Transformers ’84: Secrets & Lies
Writer: Simon Furman, Artist: Guido Guidi, Colorist: John-Paul Bove, Letterers: Jake M. Wood and Tom B. Long, Publisher: IDW
The Quote Unquote “Marvel Continuity” of Transformers vaguely resembles an Inception-like flow chart. There is the 80-issue run of the Transformers series, minis like G.I.Joe vs. Transformers and Headmasters, filler stories from over 330 issues of Transformers UK, and even a four-page story published in Woman’s Day magazine about the Transformers saving Christmas. TFWiki user ItsWalky tried to illustrate it and came up with this:
The first half of this overlapping jumble was either written or overseen by Bob Budiansky, who was responsible for assigning names and personalities to the unwieldy cast of imported Takara transforming robot toys Hasbro had tasked Marvel with defining. Budiansky then used his newfound creations to guide them through the first 55 issues of story. Where the timeline gets really complicated is after Budiansky stepped away from the book and a new architect took up the mantle: Simon Furman. Furman wrote the book for both its U.S. and U.K. incarnations and created both common threads and incredible confusion depending on whom you ask. To make this even more complicated, Furman later continued to work with the Transformers, and the same continuity, as the license was sold to Dreamwave Productions. And after that he helped reboot the TF universe when the license went to IDW Publishing.
So now, what happens when a writer who has been synonymous with a world of Cybertronians for decades goes back to retcon the characters’ origin stories that he didn’t write? That’s exactly what Furman sets out to do in his fun, and in many ways ambitious, miniseries, Transformers ’84: Secrets & Lies, recently collected in trade by IDW.
Furman’s ace in the hole is a narrator who never appeared in the original Marvel continuity, Punch/Counterpunch. Though one body, Punch and Counterpunch are simultaneous double agents, each spying on the Decepticons and Autobots depending on the mission. And since both halves of the whole are fully realized, it’s impossible to tell exactly whose side Punch or Counterpunch is on at any time, allowing both to be active parts of a string of stories woven together by his narration, reliably or not.
What exactly are the “Secrets & Lies” we hear the truth about? Without any big spoilers, here are just a few things we learn:
- An alternate reason for the Autobot’s Ark mission altogether, one that casts Optimus in a considerably different light
- How an Autobot become buried under Stansham Castle in the year 1017
- What Shockwave had to do with throwing Cybertron out of orbit
- What really happened when Shockwave and the Dinobots squared off on Earth
- How the new leadership of the Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron came to power
Well-read fans of the original Marvel Transformers series will delight in details like a new explanation for the Dinobots taking the form of dinosaurs since IDW can’t mention Marvel’s Savage Land, or early in-continuity appearances of characters and concepts that are central to later stories. I reached for my copies of several back issues, reminding myself about Scraplets, Scorponok and Straxus’ smelting pool. There’s something for everyone here, be it Fortress Maximus, Deathsaurus or Abominus the combiner. And lest anyone think IDW fans will be left hanging, also note the extended sequence with a proto-Wreckers team that will put a smile on the faces of newer fans.
While Furman steadily time- and planet-hops throughout the story, Guido Guidi’s art (with colors by John-Paul Bove and lettering by Jake M. Wood and Tom B. Long) faithfully recalls the linework and character takes of Andrew Wildman, the artist behind Furman’s final arc of the original Marvel series, further upping the nostalgia factor involved with this continuity dive. Guidi’s command of the huge variety of characters here is incredibly helpful. Everyone is instantly recognizable, and if it takes you a second to remember, fear not because Furman throws the name in a word balloon.
Many “dancing between the raindrops” retcon stories serve to add further trauma or confusion to characters’ timelines so that new standards can be set in current continuity. Furman knows this world inside out and doesn’t have the burden of needing to add too much to reset the present, since the Marvel continuity is finite. As long as everybody hits their marks before we see them again in the original run, he’s free to have his cast pick as many fights as they please. Which luckily means a large chunk of the last few issues involves Grimlock hitting things, including Megatron, who thanks to Furman’s seemingly endless memory, accesses a powerset involving a black hole and antimatter (?!) that is simply out of this world.
And if it’s been a while since you’ve read your classic Marvel run, have no fear. Furman has some quick notes in the backmatter to share why he made some of the choices he did in this mini. Reading that little bits of the old stories “bothered him” really highlights just how much he cares about this world. Now, thanks to Secrets & Lies, he has an opportunity to sort things out in a way that makes sense to him that should also be a pleasure to those who enjoyed the stories the first time around, no matter how complicated it might have been.
Adam Reck is the cartoonist behind Bish & Jubez as well as the co-host of Battle Of The Atom.
