The Transformers Animated Movie Adaptation (Transformers) (Transformers (Idw)) [Paperback]

For those of you who still remember (or own) the original 80's adaption of what is the greatest of tales, you will probably be able to recall the way it followed it's big-screen brother scene for scene. And that's the main problem with this adaption (and adaptions in general): it entirely replicates the film leaving no new perspectives for the reader. In this way, you breeze through it, concentrating on the original film in your mind's eye as opposed to that on the printed page. It's hard to say, but I think someone who hasn't seen the film will probably find this too rushed and stuck together; it never really settles.

Taken another way, i.e. flicking through and focusing on the art, the comic comes to life, from the colour to the detail. Unicorn, in particular, is a special (though fleeting) sight. However, some of the no doubt universally anticipated scenes, such as the early battle between the Dinobots and Devastator on Earth are given one lousy box. You must understand I perhaps too anxiously hoped for a detailed scene where Devastator takes on each Dinobot individually... I still dream about these things.

I'd still recommend buying this, because great G1 stuff is still relatively hard to come by, and there aren't going to be any animated continuations of that series anytime soon. Plus there's a nice surprise early on, during the battle for Autobot City.

I LOVE Transformers: The Movie. That I won't bother to keep a secret. It's the best animation to come from Generation 1, has the best story to come from Generation 1, is a cult-classic, was the single, biggest turning-point in the history of the G1 franchise etc. In a nutshell, it rules. And this is quite a graphic novel way (bad joke, I know) to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the film, by releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the cult classic.

This whole thing is put together by IDW, the current holders of the licence to produce Transformers comics. And there are so many nice things here. First and foremost, is obviously the artwork, which is done by the phenomenally talented Don Figueroa, the artist from such recent Transformers comic hits like Beast Wars: The Gathering and Transformers: Stormbringer. From start to finish, Figueroa's art remains consistently astounding. The highlights definitely being the opening scene with Unicron, the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron, an awesome two-page spread featuring Omega Supreme and the Special Teams, the birth of Galvatron, the death of Starscream and the final battle. But as I said earlier, it's all beautiful and faultless from start to finish. The gorgeous colours enhance Figueroa's work even more, so the graphic novel gets high marks already.

Another quality about this adaptation is that it's written by Transformers Legend, Bob Budiansky. Having established and created so many of the original, groundbreaking concepts for Transformers, Budiansky is naturally a guy to be revered and praised. He writes the adaptation here rather nicely in comic format, and it's all faithful to the cinematic masterpiece. He also includes an absolutely brilliant additional scene which features Omega Supreme, the Aerialbots, Protectobots, Stunticons and Combaticons, that explains (plot-wise) why they weren't in the actual film. I wasn't expecting it and as a result, it's a truly wonderful surprise and one of the best things about this graphic novel.

So, it has the artwork, it has some nice extra cover sketches, it has the already epic story to begin with, a really cool new scene and the result is a rather faithful adaptation. But I do agree with the biggest, natural problem regarding this adaptation, and adaptations in general. The fact that it sticks almost entirely to the movie's script (and has to for that matter), means that there's very little that's refreshing and original. It DOES also feel quite rushed, certainly, and over before you know it. Even though it's nice for Budiansky to write this and he does a good job, I firmly believe Simon Furman could've done even better, given how this very film inspired his legendary and epic Galvatron and Unicron sagas during his runs on the UK and US Transformers comics.

Problems aside, this is certainly one of the best graphic novel adaptations of a film I've read. While not an essential Transformers purchase, it remains nice and is (generally-speaking) a faithful companion to the Ultimate Edition DVD. And at quite a good price, I'd call this a grand little bargain.

This comic was a great opportunity to include some of the scenes that didnt make the animated film (such as a battle between Mirage and Megatron and a conflict between Magnus, Red Alert, Tracks and Sideswipe against Devestator - all of which can be seen on storyboards for the movie). Unfortunately instead all you get is a direct port of the animated movie that contains nothing in the way of fresh script and no additional scenes. Its pretty but ultimately superficial and you would be best served simply watching the excellent film on DVD.