The comic book sequel to ‘Transformers the Movie’! It not only provides an origin for Unicron himself, but also the Transformers and the homeworld Cybertron by introducing Primus!
Death’s Head made his first appearance in Marvel UK‘s Transformers title (despite what you may read about the ‘High Noon Tex’ house ad), which reprinted the Marvel US series along with new stories to fill up the weekly schedule. Due to differences created by these additional tales – most notably, Marvel UK left out the GI Joe and the Transformers mini-series which included the destruction of Bumblebee – the US continuity which was set on Earth-91274 diverged into a different continuity set on Earth-120185. In US continuity, Bumblebee was destroyed by GI Joe (during G.I.JOE VS THE TRANSFORMERS, 1987) but was killed by Death’s Head in UK continuity (during WANTED: GALVATRON, DEAD OR ALIVE, 1987).
Following? Okay…
All of that geeky specificness brings us to where we need to be, namely Death’s Head! The Freelance Peacekeeping Agent (don’t call him a bounty hunter) will end up leaping into his own series and, from there, into mainstream Marvel Universe continuity. But not before he runs into a certain Gallifreyan Doctor on his journey to Earth-616…!
Minor Crossover: The Transformers storyline is self-contained, but the adventures of Death’s Head continue in Doctor Who Magazine.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions, first appearances and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- TARGET: 2006 (1986-1987) – Unicron attacks Cybertron
- WANTED: GALVATRON, DEAD OR ALIVE (1987-1988) – Introducing Death’s Head
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Transformers #146 [1/2]
- Transformers #147 [1/2]
- Transformers #148 [1/2]
- Transformers #149 [1/2]
- Transformers #150 [1/2]
- Transformers #151 [1/2]
- Doctor Who Magazine #135 [1/3]
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Transformers #146 [1/2] In the far distant future Cybertron of 2008, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons has reached a stalemate. On the planet Junkion, the |
| Transformers #147 [1/2] Death’s Head returns the bodies of Cyclonus and Scourge to Decepticon leader, Shockwave, but his ruse is quickly uncovered! Death’s Head kills Shockwave as per Unicron’s wishes. Soundwave is forced to instate Cyclonus and Scourge as the new Decepticon leaders. The Autobots Smokescreen and Inferno take Junkion leader Wreck-Gar back home to Junkion where they, too, discover the living head of Unicron! |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Transformers #148 [1/2] On Cybertron, the Decepticon army attacks the Autobots, despite the massive inevitable losses for both sides. This is Unicron’s plan as, with hardly any Cybertronians left alive to defend the planet, Unicron will easily consume their world and then destroy the universe. Unicron has also built a time portal on Junkion so he can reclaim his minion, Galvatron, from the past. Deaths Head mortally wounds Inferno with an axe through the chest before he can flee back to their ship with Smokescreen. Death’s Head fights off Unicorn’s control to stop himself killing Wreck-Gar. |
| Transformers #149 [1/2] Arriving on Cybertron, the dying Inferno throws Smokescreen out of their ship and crashes their vessel to take out as many Decepticons as possible! Smokescreen announces Unicron’s return to Rodimus Prime. On Junkion, Death’s Head spots Unicron’s weakness and uses his moment of rage to send his techno-astral self into Unicron’s mind! |
| Transformers #150 [1/2] Death’s Head’s psychic war with Unicron goes poorly, so the big metal planet-eater figures he might as well reveal his origin! The demonic Unicron emerged after the Big Bang and fought Primus, Lord of the Light Gods, for centuries until their battle took them to the astral plane. Primus tricked Unicron into returning to the physical realm, making him materialise inside an asteroid. Over millennia, Unicron turned himself into a robotic transforming planet-eater, while Primus became Cybertron and spawned the Transformers to fight on his behalf. Except the Transformers only ended up fighting each other until Unicron returned! Rodimus Prime eventually used the Matrix of Leadership to destroy Unicron’s body (see TARGET: 2006, 1986-1987). On the physical plane in the present day, Rodimus arrives on Junkion hoping to use the Matrix again. Wreck-Gar sets explosive charges beneath Unicron, but gets caught in falling debris just as the countdown reaches its climax! 1st appearance: Primus |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Transformers #151 [1/2] Cyclonus and Scourge call off the attack on the Autobots and head back to Junkion. Death’s Head forms a shaky alliance with Rodimus Prime, then frees Wreck-Gar and allows the charges to do their work… destroying Unicron’s head! He grabs Cyclonus and Scourge and drags them through the time portal as it blows up along with the head. Cyclonus and Scourge end up in our present, joining Scorponok‘s Decepticon army (explaining their presence on Nebulos in the past during HEADMASTERS, 1987-1988). But where did Death’s Head get to…? |
| Doctor Who Magazine #135 [1/3] Death’s Head hurtles through time until he crashes into the Doctor (the seventh incarnation of the last surviving Time Lord of Gallifrey from Earth-5556). The Doctor uses the Master‘s Tissue Compression Eliminator on the gigantic robot, shrinking him to human size. He then localises a TARDIS time jump to send Death’s Head to the planet Earth of the year 8162 (Earth-5555), without the TARDIS or the Doctor along for the ride…! |
See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Multiverse:
- DEATH’S HEAD, 1987-Present – Freelance Peace-Keeping Agent
- TRANSFORMERS, 1984-1992 – The Marvel UK Years
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Dragon’s Claws #4 (Marvel UK, 1988) Death’s Head finds himself on a future planet Earth – Earth-5555, the home of Dragon’s Claws. | HERE COMES DEATH’S HEAD |
| ✔ | Transformers #199-205 (Marvel UK, 1989) Cyclonus and Scourge’s presence in the present causes a time-rift that results in them being forcibly removed from the past. | TIME WARS |
| ✔ | Death’s Head #8 (Marvel UK, 1989) Death’s Head is hired to kill the Doctor by his long-term nemesis Josiah W Dogbolter; Death’s Head arrives on Earth-616. | |
| ✔ | Doctor Who Magazine #173 (UK, 1991) Having failed to kill the Doctor more than once, Death’s Head runs into him again. |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| Death’s Head vol.1 (Panini Comics) | Death’s Head #1-7 Doctor Who Magazine #135 Dragon’s Claws #5 |
| Transformers: Legacy of Unicron (Panini Comics) | Transformers #146-151 |
| Transformers – The Definitive G1 Collection: The Legacy of Unicron (Hachette) | Transformers #133–138, 146–151 Transformers Annual 1987 [part] Transformers (Marvel US) #40–41 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Transformers Classics UK vol.5 (IDW) Transformers UK Compendium vol.2 (Image Comics) | Transformers #146-151 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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