Product Description

Continuing Titan's bestselling Transformers collections, this never-before-collected reprint of the extremely hard-to-find Transformers UK comic material collects the Legacy of Unicron storyline, which relates directly to the events of the DVD smash-hit Transformers: The Movie! Shockwave, Decepticon leader, hires the mercenary Death's Head to assassinate Rodimus Prime...much to the dismay of his lieutenants, Cyclonus and Scourge. Meanwhile, on Earth, a young journalist, an archaeologist, and an old friend discover Galvatron and Ultra Magnus, entombed in volcanic lava...and on the planet of Junk, the locals are enslaved by an all-powerful, mind-controlling being! But all these threads will weave together - in another awesome showdown with Unicron!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #199107 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

About the Author
Simon Furman has written extensively for both comics and TV animation, including Alpha Flight, Death's Head, Beast Wars, X-Men: Evolution and The Roswell Conspiracies. He is currently producing the online comic The Engine. Geoff Senior has worked on Transformers, Death's Head and What If?

Customer Reviews

Ghosts in the Shell
First things first, I haven't read this particular collected edition, but instead have this entire story arc in its original comic book format, and all I can say is that this, like the previous two collections from Titan (Fallen Angel and Target 2006) easily rank as some of the finest writing and plotting it has been my pleasure to partake of.
So what does this collection offer? Lets see, the deaths of two long running characters, both in pretty brutal scenes, yet both filled with classy scripting. An explanation of sorts for how Cyclonus and Scourge wound up in the past as part of Scorpinoks crew of Decepticons. We get the return of Unicron, proving a far more effective villain in this story than I feel he did in Transformers the Movie. Strange, yes? And now to the best thing about this collection- Deaths Head. For years this character has been a personal favorite, from his first appearence in 'High Noon Tex', right through to the U.S. influenced Deaths Head II, no character in the Marvel cannon has really been able to equal his capacity for creative anarchy and property destruction, nor his wit nor his capacity to face down uber-hard heroes and villains with equal aplomb. This arc was the last to feature Deaths Head in the Transformers universe, and what a way to go. As with his appearence in Fallen Angel, this arc is far darker than some of his later appearences. There are some genuinely thrill inducing scenes where the mechanoid merc lays a smack-down on some fairly major players. And there is one scene in particular that just defines the character for me, (spoiler) On the Astral Plane, facing Unicron, Deaths Head does what no one, not Rodimus Prime, not Galvatron, not even Primus could do. He defeats him, forcing him back into his own (ruined) body.
Criticsm's? The only one I can think of is that like fallen Angel, some of the art work may be marginally off putting as in places it does appear confusing and not at all as you would expect a Transformers strip to look, but as quibbles go it is all down to taste really. I like myself, and hope others do to.

Unicron returns. Origins explained. A classic.
The second post-movie UK epic, following the 'Fallen Angel' storyline, and it unties all the loose ends tied up at the end of the movie. War breaks out again, and Unicron proves to not be as dead as everyone thought. The story also details why he has such an interest in destroying Cybertron, as he explains to (Simon Furman's Greatest Ever Creation) Death's Head the origin of the Transformers. What's more, this origin is one which actually makes a metal planet populated by robotic lifeforms seem plausible...

As nobody in America seemed too bothered to explain the origins, Furman's UK-only story helped lay groundwork for the comic universe and he had the chance to make it 'official' when he moved over to write the US comic.

Overall, 'The Legacy of Unicron' is a great storyline (including the rather, ahem, 'shocking' death of a major character), although it requires a foreknowledge of the Movie in order to be appreciated and enjoyed. The collection also prints a couple of at-the-time present day stories ('Ladies' Night' and 'Enemy Action', although 'Legacy of Unicron' itself is closer to present day now) which set up events for the stories in 'Space Pirates' and 'Time Wars'.

A great sequel to the Movie!
Simon Furman had been writing Movie spin-off storylines in the UK Transformers comic for a while before The Legacy of Unicron. It allowed him to tell new stories without clashing with the US stories, which featured pre-Movie characters.
That said, The Legacy of Unicron was the first true sequel to the Movie, as we find out what happened to Unicron's head after the Movie's climax, as well as how the uplifitng ending of the Movie actually panned out (let's just say that Furman went the cynical route=D).
The 2006-era Transformers are forced to face Unicron once more, this time with the help of popular bounty hunter Death's Head (who exits the Transformers continuity in this issue) and trash-talking Junkion Wreck-Gar. This plot also paves the way for the Time Wars (to be reprinted in July).
There's not much to the story, in all honesty, but it is exceptionally well-written, and the art is simply lovely.
There's also the tantalising prospect of the origin of the Transformers, which stands as canon because the US writers couldn't be bothered to do one before Furman did! =D
All in all, a great addition to Titan's Transformers library.