STAR TREK VS. TRANSFORMERS #1 - 5

"PRIME'S DIRECTIVE"
Written by: John Barber & Mike Johnson
Art By: Philip Murphy (#1, 2, 4, 5) & Jack Lawrence (#3)
Colors by: Priscila Tramontano, Leonardo Ito, & Josh Burcham
Letters by: Christa Miesner | Edits by: Chase W. Marotz & David Mariotte

I'm not typically interested in these sorts of crossovers in general. STAR TREK characters encountering characters like the Transformers (or, way back in the nineties, the X-Men) just feels kind of silly to me. They're so, so different that such a crossover could never be "real" in my mind, no matter how much effort the creators might put into it.

So under normal circumstances, I woudln't have glanced twice at this series, even though STAR TREK and TRANSFORMERS are both near and dear to me. I certainly wouldn't have bought it... except I did, for one reason and one reason alone: the stunningly gorgeous Sunbow-style TRANSFORMERS artwork. (Technically it's both Sunbow-style and Filmation style, though since the STAR TREK characters are drawn in the style of the TREK animated series Filmation produced in the seventies).

But we'll get to the art shortly. First, a quick plot rundown and my thoughts on the story: In the twenty-third century (stardate 5892.7, to be exact), the starship Enterprise arrives at planet Cygnus VII to investigate a distress signal from a Federation dilithium mine. Upon beaming down, Captain Kirk and crew find the mine under attack by Decepticons. Optimus Prime bursts forth from the mine, injured, and Kirk orders an orbital bombardment of photon torpedoes to scare the Decepticons off. While Kirk's crew works to resuscitate Prime, The Decepticons flee to a nearby moon, where they find Trypticon has shot down some Klingons. The Decepticons and Klingons form an alliance, while the Enterprise crew encounters more Autobots in the mine.

Around this point, we learn that these Autobots (specifically Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Windblade) left Earth some time ago aboard Fortress Maximus in search of Energon. They were ambushed by Decepticons and crashed on Cygnus VII, where they lay deactivated for many decades until the miners accidentally activated Fortress Maximus's repair systems, bring them back online.

On the planet's surface, Scotty and Doctor McCoy work to repair Optimus, but the Decepticons arrive with the Klingons and attack, revealing that Trypticon can now transform into a Klingon battle cruiser. The Autobots and most of the Enterprise crew emerge from the mine to join the fight, but Ratchet remains inside with Captain Kirk, where Fortress Maximus is reconfigured to transform into a Constitution class starship, and soon joins the fight, turning the tide for the good guys. Starscream supercharges himself with dilithium and retreats, heading for the Klingon homeworld, Kronos, where he crowns himself the leader. But Megatron and the Decepticons pursue, followed in turn by the Autobots and Enterprise crew.

Everything culminates with a clash on Kronos, with the Enterprise crew members running around in Starfleet-branded mechs created using Cybertronian specifications. The Decepticons are defeated and left in the custody of the Klingons, while the Autobots set out once more in search of Energon.

So... it's an interesting story. Like I said above, I really don't think these two properties go together, but the writers, John Barber and Mike Johnson, are clearly having fun with the premise, going wild (in my opinion sometimes too wild) with the concept. The story is fun, but there are no big moments that make you say, "Aha! This is why they did the story! This is something I never knew I wanted to see happen!" Quite the opposite, in fact, at least for me. The story is filled with things I don't think I ever wanted to see happen, such as Fortress Maximus transforming into a Constitution class ship, or Spock, Scotty, and Sulu engaging in "rock 'em sock 'em" brawls in giant mechs.

Maybe I'm a wet blanket, but crossovers like this always do dopey stuff like that that turn me off almost completely. If you're going to write STAR TREK, keep it STAR TREK-y. Kirk in the captain's chair, Spock at the science station. Find ways to make the characters participate in the crossover in their traditional roles, not doing weird things inappropriate to their universe. Likewise, I don't understand the infatuation with Transformers turning into things other than the things they've always turned into. I think this started in the Dreamwave era, with their mini-series set during World War I, and the other mini they did where everyone turned into steampunk vehicles. Since then, it's been a free-for-all over the years in comics, movies, and so forth, of having Transformers' alternate modes be as interchangeable as human clothing. Why can't Fortress Maximus just remain Fortress Maximus? I'm not paying money to see him be something he never was -- I'm paying to see him be what he's always been!

Also, the continuity here is weird. These Autobots apparently lived on Earth in the eighties, nineties, etc. as the did in the original cartoon continuity, but then they left. Fine. Yet Kirk and company are totally shocked when they find them. If the Transformers were waging their war on Earth for that long, it would've been a pretty big deal. It would be taught in history books for centuries to come. Kirk should see an Autobot symbol and say, "I-it's an Autobot! They came to Earth in the twentieth century!" But instead, he's never seen or heard of a Transformer before. Yet there's also no mention of parallel universes or anything along that line (which is bizarre, since parallel universes are a STAR TREK staple). What's the deal here? Did something get dropped from the script that might have clarified this?

Lastly, I take issue with the inclusion of Windblade on the Autobots' side and Airachnid on the Decepticons' side (plus, to a lesser extent, Arcee fighting with a sword)... these are characters (and weaponry) from the modern day. They didn't exist in the era these Transformers seem meant to be from. It's a cheat, and it takes me out of the story. Also anachronistic on the STAR TREK side of the story is the use of replicators at one point. Unless continuity has changed, I don't believe that technology existed yet at the time of the original series.

Now, the moment I promised up top: let's talk about the artwork. The TREK side of it looks fine; a very nice impression of the Filmation style. But I'm really interested in the TRANSFORMERS side. It's... breathtaking. Sublime. I want to wallpaper my house with it. This is, hands-down and bar none, some of the very best TRANSFORMERS artwork I've ever seen in a comic book. The characters look almost exactly like their Generation One Sunbow incarnations (though for some reason, despite the slavish Sunbow fidelity, there are Autobot symbols on both of Optimus Prime's shoulders rather than just his left). The coloring only enhances this, with some great "cel shading" effects to really give the character that cartoon-like sheen.

IDW has done this before. I recall that their MARS ATTACKS THE TRANSFORMERS mini-series also used a Sunbow style for the characters, and I think they've done it one or two times besides that as well. I just don't understand why they don't have their mainstream TRANSFORMERS stuff drawn this way. I stopped reading IDW's TRANSFORMERS comics many years ago, and I've read about the various plotlines from the sidelines since, often scratching my head at how absolutely awful most of it sounds. But I'm not exaggerating one ounce when I say that I'd eagerly read it all anyway if it was drawn like this. The Sunbow style is the only way Transformers should ever be drawn. Any other interpretations should be outlawed worldwide by order of the United Nations, and all existing artwork depicting the Transformers in a non-Sunbow style should be burned, scrubbed from hard drives and the internet, and never seen by human eyes again for the rest of eternity.*

You may disagree with me. If you do, you are empirically and unequivocally wrong.

So to sum up -- Story: mediocre. Artwork: Deserving of a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian.

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* All joking hyperbole aside, I really do love this artwork. I could stare at it all day. IDW loves to do sequels and prequels to the original Marvel Comics series, but I would pay seriously good money if they were to do an ongoing series, drawn in this style, telling stories set in the G1 cartoon continuity. Ideally, it would be set between season 2 and TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE -- which was a gap of twenty years in-universe -- and tell stories about the Autobots on Earth, the arrivals of characters like Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, etc., how the Decepticons drove the Autobots from Cybertron, the construction of Autobot City, and so forth. That period is ripe with tons of potential.

Of course, IDW would screw it up somehow by introducing characters from later years who didn't exist yet (or worse, stick in characters from the modern day who never existed in G1), and write it in a "grown-up" way rather than an earnest imitation of the G1 style... but at least the pictures would be pretty.