Before I start with the review proper, let me just congratulate the TFPH
crew for putting together a great booth at the Toycon. It was great to
finally put the faces to the names (and nicks) that we often see online.
Thanks everyone for being so accomodating! Thank to the Toycon, I now have a
WSTF Soundwave (an truly amazing piece, thanks Ejay), a complete Pretender
Sky High to add to my loose G1 collection and of course my cool TFPH ID.
Again, thanks to all!

Now on to this week's review. There wasn't anything new this week from
Dreamwave, though Titan Books did reissue the Prey Graphic Novel this week.
Dreamwave has fallen behind but seems determined to catch up; next week's
listing is supposed to include an issue of Energon, G1 and the first Energon
digest.

But with this temporary break and the Toycon fresh in our minds, I wanted to
take the opportunity to review what I think is the best non-Dreamwave TF
collection. And it's not even an American collection, though it is,
technically, a Marvel property. I'm talking, of course, about Target: 2006.

Target: 2006 is a compilation of the Marvel UK Transformers series' issues
78-88. Since the UK series was weekly, they had long used up all the
available US material and had been coming up with their own stuff. The rule
was that they couldn't do too much with the existing Marvel US storyline, so
they simply found a way to write around it (though it intersects smoothly at
certain points). They also could use the characters who had yet to appear in
the US series. Since the movie was still quite a ways off, it meant that
Ultra Magnus, I believe, technically made his first appearance here, in
Target: 2006. Other storylines (later compiled as GNs by Titan) introduced
the so-called Special Teams (we know them better as the Combiners or
Scramble City) such as the Aerialbots and the Stunticons. Now, Titan
collected the US Marvel series into TPs (giving them titles such as
"Beginnings" and "Breakdown") but they also compiled the UK storylines
(identifiable from their square size, standard for UK magazines) into GNs
such as "Fallen Angel" and "Legacy of Unicron." But Target: 2006 is the best
of them, in my opinion, and for a variety of reasons.
Aside from the aforementioned fact that it introduced Ultra Magnus, it
also introduced a fan favorite team: The Wreckers. Yep, the Autobots special
ops team debuted here. They would later appear in the Dreamwave line (in G1:
War & Peace and in The War Within: The Dark Ages) but it was the Marvel UK
comic that really brought them in and maximized them. 3H Productions would
also later feature a new mixed (yup, Autobots and Decepticons together)
Wrecker time in an eponymous comic series for the conventions (like many of
the series that 3H publishes, they're waaaay behind schedule on that one as
well).

Target: 2006 happens right after the events in the Dinobot Hunt GN. While
addressing the troops in 1986, Prime, Prowl and Ratchet mysteriously vanish.
While the Autobots try to figure out what's happened, three mysterious
figures appear out of nowhere: Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge--a full nine
years before they're supposed to appear! Apparently, Galvatron found a
moment after being created and before being summoned back by Unicron to
travel back in time. His plan to find a way to beat Unicron here in the
past. Making sure that Megatron (his past self) would not be damaged by
burying his under rocks, Galvatron goes about his plans.
Back on Cybertron,we meet Emirate Xaaron, leader of the Autobot resistance.
He is planning an ambush that would elimate many of the Decepticons deadly
assasins. His weapon of choice? The gritty Wreckers, led by the gruff
Impactor. The bait? Xaaron himself. But the plan seems to have been weakened
when the key to his plan, Ultra Magnus, must travel to earth to help find
Prime.

Things go awry on so many fronts, it's hard to keep track exactly, but
(avoiding spoilers so I won't ruin the wonderful surprise awaiting readers)
but Blurr, Kup and Hot Rod travel back in time to help out as well, and, in
a dramatic, tricky ending, more than one plan is thwarted and a most
surprising puppet master is apparently behind it all. But a poignant
sacrifice is made to save a valuable life.

It's hard to talk more about Target: 2006 without giving away the beautiful
twists in the storyline. Suffice to say this is, in my mind, Simon Furman's
finest moment as a TF writer, bar none. This is his definitive work, period.
Pathos, meaningful deaths, a time-twisting, intelligent plot using some of
the best characterization you will ever see in a TF book. It's just Furman
at his best.

Now one has to remember this was the 1980s when you look at the art in
Target: 2006. It won't do any good to compare it to Pat Lee and Joe Ng
because those guys have decades on the quartet of Geoff Senior, Jeff
Anderson, Will Simpson and Ron Smith. That being said, the angular style
they use is an interesting variation on the more mecha-style TFs of today.
In particular, the art on the Cybertronian TFs (versus the earth-based ones)
is very different--almost like a TF fever dream. It is interesting to see a
Galvatron obviously based more on the toy than the animated figure. Take a
look at the Ultra Magnus; he is taller, leaner than the solidly-built TF we
are more familiar with.

All that being said, I would consider Target:2006 to be the single best
non-Dreamwave TP as well as the work that shows the greatness that Furman is
capable of. This GN may be a little hard to find, but I have seen it in
local comic stores. If you have to have just one non-Dreamwave TP, then this
one should be it. Aside from the dated art, it's as good or perhaps even
better than anything else you've read recently. A must-read.

Hardcore TF tidbits:
1) A funny story about the title. Obviously, if Galvatron was supposed to
have come back from the past, it should be Target: 2005 right? Well, the
movie was supposed to have been set originally in 2006, and that was what
the Marvel UK folks was told in 1986 and that's why the title--and the
timeline--is wrong.
2) I've always had a soft spot for comics-only Cybertronians. Of all those
characters, the leader of the Wreckers (no, it wasn't always Ultra Magnus or
Springer), Impactor, is my single favorite. Read it to find out while. In
fact I've always wanted to see such characters achieve toy form: only one
has so far: Generation 2 baddie Jhiaxus, a Universe repaint of the Beast
Machines Jetstorm mold. Other comic-only Cybertronians of note: Emirate
Xaaron, Autobot Skater, Wrecker members Rack and Ruin, Decepticon assasin
Macabre, Decepticon Fang, Decepticon commander Straxus, Autobot
double-agent Nautilus (he pretends to be a Deceticon to get intelligence)
and Neutralist scientist Spanner.
3) For the record, the Wreckers, in their first incarnation are composed of
the following: Impactor, Rack and Ruin, Twin Twist, Top Spin, Whirl,
Roadbuster, and are reinforced by Springer, Sandstorm and Broadside. The
Wreckers' headquarters is called Debris and, in case you caught it in the
Furman-authored War Within: The Dark Ages, their battle cry is "Wreck and
rule!"
4) As with anything written by Furman, there is a fun scene in the
Maccadam's Old Oil House,a favorite haunt by Furman's TFs, where Autobots
and Decepticons, for the most part, can sit together drinking oil.