G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: THE ART OF WAR #5

Written by Tim Seeley | Pencils by Joe Ng, James Raiz, & Alex Milne
Inks by Rob Ross, M3th, & Alan Tam | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Kevin Yan, Rob Ruffalo, & Tom Liu | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: Optimus Prime battles Serpentor, who suffers confusing bouts of pain from the back of his neck. Meanwhile, Hot Rod leads a combined Autobot/G.I. Joe assault on Serpentor's fortress. Inside, Hawk, Grimlock, and the rest search for Optimus Prime. Elsewhere, Optimus is defeated by Serpentor's right-hand men, Motormaster and Razorclaw. Serpentor opens the Matrix of Leadership within Prime.

Outside, the battle continues while within, Serpentor is transformed into a full-size Decepticon -- but the Matrix has seemingly changed him, removing his warlike nature -- until his body is remotely hijacked by Cobra Commander from Earth. Hawk and company burst in and attack, and Hawk grabs the Matrix after Arcee rips off Serpentor's chestplate. Serpentor is deactivated while, outside, the Autobots and Joes rout the Decepticons. On Earth, Cobra Commander is rendered apparently catatonic.

Later, peace has returned to Cybertron. The Autobots mourn Bumblebee while Hawk comes to terms with his new Matrix-enhanced consciousness.

Continuity Notes: The pain from Serpentor's neck comes from a device planted there by Zartan in issue 1, which subsequently allows Cobra Commander to take control of the robot.

The final page gives us glimpses of threats yet to come, including Doctor Mindbender and Cobra-La, the villains of the next mini-series, as well as latter day Joe characters Sergeant Savage and Iron Klaw, plus city-scale Transformers Trypticon and Metroplex, hinting at a possible fifth series which was likely aborted by Devil's Due losing the G.I. Joe license.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: THE ART OF WAR #4

Written by Tim Seeley | Pencils by Joe Ng, James Raiz, & Alex Milne
Inks by Rob Ross, M3th, & Alan Tam | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Kevin Yan, Rob Ruffalo, & Tom Liu | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: Optimus Prime drives around, rescuing Autobots during the Decepticon assualt, until he's cornered by Menasor and Reflector, who put Prime in communication with Serpentor. Prime agrees to surrender to the Decepticons if Serpentor releases his captives. Meanwhile, on Earth, Cobra Commander and his science advisor, Doctor Knox, are up to something.

Serpentor has a chat with Hawk on the nature of war and needing something to fight for, then Snake-Eyes and Scarlett break free of their cell and bust out Hawk and Roadblock as well. Meanwhile, Hot Rod rallies the Autobots to invade Serpentor's headquarters and rescue their friends. Inside, Optimus Prime is brought before Serpentor, but quickly breaks free and attacks the diminutive warlord. On Earth, the assembled G.I. Joe team prepares to travel to Cybertron and join the fight.

Continuity Notes: Cobra Commander at one point refers to "Mindbender and his lobster-wearing friends." This is presumably a reference to Cobra-La, who captured Mindbender at the conclusion of the previous mini-series, and it seems to imply that Cobra is aware of Cobra-La's existence, at least to some extent.

Ratchet is seen among Hot Rod's team still sporting the modifications he acquired during his two years fighting in Earth's future in G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS II.

Storm Shadow is seen among the assembled Joes on the final page, implying he's switched sides since the events of the first mini-series.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: THE ART OF WAR #3

Written by Tim Seeley | Pencils by Joe Ng, James Raiz, & Alex Milne
Inks by Rob Ross, M3th, & Alan Tam | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Kevin Yan, Rob Ruffalo, & Tom Liu | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: After receiving a briefing on Serpentor from the scientists who created him, G.I. Joe (Hawk, Roadblock, Scarlett, and Snake-Eyes) and the Autobots (Perceptor, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Grimlock) follow him to Cybertron, where they soon come into conflict with Predaking, Pirahnacon, and Serpentor himself. Serpentor kills Bumblebee and the rest of the group is taken captive.

Elsewhere, as the Autobots prepare for a peace celebration, Optimus Prime dispatches Hot Rod to lead a team to track down their missing friends. Meanwhile, more Decepticons are rallied to Serpentor's cause, and soon his Decepticon army attacks the Autobots' party.

Continuity Notes: We're told that "Serpent O.R." is short for "Serpent Organic Robot", named for the serpent which tempted Adam and Eve because the project team was tempted to use Megatron in their construction of the robot. Seems like kind of a stretch, but he had to be named Serpentor somehow, after all.

Snake-Eyes and Scarlett have a tender moment in which he unmasks for her and they share a kiss.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: THE ART OF WAR #2

Written by Tim Seeley | Pencils by Joe Ng, James Raiz, & Alex Milne
Inks by Rob Ross, M3th, & Alan Tam | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Kevin Yan, Rob Ruffalo, & Tom Liu | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: On Cybertron, Optimus Prime broods until Hot Rod informs him that the team on Earth has run into trouble from Cobra. Meanwhile, the Joes and Autobots finish off Cobra's forces but realize Bumblebee is missing, having gone below ground in pursuit of Cobra Commander. Grimlock, Arcee, Perceptor, Hawk, Roadblock, Snake-Eyes, and Scarlett head down and stop Cobra Commander from killing Bumblebee.

Serpent O.R. appears and takes out the Joes' mechs, then brings the roof down on everyone in the room. He heads upstairs and activates the portal the Autobots used to reach Earth, departing for Cybertron. Once there, he finds the Seacons and Predacons scuffling, but quickly wins them to his cause.

Continuity Notes: Perceptor is horrified to find that humans have been working with the deactivated Megatron and Soundwave, but Hawk protests that he had no idea about it.

Serpent O.R. refers to himself as "Serpentor", so I'll go ahead and start calling him that going forward. (For the record, Cobra Commander called him Serpentor last issue, but I wasn't sure then if it was intentional or a typo.)

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: THE ART OF WAR #1

Written by Tim Seeley | Pencils by Joe Ng, James Raiz, & Alex Milne
Inks by Rob Ross, M3th, & Alan Tam | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Kevin Yan, Rob Ruffalo, & Tom Liu | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: At Area 52, a U.S. government research center in the New Mexico desert, scientists work on both deactivated Decepticons and a new robotic lifeform called Serpent O.R. Meanwhile, several levels above, at G.I. Joe headquarters, Perceptor, Bumblebee, Grimlock, and Arcee arrive to assist with deactivation of all Cybertronian technology still on Earth.

Cobra attacks the facility and Cobra Commander activates Serpent O.R., but but it quickly turns on him. Naming itself the son of Megatron, Serpent O.R. downloads the history of Cybertron from Megatron's deactivated head and then declares he will find the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

Continuity Notes: The human scientists are working on the heads of Megatron and Soundwave, still offline since the first G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS miniseries. Among the scientists is one Doctor Chase, actually Zartan's sister, Zarana, in disguise.

The Autobots are disabling all Cybretronian technology on Earth under orders from Optimus Prime, to ensure the planet remains free of further Transformer influence. This includes the mechs provided to the Joes by the Autobots when they left Earth in volume 1 (and which were briefly seen at the start of volume 2).

G1 References: Among the memories he pulls from Megatron, Serpent O.R. sees Quintessons, Alpha Trion, Optimus Primal, Unicron, and the Matrix. The flashback confirms that this continuity follows the cartoon series' idea that the Quintessons created the Transformers.

TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN: THE AGE OF WRATH #4 - 6

Though Dreamwave's WAR WITHIN: THE AGE OF WRATH mini-series ended in 2004 with issue 3 when the publisher went bankrupt, issues 4 through 6 were all solicited and in subsequent years Simon Furman made his scripts and/or synopses for the issues available to the public at conventions. All solicits and additional information courtesy of the Transformers Wiki, though they can be found elsewhere online as well.

Writer: Simon Furman | Pencils: Joe Ng | Inks: Tracy Ho

Issue 4 Solicit: ALONE! Stranded on a strange alien world, far, far from Cybertron, Turbomaster Flash is about to realize there really is no place like home... even when home is ruled by arch tyrant Megatron and his legions of clone warriors. The terrible truth behind the invasion and conquest of Cybertron is finally revealed. Now all Flash has to do is stay alive long enough to tell someone!

Issue 5 Solicit: HE'S BACK! Optimus Prime, right? Well... maybe. But then again... maybe not! Blaster's desperate bid to free the enslaved Autobots lies in ruins, his and his entire team's lives are Megatron's to take at his will. But in their darkest hour, a hero returns to the fray, a force too powerful to be contained even by death's dark dominion. Prepare to be shocked senseless all over again!

Issue 6 Solicit: Last Stand! Finally... the battle you've been waiting for! Optimus Prime returns to take on his archenemy Megatron. But is Prime the 'bot he was? Scarred mentally and physically by his nightmarish exile, Prime plainly may not be up to the job! But if he can't beat Megatron and stop the rise of his second-generation clone army ... who can?

TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN: THE AGE OF WRATH #3

Writer: Simon Furman | Pencils: Joe Ng | Inks: Tracy Ho & Erik Sander
Additional Inks: Ferd Poblete | Colors: Rob Ruffalo & Eric Burns | Letters: Ben Lee

The Plot: At Autobot resistance headquarters, Percetptor gathers the Turbomasters and explains that he plans to locate the missing Optimus Prime. Meanwhile, Nightbeat and his group inspect their captured air warrior clone, but it comes back to life and attacks them. Elsewhere, Perceptor describes his plan to locate Prime.

Meanwhile, Shockwave berates Rumble and Frenzy over apparently disrupting his analysis of the clones, then leaves them to finish cataloguing all known Autobot casualties. But as they reach Grimlock's name on the list, something behind them explodes, leaving a face-shaped mark in the wall.

Nightbeat and friends continue to wage a losing battled against their clone opponent until it inexplicably stops fighting and shuts down once more. Blaster and Perceptor discuss strategy while the Turbomasters play a game of high-speed hide-and-seek. But when Turbomaster Flash returns to Perceptor's briefing chamber, where a space bridge portal is open to facilitate the search for Optimus, he somehow drives through and winds up in another location.

Continuity Notes: The story opens with news anchor Slamdance recapping Starscream's slaughter of the Transformer high council in issue 1.

The Autobot resistance is operating out of Iacon, which seems kind of foolhardy, given that was always the Autobots' headquarters.

We learn that Optimus Prime and Megatron were believed killed in the space bridge accident that claimed them circa THE DARK AGES #1, which is why no one search for them until now. But, with Megatron back, Perceptor believes Optimus Prime is out there someplace as well. And, just before Flash vanishes through the space bridge portal, a readout on Perceptor's monitor indicates that he may have been located.

TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN: THE AGE OF WRATH #2

Writer: Simon Furman | Pencils: Joe Ng | Inks: Ferd Poblete
Additional Inks: Tracy Ho & Erik Sander | Colors: Josh Burcham, Sig Torre, & Ruffs
Letters: Ben Lee

The Plot: Megatron leads the Decepticons once more, and the Autobots serve him as slave labor. After torturing Starscream, Megatron chats with Shockwave about a cloning experiment.

Meanwhile, Megatron's clone warriors chase down the Autobot Getaway. Elsewhere, the Autobots work under Decepticon supervision deep beneath Cybertron's surface. When Brawn rebels, he is shocked into submission. At the same time, Getaway continues his escape. Megatron receives a report from Soundwave stating that the Autobots have dug a shaft all the way to the center of Cybertron.

Getaway lures the Decepticon clones into an Autobot ambush, and they are wiped out -- save one for study by Perceptor.

TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN: THE AGE OF WRATH #1

Writer: Simon Furman | Pencils: Joe Ng | Inks: Tracy Ho | Additional Inks: Ferd Poblete
Colors: Rob Ruffalo, David Cheung, & Josh Burcham | Letters: Ben Lee

The Plot: Following a long and bloody campaign led by Ultra Magnus, the reunified Autobots have overcome the Decepticons and Ultracons and forged a loose peace on Cybertron. As Magnus and Grimlock prepare for the ratification of the treaty, Starscream and his Predacons plan to attack.

Later, in Iacon, Ultra Magnus greets Shockwave and Ratbat, representing their factions. Grimlock receives word that a pair of ore transports are en route to the city, and he orders the Dynobots to shoot them down. Meanwhile, Starscream invades the Iacon council pavilion and assassinates the elder Transformers inside.

The Autobots, Decepticons, and Ultracons fight back against the Predacons and Motormaster snipes Ultra Magnus from above -- but Grimlock leaps into the blast's path and takes the shot instead. As Grimlock dies in Magnus's arms, he, Ratbat, Shockwave, and thier allies are surrounded by an army of Decepticon clones led by Megatron.

Continuity Notes: This story takes place between WAR WITHIN: THE DARK AGES and MICROMASTERS (remember, I'm covering these issues in publication order rather than chronological order). As noted above, while the Decepticons are still splintered into three factions, Ultra Magnus has unified the Autobots since the last WAR WITHIN series.

TRANSFORMERS SUMMER SPECIAL #1

Note: TRANSFORMERS #4 featured a short story spotlighting Megatron as part of "Megatron Month". The TRANSFORMERS SUMMER SPECIAL continued Megatron's saga. I have opted to cover both stories together.

Note 2: Rest assured, the irony of reviewing a "Summer Special" on Christmas Day is not lost on me. This is just how the schedule happened to fall.

"RUNNIN WITH THE DEVIL"
Writer: Brad Mick* | Pencils: James Raiz | Inks: Erik Sander
Colors: Elliott Kravchik | Letters Ben Lee

The Plot: Megatron is found drifting in deep space by the eccentric Junkion, Wreck-Gar. Wreck-Gar nurses Megatron back to health and takes him to his homeworld, the Planet of Junk. There, Wreck-Gar salvages a trio of Decepticon clones to serve Megatron, then Megatron kills the Junkion.

"WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE"
Story: Brad Mick* w/Adam Patyk | Pencils: Pat Lee
Breakdowns: Joe Ng | Backgrounds: Edwin Garcia | Inks: Rob Armstrong
Colors: Alan Wang | Letters: Ben Lee

The Plot: On the planet Beest, Megatron and his clones battle Razorclaw, the former leader of the Predacons, now locked in his lion mode with no memory of his past life. After fighting Razorclaw off, Megatron pursues him into the jungle and defeats him. Later, Megatron makes changes to Razorclaw's systems and reunites him with the rest of the Predacons. At Megatron's command, the Predacons unite to form Predaking.

Continuity Notes: Readers will recall that we initially saw Wreck-Gar pick up Megatron at the very end of WAR AND PEACE, and then the two of them were together, scavenging for clones on the Planet of Junk, in GENERATION ONE #0.

"Runnin..." makes it clear that six months have passed since Starscream jettisoned Megatron into space in WAR AND PEACE #1. I'm not sure if this fits very well with the timeline Mick has presented so far, as the events of WAR AND PEACE seemed to occur over a pretty short span, and the entirety of the Sunstorm arc in GENERATION ONE took place in roughly two days. I would suggest that time could have passed between the two series, but unless Starscream's crew spent six months traveling from Cybertron to Earth, that seems unlikely as well.

TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE #0

Story: Brad Mick* | Art: Pat Lee, Don Figueroa, & Joe Ng
Inks: Elaine To, Rob Armstrong, & Erik Sander
Colors: Espen Grundetjern & Rob Ruffalo | Flats: Kenny Li & Ferd Poblete
Additional Colors: David Cheung, Jong-Im Lee, Elliot Kravchik, Sigmund Torres
Letters: Ben Lee | President: Pat Lee | VP/Editor-in-Chief: Roger Lee
Creative Director: James McDonough | Project Manager: Derek Choo-Wing

The Plot: A mysterious narrative conversation recaps certain events in the universe, including Unicron devouring the planet Lithone and giving birth to Cyclonus, Scourge's discovery of Cybertron and betrayal by Shockwave, a human military unit's capture of several deactivated Transformers, Optimus Prime's comatose state and his team left on Earth, and Megatron's disappearance.

The conversation is revealed to be between a trio of Quintessons, who have plans to find Megatron and judge him.

Meanwhile, on the Planet of Junk, Wreck-Gar presents Megatron with a deactivated Transformer, which Megatron plans to use for some unknown purpose.

Continuity Notes: This issue serves as a recap of the previous two mini-series, as well as a prologue for the ongoing TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE comic, but it comes with a few new nuggets of information, as well: Unicron created Scourge and has now created Cyclonus as well. And it seems the Scourge who discovered Cybertron in WAR AND PEACE was in fact one of a large fleet of identical Transformers. As a result, it's unclear to the Quintessons whether the Scourge who found Cybertron was the same one that appeared on Earth in WAR AND PEACE #1.

STREET FIGHTER ORIGINS: AKUMA

Story: Chris Sarracini | Line Art: Joe Ng
Inks: Robert Armstrong & Kevin Raganit | Colors: Espen Grundetjern
Lettering: Marshall Dillon | Flats Assist: Ludwig Olimba
Project Editor: Matt Moylan | Chief of Operarions: Erik Ko

So -- Akuma. I've never quite got the appeal of this guy. He looks cool, I guess. I believe he was first introduced in one of STREET FIGHTER II's many variant games, as a hidden boss above even M. Bison. And he's appeared in a ton of games since then, to the point that he's considered a main STREET FIGHTER cast member. And, due to his apparent popularity, UDON chose him to headline the first (and so far only) STREET FIGHTER ORIGINS original graphic novel.

Published in 2013, AKUMA fills in the shared backstory of both the title character and his brother, Gouken. It begins with the men as children, living on a rice farm with their parents. In short order the farm is assaulted by a group of assassins who reveal that the boys' father was once a hired killer as well. As their father is murdered by these men, the boys escape with their mother. Gouken believes they should hide, but Akuma favors a bolder approach. He leaves their mountain hideout and is soon taken in by a dojo, where he trains under Goutetsu, the man who taught his father.

Years pass and Akuma grows restless. He leaves for Tokyo and soon after, Gouken arrives at the dojo to train with Goutetsu as well. Eventually Akuma returns and is sent to his final test, several days' meditation in the mountains where, unbeknownst to him, Gouken is undergoing the same trial. Each brother is then separately offered a chance to take revenge on the men who killed their father. Gouken refuses, having attained inner peace, but Akuma takes up the offer and razes the men's village, killing them as well as all the innocents in his path.

STREET FIGHTER IV

"WAGES OF SIN"
Story: Ken Siu-Chong* | Pencils: Joe Ng* | Inks: Crystal Reid
Colors: Espen Grunderjern | Lettering: Marshall Dillon
Chief of Operations: Erik Ko | Managing Editor Matt Moylan

I don't know if it's Capcom's "canon" that STREET FIGHTER IV takes place concurrently with STREET FIGHTER II, but that's the route Ken Siu-Chong has gone here, and it works pretty well. It seems that while the world's eyes are focused on Bison's tournament on Shadaloo Island, as covered a few weeks ago in STREET FIGHTER II TURBO, Shadaloo's R&D division, S.I.N. (the Shadaloo Intimidation Network) is conducting its own secret operation.

S.I.N. is headed by Fifteen, another aspect of M. Bison's plan to live beyond his mortal span. Killer Bee was the first, a girl infused with Bison's DNA, awaiting the day he could transfer his consciousness into her body. Fifteen is also a spawn of the mad dictator, in this case one of several such numbered clones. He craves free will, but was programmed to serve Shadaloo unquestioningly. And here he serves by kidnapping several powerful fighters in order to drain them of any traces of the Dark Hadou in order to harness that power for Bison.

Carrying out the kidnappings is Crimson Viper, a renowned spy-for-hire. I seem to recall that at the time STREET FIGHTER IV was released, Viper seemed positioned to be the breakout character. Certainly she was all over Capcom's marketing for the game. Here she's more or less the co-headliner of the series, as we quickly learn that she's infiltrating S.I.N. on behalf of some (hopefully) more benevolent force.