THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

OTHER TRANSFORMERS BOOKS AND SERIES

#6: Decepticon Hideout
Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

Galvatron is repeatedly called by his toy rank title of Decepticon City Commander. This may be part of the scheme to obscure his true origin before the film was released, or simply be a result of Grant not knowing he's supposed to be Megatron's replacement. There's no sign of a Decepticon City though.

Ultra Magnus is even more closely based on his toy here than in Galvatron's Air Attack, making it one of the few places pre-Dreamwave you can see the white Prime cab in robot mode. He also has hollow empty eyes that make him look like Pipes from Ghostwatch.

After six books, we finally get another named human character. Junk yard owner Mr. McNulty (possibly named for Middenface McNulty from 2000 AD's Strontium Dog) is also the first non-white person to be in a Ladybird book. Spike's Father here bows out from the range without being called by name once.

We get our first foreground generic Transformers here. When some Decepticons get picked up by an electromagnet, the chap next to Swindle looks amazing like Skids, whilst a couple running away from the demolition ball look like evil Jumpstarters.

This is the last regular book to be set on Earth, the last to use the target:2006 introduction and the last to feature the Galvatron/Ultra Magnus book ends.


Once again, the Decepticons are at the Autobot’s mercy at the end of the book, but our heroes just watch them leave. Well, it's not as if those lovable scamps are going to get up to more than a bit of mischief are they?

The Autobots extreme efforts not to reveal themselves seems a bit pointless when they live in a big honking City. Does no one ever notice it?

Galvatron is constantly drawn with his cannon on the wrong arm. You can put this down to artistic variation, or even Galvatron fancying a change, but in that case the cover gets it wrong then.


An odd one this, despite coming after Galvatron's Air Attack it often feels as if it was written first. For the first time the characterisation is really off, Galvatron (a highlight of the last book) is entirely defined by being Decepticon City Commander, and everyone else has unusually stilted dialogue. Only Huffer comes across well with his over eager rebuilding of the industrial complex.

Without the strong character writing to carry it, the plot pretty much falls apart as well. The fact this is the second book to end with a building falling on the Decepticons makes this the first real disappointing entry in the series.

Spike is shocked to meet someone else with a proper name.

Swindle always had a magnetic personality.