 Trade In this Item for up to £2.70
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Transformers Classics Volume 1 TP for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.70, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Product Description
Relive the original Transformers stories that started it all! Culled from the classic '80s Marvel material, this first volume offers some of the most beloved stories from the past, including the seminal "Car Wash of Doom," "Crater Critters," "Warrior School!," and many others.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First a note as to what is actually contained in this volume as the marketing blurb is just plain wrong. This is a reprint of the first 13 issues of the Marvel (US) Transformer series which started in 1984. UK readers will recognise these as they all appeared in early issues of our comic too.
On to the quality of the collection. Unlike previous Classics reprints, there are no issues missed here - IDW and Marvel have sorted out their licensing quibbles so that characters like Spiderman and Circuit Breaker no longer cause anything to be missed. Also different is the colouring - gone are the dot matrix grids, replaced by solids. This doesn't really improve the look in my view - these are old comics, and I'd prefer them to look as they did originally. The solid colours give everything a rather flat look and highlight any problems with the artwork. It's not a dealbreaker however. The cover is embossed and it's a fairly handsome trade paperback. There is a new two page introduction and three small notes highlighting trivia on a few of the comics - these are fine but more could certainly have been done from an editorial standpoint. The covers of each issue are reproduced.
As for the content itself, it's aged a bit but not as badly as I expected. These were written to sell toys and for the first four issues it really shows as both writer and artist struggle to breathe life into the robot characters. Credit is due though for establishing the Transformers mythology. When Budiansky gets hands on with scripting duties things start to improve. These comics could easily have been terrible given the huge roster of toys to sell, but he quickly focuses on a few and isn't afraid to build up an overarching plot between many issues - something that kept me hooked as a kid. Included here are Shockwave's grand entrance, the plight of Ratchet as last remaining Autobot, and the return of Prime and Megatron after long absences. There isn't a settled artistic team, and some people get to grips with the subject better than others (William Johnson in Warrior School is the first to get the Bots to show some kind of emotion) however it's passable for the most part. They stand up OK for what they are, and if you are buying as a Transformers fan, or just to indulge in nostalgia, then you'll enjoy them again. I wouldn't recommend them to a neutral reader of course.
Finally, if you want a copy of this I wouldn't hang about. IDW has a terrible record of keeping stuff in print, and Amazon UK seem useless at getting much stock - use a reliable Marketplace seller or order directly from Amazon.com rather than wait.
On to the quality of the collection. Unlike previous Classics reprints, there are no issues missed here - IDW and Marvel have sorted out their licensing quibbles so that characters like Spiderman and Circuit Breaker no longer cause anything to be missed. Also different is the colouring - gone are the dot matrix grids, replaced by solids. This doesn't really improve the look in my view - these are old comics, and I'd prefer them to look as they did originally. The solid colours give everything a rather flat look and highlight any problems with the artwork. It's not a dealbreaker however. The cover is embossed and it's a fairly handsome trade paperback. There is a new two page introduction and three small notes highlighting trivia on a few of the comics - these are fine but more could certainly have been done from an editorial standpoint. The covers of each issue are reproduced.
As for the content itself, it's aged a bit but not as badly as I expected. These were written to sell toys and for the first four issues it really shows as both writer and artist struggle to breathe life into the robot characters. Credit is due though for establishing the Transformers mythology. When Budiansky gets hands on with scripting duties things start to improve. These comics could easily have been terrible given the huge roster of toys to sell, but he quickly focuses on a few and isn't afraid to build up an overarching plot between many issues - something that kept me hooked as a kid. Included here are Shockwave's grand entrance, the plight of Ratchet as last remaining Autobot, and the return of Prime and Megatron after long absences. There isn't a settled artistic team, and some people get to grips with the subject better than others (William Johnson in Warrior School is the first to get the Bots to show some kind of emotion) however it's passable for the most part. They stand up OK for what they are, and if you are buying as a Transformers fan, or just to indulge in nostalgia, then you'll enjoy them again. I wouldn't recommend them to a neutral reader of course.
Finally, if you want a copy of this I wouldn't hang about. IDW has a terrible record of keeping stuff in print, and Amazon UK seem useless at getting much stock - use a reliable Marketplace seller or order directly from Amazon.com rather than wait.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have seen this on the shelves & looks great, but sealed so couldn't see inside. I bought it on Amazon & had to return it as they didn't make sure it had adequate packaging & was damaged. But had a chance to compare it with the Graphic Novels by Titan & saw the colours were washed out & faded compared to the Titan Publication. So I wont be bothering with getting these.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
More than meets the eye.
7 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
This is the second time that IDW has collected and released the original US comic book series. So before I was going to buy it, I knew I would have to look at it to see if there was any difference between this release and the original that I already owned. After looking at the new release, I knew that I was going to buy it; this new release is that much better than the original. Here are the Pros and Cons of this volume for those who already own the original IDW collection
Pros:
Transformers Classics volume 1 contains issues 1-13 of the original comic book series. It includes issues 3 and 9 which were left out of the original IDW release due to copyright issues; gone are the two page plot summaries and cheesy warnings about "the threat greater than Unicron: lawyers."
The book has been recolored. The first IDW attempt at releasing this series 3 years ago left the issues with a very dark look to them on glossy paper. This new release features color corrections for outright mistakes (goodbye purple soundwave from issue 10) and recolors with a lighter color palette. It is a small thing that makes a huge visual impact.
Goodbye glossy paper. I don't know enough about paper quality to say whether this will be a plus for everyone, but I find the quality of paper used for this release to be preferable.
Cons:
The original IDW release of Transformers Classics volume 1 contained issues 1-16; of course, it didn't really contain issues 3 or 9 so that leaves the reader with 14 issues. This new release only has issues 1-13. The original IDW release of the whole series was 6 volumes. I would guess that this time around IDW releases 7 issues. On top of that between the two releases, this new release is more expensive. So, readers will be paying more money for the classic series this time around.
Is it worth it? If you are a Transformers fan who has never read these stories or missed collecting the last release by IDW, then absolutely. If you are a die hard Transformers lover, then yes it will be worth it. More casual transformers fans who already own the original release or fans who own the actual issues may not be all that interested in this release. But I highly recommend that all lovers of this series consider this release. IDW has done a great job this time around and fans can give their thanks.
Pros:
Transformers Classics volume 1 contains issues 1-13 of the original comic book series. It includes issues 3 and 9 which were left out of the original IDW release due to copyright issues; gone are the two page plot summaries and cheesy warnings about "the threat greater than Unicron: lawyers."
The book has been recolored. The first IDW attempt at releasing this series 3 years ago left the issues with a very dark look to them on glossy paper. This new release features color corrections for outright mistakes (goodbye purple soundwave from issue 10) and recolors with a lighter color palette. It is a small thing that makes a huge visual impact.
Goodbye glossy paper. I don't know enough about paper quality to say whether this will be a plus for everyone, but I find the quality of paper used for this release to be preferable.
Cons:
The original IDW release of Transformers Classics volume 1 contained issues 1-16; of course, it didn't really contain issues 3 or 9 so that leaves the reader with 14 issues. This new release only has issues 1-13. The original IDW release of the whole series was 6 volumes. I would guess that this time around IDW releases 7 issues. On top of that between the two releases, this new release is more expensive. So, readers will be paying more money for the classic series this time around.
Is it worth it? If you are a Transformers fan who has never read these stories or missed collecting the last release by IDW, then absolutely. If you are a die hard Transformers lover, then yes it will be worth it. More casual transformers fans who already own the original release or fans who own the actual issues may not be all that interested in this release. But I highly recommend that all lovers of this series consider this release. IDW has done a great job this time around and fans can give their thanks.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
introduction to Transformers Mythology
11 Dec 2011
Format:Paperback
I never saw the cartoon during it's original run. I became facinated with the saga after the first animated movie. When the cast is wiped out after the first hour, I had to see how this saga came to be. If you like a more concentrated story that centers on the characters, you'll like this collection. They are surprisingly good and have depth that you don't see in the regular Marvel line. The paper and quality of printing are much better than the glossy versions. I can't wait for the second volume because the story is getting better with each issue. The art is uneven at times; however it doesn't take away from the story.
Transformers G1
5 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is what started it all, shortly prior to the premiere of the classic cartoon. In this series, largely written by Bob Budiansky, the writers had somewhat of a "playground," testing out ideas for the new budding mythology, seeing what did and did not work. Taking that into account, along with the fact that these early issues were, sadly, intended to sell toys, it's fun to see where Transformers all got started. The first 8 or 12 issues are very well written, and the later issues in the overall series become better. Personally, I prefer the cartoon version to this particular collection of the early Marvel Comics, due to the cartoon seeming surprisingly more focused, as the early comics would sometimes scrap old ideas, and the cartoon sometimes focused on character more than the comic.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
