. The battle turning in the Decepticons' favor, Optimus Prime sent Aunty on a collision course with the Earth. The impact was devastating. Aunty buried herself deep in the young planet's crust. The Autobots and Decepticons were knocked into dormancy. Eons passed. In the early 1980's, Mount Saint Hilary erupted. Far below, the titanic shock-waves reactivated the ravaged circuits of the Autobots' vessel. Aunty's sensors assessed the situation, and discovered a wide range of indigenous life forms in the environment. Because many of Aunty's circuits were irreparably damaged, the ship proved unable to distinguish between Autobot and Decepticon. The ship, then, capable of altering the Transformers' shapes, adapted both the Autobots and the Decepticons to life on Earth. Aunty matched the personalities of each Transformer to a particular inhabitant of Earth. So did the basic weaponed identities of the Decepticons and vehicle guises of the Autobots come about.

The Autobots and Decepticons were re-activated and civil war began anew. THE TRANSFORMERS series shows the Autobots valiantly defending the Earth against Megatron's forces who view Earth as a planet rich with the resources to build new Decepticons. The Decepticons' ultimate goal Is the destruction of all life forms in the galaxy.

It is the very definition of "life form" that creates conflict and confusion for the Transformers. For them, recognizable life forms are only the mechanical beings: cars, boats, appliances, and so on. Flesh and blood creatures, plants, and bodies of water are completely beyond their comprehension. When the Autobots finally discover who Earth's intelligent life forms are, and how frail and helpless they seem to be, they resolve to protect this fragile world from Decepticon annihilation.

The first issue of the bi-monthly TRANSFORMERS is scheduled for release in April. Don't miss it. The very survival of a civilization hangs in the balance!