Orion Ghia

Front cover: The Transformers issue 35. Art by Will Simpson

Page 3 of The Transformers issue 35, first page of "the next best thing to being there!" story with art by Ricardo Villamonte.

Page 6 of The Transformers issue 35, the constructicons are created; art by Ricardo Villamonte.

Page 11 of The Transformers issue 35, we meet a new human character by the name of Bomber Bill; art by Ricardo Villamonte.

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #35
UK No. 1: "Power of Love" - Jennifer Rush
Cover Artist: Will Simpson
Highlights: Optimus Prime becomes a parent to 6 bouncing baby Constructicons! Introducing Bomber Bill! #tfukforty

"Like Einstein on smart drugs!" to insanely hyperbolic, love it.

Marvel UK Transformers November calendar as featured in issue 33.

Oh yeah its November innit, here's your 1985 Transformers calendar! #tfukforty

Front cover: The Transformers issue 34

Page 5 of Transformers 34 were Jazz abducts G.B. Blackrock

Page 10 of Transformers 34 where Circuit breaker takes down Jazz.

Page 14 of Transformers 34 advert for Secret Wars and Zoids

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #34
UK No. 1: "Power of Love" - Jennifer Rush
Cover Artist: Mike Manley
Highlights: Jazz abducts G.B. Blackrock! Circuit Breaker looses her shit! Secret Wars goes full colour plus ZOIDS! #tfukforty

The Transformers Issue 3 Bumblebee, Friend or Foe? The sting in the tale!

Go on... humour me... read my latest post on Substack exploring issue 3 of Marvel UK's The Transformers! dumbstubbies.substack.com/p/the-transf...

Front cover of The Transformers issue No.33 published 26th October, 1985 (regardless of what it says on the front cover!)

Pages 6 and 7 of The Transformers issue No.33. A printing error resulted in the magenta and cyan plates of printing process being switched!

Page 13 of The Transformers issue 33 where Circuit Breaker make her shocking debut!

Page 17 of The Transformers issue 33 containing a competition to win a Transformers Stunt Flyer by Identifying the airborne Decepticons pictured, can you?

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #33
UK No. 1: "Power of Love" - Jennifer Rush
Cover Artist: John Higgins
Highlights : A printing error results in new colour schemes for everyone! Circuit Breaker is born! Win a stunt flyer! #tfukforty

Fancy listening to two guys reading and commenting on a scary comic that (for a change is) was actually published this century? Well listen to the latest Halloween episode of We've Git Back Issues then!

Front cover of The Transformers issue 32 "The Wrath of Grimlock!"

Pages 4 and 5 where Optimus Primes disemheaded body makes an intervention.

Page 13, Swoop sacrifices himself to save the team.

Page 23 with a teaser for the next issue and a Fact File on Inferno.

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #32
UK No. 1: "Power of Love" - Jennifer Rush
Cover Artist: Will Simpson
Fact File: Inferno
Highlights : The wrath of Grimlock! Headless Prime! Swoop saves the day but pays the ultimate price? Back to the US story next issue! #tfukforty

Thanks for the heads up @mikediver.bsky.social (yes I am also Sleeves) I also have better versions of almost all of that.

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #31
UK No. 1: "Power of Love" - Jennifer Rush
Cover Artist: Will Simpson
Highlights : Another Simon Furman original with Barry Kitson on art duties! The Dinobots meet their match? #tfukforty

The Transformers Issue 2 The Robots Have Landed - The metal invasion has begun!

Dumb Stubbies #2 'dropped' the other day. It's like my #tfukforty posts only a bit more in-depth. Go on try it, you might like it! If you do please subscribe. IT'S FREE FFS! dumbstubbies.substack.com/p/the-transf...

Front Cover of The Transformers issue 30 "The Decepticon Dam-Busters Unleash a Tidal Wave of Terror!"

Midge Ure - If I was - UK number 1 on this day 40 years ago.

Pare 3 of The Transformers issue 30 in which Optimus Prime and Megatron fight atop a dam... seem familiar?

Page 13 of The Transformers issue 30 "The Wrath of Guardian!"

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #30
UK No. 1: "If I was" - Midge Ure
Cover Artist: John Ridgway
Highlights: That scene from the cartoon with the energy axe and the mace on top of the dam and so on! Guardian is back and he's pissed! #tfukforty

Marvel UKs Transformers October calendar featuring Shockwave as published in issue 29.

Front cover of The Transformers issue 22 drawn by Mark Bright (RIP)

I forgot to post 1985s October calendar... well here it is 5 days late. As you can see it's (crappy) reworking of the awesome front cover of issue 22 drawn by Mark Bright (RIP). Fast forward 40 years and this looks very much like the Blokees version of Shockwave! #tfukforty

Front cover of The Transformers issue 29 featuring Optimus Prime and Megatron fighting atop a Dam "Decepticon Dam-busters!"

Page 4 The first page of of Decepticon Dam-Busters featuring Grimlock giving a human a proper fright!

Pages 12-13 the thrilling cliff-hanger of this version of the story told in the pilot episodes of the G1 cartoon. Optimus Prime falls from the dam defeated?

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #29
UK No. 1: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Cover Artist: John Ridgway.
Highlights : Marvel UK re-tell ‘Arrival from Cybertron’ their way... around the campfire to the Dinobots! Soundwave does a little admin! #tfukforty

Nemesis - trade cover. Nemsis (a white suited batman with no ears) riding at top a white care firing two usi's

What happens when a supervillain has the same expertise, same intelligence, same combat skills same wonderful toys that Batman has... Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Nemisis apparently!? Listen to our latest episode to find out what we thought of it!

Huh?

Front Cover: The Transformers issue 28

Pages 8 and 9 in which Ratchet and the Dinobots give Megatron a little surprise.

Page 13 the story concludes for now. Plus Snarl Fact File.

Page 19 where Machine Man is revived.

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #28
UK No. 1: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Cover Artist: M.D. Bright and Kyle Baker
Fact File: Snarl
Highlights : Ratchet double crosses a double crosser! Machine Man is revived in the cyberpunk future of 2020! #tfukforty

The two panels which introduce Optimus Prime in The Transformers comic in which we see his robot-mode and frankly lame alt-mode.

Optimus Prime's dodgy alt-mode is just one of the many weird and wonderful things in issue 1 of Marvel UK's Transformers. Read my new Substack Newsletter 'Dumb Stubbies' to find out more! #dumbstubbies dumbstubbies.substack.com/p/the-transf...

Dumb Stubbies! | Orion Ghia | Substack A newsletter in which 40+ years on I work through my tatty collection of Marvel UK's The Transformers... probably until I die! Click to read "Dumb Stubbies!", by Orion Ghia, a Substack publication. La...

Introducing my brand new Substack Newsletter Dumb Stubbies! A sort of long form version of my #tfukforty posts where I take a closer look at my old issues of The Transformers and wang on about what's in them and what they meant to me then and mean to me now! dumbstubbies.substack.com

'Think back to your childhood. Do you remember when the anxiety started?'

Yup!

Front cover of The Transformers issue 27 Sensational new look! Full colour on every page! Now Weekly!

Page 8 in which Ratchet retrieves Slag from the tar and conducts a little brain surgery.

Page 7 in which Shockwave really rubs it in that he's much better than Megatron.

Page 19 new Machine Man

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #27
UK No. 1: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Cover Artist: Robin Smith
Highlights : It's Transformers UK's Birthday! In celebration let's go weekly and full colour! Ratchet revives Slag! Shockwave trolls Megatron! #tfukforty

Cover of The Transformers #26 by Mark Bright with amended Megatron by Herb Trimpe. "Ratchet registers for Warrior School!"

Single cover of Dancing in the Street by David Bowie and Mick Jagger.

Ratchet discovers hot dogs and devises a new way to cook them.

Megatron discovers Ratchet and devises a new way to hurt him.

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #26
UK No. 1: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Cover Artist: Mark Bright (amended Megatron by Herb Trimpe)
Highlights : Changes are afoot! Ratchet cooks protein cylinders and gets in in a scrap with Megatron! #tfukforty

September is coming... and 40 years ago Transformers obsessed kids were poised to start ticking off the days on this bad boy. The image of Ratchet used was an adaptation of William Johnson art due to appear in issue 27 a few later this month... tbf the original artwork is better. #tfukforty

Front cover of The Transformers issue 25, featuring an ariel battle between Megatron and Shockwave that does not happen in the book!

As close as we get to an ariel battle, Megatron blasts shockwave through the side of Mount St. Hilary on page 9 of this issue.

Introducing... the NEW Machine Man. From the next issue we will jump from the machine man of 1979-81 to the 1984 relaunch set in the distant future of 2020!

Megatron's victory is short lived and Shockwave restores his control of the Decepticons. Plus Matt The Cat is still going strong!

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #25.
UK No. 1: “Into the Groove" - Madonna.
Cover Artist: Alan Kupperberg.
Fact Files: Warpath and Ramjet.
Highlights: Megaton (temporarily) puts Shockwave in his place! Machine Man gets an update! Good riddance to Planet Terry! #tfukforty

Listen as I FORCE Galactosh to read the work of my personal favourite creators Mike Allred and his comic book alter ego Frank Einstein AKA The Madman of Snap City. Available NOW!

The very first 'Transformation' page from issue 22 of The Transformers... and the first page of Robot War! a catch-up on the story so far for new readers.

Soundwaves from issue 28... in the future (well it was this time in 1985)

A double page Soundwaves from issue 24 of The Transformers.

the inside front cover of The Transformers issue 24 "Transformation"

Around this time 40 years ago the UK Transformers comic got itself a new editor and a new look. Gone was the usual 'Opener' page, replaced by a more compact 'Transformation' catch up/contents page and a dedicated letters page hosted by none other than Soundwave! #tfukforty

Cover of The Transformers issue 24 featuring Shockwave in flying gun mode attacking an oil rig. "Shockwave's act of war... Offshore Strike!"

Cover of Madonna "Into the Groove" single featuring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette in a promo shot from the 1985 movie "Desperately Seeking Susan"

Page 13 of the comic in black and white, Shockwave attacks the oil rig and causes Josie Beller to be seriously injured.

Pages 16 and 17 of the comic, Buster Witwicky talks to Optimus Prime's disembodied head and agrees to help in any way he can...

Released on this day 40 years ago: The Transformers #24
UK No. 1: “Into the Groove" - Madonna
Cover Artist: John Higgins
Highlights : Shockwave takes command of... an oil rig!? A lady gets hurt! Buster gets a bit of a headache! Win Transformers transfers! #tfukforty

I loved the first volume of Cindy and Biscuit, I'll be heading down to Dave's Comics ASAP to get the second. Highly recommended.

To all those attending TFNation "Pick your targets and make sure your wallet can handle it"

Ack DeceptiCon*