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Series: Generations Comic Edition
Allegiance: Decepticon
Categories: Leader
Year: 2024
Straxus rules over the smelting pools of Polyhex, melting down Autobots and neutral Cybertronians into metal to be reused by the Decepticons. Though he only reigns over a small corner of the galaxy, all know there is no mercy in his domain... only death.
Prelude: For a guy that only appeared in two issues of the American Marvel comic run, plus a few head-only appearances in the UK comics, Straxus has become something of a fan favorite. So after a single toy appearance in the 2010 Generations line (where he was called Darkmount for some reason), Straxus finally returns in 2024 as part of the 40th Annivery Comic Edition series. So grab your axe and inform the fools that mercy is not dispensed here, only DEATH!
Robot Mode: Comic Edition Straxus is an extensive retool of Kingdom Galvatron, whom I have previously reviewed. The two figures are different enough, though, that Straxus gets a full review of his own.
Let us start with the fact that this figure here is an excellent likeness for Straxus as we saw him in the Marvel Comics. At least as long as you keep in mind that the artwork in those early TF comics was rather fickle here and there and Straxus sometimes changed details from panel to panel. Even more so if you know him from the German Condor comics versions, where he changed colors, too. Anyway, this figure here is clearly Straxus, the head sculpt alone guarantees it. I love that evil-looking noggin.
To celebrate his comic book origins, several parts of Straxus feature a kind of “dot-tone” deco, harkening back to the old Marvel comics using tiny dots for color mixes (zoom in on some old comic pages to see what I mean). He also has several thick black stripes on his forearms, a technique also often used in comics at that time. Very nice homages.
Of course, the figure cannot entirely ditch its Galvatron origins, as Straxus in the comics didn’t have those shoulder pylons, nor did he have stuff hanging off his arms. But on the plus side Straxus came with his shoulders mounted right-side up directly from the get-go, so there is that. Anyway, Straxus enjoys the same excellent articulation that Galvatron had. The hip swivel is a bit limited by those hip plates he has, but otherwise he can move with the best of them. Sadly, he is not quite articulated enough to swing his axe two-handed like he does on the box cover (see below), but no complaints otherwise.
Speaking of weapons, Straxus main weapon is an axe, of course, which he used to dispense not-mercy in the comics. The axe handle is a bit too short for a two-handed grip anyway, by the way, so even if Straxus were articulated enough, he still couldn’t properly grab it two-handed. Additionally, Straxus has a blue gun/cannon, which is mainly used for his alternate mode, but can also be wielded as a handgun in robot mode. Both weapons can be stored on the back, but not at the same time. Also, if you want to store the axe back there, you need to flip up that little cockpit-like thing, which then sits behind his head. Best to leave the axe in hand.
Bottom line for the robot mode: excellent. Kingdom Galvatron was a great figure and the retool into Straxus works very well. The only thing that could be improved is the two-handed axe-swing, but that’s really just a nitpick. Very nice.
Alternate Mode: There is a reason why Kingdom Galvatron was used as the basis for Straxus, namely the fact that the two characters share the same alternate mode, a futuristic cannon. Straxus actually debuted his cannon mode first, as his first comic appearance was in July 1986, while Galvatron first appeared when the movie premiered in August 1986, but I could not tell you if there was connection there where one might have influenced the other.
Anyway, Straxus maintains the same transformation as Galvatron, so basically he goes down on all fours and shoots out of his head, more or less. Straxus in the comics transformed into a flying cannon with tiny wings on top, so the axe goes up there with the edges folding up to complete that visual. The blue handgun becomes the main cannon barrel here and you’re done. The cannon does bear some similarities to Galvatron’s cannon mode, but looks different enough to be its own thing. Instead of Galvatron’s tank tracks you have tiny wheels in the outriggers, as seen in the comic.
Not much more I can write here. The designers did a great job to replicate the look of an alternate mode that was never intended to be used for a transforming toy in the first place. Nicely done.
Packaging: I seldom write much, if anything, about the figure’s box, but in this case I have to. The Comic Edition figures come in boxes whose covers are basically the old Marvel Comics covers, in this case the cover of Transformers #18, where Straxus met his end (UK appearances notwithstanding). The left side has artwork of Straxus that connects with the sides of the other Comic Edition boxes, while the right side features a few comic panels, including Straxus kicking one of his subordinates in the butt (BONK!) and slicing open Blaster’s leg (SKRAAK!). The back features the figure and some more panels, too, such as Blaster kicking Straxus over the edge of the Space Bridge (BONK! once again). Flip open the box, and you can see the figure itself, as well as a multi-lingual profile text and yet another comic panel where Straxus in his flying cannon mode prepares to strafe Blaster. Very nicely done. Love this box.
Remarks: Straxus was created as a one-off villain for the Transformers Marvel Comic series, specifically the two-part story “Return to Cybertron” (issues #17 and #18). Straxus ruled over the Cybertronian province Polyhex and threw Autobots and Neutrals alike into his infamous Smelting Pools to harvest their precious metals. Upon learning that Megatron was on Earth, he commissioned a Space Bridge to reach the resource-rich world. While the bridge was a success, Straxus himself was destroyed in battle with Autobot resistance fighter Blaster, never to be seen again… at least in the US comics. The UK comics later brought him back as a severed head, who tried to take over Megatron’s body. Then there was the whole thing with the Megatron clone, but that’s a bit too complicated to summarize in a few sentences. Suffice to say, Straxus had quite the impact on the comics.
As mentioned above we already had a Straxus toy back in 2010 in the form of Generations Darkmount, but Comic Edition Straxus does a much better job of portraying the character from the old Marvel Comics. Now the character is relatively obscure, so if you’ve never read the old comic books, you might well not be interested in him at all. For me, though, “Return to Cybertron” was one of my all-time favorite comic stories back in the day, so I am very happy to get this figure here. And he is of perfect scale to interact with Kingdom/Legacy Blaster, too (for whom we need a comic-book-style head, Hasbro!). So bottom line: if you’re an old comic book fan like me or simply like the look of this very evil-looking Decepticon, go and get him!
Rating: A-
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