The Energon Pub

I was a big fan of the original Marvel comics, but starting reading them a few years after the series ended. All my copies were bought second-hand, and I was able to get just about every issue 1 through 70. I was never able to find the last 10 issues, except for 74... So I don't know how it ends yet.

Anyways, I was just able to get the whole U.S. series and UK marvel series through the wonders of the internet. I decided that I want to read it all. I know the UK series has a lot of extra issues, but they both end the same. My question is, am I best to just read the UK series from beginning to end to catch everything, or will I miss any of the US series that way?"

Also, I've read that the U.S. series can be bought now as several combined books, rather than 80 individual issues. Can someone school me on this? Are there multiple releases of this, and is one better than the other? Who is the publisher of the best one? link?

Thanks!

Whew, lots of questions to answer.

So I will pose yet another question:

Did you get the G2-G.I.Joe crossover followed by the G2 comics? Technically, they're the end of the Marvel US run. Storywise, anyway.

Yes, I've read the GI Joe and Generation 2 comics. I've just never read any of the issues unique to the UK, or the last 10 issues of the original US 1-80 run.

Ah. I'm a big fan of the G1 US Marvel comics. It's what got me into Transformers. I read them before I had any toys or saw any cartoons. The last 10 issues are the best. Go ahead and read the first. Then start on the UK run from the beginning.

Yeah, that might be what I have to do. I just don't want to re-read any of them, because I want to get started on some of the more recent released from Dreamwave and IDW.

What I did was I read all 80 issues of the Marvel G1 comics, as well as the Headmasters 4-issue limited series, the G.I. Joe and the Transformers Marvel crossover, and the Transformers: The Movie adaptation. And now, I'm going back and reading all 332 Marvel UK G1 issues and all of the UK G1 annuals. But that's just me.

I know that a majority of the UK issues are reprints of the U.S. issues, but rereading them in the order the UK placed them lets me get a slightly different take on the U.S. version of the story. Plus, several issues of the reprinted U.S. comics were edited and altered to better flow with the UK-only issues, and so now I get to see what all was changed for the UK verisons of the U.S. issues.

As for the questions.

Lazerface wrote:Anyways, I was just able to get the whole U.S. series and UK marvel series through the wonders of the internet. I decided that I want to read it all. I know the UK series has a lot of extra issues, but they both end the same. My question is, am I best to just read the UK series from beginning to end to catch everything, or will I miss any of the US series that way?"

Like I said, some of the content in the U.S. issues was changed in the UK versions of said issues. Which is why I chose to read all of the U.S. version issues first and then go back and read of the UK version issues.

Lazerface wrote:Also, I've read that the U.S. series can be bought now as several combined books, rather than 80 individual issues. Can someone school me on this? Are there multiple releases of this, and is one better than the other? Who is the publisher of the best one? link?

As of this year, IDW is released trade paperback versions of both the U.S. and UK Marvel G1 comics.

Previously, they had released all of Marvel G1 (sans the G.I. Joe/TF crossover) across six paperpack collections, but those ones had issues missing due to legal issues with Marvel. Now, having settled those issues, IDW is rereleasing these collections with the missing issues put back in (though, still not holding out for the G.I. Joe/TF crossover).

Here are the first three volumes (more to come in the near future).
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-TP-Bob-Budiansky/dp/1600109357/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-2-Bob-Budiansky/dp/161377091X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-3-Bob-Budiansky/dp/1613771630/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-11

As for the UK stuff, IDW is also releasing these in trade paperback form as well. However, these only contain the UK-exclusive issues/annuals and none of the "modified-for-the-UK" U.S. issues. So, unless these books include some kind of author's notes explaining the continuity, reading these along with the unaltered U.S. issues without any knowledge of the changes made to them makes for some minor discrepancies between the two.

Anyway, here are the first two volumes (more coming).
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-UK-Simon-Furman/dp/1600109438/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-UK-Simon-Furman/dp/161377141X/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-10

Pretender Skywarp wrote:Best Marvel comics resource. Ever.

Thanks!

I'm pretty amped to finally get to finish the G1 Marvel series, and to hear that the story line is being continued by Furman/Wildman next year is just crazy.

Lazerface wrote:

Pretender Skywarp wrote:Best Marvel comics resource. Ever.

Thanks!

I'm pretty amped to finally get to finish the G1 Marvel series, and to hear that the story line is being continued by Furman/Wildman next year is just crazy.

I just hope issues 81-100 don't contradict G.I. Joe #138-142 and the G2 comics.

Sabrblade wrote:As of this year, IDW is released trade paperback versions of both the U.S. and UK Marvel G1 comics.

Previously, they had released all of Marvel G1 (sans the G.I. Joe/TF crossover) across six paperpack collections, but those ones had issues missing due to legal issues with Marvel. Now, having settled those issues, IDW is rereleasing these collections with the missing issues put back in (though, still not holding out for the G.I. Joe/TF crossover).

Here are the first three volumes (more to come in the near future).
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-TP-Bob-Budiansky/dp/1600109357/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-2-Bob-Budiansky/dp/161377091X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Classics-3-Bob-Budiansky/dp/1613771630/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320081042&sr=1-11

Is there any difference in cover or page quality between the old IDW release, and these new releases?

I read that the older IDW release uses a glossy paper (which sounds cool), but the new ones use just a plain paper.

I also like the look of the older version's covers better.

But it sounds like the new ones are the best choice, since they have all the issues included, and some corrections made to coloring mistakes.

If anyone has both, can you tell me which you like better?

I just read through the entire Marvel US and UK series using this reading order:

http://marvel.wikia.com/Transformers_Reading_Order.

There are problems with the reading order, but overall it was a good time.

Has anyone here read Eugenesis? I read that on completion of my Marvel read-through and found it quite enjoyable, although Roberts pulls some bold moves with TF history.

http://tfarchive.com/fandom/features/eugenesis/

For the most part, the UK material really enhances the US stuff. It tightens up a lot of things, and the stakes feel quite a bit higher.

Titan's reprints offer a lot of insight into the (many) crazy problems that Furman and the UK staff had to endure throughout the run. It's quite amazing how good the quality is, especially when you consider the hurdles they faced.

Marcdachamp wrote:For the most part, the UK material really enhances the US stuff. It tightens up a lot of things, and the stakes feel quite a bit higher.

Titan's reprints offer a lot of insight into the (many) crazy problems that Furman and the UK staff had to endure throughout the run. It's quite amazing how good the quality is, especially when you consider the hurdles they faced.

Yes, but starting with the Earthforce stories, the UK material no longer tied in with the U.S. stuff.

Earthforce is a weird thing. It doesn't really contradict a whole lot, but it doesn't fit as soundly as the previous stories.

Marcdachamp wrote:Earthforce is a weird thing. It doesn't really contradict a whole lot, but it doesn't fit as soundly as the previous stories.

Simon Furman officially stated that, with Earthforce, he stopped trying to tie in the UK stuff with the U.S. stuff. it's probably best to see Earthforce as its own standalone story splintered from the main one.

Sabrblade wrote:

Lazerface wrote:

Pretender Skywarp wrote:Best Marvel comics resource. Ever.

Thanks!

I'm pretty amped to finally get to finish the G1 Marvel series, and to hear that the story line is being continued by Furman/Wildman next year is just crazy.

I just hope issues 81-100 don't contradict G.I. Joe
#138-142 and the G2 comics.

My guess is that they (Furman and IDW) will.

My feeling is that while #81-#100 MIGHT incorparate some story ideas/elements and few the orginal characters from G2, but I think it's a safe bet that Furman will throw G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #138-#142 and Trafsnformers: Generation 2 #1-12 out the window and under the bus, if it gets in his way.

Cyberstrike wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Lazerface wrote:

Pretender Skywarp wrote:Best Marvel comics resource. Ever.

Thanks!

I'm pretty amped to finally get to finish the G1 Marvel series, and to hear that the story line is being continued by Furman/Wildman next year is just crazy.

I just hope issues 81-100 don't contradict G.I. Joe #138-142 and the G2 comics.

My guess is that they (Furman and IDW) will.

My feeling is that while #81-#100 MIGHT incorparate some story ideas/elements and few the orginal characters from G2, but I think it's a safe bet that Furman will throw G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #138-#142 and Trafsnformers: Generation 2 #1-12 out the window and under the bus, if it gets in his way.

If he wants to keep to the continuity of the previous Marvel issues (especially the first crossover in which Bumblebee was rebuilt as Goldbug), he'll have to not write out the G.I. Joe comics from existence in this world, since both Marvel G1 and Marvel G.I. Joe take place in the same continuity.

Sabrblade wrote:If he wants to keep to the continuity of the previous Marvel issues (especially the first crossover in which Bumblebee was rebuilt as Goldbug), he'll have to not write out the G.I. Joe comics from existence in this world, since both Marvel G1 and Marvel G.I. Joe take place in the same continuity.

Eh, that's where things get a little wonky. Generation 2 and G.I. Joe continuity totally diverge after the crossover ends. Pretty sure the G.I. Joe comic ignored the whole "Earth being destroyed" thing (despite some cameos in G2 #6).

Furman can easily ignore the second G.I. Joe crossover if he wants to.

Marcdachamp wrote:Generation 2 and G.I. Joe continuity totally diverge after the crossover ends. Pretty sure the G.I. Joe comic ignored the whole "Earth being destroyed" thing

That would be a tough one to incorporate.

Marcdachamp wrote: Furman can easily ignore the second G.I. Joe crossover if he wants to.

I agree. I really, really liked Gen 2, but I would have no problem if he ignored that, which is what I think he is going to do. Bumblebee/Goldbug is not a big deal as Bumblebee was back by issue 80 as a pretender, and I really have no problem with the stuff from the first crossover being adhered to....nothing big happens that would even need to be mentioned.

My understanding is that he is picking up where 80 left off, so anything occurring after issue 80 (i.e. the later crossover stuff and Gen 2) is going to be ignored.

Marcdachamp wrote:Pretty sure the G.I. Joe comic ignored the whole "Earth being destroyed" thing (despite some cameos in G2 #6).

Earth wasn't "destroyed". Sure it was beaten up quite a bit, but the planet was still intact.

Sabrblade wrote:

Marcdachamp wrote:Pretty sure the G.I. Joe comic ignored the whole "Earth being destroyed" thing (despite some cameos in G2 #6).

Earth wasn't "destroyed". Sure it was beaten up quite a bit, but the planet was still intact.

True. Anyone know the fate of San Francisco post Gen 2 in GI Joe? My guess is that the writers of GI Joe were not worrying too much about whether San Francisco had been destroyed or not.

I always felt that, outside of the crossovers, the Transformers writers did not pay much attention to the happenings in the GI Joe comic and vice-versa. There are some pretty big events that happen in each that make no appearance in the other. It is hard to believe that GI Joe would never really mention the whole giant robot alien-invasion thing beyond a few issues if the writers were really trying to make the two worlds consistently the same. Same with Spiderman appearing in issue 3....which implies that the Fantastic Four, X-Men, etc were in the same continuity with Transformers. I don't think these things were given that much thought beyond the individual crossover issues, but that is just my impression. My guess is that there are continuity errors if someone were to really dig in to the Marvel-verse, but that is just a guess. And, you know, it doesn't really matter, either.

Regardless of the inconsistencies, Marvel U.S. TF G1 and Marvel U.S. G.I. Joe: ARAH are officially in the same continuity. Both Marvel and the Transformers brand confirm it so.

Marvel states that the two exist within the same universe with the Marvel Mulitverse identifier of Earth-91274 (while the Marvel UK G1 and Marvel UK Action Force comics exist in Earth-120185).

Vector Prime declared the following in an "Ask Vector Prime" session:
"The events depicted in the 155 issue Marvel [G.I. Joe: ARAH] series are canon for Primax 984.0 Gamma."

<Primax 984.0 Gamma> is the universal stream designation of the U.S. Marvel G1 comics continuity.

Sabrblade wrote:

Marcdachamp wrote:Pretty sure the G.I. Joe comic ignored the whole "Earth being destroyed" thing (despite some cameos in G2 #6).

Earth wasn't "destroyed". Sure it was beaten up quite a bit, but the planet was still intact.

The planet itself, yes, but the populace didn't seem to be doing so hot. It seemed, to me at least, that we weren't exactly around and kicking after that.

Furman has already stated that he's going to ignore G2. He said it aged bad and is far too 90s for his tastes.
So he stated he'll ignore it and take the Marvel continuity into a different direction with 81.
He may incorporate a few G2 things, like characters and concepts here and there.

It's kinda like what HellSpawn is to Spawn, takes everything up to a certain point as canon and then just moves into a different direction.

Dead Metal wrote:Furman has already stated that he's going to ignore G2. He said it aged bad and is far too 90s for his tastes.
So he stated he'll ignore it and take the Marvel continuity into a different direction with 81.
He may incorporate a few G2 things, like characters and concepts here and there.

It's kinda like what HellSpawn is to Spawn, takes everything up to a certain point as canon and then just moves into a different direction.

Not that I don't believe you, but you got a source on him saying this? I'm interesting in reading further into this.