A Different Kind of Galvatron...maybe?

Of all the toys I received as a kid, few hold the kind of real estate in my memory that the original Galvatron does. Christmas 1986. I remember tearing open that box and finding him there in his cannon mode, that massive neon orange barrel staring back at me, and thinking this was easily the most impressive thing I'd ever owned. 

Verzamel De Transformeerbare Robots

In the absence of collecting figures, I have recently taken to collecting paperwork. Whereas most Transformers released in different countries are more or less the same (with some notable exceptions such as Mexican Prowl or Canadian Slag) the paperwork is almost always different. So sometimes I like to seek out catalogs or comics released in other countries. My most recent acquisition was of a catalog/comic from the Netherlands, which I believe may have come packaged with the figures but I can't be sure. However the differences in this catalog are drastic.

It Never Ends!

Today's the day! Finally the day has arrived that the original Marvel comic storyline is continued in the world of the Transformers! It's probably mostly nostalgia, but I've always loved the original run of comics; what started as a four issue limited series and eventually expanded to eighty issues has finally come back to life! It is no secret that the original storyline was cut short by dwindling sales, but how cool is it that IDW was able to work with the original creators to bring it back and finish it in a proper way? I feel especially lucky as my copy features Cover B, complete with throwback coloring techniques (remember all the tiny dots?) and featuring a retro Optimus Prime in the top left corner. It might as well be 1991 all over again! I haven't read it yet, I am still savoring the feeling, but never before have I been this excited about a comic release. I may share my thoughts on it later.

Comic Thoughts...

I was never much of a comic collector as a child. I think perhaps I was a little ADHD and just didn't have the patience for them. During my early years I only actually picked up one or two comics and those were specifically Transformers. As I reached my teenage years I attempted to get into the comic scene by purchasing a couple of issues of different characters such as Spawn, Spiderman 2099 and Venom. None of them held my interest in the slightest. But I also managed to snag a couple of the Marvel Transformers back issues. I've spoken about that experience before. But what I never mentioned was that by the time I really got into the Transformers comics they were off the shelves and no new stories were being produced.

A Complete Comic Collection

Well my wife was finally able to do something that I was never able to accomplish: Complete my US Marvel Transformer Comic collection.

My Transformers comic collection began when I was around nine years old. I was on the way to the dentist and I guess my mother needed something to pacify me afterward. We picked up issue #58 at the local People's drug store. I immediately read it on the way home from the dentist (no cavities for me!) and was enthralled. It was a story about the Classics Pretenders and featured my favorite character at the end: Starscream! Sadly this would be the only Transformers comic issue I would own during my childhood. We didn't make regular trips to places with comics and I had such a short attention span it wouldn't matter anyway.

This cover never made sense to me as a kid.

So five years later when I had a resurgence in my Transformers interest I began to seek out the original comic issues. I found the first three at a comic shop while I was on a Boy Scout retreat: issues #67, #76 & #78. Up until that point I wasn't sure the comics were in any kind of story order or if they were stand alone issues. While reading these issues I was disheartened to find I had missed the big issue: #75 which was a double issue featuring Unicron! But it was compelling storytelling to say the least. Over the next few years I was able to acquire many more issues, including one very fortunate encounter with a fellow Boy Scout who had over 50 issues in his basement that he sold to me for $45! 

So time went on and every time we went out of town and there was a comic shop near I would check for back issues. Sometimes I got lucky, many times I did not. It got to the point where I had all but about ten issues or so by 2005. I never really made the comics a priority over the toys, so it took a very long time to gather them all up. In 2006 I bought six of the remaining ten I needed and then promptly put finishing the collection at the back of my priorities. There were just too many good toys (read: Classics!) coming out for me to spend money on comics. Not to mention new Transformers comics from publishers like Dreamwave and IDW were being released. Finally by 2010 I decided it was time to be done with it. The last four issues I was missing were some of the most expensive of the series; those near the end of the run. There is an annual comic convention here in my hometown every summer so I decided I should be able to find them all there. Summer came and I spend hours looking through bins. I was able to acquire three of the four, but the last one eluded me. Oddly enough, it was the last issue of the series: #80. I got discouraged. Again, my priorities moved it to the back.

Elusive!

Then came my 30th birthday. My wife had an awesome surprise for me including cupcakes, a log cabin retreat and a nice long respite. And one of my presents...you guessed it: #80. After roughly twenty two years of trying to collect a relatively short run of a comic my quest is finally finished. Thanks baby, I owe you.