Those wacky german Comics again...

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:05 pm

http://cgi.ebay.de/TRANSFORMERS-Super-A ... dZViewItem

Optimus Prime's head and Death's Head!

And, uhm, Spike?

It's practically a "Super-Auswahl-Band" so Super-collection of TF comics, funny thing is, I thought Marvel UK was published in the UK only...

Stormwolf · Post by **Stormwolf** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:20 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:http://cgi.ebay.de/TRANSFORMERS-Super-A ... dZViewItem

Optimus Prime's head and Death's Head! And, uhm, Spike?

It's practically a "Super-Auswahl-Band" so Super-collection of TF comics, funny thing is, I thought Marvel UK was published in the UK only...

A few stories were actually printed in Germany (though not all of them).

It's how I figured out that there were UK comics in the first place.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:30 pm

We also got one, Cold Comfort and Joy. And seeing as (to my knowledge) it was Semic who was doing TFs in Hungary, too, I'm surprised you didn't get it.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:06 am

We did get Cold Comfort and Joy, yes!

It was wedged in between the Underbase saga issues, and I never understood just where did the three Wreckers come from... at the time I never even knew there was an UK Comic.

Osku · Post by **Osku** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 10:55 am

Ozz & BBShockwave: Would you have more detailed information of what was published in your countries? We have extensive comic info of Swedish and Finnish versions on NTFA.
http://ntfa.net/ntfa/comics/index.php

Finnish version
http://ntfa.net/ntfa/comics/semic/en-index.php

Semic published Transformers in Finland, co-printing with some other European countries. It'd be interesting to know if your countries were also part of this co-printing.

If you have spare issues of your country Transformers magazine, I 'd be interested in getting one. No matter which issue, just for curiosity. I know, sounds freakish.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:41 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:It was wedged in between the Underbase saga issues, and I never understood just where did the three Wreckers come from... at the time I never even knew there was an UK Comic.

So how did you know they were Wreckers?

I didn't even think about where they came from. When you have #44 following #18 you quickly stop asking questions.

Osku wrote:Ozz & BBShockwave: Would you have more detailed information of what was published in your countries?

We got US #1-14, 17-18 and 44-75, plus UK #198. I used to have a more detailed guide (which foreign issues were in which Polish issues, which covers were used, which Universe profiles were included and which pages were omitted) for a website that didn't happen. If you're that interested, I could recreate it from me memory (though I can't promise I'll place all the profiles correctly).

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:14 pm

Yeah, we had some UK here in Sweden too. I think the only time I got confused with them was when they published the Matrix Quest, I mean, who WAS that Deathbringer-android getting shot to bits by Prime in one panel?

Now, thanks to the OLD Transfans, I know.

Osku · Post by **Osku** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:51 pm

Ozz wrote:
Osku wrote:Ozz & BBShockwave: Would you have more detailed information of what was published in your countries?
We got US #1-14, 17-18 and 44-75, plus UK #198. I used to have a more detailed guide (which foreign issues were in which Polish issues, which covers were used, which Universe profiles were included and which pages were omitted) for a website that didn't happen. If you're that interested, I could recreate it from me memory (though I can't promise I'll place all the profiles correctly).

I'd be interested in. Mostly what issues were published, cover scan(s).

If you have that information compiled already, I'd recommend to put it online. Information is propably interesting for only a handful of people, but can be useful for them; when was it published, which issues I'm missing, what kind of cover I should look for, can I read more in other languages etc.

I know that the Finnish comic book index I compiled has brought few new Finnish members to NTFA.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:17 am

Osku wrote:If you have that information compiled already, I'd recommend to put it online. Information is propably interesting for only a handful of people, but can be useful for them; when was it published, which issues I'm missing, what kind of cover I should look for, can I read more in other languages etc.

I know that the Finnish comic book index I compiled has brought few new Finnish members to NTFA.

Oh, but you see, there's a problem with me not caring.

Polish Transfans as a group are a lame bunch of people not capable to do anything together. I said that it was prepared for the website that didn't happen; I just couldn't make myself to do something for the people I barely like when all they can do is fight among themselves about silly things and not even one of them can help me. Besides most of them are not even interested in comics anyway. The fact that handful of them that is has to go to foreign forums to talk have anything resembling a quality discussion at all just says everything. So I broke the ties and am never coming back.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:08 pm

Ozz - yeah, at the time I didn't know they were Wreckers... they were addressed as "troops from cybertron" in that issue.

Osku : Same goes here in the overall lazyness of the fans in Hungary. In fact, apart from a guy I met on TFW2005 and whom I don't even know here in my country, I'm probably the only Hungarian Transfan posting on TF boards.

I'll do a quick list of how Semic published the comics here!

First thing first - the Transformers comic was renamed here TRANSFORMER, dropping the plural form - they changed that back to TRANSFORMERS in 1994 only. The editor thought the plural form sounded silly, but us letterwriters demanded it...

The first issue appeared in 1991 June 1. They originally planned it for a 4-part limited series only, 1 comic containing 2 issues, appearing monthly.

So from 1991 June to august, we got 3 comics, each containing 2 US issues, so US #1-#6, each comic had the cover of the first issue only (the other was not included... so I never saw the 'Are all dead' cover until I got net access finally).

There was a small delay and Comic No. 4. came out only in 1991 October, containing US #7 and #8. (I might add here that all speech bubbles on covers were translated to hungarian).

This was the first issue to have a 'sort' of editorial column, where the editor asked for letters whether Semic should continue the comic or not - thankfully enough letters arrived, and they did!

The comic continued in 1992 January, with Issue No. 5. containing #9 and #10 of Marvel US. This was also the first one to have a letter column - sadly we had no TFs answering our mails, only the editor, who wasn't really into the whole thing, though he at least explained (often) that the comic and the cartoon are separate continuities.

From this issue, we got the comic bi-monthly only. Man, the waiting killed me!

I remember checking the newspaper stand daily to see if the new comic was out already or not...

Hungarian issues 6-7 contained US issues #12-14... and then came the first gap. Issue 8. had the Return to Cybertron arc in it (#17-#18), I Robot Master and Plight of the Bumblebee were dropped and never printed. It was due to Marvel not supplying Semic with the Issues in correct order, as I heard.

Things got worse after hungarian issue 9. - this one was really fast-forwarded into the future, as it contained US issues #44 and #45!

The editor explained the agitated letters that the 24 issues inbetween were lost do to bad space communication, but even he was at a loss explaining all the new characters (Prime being a Powermaster, Spike, Ratbat, Pretenders, Scorponok, etc...)

The comic continued normally from here, up until the regular end of the Marvel US comic. here's a list:

10.: US #46-47
11.: US#48-49 plus 'Cold Comfort and Joy' wedged in between. Wasn't mentioned it was and UK comic, though.
12: US #50, Dark Star. The editor finally contacted Marvel US and we got a two-page broken down history of what happened in the lost 24 issues.
13: #51-52 (oddly, this one had -misleadingly -the cover of the Movie comic #1, with Unicron edited out...)
14: #53-54
15: #55-56
16: oddly enough, this one had no letter column and contained 3 issues: US #57-58-59
17: #60-61 (had the cover of 61, for a change)
18: #62-63 (again, had the cover of 63. Had to wait years to see that fabled Nightbeat cover)
19: #64-65
20: #66-67 (plus the second english-hungarian TF name translation page. Profiles were published with TF names in english too, from this issue.)
21: #68-69 (had the cover of 69 and was the first issue labelled TRANSFORMERS,in plural)
22: #70-71 (also had the cover of 71:)
23: #72-73, plus 8 pages from #74!
24: rest of #74 and the laaaaarge issue #75... at last.

Sadly had cover of #74. Just like US readers, we didn't get the last page where Runabout gets eaten, instead A LARGER one-page spread of the last panel of the last page, with Cybertron. (thus I didn't understand what HI Q was referring to for quite some time...)
25: #76-77 (first issue where both covers were included, the second was printed on simple paper, before the page of the 2. issue in the comic. This would continue so until the comic ended.
26: #78-79
27: The BIG one... #80... But it was hardly the end of the road! Semic got finally access to the issues they left out, and started continuing the comic with them. So, this one had #19, Command performances.
28: #20-21
29: #22-23
30: #24-25 (so I learned in 1996 how OP died...

Ugh.)
31: #26-27
32: #28-29
33: #30-31
34: #32-33 (frankly, I didn't like Man of Iron one bit and it's good I later read some more UK comics... otherwise I'd have thought they were all like that. )
35: The tragic issue...

#34-35, and the last TF comic in Hungary. The legend died in 1997.02.01.

In issue 34. the editor already forshadowed what would happen, as Marvel was asking more and more for the publishing copyrights. But in issue 35., things looked like they could settle, and the editor said goodby with some hopes that things wil turn out fine.
Sadly they didn't, and for the next months, us fans tried to find issue 36. in vain.

There hasn't been any TF comic in Hungary ever since 1997. The Movie sticker album by Panini was translated and published, but the translators were not the same folk who translated the comic, so the names were all mixed up.

We also never got Headmasters, or the Movie Marvel edition, nor G2.

I now am considering to contact IDW, whether they'd like to go and publish their comics here. Sadly the comics industry is dying here... Semic slowly cancelled all their comics after TF, only Spiderman and Batman/Superman, plus Garfield remained.
A few years ago they started publishing the new Spiderman, plus X-men and Ultimate X-Men, Star Wars and all that.

Back on TF, we also had the TF Universe profiles in each book, the first few were only translated in a few words so were much shorter then the originals, but later they became more through.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:16 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:24: rest of #74 and the laaaaarge issue #75... at last. Sadly had cover of #74. Just like US readers, we didn't get the last page where Runabout gets eaten

Wait, what? That page was omitted in US?

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:21 pm

That's what I heard... or maybe only Semic omitted it? I heard only the UK version had that page.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:33 pm

All I know that the issue was considered as the last one, but then the decision was made to continue the series, and the page was added. But I don't think any copies without it exist.

BB Shockwave wrote:I now am considering to contact IDW, whether they'd like to go and publish their comics here. Sadly the comics industry is dying here...

Good luck with that. I don't know exactly how it works, but it's the shops in your country who should express interest in importing the issues and selling them. But seeing what you say about decline of comics popularity in general (and TFs in particular) in Hungary, I don't think that's gonna happen.

Your best bet is to either buy directly from IDW or check out some online shops like www.oneshallstand.com

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 5:49 pm

Cool info guys.

Its really interesting to read how TF stories were distributed in other countries.

Osku · Post by **Osku** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:24 am

Epilogue page was printed in US #75.

BB Shockwave wrote: 16: oddly enough, this one had no letter column and contained 3 issues: US #57-58-59

This was because those original issues had less story pages than usually -> it could be printed in one issue. I'm assuming your version was the same size 48 story pages + 4 "cover pages".

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:57 pm

Yes, this was also the only issue where the profiles (Jazz and Slag, if I recall right) were printed on the back of the front and back covers!

Osku · Post by **Osku** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:24 am

A bit off topic.

BB Shockwave: I think "Man of Iron" is very underrated story. It suffers a lot from being published in badly done new colours in US. It didn't help that it didn't really fit well anywhere in US continuity either. I'd recommend reading the story again in original UK colours and with knowledge that it sort of fits very early in UK continuity.

Cliffjumper from Tfarchive has put scans on his site (UK colours).
http://counter-x.net/tf/comics/scans/ma ... index.html

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:01 pm

Many thanks! Never knew it was recolored - actually I had the UK scans too but never read them.

Actually, I liked it for all the gritty artwork (didn't really mind that they used the toys), and the concept of the Man of Iron was a fun idea (and I always thought he looked a lot like Fortress Maximus), too, but somehow it just felt... too different. A lot different from any TF comic story, even UK ones, mostly for picturing the TFs as weird aliens, from the perspective of humans.

Hmm... actually, Man of Iron would work nicely as an IDW Evolutions story, don't you think?

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:59 pm

Man of Iron was great, and a helluva lot better than Simon's work at that time. Its not exactly the story I would've chosen to reprint in the US comic tho...

Osku · Post by **Osku** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:43 am

BB Shockwave wrote:A lot different from any TF comic story, even UK ones, mostly for picturing the TFs as weird aliens, from the perspective of humans.

That's what I like about it actually. There's a real sense of wonder, Transformers actually feel alien robots despite their humanoid robot modes, there are casualties, autobots actually win but there's a tragedy they don't even know about (by destroying shuttle they kill the autobot inside), human interaction with TFs is for once believable. One of the rare stories that actually made me think it through more closely.

Not sure if a kid gets all the nuances from the story though.

TransFans.co.uk

Those wacky german Comics again...

Re: Those wacky german Comics again...