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.