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Illustrated by Alan Craddock

This book was published by Purnell / McDonald & Sons with a copyright of 1987. ISBN 0-361-07534-0.

The scans!

View this book as a single web page or a PDF.

These images were provided by Rik-ochet / SlightlyOnFire.

Summary

Decepticons strike at a newly-completed power plant where several Autobots are stationed as a defensive force. As the Autobots' ability to hold off the siege wanes, Ultra Magnus sends Blurr to escape through enemy lines and get help. He locates Hot Rod and Kup. But... unbeknownst to the Autobots, the Decepticons let him through and have planned an ambush for him when he returns with reinforcements. Blurr falls for the trick, but Kup--skeptical that things were looking too easy--goes around a different way. Just when it looks like the end for Blurr and Hot Rod, Kup and the Autobots from the plant show up and chase the Decepticons away.

General notes

• First up: there is some commentary about the book in this twitter thread by Rik-ochet where he first posted the images!
• The most unique thing about this book is the whole "Press-Out Battlefield" thing that it's titled for! After the story, special cardstock pages with punch-out scenery and character art allowed you to set up and re-play the story from the book, even if you didn't own the toys of the characters in it.



• This is one of those odd "in the middle of the movie" stories that has Ultra Magnus and Galvatron in command. Cyclonus is among the Decepticon forces, and Hot Rod among the Autobots. Arguably, it might be a Marvel UK splinter continuity given the presence of a Roxxon logo partway through.
• Strangely, Hot Rod is a side character here who is just tagging along with Blurr. He gets only one line of dialogue and does less than Kup. The closest thing to a "main character" is Blurr, who is characterized as not just impatient (standard), but impetuous and careless, more like Hot Rod.
• The art is rather toyetic. I suspect Craddock was working from box art and toys, or at least photos of them, more so than from concept art or character designs. Even Ravage is more toylike than usual... he largely retains the proportions of his cartoon model, but has a lot of toy-based detail.
• Jetfire appears in his Macross Valkyrie body.
• The artist, Alan Craddock, is also credited on the Transformers Sticker Book from St. Michael (which is actually a choose-your-adventure storybook that happens to have stickers included).

Specific / page-by-page notes

• p3: Mentions "laser blasters, acid rays, and disintegrator beams".
• p4: Jetfire warns Magnus: "Our weapons will need regenerating within 12 hours."
• p5: As Rik-ochet observed in his twitter thread, the wrecked gas station on this page bears a Roxxon logo, suggesting that Craddock had been looking at Marvel Transformers comics.
• p13: Although the text says Galvatron is here with Divebomb and Rampage, the art shows Rampage and Razorclaw. In the "press-out" pages later, however, it is indeed Rampage and Divebomb, with no press-out figure for Razorclaw.
• p16: One of the Autobots shown on this page seems to be Superion, even though he wasn't mentioned in the text. And... as the Decepticons escape into the distance they're drawn pretty small, and Galvatron & Rampage are both ADORABLE here. Razorclaw is shown again, albeit in silhouette only.