G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS #6

Written by Josh Blaylock
Pencils by Mike S. Miller | Inks by Cory Hamscher & Armando Durruthy
Letters by Dreamer Design | Colors by Lynx Studio with HI FI Colour Design
Edits by Mark Powers

The Plot: With Cobra and the Decepticons mostly routed, Hawk informs the Joes and Autobots of the incoming nuclear missiles. Wheeljack proposes a plan to stop them and teams up with Mainframe and Sci-Fi to commandeer the energy satellite in orbit. After fighting off a group of Cobras including Storm Shadow and Firefly, Wheeljack accomplishes his goal and the missles are destroyed before reaching Cobra Island. However the satellite goes wild, suddenly beaming random energy blasts down at Cobra Island.

Cobra Commander hooks up with Starscream and the duo flees the island together. Megatron attempts to retreat, but is stopped by G.I. Joe and then defeated by Optimus Prime. Prime grabs Megatron's fusion cannon and uses it to destroy the satellite.

Later, the Autobots leave Earth in a newly-constructed spacecraft, having gifted G.I. Joe with Cybertronian technology. Meanwhile, Megatron and Starscream hide out on Earth, and a cabal of U.S. scientists examine the fallen Decepticons recovered from Cobra Island.

Continuity Notes: Trailbreaker, who was decapitated last issue, is glimpsed fighting alongside his fellow Autobots. This would seem to be an art mistake.

G1 References: Megatron wields the energy morning star which made a single appearance in the G1 animation but somehow became one of his iconic weapons in the ensuing decades.

Body Count: Skywarp and Thundercracker are hit by energy bolts from the satellite, but as is usually the case with Transformers, it's unclear whether they're dead.

One death not in doubt, however, is Mercer, who is atomized by one of the satellite blasts.

My Thoughts: This is a fun and exciting final installment to the story, so no complaints in terms of action -- but there are a couple huge problems with the overall conclusion. Namely, Megatron, Soundwave, the other defeated Decepticons are apparently in U.S. custody as things wrap up. Meaning the Autobots just let the Earthlings confiscate their fallen foes when the battle ended. Would it not make much more sense for Optimus Prime to bring the villains with him when leaving Earth? Additionally, Starscream is still at large on Earth. It's hard to imagine Optimus -- at least, G1 Optimus -- just up and leaving Earth while even a single Decepticon is unaccounted for. But in this case he's left several deactivated Decepticons and one living one behind. This seems unlikely to end well.

Obviously this is Josh Blaylock opening the door to a sequel, and that's fine -- but if you're going to have Optimus Prime abandon Earth with a bunch of Decepticons still on it, at least come up with some logical story reason for it to happen. Maybe set it up so he thinks they were all destroyed? Just taking off for deep space with full knowledge of all the Decepticons left behind is a huge disservice to his character and makes him come across as negligent at best or incompetent at worst.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS is a little uneven -- it starts off too slow before winding up too fast, and there are some darker moments that don't really fit its bright, retro-G1/Sunbow art style -- but it's still a fun story in spite of those issues. And if nothing else, it's Devastator-sized head and shoulders above Dreamwave's first TRANSFORMERS/G.I. JOE miniseries!