Time to bring it home!
#5: The Transformers #78 - "A Savage Circle"
Andrew Wildman
I adore the shattered mirror design here, reflective of Galvatron's disintegrating sanity as he confronts his past self. The effect even extends to the title logo (and bonus lower left box) which is cool. Megatron himself is also not immediately visible, only being seen in the shattered glass and as an ominous shadow on the bottom. All the elements come together successfully to make a really striking cover.
#4: The Transformers #1 - "The Transformers"
Bill Sienkiewicz
The granddaddy of 'em all. The painted look is beautiful IMO, with a nice sunburst and movie poster feel with the heads of the Witwickys floating behind Optimus.
There's definitely a lot of weirdness here - Optimus appears to be based off a very early model sheet (understandable), with some awkward proportions (look at those stubby arms!). More importantly, he's also
ridiculously huge, towering over the freeway and able to crush a jet in one hand. There's also a very toyetic Gears flying (!) around shooting at Laserbeak.
In a way, though, I think the weirdness is part of the charm, as the whole thing has a sort of surreal feel to it that suggests this story will be different from any other comics you'd see on the shelf at the time. It's big, it's bold and colorful, and it just
works, especially for the very first issue of a comic that was only expected to last four issues but turned into so much more.
#3: The Transformers #80 - "End of the Road!"
Andrew Wildman
And here's the other bookend, with the final issue of the original Marvel G1 run. Bludgeon has a great design that's always fuel for a good comic cover, and Wildman doesn't disappoint there. Just like #78, he knows the value of a good looming shadow (this time Optimus obscured by mist). And "#80 in a four-issue limited series" is a wonderful callback.
#2: The Transformers #6 - "The Worse of Two Evils!"
Alan Kupperburg (?)
This one might be a bit out of the box for #2 overall, but I just really,
really love the way Shockwave is drawn here - might be one of my favorite all-time still images of Transformers media period. Having the two Decepticon leaders fight in mid-air is a great choice, with the helicopter giving a good sense of size/place. I even love the nice pink sky.
One thing I do have to question, though, is the artist attribution. Notably, there's no artist signature on the picture. Kuppenburg penciled the interiors for #5 and #6, and it's, well... very rough in places. His interior Shockwave especially looks quite different than here, bulkier, boxier and more disjointed. It's possible he simply had far more time to work on this cover than the interiors, but the style just feels so different. Megatron is harder to pin down since the explosion covers some of his body, but he also looks different from the way Kuppenburg drew him as well (helmet, hip pads). Notably, the one very-detailed panel of Shockwave being blasted out of the mountain in this issue
was discovered to have been the work of another artist (possibly William Johnson, who penciled #7-8.) I can't say for sure this cover matches his style, but the Shockwave here does look a lot more like the one in #8. I may well be way off here in my speculation, but I'm curious.
#1: The Transformers #5 - "The New Order"
Mark Bright
No surprises here. Like #1, the painted art here is absolutely beautiful, especially in the reflections off all of Shockwave's silver bits. And of course, one hell of a striking message - what a way to introduce the first issue of the now-ongoing comic. I'll just leave you with a little story, quoted from the wiki:
"When I was an editor at Marvel Comics, I hired Doc to paint the cover to The Transformers #5, which depicted a lifelike image of the villainous Shockwave beneath "The Transformers" logo, the words, "Are All Dead" burned into the wall behind him. The cover was rejected by Hasbro, the Transformers licensor, because—and yes, some corporate types really are just this stupid—they feared kids would stop buying Transformer toys because they'd believe they were all dead. They also thought Doc's cover was too scary. I can't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure I called my guy at Hasbro and openly mocked him for being an idiot. It's the best cover we've ever done, I told him—and, yes, it was."—Christopher Priest
Gotta agree!