Transformers: Time Wars (Paperback)

As the title implies, what 'Time Wars' amounts to, basically, is an epic battle involving Autobots and Decepticons from two different times (how freaky it is to realise that we are now closer to the future of 2009 than the 'present day' 1989!) attempting to restore order by vanquishing Galvatron from the time period in which he's been living for a couple of years. There's a number of deaths involving long running (and no longer part of the toy range) characters, kind of a dry run for Simon Furman's mass cull as he moved into the US title, and the welcome return of Ravage after an absence of more than 100 issues (since a skirmish with the Skids in the US story, 'Showdown' - Skids himself also makes a brief reappearance, still trapped in limbo since Galvatron's arrival in 'Fallen Angel').

'Time Wars' itself only occurs in the second half of the book, and the stories preceeding it relate to the what is about to happen. When I first opened the book I was surprised to find it begins with 'Worlds Apart', the UK 'Headmasters' story, but reading on (specifically, 'All in the Minds' and a subplot in 'Time Wars') the reason for its inclusion become apparrent. The other stories here, 'Dry Run' and 'Altered Image', are more obviously necessary, setting out the back story of the Megatron/Galvatron union.

All is well written, and all is well drawn. The book even corrects a colour error which occurred in the original comic run of 'Time Wars'. One minor fault is that the artwork styles vary quite dramatically throughout the 'Time Wars' story - from Andy Wildman's opening cartoonish style, through Dan Reed's horror look, to Lee Sullivan's angular look which climaxes events. I like all the artwork and, presented on a weekly basis, it works fine, but collected here it jars a bit - a scene can start off in one style and then completely change on the next page.

The UK comic would never again reach the heights achieved through the Galvatron saga and indeed, only a few weeks later, the UK strip shortened and changed to black and white. 'Time Wars', therefore, represents the end of an era.

The Galvatron saga was undeniably the highlight of the UK comic. Simon Furman always makes his work five star material, whether it be starting the story, carrying on through the middle or just simply finishing it off. Time Wars is a classic example of how well the greatest Transformers writer of all time was able to finish off an epic that had spanned well over a hundred issues.

Actions between present and future Transformers become too much for the fabric of space and time to handle and a terrifying rift opens which threatens to destroy Earth and Cybertron AND their futures, which would cause both the human and transformer race to become extinct.

An uneasy alliance is formed between two eras of Autobots and Decepticons and they realise that the only way to stop the chaos is to return Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge to their own time. Scourge is more than eager to go back, whereas Cyclonus...well you'll see for yourself and Galvatron goes over the edge even more than before, who is now intent on destroying all Transformers so he can rule the universe.

This is basically a great big massive free-for-all between the Transformers but its one that's pulled off so well. Its a brilliant story and a perfect ending to a saga that went on without fault or criticism for three years.

The many highlights of Time Wars include Megatron and Galvatron teaming up and just dismantling the Wreckers and the Mayhem Attack Squad, the return of Ravage (who has a fairly major role in this book), the never before seen insanity of Shockwave and of course, the highly anticipated battle between the one and only Optimus Prime and Galvatron.

Simon Furman is unquestionably the man who understands Transformers better than anyone and it shows. This is a five star finish to a five star classic. Full credit goes to him for putting together the greatest Transformers saga ever written. The artwork goes without saying. All of the artists have put in lots of effort into making the story beautifully illustrated, especially during the very end of the book which has to be seen to believed.

Awesome. Simply awesome.