Transformers

Story

Adventures involving “Autobots” which landed on Earth and can transform to take on the form of cars, trucks, jets and other machinery. The story lines have strong good versus evil and strong versus weak themes.

Why we chose it

The Transformers comics and the work of creators like Simon Foreman and Geoff Senior were extremely formative for a generation of comic fans.

Where it came from

The Transformers started as collection of toys produced by Takara in Japan and Hasbro in USA. The toys could change from a vehicle into a robot and back again.

The Transformers comics in America ran monthly for over 6 years, reaching 80 issues and inspiring several spin off mini series. The UK comics, created by Furman and Senior, ran parallel to the American stories but had their own characters and storylines. The UK comic developed a back story and ran weekly rather than monthly, running for 332 issues.

Where it went next

An animated TV series called Transformers was broadcast from 1984-1987. This was followed by an animated film in 1986 – Transformers the Movie.

Between 2007 and 2017 Paramount and Dreamworks pictures made five live action films: Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction and The Last Knight plus a spin -off called Bumblebee in 2018.

Transformers video games have been created for many of the gaming platforms.

A huge range of toys have been produced including Transformers meets Star Wars, Marvel and Disney characters.

Associated stories

Orchard Books have published Transformers Robots in Disguise book sets with titles including Robots to the Rescue, Deadly Trap and The Battle of Optimus Prime.

IDW publishing have a series of graphic novels featuring the Transformers including: Transformers /Ghostbusters: Ghosts of Cybertron, Transformers: Unicron, Transformers: Lost Light