The team at the “More Than Meets These Guys” podcast have shared a document dealing with interesting and important date in Transformers lore: the 7th of February, 1984.

As they reviewed the 29th issue of the Marvel UK Transformers comics, they ran across a fan letter to the Soundwaves page, where Soundwave himself answers fans in-character, that asked the following:

Dear Soundwave,
I get both Transformers and Secret Wars.In issue 9, page 5, of Secret Wars, on the Daily Bugle front page is a caption that reads: “STOP PRESS – ERUPTION IN OREGON. Reports are coming in of an eruption of the long dormant volcano, Mount St. Hilary, in Oregon. Scientists are baffled by this freak event – Mount St. Hilary was long ago pronounced safe. More news as this develops.”
Is this the beginning of Autobot and Decepticon life as we know it?
Scott Main
Boston, Yorks.

Soundwave answered back in the column:

A quick scan of my Earth newspaper files reveals that the New York Daily Bugle – a fairly primitive form of communication, if I may say so – dated February 7th, 1984, did indeed carry this report. And yes, this was the eruption that caused the Ark to repair all the Transformer lifeforms within.

(Above: image of the column from Marvel UK Transformers #29)

So, with this information, the Guys tried to seek out the source: Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #9.

(Above: The cover to Marvel US Secret Wars #9)

No, not that Secret Wars #9.
Unfortunately, it’s not the same as Secret Wars #9 in the UK. Just as The Marvel UK Transformers comics were divided up with supplemental materials added and renumbered accordingly, so was the Secret Wars series. It was also published fortnightly, initially, so every 2 weeks there would be a new issue, much like the early Marvel UK Transformers comics. The UK Secret Wars #9 reprinted the second half of Marvel US Secret Wars #5, along with additional features like Marvel’s Secret Artist, X-Men Biography Profiles, and a backup reprinting of Alpha Flight‘s comic. This was the comic that had a special page displaying the Daily Bugle from February 7th, 1984. No known U.S. comic had it. Internet searches for a scan or screenshot of the Daily Bugle page in question proved fruitless. No one had one displayed anywhere on the Internet.

The Guys had to hunt down a hard copy this special UK printing.

(Above: Somewhat rough cover for Marvel UK Secret Wars #9, missing the free Enchantress gift)

They were successful, and a few weeks later, they were able to view the 5th of UK issue #9 page in all its glory. There, on the lower right was the blurb in question.

(Above: Marvel UK Secret Wars #9, page 5, Daily Bugle front page for 7 February, 1984)

It read exactly as was transcribed in the Soundwaves column. It was confirmation of a date not well known among fans of the Transformers franchise. The volcano that erupted to awaken the Transformers on Earth for the first time, Mount St. Hilary, blew its top on February 7th, 1984. This is also the first time known that this page has been shared online.

(Above image from Marvel UK Transformers #1)

So, now we know the in-story date for this momentous event in the G1 continuity. Henceforth, we should celebrate the Transformers’ Awakening Day every February 7th and think of the joy that unexpected volcanic eruption in the Pacific Northwest brought us.

This year, the newest HasLab offering was announced on that date. Perhaps Hasbro can arrange for something significant to occur every year when that date rolls around. We can always hope that fun little bit of knowledge becomes more mainstream in the fandom.

If nothing else, it’s great how this innocuous fan letter printed 40 years ago in a UK Transformers comic reminded us of this overlooked piece of G1 trivia. Thanks for writing in, Scott Main, wherever you are. It’s important for fans to write in and interact with the creatives behind the franchise’s lore. So much in this fandom has started in those letters pages.

To see this and more from the MORE THAN MEETS THESE GUYS podcast, click the links below.
The Youtube episode discussing this issue of Marvel UK Transformers is also available to view below.

More Than Meets These Guys on Apple Podcasts
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More Than Meets These Guys on Youtube