Yea, they're not worth anything really because to be honest I would assume that most of the comics are still "surviving". Most of the worth comes at the end of the print run and those aren't terribly expensive (~10-20 non-CGC in excellent condition). The reason is that no one wanted them at the time since the series was more or less dying off and therefore fewer were printed. I think I put my whole 1-80 series together from nothing for under 200 total (182 i think to be precise and I have several duplicates).
Not to rehash, but early comics have a worth because they were often thrown away and there was no collector's market for them. Also, they set the tone for comic art and storytelling. Much of the TF artwork wasn't very high quality comparatively (depending on the artist working on the particular issue that did change). To be frank, Modern age (post-1982, but now often referred to as the Copper age -1982-1992ish) comics were typified by the anti-heroes, which TF is not a part of.
The only original art pages that go for any money are from the first several issues with key characters / scenes / first appearances. Otherwise, they're running about $100 or less, generally. The only stuff that really held the worth are the toys because kids opened them and beat the crap out of them,
meaning they were "destroyed" in a sense.
Rarity + demand = price and printing "limited series" at the top didn't help the rarity, I can assure you. The only comics that go for significant money are those that have been CGC rated to 9.8+ because those are technically rare.
Basically, your comics are worth something CGC'd but not open, though even CGC'd, they may not be all that desirable due to the quantity of comics out there and the quality.
Also, yes the comics were based on the figures, but the comics and animated series contributed to the mythos surrounding the comics. Ultimately the purpose was to sell Hasbro product (since they do own TF and all). The current movie is EXTREMELY loosely based on comics for the sake of the naming of the bots and factions, but the back stories might as well be night and day. In fact, IDW invented a "movie-verse" to go along with them to keep it separated from their continuities (thank goodness).
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