Transformers (Titan Magazine)

I dunno, I think you could fit some more text on that cover...

Transformers is an ongoing monthly magazine published in the United Kingdom by Titan Magazines. It ties in to the 2007 film and features a mix of original comic strips, reprinted strips by IDW, and regular features & competitions. It is over 50 pages long each month.

Based on a recent announcement of a 5-part story from #9, it is known the title will be reaching at least #13.

Comic strip

I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE - AND I BRING YOU...

Opening each issue is a 10-page original comic strip. These are written by Simon Furman and have a mix of artists, many of whom have been seen on other Transformers comics - Geoff Senior, Nick Roche, Staz and Guido Guidi.

Issues 1-6 were set before the film and were based on specific characters, filling in details of the war and characters (like Devastator) who had not gotten much development in the film. The first two strips, starring Optimus and Megatron, tied in to the IDW prequel comic in the same way Marvel UK's stories tied in to the Marvel US Transformers. At the end of #2, four of the characters had been scattered across the galaxy and 3-6 focused on their solo adventures on alien worlds. They also featured characters from the toyline, such as Clocker, in secondary-character roles.

Issues 7-8 were set immediately after the Mission City battle in the film, dealing with leftover plot elements like the whereabouts of Scorponok.

Issue 9 will see the start of a 5-part story, Twilight's Last Gleaming, where the Decepticons won in the film.

Signal Flare's read Furman stories before...

Regular Features

• Autobot VS Decepticon Smackdown - last seen in #5, this pitted two characters against each other and gave a list of their strengths & weaknesses. The outcome of the fight was left up to the reader to decide.
• Top Gear - this section provided competitions to win Transformers merchandise, as well as telling readers about awesome new stuff it'd be cool to have.
• Character Profile - an in-depth description of an individual character's personality, history, abilities and weaknesses.
• Letters Page - Letters and fan-art from readers, with a prize for the Star Letter. Originally called Mech Mail, it was renamed Star Screams in #7 and the mail is now answered by "Starscream" (a traditional gimmick).
• Poster - a pull-out poster in the centre pages. Generally it's a poster version of the front cover, though #7 featured an original image by Geoff Senior.
• How To Draw...: Seen twice (Optimus and Megatron), this feature instructs small children how to draw the incredibly fiddly and complicated movie-verse Transformers. "If you found this one a bit difficult to draw...well, it's all part of Megatron's evil plans!"
• Free Gift! - a cheap item that is hopefully desirable enough to convince a child to buy the comic. Free gifts have included a target-shooting game, Autobot/Decepticon dog tags, and a notebook & pen. According to editor Steve White, coming up with free gifts is "a nightmare for our marketing department, who have no real experience on a more male-orientated older title and have to come up with ideas that don’t just rely on some piece of cheap plastic... However, they’re constrained as much by money – yes, we’d love to have a Minicon on the first issue, but we have to get real." [1]

Reprints

To fill out the pages while keeping costs down, the magazine reprints comics published by IDW. The reprints are cut into 6-8 pages segments(though one was once 10), deliberately shorter than the UK strip so it's clear which is the primary story.

The reprints so far have included:

• The Movie Prequel - #1-12
• Beast Wars: The Gathering - #1-12

Audience

The primary audience of Transformers is, of course, young children - as well as the features and editorial sections being written in juvenile tones (and the presence of free gifts), the letters page is full of kids sending in their praise, photos of their collection, suggestions for stories, and drawings of their own characters. Steve White has frankly admitted it's a "junior" title, though they attempt to not talk down to the audience, citing this as a flaw in the short-lived Panini Armada title.

There is, however, a sizeable minority of older fans and this is openly recognised in both interviews & in the comic itself. This generally does not affect the content, with the exception of a competition in #7 for the Best of Simon Furman trade, with the question being what robot bounty hunter Furman had made.

Multi-continuity

Transformers Mag - heroically teaching small children that BW Megatron is a badass.

While the current focus of the comic is, obviously, the film, the title has also made substantial references to the Generation 1 franchise. #1 had a feature on the animated movie and its DVD, trades of IDW's comics are promoted & offered as competition prizes, and the odd reference is made to G1 and older fans who may remember it.

Beast Wars also gets referenced - The Gathering is a regular reprint, mention is made of it, and young readers in the letter's page write in mentioning it (and #7 had a fan-art of Cheetor) with Starscream refering to Simon Furman as a Maximal. There have also been two competitions to win the UK Beast Machines DVD boxsets. (Beast Wars was repeated in full on a loop on Channel 5 in recent years, as well as likely being a show remembered by readers who grew up in the late 1990s, so many readers would have familiarity with it)