TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA

Years ago, I had sort of an annual tradition where every Fall, I would do a series of Transformers posts. It started in the blog's first two years, with the full run of TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE in September/October/November of 2013 and 2014. In the Autumns of 2015 and 2016, it was Dreamwave's TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE and WAR WITHIN comics. Then in 2017, it was all the G.I. JOE/TRANSFORMERS crossovers by Devil's Due Publishing.

After that, the tradition sort of faded away as I ran out of "limited run" Transformers series that piqued my interest. But that's changed! Here we are, five years after my last Fall Transformers project, and I've got something new. This will probably be the shortest of all the Transformers review series I've run here, but it's something I've had some interest in for a long time: TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA.

Now that's not what this stuff was originally called when it was published in Japan in the eighties; rather this is the umbrella title given to all the various Transformers manga that was published back then, as collected in three lovely hardcover volumes by the good people at Viz. I've known about this material for a long time, but never had a way to read it until recently. This stuff spans all of the "Generation One" era, starting with a tie-in to the original animated series (known in Japan as SUPER ROBOT LIFEFORM: TRANSFORMERS) all the way up through various Japanese-exclusive continuities. I honestly have little idea of what to expect here. Beyond TRANSFORMERS: HEADMASTERS, I know little about the Japanese stuff that came after the 1984-87 cartoon.

So hopefully you'll join me, starting next Monday, for the next little while as I take a look at this stuff. Overall, this will take the next five weeks -- two posts apiece for the first two books, and one single post for the final volume. And then after this brief diversion, it's back to the Marvel Universe for one of my favorite runs that I've never read!

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Available on Amazon:
TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA vol. 1: Hardcover | Digital
TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA vol. 2: Hardcover | Digital
TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA vol. 3: Hardcover | Digital

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #36

"A STRETCH IN TIME..."
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Artist: Ernie Chan
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: In the prehistoric river, Skull, Ann, Jeff, Doctor Corey, and the Thing escape from the angry brotosaurs, but find themselves pulled toward a waterfall. Skull saves Ann and Jeff, while the Thing saves Corey. The group continues on their quest to raid the crashed military transport for parts. once they have the equipment they need, they head back to the Thing's experimental craft and repair it. The group takes off, but they are pursued by the Jaguar Priest, riding a pterodactyl, with several more pterodons following. The Thing guides his craft through the time warp, back to present day Cape Canaveral, but the Jaguar Priest and his pterodons follow.

Mister Fantastic greets the group on the Cape's airfield and joins them in their fight against the Jaguar Priest's dinosaurs. The Priest's pterodactyl grabs Ann, but the Thing commandeers another dino and follows. While Mister Fantastic and Skull fight the pterodons on the ground, the Thing rescues Ann. The Jaguar Priest is taken away by the police, and Mister Fantastic suggests sending the pterodons to the Savage Land. Skull prepares to turn himself in to the police as well, to stand trial for the death of his brother.

Continuity Notes: There are three footnotes in this story; one to the last issue when Skull notices the Jaguar Priest, and one to SKULL THE SLAYER #1 when Corey mentions that Skull is still wanted for his brother's death. The third is a lengthy affair in which Marv Wolfman tries to explain how Mister Fantastic appears in this story with his powers intact (albeit weakening), when he had apparently lost them in contemporaneous FANTASTIC FOUR installments.

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #35

"ENTER: SKULL THE SLAYER AND EXIT: THE THING!"
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Guest Artist: Ernie Chan
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: The Thing is summoned by the Air Force to Cape Canaveral, Florida in order to pilot an experimental plane into the Bermuda Triangle in search of a missing jet carrying a cobalt bomb. As he flies the craft, the Thing is attacked by a pterodactyl and pulled into a temporal warp. He crashes on an island in time to come to the aid of Skull, Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey, who are about to be executed by the Jaguar Priest.

The Thing, Skull, and company fight off the Jaguar Priest's minons and then escape into the jungle. They fight off a pterodactyl and then head to the Thing's crashed ship, but find it cannot be repaired. At Jeff's suggestion, the group heads out to find the Army plane that brought Skull and company to the island, in hopes of using some its parts to fix the jet. But on the way, they're attacked by a tyrannosaurus rex. The group escapes by jumping into a river -- but when they emerge from the water, they find themselves surrounded by a herd of brontosauruses.

Continuity Notes: The "missing plane carrying a cobalt bomb" thing was apparently a multi-title plotline! The Thing recalls that the Air Force thought it had been found in Chicago in POWER MAN #45, but that was a false alarm. Later when he crashes on the prehistoric island, the Thing compares it with an "other Earth" he visited in FANTASTIC FOUR #161. One panel later, a quick recap of Skull's situation references SKULL THE SLAYER #8. Leter in the issue, a footnote appears to SKULL #1 when Corey and Jeff discuss Skull's status as a wanted man.

Speaking of SKULL #8, it seems Captain Cochran was unceremoniously killed off since that issue ended. The revelation comes with a footnote from Marv Wolfman which seems to essentially say, "I didn't create that character and I have literally zero interest in writing him." It's kind of funny, though also a bit callous toward Bill Mantlo's storyline.

SKULL THE SLAYER #8

"RIDERS ON THE SKY!"
Writer: Bill Mantlo | Artists: Sal Buscema & Sonny Trinidad
Letters: Denise Wohl | Colors: George Roussos | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: In the golden city, the Incas celebrate Skull and friends surviving their test in the dinosaur pits. Captain Cochran, known to his people as Viracocha, the Feathered Serpent, explains to Skull and the group that he was stationed at a Miami navy base in 1945 when his plane was sucked into the Bermuda Triangle warp and he crashed on the prehistoric island.

Meanwhile, the traitorous Jaguar Priest escapes confinement in the city's dungeons with the aid of his secret followers. He arrives in Cochran's throne room in time to watch as Skull, Ann, Jeff, Doctor Corey, and Cochran are attacked by pterodactyl-riding knights from various time periods. Despite Skull's power belt, the heroes are overcome. Skull is knocked out and the Jaguar Priest orders his prisoners sent to the dungeons.

Continuity Notes: This is the final issue of SKULL THE SLAYER, with the "next issue" blurb (see below) advising fans to write to Marvel if they want to see the series revived.

Cochran was a topographer by trade, and has spent his time among the Incas mapping the world, noting that in this era, the continents have not begun to drift apart yet. (And not to beat a dead horse, but I still really don't think this is what Marv Wolfman had planned for the series. I'm pretty sure he intended the island to exist firmly in the present day, with the Tower of Time creating the illusion of a time warp for those who were sucked into it.)

SKULL THE SLAYER #7

"BURY MY HEART IN THE CITY OF GOLD"
Writer: Bill Mantlo | Artists: Sal Buscema & Sonny Trinidad
Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Colorist: Petra Goldberg | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Skull, Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey are esorted by the Incas to their city of gold, where the High Priest, leader of the group's captors, presents them to their king. Meanwhile, in the United States, Senator "Stonewall" Turner meets with Freddy Lancer about Lancer's plan to head into the Bermuda Triangle and find Skull.

Skull and friends are dropped into two separate pits, where they find themselves up against hungry dinosaurs. In one pit, Ann, Corey, and Jeff fight two pterodactyls, while Skull battles a stegosaurus in the other. Ann stabs one pterosaur with a spear while Jeff shoots at it. When Skull's energy belt begins to glow, the High Priest turns on his king and throws the monarch into the pit with Skull. Nonetheless, Skull's strength belt allows him to kill the stegosaur. Meanwhile, Ann finds some grenades on a soldier's corpse and hurls one at the remaining pterodactyl, killing it.

In the aftermath of the fight, Doctor Corey captures the treacherous High Priest, while the king unmasks himself as one Captain Victor Cochran of the United States Navy, who has been trapped among the Incas for thirty years.

SKULL THE SLAYER #6

"SWAMP!"
Writer: Bill Mantlo | Artists: Sal Buscema & Steve Gan
Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Colorist: Petra Goldberg | Editor: Marv Wolfman

The Plot: Outside the Tower of Time, as Ann and Jeff watch, Skull removes an arrow from Doctor Corey's arm and does his best to treat the wound -- then the group moves along, Skull carrying the unconscious Corey. Inside the Tower, the Black Knight confronts and kills Slitherogue, but when the alien dies, the Tower collapses. Meanwhile, a survivor of the plane crash, Corporal Freddy Lancer, is found by a passing Navy ship. Aboard, Lancer meets with Jeff's father, Senator "Stoneface" Turner, and vows to find Skull.

Back on the island, Skull and company find the tail end of the crashed plane and gather supplies from within. Soon after, as they float down a river on a makeshift raft, they're attacked by a group of Inca warriors. But when a prehistoric ichthyosaur appears and begins devouring fallen Incas, Skull leaps atop the creature and stabs it repeatedly, his strength belt putting so much force behind his assault that the ichthyosaur explodes.

In the aftermath, as Ann embraces Skull, the Incas begin to chant -- words Corey translates as them calling Skull the "Son of the Sun" and beckoning him to follow them through the swap. Their leader points at a huge golden structure in the distance which Skull believes to be the legendary lost city of El Dorado.

SKULL THE SLAYER #5

"MAGIC, MYTH AND MADNESS!"
Story: Bill Mantlo | Art: Sal Buscema & Sonny Trinidad
Lettering: Karen Mantlo | Colors: Michele Wolfman | Editor: Marv Wolfman

The Plot: Demons, sent by Slitherogue and Morgan Le Fay, burst into Merlin's chamber to attack Skull, the Black Knight, and Merlin. The heroes fight off the creatures, but when Merlin casts a spell, he goes cataonic. Skull realizes that Merlin is a robot and smashes him to prove it to the Black Knight. Meanwhile, Slitherogue resurrects Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey, giving them to Morgan Le Fay as her army against Skull.

Elsewhere, the Black Knight brings Skull to the castle of King Arthur, where the Knight activates the robotic monarch to warn him of Morgan's attack. Moments later, Morgan leads a horde of demons, plus Skull's former friends, in an attack on the castle. Arthur's robot knights are activated and the battle is joined. Amid the chaos, Ann, Jeff, and Corey confront Skull, but Corey is hit by a stray arrow. This snaps everyone out of their blood-crazed stupor. As the battle winds down around them, the Black Knight finishes off Morgan. He approaches Skull and reveals himself as a robot too, then Skull and his friends head for the Tower of Time's doorway out of the Arthurian era.

Continuity Notes: There's one footnote in this story, referencing issue 1 when the death of Skull's brother is brought up. However there is also a non-footnoted flasback to last issue as Jeff, Ann, and Doctor Corey all recall their respective death scenes.