Back-up strips
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Youare the editor ofMarvel UK'sbrand newTransformerscomic. You need to run the U.S. issues in smaller chunks, in order to keep a fortnightly (later weekly) frequency without running out of stuff. But... what are you going to run in the rest of the comic? Features alone won't grab the kiddies! You need more strip! You need...
Back-up strips!
Contents |
Marvel UK back-up strips
A great way of padding out the comic while not taking the mick, back-up strips ran throughout the entire Marvel UK run. These would almost always be reprints of other Marvel titles.
| “ | ...anything, in truth, that featured a robot or someone in an iron suit | ” |
—Editorial inTitan Books"The Legacy of Unicron"trade | ||
In-house strips
The Chromobots
A light-hearted action strip byMatt and the Cat's Mychailo "Mike" Kazybrid,The Chromobotsran fromissue 12toissue 26.It told the story of Dudley, a young comic book readerjust likeyouwhose dreams of adventuring like his heroes came unexpectedly true when he fell in with a trio of alien Chromobots who were pursuing a criminal that had escaped from their homeworld.
Combat Colin
Ran from issue153all the way through to issue332
A humor strip byLew Stringer;for more information, see theCombat Colinarticle.
Matt and the Cat
An in-house humor topic created by Mychailo "Mike" Kazybrid, featuring a man named Matt and a cat. Based on Kazybrid's characters in newspaper strips for theBradford Telegraph & ArgusandThe Manchester Evening News.
Spider-Man
Bitten by a radioactive spider, geeky high school student Peter Parker acquires the proportionate strength and agility of a spider, becoming The AmazingSpider-Man
Appeared as a four page insert on "stranger danger" in issue132.
Robo-Capers
A humor strip byLew Stringer;for more information, see theRobo-Capersarticle.
Reprints
Action Force
Action Force was the European equivalent ofG.I. Joe.Initially, there was a separateAction Forcecomicbut it was cancelled after fifty issues. As was standard in UK comics, it was merged with the more successfulTransformersand the title was changed toTransformers and Action Forcewhen Action Force strips were run. From249it was rebranded asG.I. Joe - The Action Forceand the comic was rebranded asTransformers and G.I. Joe - The Action Force.
Treated as main stories (no backup strips), theAncient Relics!UK cross over story ran in #125 continuing in Action Force #24–27 and the U.S. cross over seriesG.I. Joe and the Transformersran in issues#265to#281
Hercules
Hercules is a Demi-God. He is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, and eventually a member of the pantheon of Olympus.
| Issues | Story | Hercules at Marvel Database |
| #70-#73 | "What Fools These Immortals Be!" | Hercules Vol 1 1 |
| #74- #77 | "For the Love of Gods" | Hercules Vol 1 2 |
| #78- #81 | "Whom the God Would Destroy!" | Hercules Vol 1 3 |
| #82 - #85 | "...Not Just Another Galactus Story!" | Hercules Vol 1 4 |
Inhumanoids
AnotherHasbroproperty with an obligatoryMarvel Comicsseries, in this case just four issues reprinted in chunks in the UK. The Inhumanoids were a group of subterranean monsters who were sealed beneath the Earth until accidentally released by humans, and were opposed by theEarth Corpsand a race of good mutants known as the Mutores. The series was cancelled after only four issues, ending on a cliffhanger.
| Issues | Story | Inhumanoids at Marvel Database |
| #103-#106 | "The Coming of the Inhumanoids, Part 1" | Inhumanoids Vol 1 1 |
| #107-#110 | "I Left My Monsters in San Francisco" | Inhumanoids Vol 1 2 |
| #111-#114 | "The Battle Down Below!" | Inhumanoids Vol 1 3 |
| #115-#118 | "Metlar Unleashed!" | Inhumanoids Vol 1 4 |
Iron Man
Tony Stark is an industrialist playboy who fights crime in a powered suit asIron Man.
"Man of the Year"was aSpider-Manstory set in 2020; however it was rebranded asThe Iron Man of 2020after the more prominent guest star.
| Issues | Story | Iron Man at Marvel Database |
| #43-#46 | "Night of the Octopus" | Marvel Fanfare Vol 1 22 |
| #47-#50 | "From the Ashes" | Marvel Fanfare Vol 1 23 |
| #119-#125 | "Man of the Year" | Amazing Spider-Man Annual Vol 1 20 |
| #126-#129 | "Deep Trouble!" | Iron Man Vol 1 218 |
| #146-#152 | "Stratosfire" | Iron Man Annual Vol 1 9 |
Machine Man
X-51 was born on an assembly line but raised like a son as an experiment by Dr Abel Stack. Forced to leave his father's care early, Aaron Stack now seeks to live among Johnny Average while contending with anti-robot persecution as his superhero alter ego, Machine Man.
After the reprints of theMachine Manongoing series concluded,The Transformerstransitioned to printing Machine Man's 1984 limited series. It saw Aaron revived in the far future year of 2020, after over thirty years in storage, where he had to contend with a technocratic megacorporation as well the mercenary Arno Stark, alias the Iron Man of 2020.
The impact of this seemingly innocuous reprint washugefor Marvel UK: in 1987,The Transformerswould print theSpider-Manstory "Man of the Year" off the back of it featuring the origin of Iron Man 2020. AfterDeath's Head's solo series saw him relocated to 2020 for an anti-hero team-up (read: fight) with Arno, the setting would recur alongside many similar cyberpunk futures as part of the expansive"Genesis '92"line-up, an attempt for Marvel UK to really break into the U.S. market.
| Issues | Story | Machine Manat Marvel Database |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | "Introducing Machine Man" | Three pages fromMachine Man Vol 1 10,edited into aMachine Manprimer |
| #1-#3 | "Byte of the Binary Bug!" | Machine Man Vol 1 11 |
| #4-#5 | "Where Walk the Gods!" | Machine Man Vol 1 12 |
| #6-#7 | "Xanadu!" | Machine Man Vol 1 13 |
| #8-#9 | "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls" | Machine Man Vol 1 14 |
| #10 - #11 | "Kill Me or Cure Me" | Machine Man Vol 1 15 |
| #12-#14 | "Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad!" | Machine Man Vol 1 16 |
| #15 - #17 | "Arms and the Robot!" | Machine Man Vol 1 17 |
| #18 - #21 | "Alone Against Alpha Flight!" | Machine Man Vol 1 18 |
| #22-#25 | "Jolted By Jack O'Lantern!" | Machine Man Vol 1 19 |
| #27-#30 #309-#312 |
"He Lives Again!" | Machine Man Vol 2 1 |
| #31-#34 #318-#321 |
"If This Be Sanctuary?!" | Machine Man Vol 2 2 |
| #35-#38 #322-#325 |
"Rime of the Ancient Wrecker!" | Machine Man Vol 2 3 |
| #39-#42 #326-#329 |
"Victory" | Machine Man Vol 2 4 |
Planet Terry
In 1984, Marvel U.S. created theStar Comicsimprint to fill the gap in the younger kids comic market recently vacated byHarvey Comics,including poaching some of its creative team. One of Star Comics' original titles wasPlanet Terry,which told the story of a young space traveller, also named Planet Terry, searching the universe after being accidentally separated from his parents at birth.
Planet Terrymade its way intoThe TransformersUK under editorSheila Cranna,who intended for the book to have a generalist approach with something for readers of all ages. (Cranna also brought Star'sWally the WizardintoThe Spider-Man Comicaround the same time.) This didn't quite work out, asPlanet Terrygot a drubbing in theletters pagesfrom those slightly older readers, who branded it "babyish". WhenIan Rimmertook the editorial chair, he decided to focus onTransformers,culling many of the comic's recurring strips and features. After two full adventures and a truncated abridgement of a third,Planet Terry,much like the infant Terry himself, was jettisoned.
| Issues | Story | Planet Terryat Marvel Database |
|---|---|---|
| #16 | "The Search" | Planet Terry Vol 1 1:"The Search" |
| #17 | "Part II: A Clue" | Planet Terry Vol 1 1:"A Clue" |
| #18 | "Part III: Some Answers" | Planet Terry Vol 1 1:"Some Answers" |
| #19 | "Part IV: Malt Shop Menace" | Planet Terry Vol 1 1:"Malt Shop Menace" |
| #20 | "The Saga of Princess Ugly" | Planet Terry Vol 1 2:"The Saga of Princess Ugly" |
| #21 | "Part 2: Too Close (Enough) for Comfort" | Planet Terry Vol 1 2:"Too Close (Enough) for Comfort" |
| #22 | "Part 3: The Doom of the Domed City" | Planet Terry Vol 1 2:first four pages of "The Doom of the Domed City" |
| #23 | "The Saga of Princess Ugly part 4" | Planet Terry Vol 1 2:last three pages of "The Doom of the Domed City" |
| #24 | "The Secret of the Space Warp" | Planet Terry Vol 1 3:two complete pages of "The Secret of the Space Warp", one complete page of "Found", and two pages abridging both stories |
| #25 | "The Saga of Princess Ugly part 6" | Planet Terry Vol 1 3:last three pages of "Found" (with one panel from "Deadly Games" ) |
Robotix
Robotix was aHasbrotoyline about two warring robotic races which had a tie in cartoon bySunbow Productionsand a single comic issue byMarvel Comics.As this is a completely ludicrous idea that could never catch on, it was short-lived.
| Issues | Story | Robotix at Marvel Database |
| #51-#54 | "A World In Chaos" | Robotix Vol 1 1 |
Rocket Raccoon
Ranger Rocket Raccoon is a genetically-engineered raccoon who is a law enforcement officer on Halfworld.
| Issues | Story | Rocket Raccoon at Marvel Database |
| #55-#57 | "Animal Crackers" | Rocket Raccoon Vol 1 1 |
| #58 -#61 | "The Masque of the Red Breath" | Rocket Raccoon Vol 1 2 |
| #62 -#65 | "The Book of Revelations!" | Rocket Raccoon Vol 1 3 |
| #66-#69 | "The Age of Enlightenment" | Rocket Raccoon Vol 1 4 |
Spitfire and the Troubleshooters!
One ofMarvel Comics'New Universetitles. Professor Jenny Swenson dons the Man-Assisted eXperimental armor, she takes the codename Spitfire and a group of her college students did the same, becoming The Troubleshooters. They fought crime.
| Issues | Story | Spitfire and the Troubleshooters at Marvel Database |
| #86-#90 | "Beginnings" | Spitfire and the Troubleshooters Vol 1 1 |
| #91-#94 | "Behemoth" | Spitfire and the Troubleshooters Vol 1 2 |
| #95 -#98 | "Counterattack" | Spitfire and the Troubleshooters Vol 1 3 |
Visionaries
Set on the planetPrysmos,Visionariesdepicted the struggle between the heroic Spectral Knights and the villainousDarkling Lordsat the dawn of a quasi-feudal age of magic.
Visionaries was anotherHasbroproperty, with a colorful hologramgimmickused on the figures chests and weaponry. A preview copy in#158printed the first two and a half pages of the first story. When the comic was cancelled it merged intoTransformers(changing the name toTransformers and Visionaries) and printed the remainder of the stories. Later Transformers reprinted the first issue in full.
| Issues | Story | Visionaries at Marvel Database |
| #183- #186 | "Quest of the Four Talismans Part 1" | Visionaries Vol 1 5 |
| #187 -#190 | "Wings: Quest of the Four Talismans Part 2" | Visionaries Vol 1 6 |
| #213- #219 | "The End -- -- The Beginning!" | Visionaries Vol 1 1 |
Other Series
Panini's ArmadaandTitan's movie series comichave both used the same tactic, Panini with original Transformer strips, and Titan with IDW reprints and unusedTransformers Animatedstrips (and one new one).
