Transformers enjoyed enormous success in their first year & carried that momentum into 1985 with many new toys, cartoons, and comics. In the shows, the introduction of most of these new characters was rather abrupt (surprising considering how many episodes made up the second season!) That is, quite out of the blue, many of these characters were suddenly there! Thankfully, the comics filled in many of the gaps about where they came from. This page like other Transformers by year sections of unicron.com is divided in two parts. In the left column you'll find a media section with a complete season two episode guide and covers to the comic's second year.
In the right (this) column, you'll see pictures of each new figure from 1985. They're listed in order of their appearance in the collector pad CHECKLIST. Each box picture is a link to a character page with screen captures from the cartoon, toy photographs, instructions & a written character profile, abilities, and weaknesses. Enjoy your visit to the unicron.com 1985 Transformers page!
Yea I know, just like the first, the second year of the comics also didn't correlate with the 2nd year of the toys, so we'll provide you with plot summaries for issues that ~roughly~ correspond to the toys of that year, issues #8-19. Special thanks to
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who has kindly written & provided the issue plot summaries below:
Issue # 8 cover REPEAT PERFORMANCE! by: Bob Budiansky, William Johnson, Kyle Baker Ratchet finds and revives the Dinobots, but what happens when Megatron violates thier agreement? Also, Josie Beller turns herself into Circuit Breaker. Issue # 9 cover DIS-INTEGRATED CIRCUITS! by: Bob Budiansky, Mike Manley, M. Hands G. B. Blackrock unveils a cannon that can destroy TF’s. When D’s attack, Circuit Breaker attacks A’s and D’s alike. Artwork by future Darkhawk and Shazaam artist Mike Manley. Issue #10 cover THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING THERE! by: Bob Budiansky, Ricardo Villamonte, Brad Joyce Shockwave creates the Constructicons and Optimus Prime is forced to give them life with the creation matrix. Shockwave discovers that Optimus no longer possesses the creation matrix when he does not infuse life into Jetfire. Issue #11 cover BRAINSTORM! by: Bob Budiansky, Herb Trimpe, Tom Palmer Jetfire is programmed to retrieve Buster Witwicky, but Buster uses the creation matrix inside him to disassemble him and put him under A’s control. Issue #12 cover PRIME TIME! by: Bob Budiansky, Herb Trimpe, Al Gordon Buster Witwicky pretends to be Jetfire’s captive in order to infiltrate Shockwave’s headquarters. Shocwave dumps a false Optimus Prime head into a swamp, where the A’s rescue it and join it to Optimus’ body. Optimus, under control of the false head, attacks the A’s. Buster returns the creation matrix to the real Optimus Prime. Issue #13cover SHOOTING STAR! by: Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin, Al Gordon Megatron returns when Joey Slick, who uses him to rob banks, etc, discovers him. Issue #14cover ROCK AND ROLL OUT! by: Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin, Al Gordon “May your luster never dull, and your wires never cross!” is an old Cybertronic proverb quoted by Optimus Prime as he brands Jetfire an Autobot. Five A’s that were copied onto the Ark 4 million years ago are reborn as Grapple, Hoist, Smokescreen, Skids, and Tracks. Bumblebee and the new A’s fight D’s at a “Brick Springhorn” concert. Issue #15cover I, ROBOT MASTER by: Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin, Keith Williams In an attempt to prevent public panic over the TF’s, The Intelligence and Information Institute (I.I.I.) concocts a ruse that a human calling himself the Robot Master is controlling these robots for reasons unknown. Issue #16cover PLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE! by: Bob Budiansky, Graham Nolan, Tom Morgan Bumblebee runs away because he thinks he just gets in the way. The D’s want to override his programming and use him as a spy inside A’s headquarters. Issue #17cover RETURN TO CYBERTRON PART 1: THE SMELTING POOL! by: Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin, Keith Williams One of the best comic storylines of the pre-Simon Furman era. The province of Polyhex is held by Straxus and his D army (Insecticons, Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust). Inside Autobase, Perceptor commands Blaster, Beachcomber, Cosmos, Powerglide, Seaspray and Warpath. Blaster attempts to rescue his good friend Scrounge from the smelting pool, but Scrounge gives him a data disk and Blaster can only watch as the pool engulfs his friend. The disk contained information that Optimus Prime and the others were alive on Earth. Issue #18cover RETURN TO CYBERTRON PART 2: THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE! by: Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin, Williams and Colletta Straxus attempts to finish interdimensional spacebridge to Earth, but A’s attack his fortress, Darkmount. Cool alt. mode Straxus. Blaster finds Spanner, the scientist forced to build the spacebridge and he is the spacebridge. Cool robot mode Spanner. A’s and D’s fight on the spacebridge and some are trapped on Earth. Issue #19cover COMMAND PERFORMANCES! by: Bob Budiansky, Don Perlin, Ian Akin and Brian Garvey A’s attack D base to learn of Devastator’s combiner technology. Megatron attacks “vacant” A headquarters, but finds Omega Supreme instead.
