Optimus got tired of being the Jesus figure of the franchise, so he decided to switch over to the other Christmas icon for a change.

Buster: But ma'am, it's Christmas! Circuitbreaker: I'm Jewish kid. I'd've laughed.

And then as midnight struck and it became Christmas day, the autobots heard the decepticons singing carols and began singing back, and then they dropped their weapons and played a game of Rocket League together in their car forms.

Circuit Breaker: "Damn robots! Must you always drag innocents into your petty war?" Linkara: "Eh, not that innocent, they were Ubisoft executives."

"There's a thin line between being a hero and being a memory. Merry Christmas kids." - Optimus Prime.

I notice that in Circuit Breaker's visualization of the Decepticon attack, the Decepticon sigils are all bright red like the Autobot symbol. Art error, or symbolic of her hate of the Transformers blinding her to their factions and moralities - you make the call!

Freedom is the right of all sentient good little boys and girls. Til' all have gifts. Alternatively: One shall stand, one shall get coal.

Legitimately shouted "what?!" in surprise when you said the comic had ended. I genuinely thought that was the START of the story.

Ah yes, Circuit Breaker. How could you forget her? After all, they always recapped her origin story every single time she appears just in case the readers forgot who she was.

Even IDW joins in on the yuletide shenanigans with are favorite jet as he tries to claim Christmas for himself and backfires. It's a tradition at this point to spend a little time with Starscream at this point.

One of the more bizarre Christmas stories from the UK series was a short prose story where they do "A Christmas Carol", but it's the ghosts trying to convince the Decepticon Dreadwind to step down as the host for the comic's letters page. They had Grimlock be the Ghost of Christmas Past (he was the previous host), Blaster as the Ghost of Christmas Present (he was Dreadwind's replacement), and a future version of Dreadwind as the Ghost of Christmas Future (now falling apart because he never stepped down as the host).

"Freed workers tell their story!" "Unfortunately, their story is the plot of the song 'Timothy.'" Me, a Todd in the Shadows fan: AAAAAHHH NOT AGAIN NOT AGAIN AAAAAAH!

Oh and Prowl being all “WE ARE AT WAR!” and Prime “acting strangely” is some neat foreshadowing for the U.K. story that came after this one - the classic “Crisis of Command”. Which includes Soundwave calling Starscream “a missile with a mouth”

An AT4W episode on a Monday two weeks in a row? It truly is the most wonderful time of the year 🎄

It's the Marvel Universe, after all, humans ARE jerks with no appreciation for life-saving heroics.

A retrospective on Marvel's Transformers run?! Hot damn thank you for the christmas gift Linkara. This is something i'm excited to see

You shouldn't be surprised that people reacted to Circuit Breaker like that, it IS the Marvel universe, remember how people just stood and stared at the Thing fighting a giant robot until he gave them Hostess Fruit Pies?

Honestly, yeah, that feels wildly hollow because they kinda don't... Build up to it at all? Like, okay, she got hurt, became evil cyborg with no sense of right or wrong, and then... Christmas happened? Hell, based on what was exactly presented in the book I expected her to get pissed off at the very mention of "it's christmas". Some rant like "Christmas doesn't magically cure the injured or bring back the dead! Christmas doesn't make people stop attacking those who try to help! So why should I stop now?!" And then she only attacks MORE because if it and has to be talked down with a full-blown "meaning of christmas" speech instead of just a one-off, quick, "christmas exists so you shouldn't murder us!"

If Circuit Breaker was a character in the Transformers films, she's be working alongside Kelsey Grammer's character in Age of Extinction. 4:28- Well, in the movies, Soundwave has tentacles used to hack satellites, and in Dark of the Moon, he has a creepy jaw. 7:56- Same here. My family has been using artificial trees since before I was born. 9:13- Also explains why humans act the way they do in the movies. Speaking of Star Wars movies, I saw on Twitter how excited you were on seeing that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will direct the Rogue Squadron movie for 2023.

2:37 those are all actual autobot and i appreciate thw fact you didn't make them uo

me : i should study for exam brain: dude: CHRISTMAS TRANSFORMERS! heart singing: frank miller your of the nice list

If you ask me, the best TF Christmas special, comic or otherwise, was the Transformers Animated 2-part episode, Human Error. Sari encourages the Autobots to enjoy Christmas, the Autobots are kidnapped by Soundwave and placed in a VR world where they’re trapped in human bodies, Sari leads a team of “Substitute Autobots,” and Optimus and Soundwave have a freaking rock battle! It’s just plain awesome.

Seriously as a kid Prime would be my dream Santa.

you earned my like for that "On Dasher" gag alone!

I was hoping a rise of skywalker review but since that comic adaptation got cancelled I can understand covering solo instead.

Not just a cyborg... A nearly naked cyborg... Damnit kid it's the 80s be dumbfounded already!

ooh I always remember the Jetsons Christmas Carol the ghost of christmas future was actually quite frightful being a computer designed in a brutalist artstyle

Ah the 80's when Robots attacking Portland seemed the worst thing that could happen to it.

Here's a Transformers Version of O Christmas Tree I found: Ahem Optimus prime: "O Mega-tron, O Mega-tron, How wimpy is your bla-ster? O Mega-ton, Oh Mega-tron, I plan to cause di-sas-ter. You better run, You better hide, Because once I shoot, You'll off-line, O Mega-tron, O Mega-tron, I'll win an-y fight a-gainst you"

Transformers comics must really be in continuity with the rest of Marvel comics, because here too the civilians are needlessly hostile.

9:30 - not just “a transformer” - it was specifically a blast from shockwave there in cannon mode to the oil rig the Deceps were attacking that caused the electrocution that paralysed the lady that would become Circuit Breaker. If it’s not obvious she’s got severe PTSD which would continue for the length of her appearances in the comic.

I need a Christmas sweater of Santa Optimus Prime.

*Starscream:* This comic book has FALLEN!! I, Starscream, am now the true meaning of Christmas! Yuletidicons, follow meeeee!

What I've heard is that Simon Furman wanted to show he could work on a superhero comic like the X-Men and thus created the Neo Knights as proof to Marvel. Circuit Breaker was created by Bob Budiansky but I don't know what led to her creation off-hand. Probably just playing on the sci-fi angle to create a human nemesis and she was more interesting that The Mechanic.

Me: I just got home from work, I might take a nap. Video uploads Me: To hell to sleep, I’m watching an episode.

From that intro alone I'm expecting a Christmas Carole parody where Autobot spirits from the Matrix try to convince Circuit Breaker that not all Transformers are evil.

Never touched a comic book; but watching you for half a decade now. That is how good you are! :p Happy holidays!

I think I finally understand why Megatron kept rebuilding Starscream. It's because he introduced Christmas to the Decepticons who are all about the commercial aspect of the holiday & because of the prospect of Santa Claus bringing them COAL (which they would convert into Energon) for being their evil selves seeing it as a positive! Also, because they enjoy the Killer Robot Santa from Futurama!

3:13 obviously they didn't recognize him, he's a robot in disguise after all.

You know it's a Marvel Comic when civilians are automatically driven to insane rage at really cool things happening and being rescued.

I am so looking forward to the Transformers Retrospective. It's probably a good thing it'll just be the 80 issue US run though. I'd honestly be worried for Linkara's sanity if he tried to cover the full UK run, as it's something like 350 issues or so! Marvel UK followed the trend for UK comics to be released weekly, hence the large disparity in issue numbers. It also meant that they had to add their own original stories so as to have enough material. Actually, a lot of those stories were the basis of what became the canon origin of the Transformers (Unicron and Primus and whatnot).

I don't always get the more obscure jokes that you make, Linkara, but I'm proud I caught the Timothy one. Thanks Todd in the Shadows for teaching me about the cannibalism song!

I LOVE the Marvel Transformers series. It was part of my early comics reading when I was a kid, it's part of my collection today, and it's the reason Blaster is my favorite Transformer. Since Rom was also part of my early comic reading and collecting, and the retrospective on that is still something I revisit often, I am so excited for the upcoming TF Retrospective!

0:32 A Transformers retrospective in March? Awesome! Let’s just hope it isn’t offlined by a Cosmically Powered Starscream

God, this brings back memories. I grew up in Britain, and I collected the Transformers comics at the newsagents until I had a stack of them about a foot high- including this one. I always preferred them to the American one, which I found to be far more simplistic.

I really hope that retrospective involves the Isle of Rangoon, given how Trent and Greg are so involved with the fandom.

3:27 - Now there's a freakin' image. Santa's sleigh being pulled by three automobile cars, a t-rex, a fighter jet, a tank, a spaceship and a cassette tape deck. Gonna take more than Rudolph to get that hot mess off the ground XD

That Autobot Reindeer bit absolutely had me grinning

Really looking forwards to that retrospective. Especially that bit where Prime kills himself over a video game.

Budiansky writing superheroes into the Transformer's books isn't too surprising; essentially, many of the original G1 Transformers had 'super-powers'. Skywarp could teleport. Mirage projected illusions. Windcharger had magnetic powers. Trailbreaker generated forcefields, and so forth. The existence of the NeoKnights, late in the book's run, is more of a mystery to me.

I know I ave a big christmas tree right behind me, but this video is the first one that actually got me into the X-mas spirit. THANK YOU LEWIS!

I love the thumbnail. Prime looks so adorable and circuit breaker looks so angy. XD I very much look forward to hearing you’re thoughts on more Transformers Stuff. It’s all ways a treat!

Santa Prime? A Timothy reference? Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! All in the first few minutes?!? It's the most wonderful time of the year! Thanks Big L! My best to you and yours

🎵Dare! Dare to beliiieeeve iiin Christmas tiiiime!🎵

5:26 Still better than the one at Rockefeller Center current year argument.

3:27 I honestly couldn't tell you just made that Rudolph parody up until I accidentally went too far back and rewatched, I was looking away while I listened the first time so it went right over my head.

Optimus really should have done something more for Christmas in this comic. After all, holiday cheer is the right of all sentient beings.

@3:49 glad to see you and Todd in the shadows still keep in touch/watch each other’s stuff. Lol

Nemesis Prime is Krampus

That cover would've been perfect if Optimus was actually wearing the Santa-beard, and not taking it off! Who makes fake beards in Transformers-size? Is he Secret Santa?? Did he fool anyone????

It's like Circuit Breaker realized how cold it was and turned into the Superman villain Hi-Tech.

That tree The Autobots made looked a bit like Xurkitree... Have The Transformers crossed over with Pokemon yet? Imagine Rotom getting into one of the robots!

0:50 A thought clearly shared with the production staff of Transformers Animated except aside from Porter C Powell (who is basically a slightly more cartoonish GB Blackrock and a far bigger threat than the other human villains in Animated) they were more like the original villains from the Teen Titans cartoon like Mad Mod, Mumbo (turns out it's just Mumbo btw, "mumbo jumbo" is just one of his incantations) and Mother Mae-Eye and were basically complete jokes. (I mean Nanosec and Slo-Mo were slightly harder to deal with but still)

Starscream: Now I know you didn't like the present I gave you last year at Christmas- Megatron: You shoved a small nuclear device inside an Energon pie and let it blow up in my face. Literally! Starscream: Harmless jocularity, O supreme leader. This time, I brought you a present that I'm sure you'll really enjoy. Megatron: Oh, very well. But this time, it'd had better be the severed head of Optimus Prime inside this box.

I needed this. I just found out that the last 5 episodes I recorded (3½ hours of gameplay) for the Pokémon Red Let's Play I'm doing had no video, only sound, and I came down with a cold, so I can't even replace the videos in my backlog (re-recording isn't an option, I had already saved). Basically, it's been a shitty day and I'm glad I have this to watch.

It's just not Christmas until I hear Linkara's holiday season theme song.

This had the second reference to the song "Timothy" I've heard in less than 2 months. First Todd in the Shadows and now you

Gonna be honest, given Circuit Break's outfit shouts "Pointless Fanservice", I'm kinda surprised Michael Bay never incorporated her into his Transformers films.

an episode about one of my favorite characters? Thank you for this pre-Christmas birthday present.

I subscribed to that Transformers comic in the 80 's! I'm going to love March's videos!

That "Timothy" reference... wow. Thanks for that 😜

Did anyone else just realize that the decepticons have the word decept in them As in deception

Circuit Breaker was Seven of Nine before Seven of Nine!

I hope that you'll one day read the IDW Transformers. It may be flawed, but there's a lot of great moments and one of the best versions of Megatron

Always a welcomed site to see the G1 Transformers

"Freakin space robots! They took away my ability to walk...but I'll have my revenge! First...invent a way to walk." Oh well at least she's not using time travel to avenge what she could be preventing.

I think it'd be interesting to have a Transformers Holiday special that introduces the Cybertronian equivalent of Christmas. Like a "Twelve Day-Cycles of the Prime".

Looking forward to March! The Kingdom toyline will be released by then, the 3rd chapter of the Netflix series would bring back the Beast Wars, and Linkara starts a G1 Marvel retrospective! I’m hoping Transformers gives 2021 some levity after 2020.

4:30 You've got a Masterpiece version?! Awesome! They're still too pricey for me, but I would so love to have one.

Yes..... Russian suburb.... *Neglects to mention the large russian orthodox community just outside salem* So, as a kid, living in oregon, it ruled to know the Autobots lived a few hours away. I remember going on vacation to sunriver in central oregon on the edge of the high desert, passing by the extinct vulcano and thinking if I could just go find a cave I could hang out with Optimus Prime. I was a strange child.

The power levels seem weird. Half-naked human who built her own exoskeleton defeats ultrasophisticated, gigantic robot from space with *_hilarious ease._* That's comic books, I guess.

I wish Marvel Legends would give us Deaths Head and the Neo Knights in a wave.

My first ever regular comic book was Transformers Marvel UK #45 four weeks after this issue.

Thanks for an awesome Birthday present! Merry Christmas Linkara!

I'm not used to F- bombs in your videos, so the Pulp Fiction clip was a bit of a surprise. Great video!

'they're confused but they get the spirit.'

Autobots, Christmas rock out!

Surprised Circuit-Breaker didn't appear in the live action movies. A barely dressed woman seems right in Michael Bay's wheelhouse. Obviously she'd need to have Marky Mark make her enhancements for her, but she can still be turned on by men with tech skills.

What’s kinda funny (more ironic than hysterical) is that in the IDW comics, Jazz ends up being on the receiving end of the hatred after he accidentally gets someone killed when one John Powell proved his point. (See _The Transformers,_ #17, “Burning Chrome” for reference.)

Are you really surprised the Hew-Mons in the comic are questionable? Let’s not forget that this franchise, while it gave us the likes of Buster Witwicky, Marissa Faireborn, Alexis Thi-Dang, Sari Sumdac, Agent Fowler, Verity Carlo and Charlie Watson, also gave us the likes of Daniel Witicky, Kicker Jones and Sam Witwicky.

The idea of OC superheroes in a transformers universe could be an interesting development, like with the sheer amount of alien tech that turns up earth you’d think they’d be more people who would be harmed/mutated/reversed engineered the tech for their own ends.

4:04 extra humorous to me as a fan of Jim Sterling who refuses to forget when most games media has. A lot of Ubisoft executives can expect plenty of coal I bet.

Autobots are always an awesome Hannukah present

You know, as ridiculous as her costume is, Circuit Breaker is a pretty sympathetic character. And she has a point, innocent people are being caught in the crossfire in the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. While the Autobots are obviously not intentionally going out of their way to attack humans like the Decepticons, they do shoulder the blame. This is their war, and humanity is caught in the battle. I'm not too familiar with the Transformers universe, especially not the comics, but why hasn't Optimus gone and met with our world leaders and talk about the situation. Get the governments of Earth on their side against the Decipticons, who would obviously want to enslave or destroy Earth, and join forces. That way they not only get humanity in on the fight, share technology and stuff, but also coordinate with any emergency personnel whenever a battle is about to take place so they can evacuate the area. Really minimize casualties. Instead it seems like the Autobots just hide out on Earth not revealing themselves except to certain humans for whatever reason. It'd really help public safety if humanity knew that there was an alien war taking place that they could be caught up in. Plus, get some much needed allies for the Autobots. Say what you will about the Bay movies, at least they did do that and got the US government on their side.

Woohoo! Got you your 800th like! Uh, you're welcome! 😆 What a perfect, lighthearted holiday story. I'm not big on religious celebrations, but I admit, I love the Xmas themed theme song too! 👍

On the one hand, some gratitude for saving the kid might be called for, but on the other hand it's still a naked person standing over an unconscious child. The adult and kids had a bit of a shock so I can forgive their instinctive hostile reactions.

She looks like she's like three Jojo's Bizarre Adventures characters mixed in a blender with The Joker. Especially the freeze-frame at 1:13.

2:55 - I've always wanted a Linkara for Christmas! : 3

Merry Christmas from your UK viewers.

Oh my god, the insult at ubisoft executive. This is brillant.