Imo, TFA was probably the 1st TFs show that gave us a superhero-ish angle on the TFs.

TFA Optimus Prime was rather Batman-like with all his in-built gadgets and grapplers;

Grimlock reminded me of the Hulk: big, primitive, powerful and easily angered (Could easily imagine him saying: "Me Grimlock SMASH!");

Blackarachnia was reminscent of Catwoman with her seductiveness and self-serving goals;

Rodimus paralleled Green Arrow with his energy bow and arrows;

with a similar cocky attitude, Sentinel reminded me of the Green Lantern Guy Gardner from "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" series;

Ultra Magnus has been likened to Thor, God of Thunder, for obvious reasons with his hammer;

Perceptor could be compared to Brainiac with his cold, mechanical intelligence;

Blurr was the Autobot version of The Flash with his super-speed;

Blitzwing is like a mixture of Joker and Two Face qualities with his unpredictable changes in personalities and random faces;

Megatron could be likened to Lex Luthor with his intelligence and ruthlessness;

and Starscream was like Deadman with his inability to 'pass on' after death, still wandering Earth as a living corpse essentially.

And though they are not TFA characters, we could also compare Depth Charge with Aquaman due to his aquatic capabilities, or even The Spectre with his pursuit of vengeance rather than justice;

I imagine a TFA-version of Nightbeat could be very much like The Question or Rorschach;

and Silverbolt could be likened to JLU's Shining Knight with his old-fashioned sense of nobility and honour.

So have I missed any out? What other comparisons can you all come up with?