In my last article, I sang the praises of alternate reality tales. These stories have always been some of my favourites. Today, I bring you my most loved of these. I proudly present, Transformers: Hearts of Steel!
This tale centres on a great ‘what if’ concept. Originally, it was planned as a series, but only one was ever produced. However, that one was awesomely epic. I really wish that the series would have continued, but sadly, we all know about the best laid plans of mice and men.
Taking place in the late 1800s, it tells the story of what would happen if the Transformers awoke during this time. Known for their current and futuristic alternate modes, we've rarely seen Transformers with modes from the past. My brother once made a humourous observation involving this paradox. The first time he ever saw Kup in the 1986 movie he asked, “What does grandpa robot transform into? A Model T?” That would be awesome to see. There are so many opportunities to be explored here. So, what would the Transformers be in that time?
Well, The Autobots all had railroad themed modes. Bumblebee got the most page time. He was a spike driving machine. The others were train engines or cars. Oddly enough, Optimus Prime was never seen, but he was also mentioned in this mode. In the bonus pages of the trade paperback, a concept mode was shown for him as a locomotive. I was almost giddy looking over these.
The most impressive of these, in my opinion, was Shockwave. He chose the form of an ironclad battleship. Great attention to detail was given to him. He kept his iconic mono-optic eye head build. One of the most impressive of his design elements was a very creative melding of old and new modes. Shockwave is most distinctively known for his hand cannon and the associated hose that goes to it. In this mode, the cannon was a gun emplacement on the ship. The hose? Well, there wasn't a hose. Back then, there wouldn't have been any hoses to carry anti-matter. In place of it was an anchor chain. Why build a massive and powerful warship if it will just float off?
Another big part of the Transformers lore was the inter-species connection between the Cybertronians and us humans. Here it was no different. We encounter folk hero John Henry, who is a very juxtaposed character. The first human to befriend the Autobots, he ponders and dreads his future as a spike driver working on the railroad. I believe that was some very deep commentary on the struggle of blue collar labour against the technology that would eliminate it. It is further compounded by the fact that he was in essence speaking to a spike driving machine. Absolutely mind blowing! We also see authors such as Mark Twain and Jules Verne. I thought that these were very important additions to the story.
I'll refrain from giving any plot details to anyone that might want to read this story, but I highly recommend it. I wish that they would have continued the series. I really would have liked to see the Transformers in the 60s. Muscle car alternative modes would have been a sight to see. Or, what about a World War II setting? I could really see Megatron taking on a Panzer form. Maybe one day the world will know. Until then my imagination will have to transform and roll out!