In this week’s Comic Sunday Speculation, I got 3 picks instead of one. However, they are all cluttered around the same theme of new transformer characters. As all of them are very speculative, I feel that it fits into this column’s long shot perspective well.

Here are 3 new Transformers characters and their first appearances in comics. I picked these 3 as I think they have the most fan base. While we are all familiar with the GI characters, the newer ones might be foreign to those not following the Transformer developments.

Despite the fan base, are these comics good long term investments? Unfortunately there is no definite answer.

So far, only a selected Transformer issues get any kind of heat (excluding hard to find variants). Even the first appearance of Dinobots is not an expensive comic. In this sense, I would say the secondary market has not fully embraced Transformers as an IP yet.

 

Lockdown is the Boba Fett eqvialent for the Transformers. In other words, he is a bounty hunter that owns no loyalities to either the Autobots or Deceptions.

Lockdown was created for the Transformers: Animated TV show in 2008. Two years later, he made his way into comics in 2010, followed by an appearance in the Age of Extinction movie in 2014.

It is rare to see a newly created character in 2008 being used for a movie 6 years later. I think that speaks a lot to the potential of the character as well as fan support.

His first comic appearance is in Drift #2, which has only 8k print run. There are 2 covers to this issue but no variants. Unfortunately, I don’t think Lockdown appear in any of these 2 so it is a toss up on which cover to get.

Price wise, these are currently cover price or under.

 

Drift is a Samurai theme Autobot, whose was once a Deception known as Deadlock. He was introduced in 2002 in a Japanese manga before appearing in US comics in 2008.

After 6 years of his comic debut, Drift appeared in 2 Transformer live action movies, namely the Age of Extinction and the Last Knight. He even managed to survive all the Autobots slaughter in those movies and manage to return to Cybertron.

In the comics, Drift is also one of the rare Transformer who manage to get a mini series and one shots despite being so new. To see Drift is a fan favorite is an understatement.

Drift first US comic appearance is in All Hail Megatron #5. This comic has 3 covers: 2 regular and a limited sketch version. Pictured above is the limited sketch version which shows Drift on the cover. The other 2 regular covers do not have Drift pictured.

 

Windblade is the first fan created character design that was incorporated into the comics in 2014. This is how popular the character is among Transformers fan.

Since her introduction, Windblade has been used in every volume of the comics, including the latest IDW reboot. She was also featured in Games and even has her own toy figure. All these were done within 6 years, which is kinda of amazing for a new character.

Windblade first appeared in More Than Meets the Eye #26. There are 4 covers for this issue. Only the Hasbro exclusive and the Ladies Night variant contains Windblade on the cover. However, both of these variants are hard to get and are expensive.

In contrast, the A and B covers of #26 is still available in affordable prices. There is a UK seller offering multiple copies of this issue currently at below $10.

Conclusion

These are the 3 new Transformer characters that I feel has potential. However, it is very speculative so do not over pay by buying the variants. Instead, just focus on the regular covers which have pretty limited print run as well.