Visionaries
From Transformers Wiki
Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light was a short-lived toyline released by Hasbro in 1987. The series was set on the alien world of Prysmos, a technological utopia which was suddenly plunged into a feudal, medieval state when the "Age of Science" came to an end and the new "Age of Magic" began. The heroic Spectral Knights and villainous Darkling Lords struggled for control of his new world using magical powers gifted to them by the wizard Merklynn, famously represented in the toyline as colourful holograms on the figures' chests and weapons.
As a contemporary of Transformers, Visionaries received a similar dual-pronged advertising push. The line was given an animated series (lasting only one season of thirteen episodes) co-produced by Sunbow Productions and TMS Entertainment, featuring many voice actors who also worked on Transformers and scripted by Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, and Douglas Booth, and most importantly as far as this article is concerned, a comic book from Marvel Comics. Like everything else to do with the line, the comic book did not last long, running to only six issues and being cancelled halfway through a four-part story. Regardless of this failure, the UK branch of Marvel Comics reprinted the series, but it performed even worse there, and their comic only managed to reprint four of the six issues before folding. They also reprinted the first issue again in an annual released in 1988. The final two issues of the original comic were then split into eight smaller parts, and printed as back-up strips in the UK Transformers comic, running from #183 to #190, during which time the series was branded The Transformers & Visionaries. A few months later, Visionaries returned to the UK comic when the first issue alone was reprinted yet again (presumably to piggy back off the animated series belatedly appearing on British TV that spring as part of Children's BBC's flagship Saturday morning series Going Live), this time split up into seven parts and included in issues #213 through #219.
Years later, Visionaries would share another unusual connection with Transformers when Hasbro reused the name of the brawny Spectral Knight Cryotek for a new Robots in Disguise character.
In 2017, after some heavy foreshadowing, Visionaries joined the ongoing Hasbro Universe, receiving a crossover comic that pits the characters against the Transformers.
Contents |
Fiction
Animated continuity
Swindle thinks the Darkling Lords of Prysmos might be good customers, and plans to use his experience with the Angry Archer as a primer to speaking their quasi-medieval lingo. AllSpark Almanac
2005 IDW continuity
After the Trinary Re-Alignment had reverted Prysmos to an arcane state, the wizard Merklynn chose a group of Prysmosians onto whom he imparted artifacts of great magical power to become his Visionaries. Schismatic Merklynn masterminded that one incarnation of the group splinter into the Darkling Lords and Spectral Knights wanting to take advantage of the fires of the change brought about by the charismatic Darkstorm. Good Men
This age would not last however. Eventually the ternary stars drifted out of alignment, unleashing gravitational forces that tore Prysmos apart. Though millions of Prysmosians died, the majority of the Visionaries managed to escape their planet. Schismatic Stranger Eons
A shape resembling that of the Visionaries' hexagonal chestplates appeared on a wall inside the Tomb of Amtoltec in Dahshur, Egypt alongside other hieroglyphs, some of which depicted Shockwave and the Micronauts Acroyear and Biotron. The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb
In 2018, the surviving Visionaries came to inhabit the city of New Prysmos on Cybertron where they debated how to proceed with regards to their Cybertronian hosts, though not all the Visionaries chose to attend the meetings. Schismatic
The Visionaries splintered even further after Virulina murdered Kup and declared war on the Cybertronians. The Spectral Knights opposed her plan of genocide but in doing so, they earned the ire of the ordinary Prysmosian citizens and were chased out of New Prysmos. The Darkling Lords then consolidated their hold on the city while the Knights sought out the Cybertronians as allies to derail the plans of Merklynn and the Lords. Cybertron No More
Seeking to heal the rift between Darkling Lords and Spectral Knights, Virulina sought the remainder of the Spectral Knights, now under Cryotek's command, and convinced them to pledge allegiance to her. Desperate Measures Merklynn had his own plans for reunification and convinced Arzon to join his cause and to one day become leader of the Visionaries in the new world order. Good Men After Galadria's healing magic had given a happy ending to virtually all parties, the Spectral Knights assumed full control of New Prysmos with Leoric as leader once again. The Curtain
When Unicron attacked Cybertron, Windblade sought out Leoric to use Prysmosian magic to teleport the Cybertronian race to Earth. Though the Visionaries managed to evacuate Cybertron before Unicron destroyed it, Windblade noted they'd hadn't made the trip to Earth. Road's End Unbeknownst to the Cybertronians, the Visionaries had been sent back to the prehistoric past of Prysmos where they dissolved their factions and began anew. A World and a Future
Marvel UK Reprints
| Issues | Story | Visionaries at Marvel Database |
| #183 - #186 | "Quest of the Four Talismans Part 1" | Visionaries Vol 1 5 |
| #187 - #190 | "Quest of the Four Talismans Part 2" | Visionaries Vol 1 6 |
| #213 - #219 | "The End -- -- The Beginning!" | Visionaries Vol 1 1 |
Toys
Revolution
- Revolution Set (SDCC Gift Set, 2017)
- Accessories: Staff, whip
- Released as part of a San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive set, Leoric is an action figure made up of redecoed parts from various G.I. Joe action figures, with a new head, torso and weapon based on Leoric's classic design. He was packed with several other Hasbro Universe action figures: Jetfire, Matt Trakker of M.A.S.K., Action Man, Roadblock of G.I. Joe, Rom and a Dire Wraith, and nine Micronauts mini-figurines. Unlike his original toy, he doesn't have a hologram on the chest.
- Leoric is included in the set despite the lack of Visionaries in the Revolution comic; he was presumably added to promote the upcoming Visionaries comic, which was officially revealed at the convention.