Writers: Bill Mantlo & Ralph Macchio
Penciler: Frank Springer
Inker: Kim Demulder
Colorist: Nelson Yomtov
Letterer: Michael Higgins & Rick Parker
Cover Artists: Bill Sienkiewicz, Christian Ward, Von Randal, Livio Ramondelli, Marcel Matere, Andy Duso, Leno Hernandez, John Herbert, Gabriele Dell’Otto & John Giang
Editors: Bob Budiansky, Jim Shooter & Sean Mackiewicz
Design & Production: Andres Juarez, Ashby Florence & Richard Mercado
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 28, 2024
A metal planet orbits a sun in the Alpha Centauri solar system. The Autobot population enjoys peace and prosperity. Yet someone gazes down upon the tranquil paradise in disgust. His name is Megatron. How might his actions transform his people and Cybertron? Let’s oil our gears, leap into the Transformers #1 40th Anniversary Reprint, and find out!
Story
Megatron equates peace with stagnation. He aims to improve his world through conflict and war. He works behind the scenes. Aided by his faithful friend Ravage, Megatron and his followers use science to transform their bodies into living weapons. He’s not ready to strike yet. The Decepticons represent an insignificant fraction of the Autobot population. Megatron’s iron will, fierce personality, and persuasiveness rally more to his cause. Then, one day, Megatron launches his offensive. Decepticons rain destruction across Cybertron. The global destruction kills billions of Autobots, and like the thermonuclear explosion on the moon in 1999, flings Cybertron out of its orbit on a journey through the cosmos.
Bill Mantlo, the powerhouse behind Marvel’s Micronauts and Rom: Spaceknight, contributed the plot to Transformers #1 40th Anniversary Reprint. Longtime Marvel editor Ralph Macchio, nicknamed the Karate Kid after the actor with the same name, contributed the script. Together, they chart the course of a thousand-year war, the flight from Cybertron, and the Transformers’ arrival on Earth. Their story takes inspiration from 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens, while the Transformers meet Humans at a timeless entertainment venue.
In Bill Mantlo and Ralph Macchio’s epic story, Optimus Prime arises as a leader amid the war. While Optimus brings hope to the Autobots, he is the first to volunteer when Cybertron faces an unexpected crisis. Megatron claims to promote change and growth but only cares about conquest. He attacks a desperate mission to protect his planet. Yet when Optimus Prime and the Autobots are weak and disorientated, Megatron flees, citing the need to gain an advantage before combatting them.
Bill Mantlo and Ralph Macchio’s story showcases individual Transformers' unique abilities. An intriguing aspect of the Transformers #1 40th Anniversary Reprint is how the Transformers’ assessment of Earth is limited by how life developed on Cybertron. It’s a reminder that diversity enriches society far more than uniformity or conflict.
Art
Frank Springer and Kim Demulder travel to an alien solar system and descend into the atmosphere of the metal planet. They capture images of giant robots walking along curved walkways or flying over high-tech cities. Like Ravage, they sneak into the Decepticon stronghold and transmit scenes of machinery transforming robots into machines of war. Some of these machines fly, and before the second page ends, the airborne Decepticons attack the cities across a planet as developed and populated as Coruscant. The third and fourth pages show how the Autobots react to their attacks and Optimus Prime’s rise to power, while the fifth reveals a global threat resulting from Megatron’s actions.
Nelson Yomtov lavishes bright, appealing colors on the Ark's journey to Earth. While the Ark interiors show one or two colors, the world outside Mount St Hilary is awash with colors. Blue dominates the Decepticons in their half-page discussion, while the Autobots showcase far more yellow and green during their one-and-a-half-page conversation. The Transformers #1 40th Anniversary Reprint also introduces Buster, a golden-haired boy who wears a pink shirt. His father, clad in a greasy green coverall, wishes his son would abandon his literary scholarship program and learn a trade. Yet Buster's compassion proves instrumental in forging a link between two worlds.
Michael Higgins and Rick Parker fill narrative boxes and rectangular dialogue "balloons" with uppercase black lettering. While most of the narrative boxes are the color of Buster's shirt, a few evoke his hair. Colorful sound effects hail Megatron’s assault on the Ark, the ship’s crash into a volcano, the eruption four million years later, and five Autobots venturing forth on a survey mission. A hitchhiker observing the vehicles likens the noise to the Indy 500. But then, a world ravaged by a thousand-year war has more important things to worry about than mufflers. Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
After Megatron's dreams of conquest transform Cybertron into a war zone, the Autobots’ mission to save their planet brings their conflict to Earth. While Megatron lusts after Earth's rich power sources, Cliffjumper can’t wait to fire his unique gun at the Decepticons. Bumblebee wants to explore Earth’s vast oceans, and a Human named Buster dreams of becoming a writer. Might the boy follow Bill Mantlo and Ralph Macchio’s footsteps and write comics like the Transformers #1 40th Anniversary Reprint?
Rating 9.6/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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