The Transformers #7
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Marvel UK edition of 'Warrior School!' delivered a pivotal character study at the heart of the early Transformers mythology: Ratchet, a medic with no combat experience, is forced to negotiate with the villainous Megatron and maneuver the dormant Dinobots into battle against the rogue Shockwave. This issue crystallises the serialised, consequence-driven tone that set the Marvel comic apart from the more episodic cartoon — a lone Autobot outgunned but not outthought. For British readers receiving the story fortnightly, it also served as the charged build-up to the first full Dinobot appearance, making the wait for the next issue almost unbearable. As part of the UK run that would grow into 332 issues and eventually define a generation of British comics readers, issue #7 represents the moment the franchise's storytelling ambitions became unmistakably clear.
In "The Last Stand," the Autobots face their final defense against the Decepticons in a desperate battle that hinges on a risky gamble. With Sparkplug’s hidden sabotage turning the tide, their victory feels within reach—until Shockwave arrives, carrying pure fuel that could shift the balance once more. Written by Jim Salicrup and illustrated by Frank Springer, with inks by Akin and Garvey, colors by Nel Yomtov, and letters by John Workman, this pivotal 1984 UK issue features a cover by Mark Texeira.
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The story itself — written by Bob Budiansky, with interior art by William Johnson and Kyle Baker, and a cover by Mark Bright and Brad Joyce — originated as US Transformers #7 (cover-dated August 1985). Marvel UK reprinted it in their own fortnightly format, which ran the first 26 issues on a biweekly schedule before switching to weekly publication on the comic's first anniversary. The UK edition was a larger-format, thinner-paper product distinct from the American Mando-paper original, and paired the Transformers lead story with a backup strip drawn from Marvel's existing library — in this period, sequential reprints of the Machine Man series. Sheila Cranna edited the early UK run, and the reprint programme was integral to Marvel UK's cost structure in the licensed-comic boom of the mid-1980s.
Trivia · 8 facts
- The lead story, 'Warrior School!', is written by Bob Budiansky (who scripted US Transformers #5–#55) with interior art by William Johnson and Kyle Baker, and a cover by Mark Bright and Brad Joyce.
- The central dramatic engine is Ratchet — the Autobots' chief medic and the last undeactivated Autobot — being forced to think and act as a warrior, brokering a tense deal with Megatron to weaponise the Dinobots against Shockwave.
- The issue provides the first extended in-story backstory for Shockwave's arrival on Earth: Megatron recounts how Shockwave crash-landed in a radiation-affected region still inhabited by dinosaurs — Marvel Comics' Savage Land — and subsequently encountered the creatures that would become the Dinobots.
- The Dinobots (Grimlock, Slag, Sludge, Snarl, and Swoop) appear in flashback/cameo here, with their full action debut set up for the following issue, 'Repeat Performance!'
- Portland, Oregon is explicitly named as the location of Sparkplug Witwicky's garage in US issue #7, grounding the early arc's Pacific Northwest setting.
- The Marvel UK edition carried a backup reprint from the Machine Man series (Aaron Stack / Machine Man) — a practice maintained across the fortnightly run's early issues — making this issue one of the earliest UK comics to place Machine Man before a mass British readership.
- Marvel UK published the first 26 issues of Transformers fortnightly before switching to weekly from issue #27 onward; issue #7 is therefore part of the original biweekly phase launched in September 1984.
- 'Warrior School!' was later collected in the Transformers Classics Volume 1 trade paperback, alongside other early Budiansky-era stories.
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▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
The Autobots have almost lost against the Decepticons in a last stand battle, but are victorious due to Buster's dad (Sparkplug) poisoning the fuel that recharged them earlier. However, the unexpected arrival of Shockwave (with untainted fuel in him) causes them to lose.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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