Description
The Transformers: Target: 2006 #1-5 is a five-issue comic book limited series published by IDW Publishing from April to August 2007. Written by legendary Transformers scribe Simon Furman with artwork by Geoff Senior, Jeff Anderson, and Will Simpson, this series is actually a highly celebrated American reprint of a historic 1986 Marvel UK storyline. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The original UK narrative was a massive, landmark event specifically written to tie into and promote the 1986 animated feature The Transformers: The Movie. [1]
Plot Overview
- The Time-Travel Threat: In the future year of 2006, the tyrannical Decepticon leader Galvatron—alongside Cyclonus and Scourge—uses a temporal device to escape Unicron and travel backward in time to the "present-day" year of 1986. Galvatron schemes to construct a massive laser cannon to obliterate Unicron upon his eventual return to the future.
- The Displaced Leaders: The process of Galvatron traveling backward causes a temporal displacement, trapping present-day Autobots Optimus Prime, Prowl, and Ratchet in a blank holding dimension. With Optimus missing, the remaining present-day Earth Autobots are left vulnerable and deeply fractured.
- The Future Reinforcements: Realizing the catastrophic damage Galvatron is doing to the timeline, future Autobots Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr also travel back to 1986. They recruit the present-day version of Ultra Magnus—who has no idea who these future Autobots are—to stand as Earth's final defense against Galvatron's overwhelming power.
Key Features & Legacy
- Mind-Bending Time Paradoxes: The series famously broke the brains of young readers in the '80s by introducing future versions of characters interacting with past versions (such as Ultra Magnus confronting future timelines).
- The Blueprint for "UK Epics": Target: 2006 was the very first extra-length "tentpole" comic serial produced by the Marvel UK team. Because the American monthly comics weren't using the movie's future cast at the time, this arc gave Simon Furman the creative freedom to construct a massive, interconnected universe that ran for over a hundred subsequent UK issues.