My New Marvel UK Comic Blog.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat May 19, 2012 11:29 am

Shameless self promotion time:

Thanks to some good luck I've recently come into ownership of the entire run of the Marvel UK comic. Which has inspired me to go through each issue, one a week, writing down my thoughts on the entire package. It's not an in-depth behind the scenes thing or lengthy synopsis, just a very personal journey through the comic.

The introduction and issue #1 entry are up, so I hope you'll be joining me for the next 332 (!?!?!) weeks:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformation.html

All thoughts and feedback welcome either here or on the site itself (each issue will get promoted in the blog as well where comments can go).

I feel all whoreish now.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sat May 19, 2012 11:39 am

Have fun. I have searched long and hard, but have never tracked down issues 1 to 26 to complete my collection.

Roughly how much is issue 1 worth?

Rereading the comics, with Transformation pages and letters pages and all the rest of it is whole different experience to just catching up on the trades. I recommend it!

And I agree with you on the inspiration Bob and Simon had on me as a child. Reading TF comics was just as valuable as English class IMO! I feel it set me on for the career I have today too.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat May 19, 2012 11:47 am

spiderfrommars wrote:Have fun. I have searched long and hard, but have never tracked down issues 1 to 26 to complete my collection.

Because I brought the collection in bulk (it was a lucky coincidence of timing, a friend who'd spent years building up his collection realised his smoking was no good for it so it worked out cheaper for me and easier for him than listing all of it separately on Ebay) I do have some duplicates from what I'd put together before out of the unreprinted by Titan stuff, I could have a look for you next time I visit my brothers house where they're stored?

And I agree with you on the inspiration Bob and Simon had on me as a child. Reading TF comics was just as valuable as English class IMO! I feel it set me on for the career I have today too.

Absolutely, I think Bob probably doesn't get as much credit as he deserves for his part in it as well. It would never have kept kids reading if they'd all thought half the issues each year were crap, even if through older eyes a lot of it is skewered a bit too young in comparison with Furman's best.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sat May 19, 2012 11:52 am

Feel free to post up links each week.

Do we know who did the cover to issue 1?

inflatable dalek wrote: I do have some duplicates from what I'd put together before out of the unreprinted by Titan stuff, I could have a look for you next time I visit my brothers house where they're stored?

That would be lovely. I'm currently moving house and giving loads of my old stuff away to charity shops to save space (goodbye Ladybird books) but my UK collection remains one of my most treasured possessions! You've inspired me to recommence my search!

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat May 19, 2012 12:02 pm

Coolio, it may be a while as my brother doesn't live in the house anymore (he's a forces sweetheart living with his wife on her RAF base) but I shall certainly go see what I have and what state it's in next time he's in town.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Sat May 19, 2012 7:00 pm

I too need issues 1-26 then I'm complete!

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun May 20, 2012 7:24 pm

You'll have to arm wrestle for whatever I've got.

Just having a flick through issue 2, the first fortnightly not all colour US reprint I've seen, never realised how little colour was in it, only two pages out of the main strip...

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue May 22, 2012 7:18 pm

Sweet! Looking forward to following the blog.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu May 24, 2012 12:15 pm

The comic before issue 27 just wasn't the comic we know and love was it?

Just bought issue 25 off ebay, and never mind the black-and-white pages or the **** back up strips, the bit that threw me was Soundwave not answering the letters in Soundwaves.

I never liked Matt and the Cat. I assume it wasn't comissioned for the comic - where the hell did it come from?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri May 25, 2012 4:53 pm

When it appears, this concentrated read everything approach will be the first time I've ever actually read Matt and the Cat. I've read issues with it in, but as with most of the back up strip that weren't Combat Colin my eyes have always skipped straight over it.

IIRC Soundwave shows up just before it goes weekly.

And now, deeply perverted Buster Witwicky has his proto-dogging interrupted by giant alien killer robots:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-2.html

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri May 25, 2012 6:23 pm

What was the first strip page of this issue? I've only ever read it through reprints.

Good point about the early TFs being like a bunch of metal X-Men. That got quickly discarded because transforming was cool enough (and even that became less utilised as time went on).

"O" was a thoroughly irrelevant character. Though I do like that his name was "O".

I always thought the movie they were watching looked kinda saucy.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Fri May 25, 2012 7:03 pm

Yeah. Long makeout scene is long.

Anyone notice that the diner at the end of Last Stand of the Wreckers was "Mister O's?"

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat May 26, 2012 6:21 pm

spiderfrommars wrote:What was the first strip page of this issue? I've only ever read it through reprints.

It's split over the reconstruction process (Issue 1 ended with "Commence Revival!").

"O" was a thoroughly irrelevant character. Though I do like that his name was "O".

Mr. O is more awesome a name though. And indeed, I noticed that in Wreckers. It would have been the greatest comic ever if he'd actually turned up to serve Verity a coffee in his Optimus Prime costume (which is wonderfully daft, considering all anyone knows about the alien robot people is they blow **** up it's the equivalent of wearing a Bin Ladden fancy dress outfit on the 12th September).

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:06 pm

And for issue 3, Megatron smashes, Ravage sneaks and O is a bit of an annoying tit:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-3.html

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 7:17 pm

I actually prefer Salicrup's stuff to the Karate Kid's, but then I'm weird.

Those panels do look pretty good in black and white I must say.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 10:52 am

All credit to Cliffy at TFA for the quality of the scans, he was the issues previous owner and included a disc of high quality scans with them when he sold the job lot onto me, he's the chap who's made the images look so crisp and sharp.

I'm actually enjoying these early issues more than expected despite the pace dropping off a bit for this instalment. Though IRRC this is around the point Uncle Bob was basically having to pretty much write the whole thing himself as Salicrup didn't get it.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:22 pm

Cliffy sold off his comics? I hope he kept spares.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:28 pm

That's why he did the scans, to replace them. He was worried about his insanely large smoking habit damaging the things and so decided to scan and sell. Which meant I got a pretty decent price on the whole lot as well which was nice.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:32 pm

Issue 4: Optimus and Megatron fight! Cops wisecrack! The A-Team theme plays!

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-4.html

For fun I've put the full A-Team comp on my Facebook page. I did try and put it on Twitter as well but for reasons best known to itself it's not letting my upload pictures on there at the moment.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:44 pm

I first read the Complete Works when I found a copy at my friend's house when I went there for his birthday. His little sister was trying to pull me but I was more interested in reading THE FIRST EVER TRANSFORMERS COMICS.

Looking back, I regret it. Even if I was only 10.

What's your twitter handle?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:54 pm

InflatableDalek. Which is both deeply lacking in imagination and means I get followed by a lot of people with Dalek based screennames who really, really, play the whole being a Dalek thing to the hilt in what is presumably supposed to be a funny way but which actually winds up repetitive and annoying very quickly.

So I fit right in.

I am probably the dullest person on twitter and only very occasionally post, usually just with updates (indeed, the only real point of it I can see is either to whore your **** or pay attention to people whose **** you might want to...errr... whore).

I'm actually seeing an 'Allo 'Allo situation where this girl's brother walks in on you making out with her only for you to go "Can you not see I was only checking out her complete works?"

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:58 pm

Issue 5: With surprisingly little Spider-Man but more confused cop than you can handle:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-5.html

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:44 pm

Issue 6!

In which Spider-Man GEARS up for action:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-6.html

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:17 pm

Joe Robertson is in all the Raimi films, but you knew that already didn't you?

Hell, he's even Spider-man XXX, but I probably shouldn't have brought that up.

Gears and Spidey were an awesome pairing. The scene on the side of the cliff when Gears falls to his doom - probably one of the best sequences in the first 8 issues.

Don't forget to add a next issue button to each entry!

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:24 pm

spiderfrommars wrote:Joe Robertson is in all the Raimi films, but you knew that already didn't you?

I honestly can't remember anything about the Rami films except J Jonah and Bruce Campbell. I'm not 100% sure there was anything else in them.

Gears and Spidey were an awesome pairing. The scene on the side of the cliff when Gears falls to his doom - probably one of the best sequences in the first 8 issues.

I love how Spidey's web can take Gear's weight but Sparkplug's as well is too much.

Don't forget to add a next issue button to each entry!

Ah, that's where clicking on the "Next issue" box from the original issue will produce a wee magic miracle.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:27 pm

Mr. O. 'Nuff said:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-7.html

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:08 pm

Shock developments:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-8.html

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:21 pm

Autobots invade the UK and there's a chance to buy a Matt and the Cat poster. Contain your excitement on that one:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-9.html

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:44 pm

Issue 10:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-10.html

NEVER TAKE LIFTS FROM STRANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:32 pm

Issue 11: Trailbreaker gets Trail-BROKEN:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk11.html