Q. What is the name of the font that they used on the non-comic (Transformation, Next week, Soundwaves, Grim Grams, Dread tidings e.t.c.) pages of the U.K. Transformers comic?

Answers to eljh@fiberia.com please.

On this page:

Optimus Prime
A small essay
The science of the Transformers
The U.K. connection
Buying and selling
Personal favorites
 

On other pages:

TRANSFORMERS FOR SALE
Comics online
The art of Geoff Senior
Self written Fan-fiction
Links to other sites

Optimus Prime - He's more than just a really knackered old toy that I keep nearby, this toy represents a character that I have throughout my life tried to emulate. He shows great compassion to other people, he listens to people, he is strong in a crisis. Everything I have tried to be throughout my life.
 

The Transformers

If you take away the occasional cheesiness ofthe Television series and the obvious fact that the whole Transformers genre was a packaged product made to sell Japanese toys to a western audience, you will find that Optimus Prime was always written as a near perfect being,the Autobots were typical good guys and the Decepticons were archetypalbaddies.

In fact the whole Transformers thing should beseen from the perspective of a military Sci-Fi epic involving two opposingrobotic factions, that managed to weave in some very contemporary scientificideas and an ancient mythological sub-text.

Unfortunately The Transformers may just be lumpedin with all the anal anoraky, Star Trek nonsense instead of being seenas a more 'This was part of my childhood - I'll keep it alive' Star Warssub-culture.

But we have to thank the comics (particularlythe English comics and the writer Simon Furman) for giving The Transformersa bit of credibility in the Sci-Fi world.
 

The Scienceof the Transformers
 
 

The U.K. connection - Simon Furman

The Transformers were great, what made them exceptional for me was the stories created by Simon Furman in the U.K. comics (Some sample pages and issues can be read on my Comics Online page). He managed to write into the stories many modern scientific theories and made everything scientifically sound - there were a few things he couldn't explain, like the size changing, although this could be explained by the other worldlyforces at work (Primus). Most of the interest I had in science that I tookinto secondary school came from these comics.

We should not forget to mention the artwork of GeoffSenior who drew frequently for the British comics and towards the end in America.

There were many other fantastic artists such as Lee Sullivan and Dan Reed but Geoff Senior was definitely my favorite.
 
 

Personal favorites

In my opinion the most interesting group of Transformers are the 'Pretenders'. Robots inside living skin and body tissue and on top of that more Body armour.

In the case of the original six Autobots you could see what the Transformers might look like if they were human. Unfortunately they took six unknown robots in the first batch. We had to wait for the arrival of the 'Pretender Classics' before we could see what the the older, more well known Transformers looked like (Grimlock, Bumblebee, Jazz and the Decepticon Starscream). This left you to wonder how other Transformers might look.

In the case of the early Decepticons the designers could play around with B-Movie imagery to create six monsters (Piranha, insects, lizards and even a vampire bat were all created).

The group to appear between the original twelve Pretenders and the Pretender classics were Pretenders whose animal transformations received this exterior shell treatment (a cat, a wolf, a warthog and a bear in this case).

There were a couple of other less noteable Pretenders, just variations on a theme.
 

Buying and selling

These are the Transformers comics and toys inmy possession, tfcollection.xls.

The items I have for sale are here.

If you are selling anything that I don't haveplease let me know and I'll make you an offer.

There is of course the eBay online auction service,where you can pick up some real bargains.
Alink straight to eBay's Transformers listings.

There are so many other shops in America who dealin Transformers. They have been listed in the linkssection.
 

Wish list

The original six Decepticon jets - I never got given any Decepticonsthe first time around.

Starscream
Thundercracker
Skywarp
Dirge
Thrust
Ramjet
 

The original twelve Pretenders (six Autobot, sixDecepticon).

Landmine
Cloudburst
Waverider
Skyhigh
Splashdown
Waverider       (the Autobots)

Skullgrin
Bomburst
Submarauder
Iguanus
Bugly
Finback           (the Decepticons)
 

One of the second batch of Pretenders, who were smaller than the firsttwelve.

Octopunch        (Decepticon)
 

The Pretender Classics.

Jazz
Bumblebee
Grimlock          (Autobot)

Starscream        (Decepticon)