Revised Chronological Guide to Marvel UK “The Transformers” G1

Key
===[xx] = Takes place within above issue {as specified}
OoC[xx] = Out of Continuity
[xxb] = Backup strip(s)
[xx/xx] = Original publication / reprint
[xx/xx+] = Modified in reprint
(See notes for further explanation)

1984
[US #1/UK #1-2] - “The Transformers”
===[1986 Annual] - “State Games” {Over p.2 panels 1-2}
===[1985 Annual] - “And There Shall Come... a Leader!” {Over p.4 panels 4-5}
[US #2/UK #3-4] - “Power Play!”
[US #3/UK #5-6] - “Prisoner of War!”
===[UK #9-12/US #43-44] - “Man of Iron” {Between p.11 panels 3-4}
[US #4/UK #7-8] - “The Last Stand”
===[UK #13-17] - “The Enemy Within!” {Between p.8 & ...}
===[UK #18-21] - “Raiders of the Last Ark” {... & p.9}

1985
[US #5/UK #22-23] - “The New Order”
[US #6/UK #24-25] - “The Worse of Two Evils!”
[US #7/UK #26] - “Warrior School!”
[US #8/UK #27-28] - “Repeat Performance!”
[UK #29-30] - “Decepticon Dam-Busters!”
[UK #31] - “The Wrath of Guardian”
[UK #32] - “The Wrath of Grimlock”
[US #9/UK #33-34] - “Dis-integrated Circuits!”
[US #10/UK #35-36] - “The Next Best Thing to Being There!”
[US #11/UK #37-38] - “Brainstorm!”
[US #12/UK #39-40] - “Prime Time!”
[UK #41] - “Christmas Breaker!”
OoC[1985 Annual]

1986
[UK #42-44] - “Crisis of Command!”
[UK #45-46] - “The Icarus Theory”
[UK #47-50] - “Dinobot Hunt!”
[1986 Annual] - “Victory!”
[US #13/UK #51-52] - “Shooting Star!”
[US #14/UK #53-54] - “Rock and Roll-Out!”
[US #15/UK #55-56] - “I, Robot-Master!”
[US #16/UK #57-58] - “Plight of the Bumblebee!”
[UK #59-60] - “Robot Buster!”
[UK #61-62] - “Devastation Derby!”
[UK #63-65] - “Second Generation!”
[US #17/UK #66-67] - “The Smelting Pool!”
[US #18/UK #68-69+] - “The Bridge to Nowhere!”
[US #19/UK #70-71+] - “Command Performances!”
[US #20/UK #72-73+] - “Showdown!”
[1986 Annual] - “The Mission”
[UK #74-77] - “In the National Interest”
[UK #78-88] - “Target: 2006”
[US #21/UK #89-90] - “Aerialbots over America!”
[US #22/UK #91-92] - “Heavy Traffic!”
[Woman's Day 12/26/85] - “The Night the Transformers Saved Christmas”
[UK #93] - “The Gift”
OoC[1986 Annual]

1987
[US #23/UK #94-95] - “Decepticon Graffiti!”
[UK #96-97] - “Prey!”
[UK #98] - “...The Harder They Die!”
[UK #99] - “Under Fire!”
[UK #100] - “Distant Thunder!”
[UK #101-102] - “Fallen Angel”
[UK #103-104/#229-232b] - “Resurrection!”
[US #24/UK #105-106] - “Afterdeath!”
[US #25/UK #107-108+] - “Gone but Not Forgotten!”
[US #26/UK #109-110] - “Funeral for a Friend!”
[US #27/UK #111-112] - “King of the Hill!”
[b] - “High Noon Tex”
[UK #113-114/#221-224b] - “Wanted: Galvatron, Dead or Alive”
[UK #115-116] - “Burning Sky!”
[UK #117-118] - “Hunters”
[UK #119-120] - “Fire on High!”
[1987 Annual] - “Vicious Circle!”
OoC[G.I. Joe and The Transformers #1-4/UK #265-281b]
[US #28/UK #121-122] - “Mechanical Difficulties!”
[US #29/UK #123-124] - “Crater Critters”
[UK #125, Action Force #24-27] - “Ancient Relics!”
[US #30/UK #126-127] - “The Cure!”
[US #31/UK #128-129] - “Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom”
[Headmasters #1/UK #130-133b] - “Ring of Hate!”
[Headmasters #2/UK #134-137b] - “Broken Glass”
[Headmasters #3/UK #138-141b] - “Love and Steel!”
[Headmasters #4/UK #142-145b] - “Brothers in Armor!!”
===[UK #130-131/255-258b] - “Worlds Apart!” {Between p.20-21/#145 p.4-5}
[UK #132] - “Kup’s Story”
[1987 Annual] - “Ark Duty”
[UK #133-134/#225-228b] - “Headhunt”
[UK #135-136] - “Grudge Match!”
===[1987 Annual] - “What's in a Name?" {Between #135 p.8 panels 3-4}
[UK #137-138] - “Ladies’ Night”
[US #32/UK #139-140+] - “Used Autobots”
[US #35/UK #141-142] - “Child's Play”
[US #36/UK #143-144] - “Spacehikers!”
[UK #145] - “Stargazing”
OoC[1987 Annual]

1988
[UK #146-151] - “The Legacy of Unicron!”
[Doctor Who Magazine #135] - “The Crossroads of Time”
[UK #152-153] - “Enemy Action!”
[US #37/UK #154-155] - “Toy Soldiers!”
[US #38/UK #156-157] - “Trial by Fire!”
[US #39/UK #158-159+] - “The Desert Island of Space!”
[UK #160-161] - “Salvage!”
[US #40/UK #162-163] - “Pretender to the Throne!”
[UK #164-165] - “City of Fear!”
[UK #166-167] - “Legion of the Lost!”
[UK #168-169] - “Meltdown!”
[UK #170-171] - “Deadly Games!”
[UK #172-173] - “Wrecking Havoc”
[US #41/UK #174-175+] - “Totaled!/Totalled!”
[US #42/UK #176-177] - “People Power!”
[US #44/UK #178-179] - “The Cosmic Carnival”
[US #43/UK #180-181+] - “The Big Broadcast of 2006”
[UK #182-187] - “Space Pirates!”
[UK #188] - “Firebug!”
[UK #189] - “Dry Run!”
[1988 Annual] - “Altered Image!”
[US #45/UK #190-191] - “Monstercon from Mars!”
[US #46/UK #192-193+] - “Ca$h and Car-nage!”
[UK #198] - “Cold Comfort and Joy!”
OoC[1988 Annual]

1989
[1988 Annual] - “All in the Minds!”
[UK #199-205] - “Time Wars”
[US #47/UK #194-195+] - “Club Con!”
[US #48/UK #196-197] - “The Flames of Boltax!”
[US #49/UK #206-207] - “Cold War!”
[US #50/UK #208-210] - “Dark Star”
[US #51/UK #211-212] - “The Man in the Machine!”
[UK #213-214b] - “The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire”
[UK #219-222b] - “Survivors!”
[UK #229b] - “The Hunting Party”
[UK #237b] - “Way of the Warrior”
[UK #238b] - “Survival Run”
[UK #239b] - “A Savage Place!”
[US #52/UK #213-216] - “Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?”
[US #53/UK #217-220] - “Recipe for Disaster!
[UK #230-231b] - “The Big Shutdown!”
[UK #235-236b] - “Deathbringer”
[UK #241b] - “Rage!”
[UK #242b] - “Assault on the Ark!”
[UK #232-233b] - “A Small War!””
[US #54/UK #232-235] - “King Con!”
[US #55/UK #236-239] - “The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!”
[UK #228b] - “[Double] Deal of the Century!”
[UK #215-218b] - “Race with the Devil”
[UK #243b] - “Mind Games”
[UK #244b] - “Two Megatrons!”
[US #56/UK #240-242] - “Back from the Dead”
[US #57/UK #243-245] - “The Resurrection Gambit!”
[US #58/UK #246-248] - “All the Familiar Faces!”
[US #59/UK #249-251] - “Skin Deep”
[UK #240b] - “Out to Lunch!”
[UK #245b] - “Underworld!”
[UK #246b] - “Demons!”
[UK #247b] - “Dawn of Darkness”
[UK #248b] - “Fallen Star!”
[UK #249b] - “Whose Lifeforce Is It Anyway?”
[UK #250b] - “The Greatest Gift of All!”
OoC[1989 Annual]

1990
[UK #223-227b] - “Aspects of Evil!”
[UK #234b] - “Prime's Rib!”
[UK #251b] - “The Void!”
[UK #252b] - “Edge of Impact”
[UK #253b] - “Shadow of Evil”
[UK #254b] - “White Fire”
[US #60/UK #252-254] - “Yesterday's Heroes!”
[US #61/UK #259-261] - “Primal Scream”
OoC[UK #255-289b] - “Earthforce”
[US #62/UK #262-264] - “Bird of Prey!”
[US #63/UK #282-285] - “Kings of the Wild Frontier.”
[US #64/UK #286-289] - “Deadly Obsession”
[US #65/UK #290-293] - “Dark Creation”
[US #66/UK #294-297] - “All Fall Down”
[US #67/UK #298-301] - “Rhythms of Darkness!”
[US #68/UK #302-305] - “The Human Factor!”
OoC[1990 Annual]
1991
[US #69/UK #306-308] - “Eye of the Storm”
[US #70/UK #309-310] - “The Pri¢e of Life!”
[US #71/UK #311-312] - “Surrender!”
[US #72/UK #313-314] - “...All This and Civil War 2”
[US #73/UK #315-316] - “Out of Time!”
[US #74/UK #317-318] - “The Void!”
[US #75/UK #319-322] - “On the Edge of Extinction!”
[US #76/UK #323-324] - “Still Life!”
[US #77/UK #325-326] - “Exodus!”
[US #78/UK #327-328] - “A Savage Circle”
[US #79/UK #329-330] - “The Last Autobot?”
[US #80/UK #331-332] - “End of the Road!”
OoC[1991 Annual]

Notes
If you need information on where to find specific issues in the Titan Books and IDW reprints, this post on
TFW2005 and their respective TFWiki articles are your best sources.

I designed this index to give the smoothest read possible, and as such some stories have been removed
from normal continuity. Others are out of what you might consider true chronological order, rather being
placed from the perspective of their headnotes or framing devices.

The “Out of Continuity” stories can be read as listed, in publishing order, before the regular series,
afterwards, or entirely separately, depending on how much of a headache the continuity hiccups give you.

+ Many UK prints of US strips modified art or dialogue in order to fit UK continuity, “Gone But Not
Forgotten!” and “The Big Broadcast of 2006” having been the most extensive. Information on these
changes, which issues they were made to, as well as scans of most of the altered panels can be found on
Stuart Webb’s “Transformation” blog. Minor alterations like color-corrections or spelling localizations
aren’t noted here.

“Target: 2006” begins right after Galvatron says “Decepticons, to Earth!” in both versions of TF:TM.

Woman's Day 12/26/85 - "The Night the Transformers Saved Christmas" was a bonus strip in a non-
Transformer magazine that was never reprinted as far as I’m aware, but I found a link to a scan of it on its
TFWiki article.

+ US #25 - “Gone But Not Forgotten!” introduced the Predacons to the US continuity, which was a
problem for UK continuity since the team was first introduced in “Prey” overseas. UK #107-108 remedied
this by editing dialogue to include references to Megatron’s amnesia following his encounter with Straxus,
as well as removing all reference to “G.I. Joe and The Transformers”.

Death’s head was originally created by Simon Furman for The Transformers, but first he appeared on a
one-page backup strip called “High-Noon Tex” in several other Marvel titles as a bid for character rights.
His fate following “The Legacy of Unicron!” was revealed in Doctor Who Magazine #135 - “The
Crossroads of time” (reprinted in “The Incomplete Death’s Head” #1), after which he crossed over with
“Dragon’s Claws” and went on to star in his own self-titled series, “Death’s Head”, as well as a number of
other crossovers.

Rather than placing the two "Movie prequels" around Target: 2006, I've left "Ark Duty" right after "Kup's
Story," the other Kup/Blurr/Hot Rod-centered flashback, and "Prime's Rib" with the other black & white
future stories. Technically this breaks chronology, but for story reasons they fit better with these issues.

+ US #43 - “The Big Broadcast of 2006” was a fairly direct comic book adaptation of The Transformers
S3E02, but UK #180-181 added pages that completely changed the context of the story making it into a
prologue for “Space Pirates!”. Without these pages, US #43 is not canon.

Starting in 1989 Marvel UK began printing multiple transformers strips of equal length in each issue. For
simplicity's sake, I’ve listed the UK-original as the backup strips and US and UK reprints the new strips as
the main strips. Even though the UK-original stories were almost always the ones featured on the cover,
the reprints were usually put first in the issue.

On that note, 1989 is a mess. There were between four and five different series of events all taking place
around the same time, and one set in the future. I did my best to consolidate each into distinct arcs (“Time
Wars” epilogues, Carnivac/Survivors issues, etc.), but a good number did end up radically divorced from
how they were published.

Although “Aspects of Evil” contains many blatant and seemingly intentional continuity errors, I take it to be
canon as “The Void” effectively retconned the story into continuity with the main future timeline.

“Earthforce” exists an alternate but closely related “pseudo-canon” continuity that contains significant
contradictions to the normal continuity. Some treat it as a divergent timeline, but the exact point of
divergence is still debated.

I listed the UK Annuals by their release dates as opposed to their cover dates, as from 1988 onwards they
were dated to the next year (1988 as 1989, 1989 as 1990 etc.) leaving a rather confusing and unsightly
gap for that year. Unless listed otherwise, the annual stories are almost entirely of dubious canonicity.

More in Johnboy3434’s old posts and in mine: TFArchive Allspark.com TFW2005

Out of Continuity
The following have proven surplus to requirements:
[1985 Annual] - “Plague of the Insecticons”
[1985 Annual] - “Missing in Action”
[1985 Annual] - “Hunted!”
[Free comic] - “The Special Teams Have Arrived” - (Advert, redraw)
[G.I. Joe and The Transformers #1-4/UK #265-281b] - (Alternate Goldbug origin)
[1986 Annual] - "To a Power Unknown!" - (Ignores Robot Master, flying Autobots)
[1986 Annual] - “The Return of the Transformers”
[1987 Annual] - “Headmaster Saga” - (Altered retelling of Headmasters #1-4)
[1988 Annual] - “Primal Bomb”
[1988 Annual] - "Peace" - ("Just a story about the stupidity of war")
[1989 Annual] - “Destiny of the Dinobots”
[1989 Annual] - “Trigger Happy!”
[1989 Annual] - “Dreadwing Down!”
[1989 Annual] - “The Chain Gang!”
[UK #255-289] - “Earthforce” - (Continuity discrepancies, maybe a new timeline? “pseudo-canon”)
[1990 Annual] - “The Magnificent Six!” - (Part of Earthforce)
[1991 Annual] - “Another Time & Place” - (One of several alternate sequels)
[Transformers: Generation 2] - (Ditto, see Johnboy3434’s post for reading order)
[Transformers: Generation 2 UK] - (Ditto)
[G2 1994 Annual] - (Completely Independent micro-continuity)
See respective TFWiki articles for further explanation.

[Secret link]