TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA VOL. 3

"VICTORY" | "ZONE"
"THE BATTLE STARS" | "OPERATION COMBINATION"
Story by Masumi Kaneda | Art by Ban Magami

Now we get to TRANSFORMERS: VICTORY, which represents the largest schism between the American and Japanese Transformers continuities. You'll recall that HEADMASTERS, the first of the Japan-exclusive series, was a direct continuation of the three seasons of the original TRANSFORMERS cartoon. It featured characters from the third season alongside new charaacters, and aside from the Trainbots, there were really no characters unique to Japan in that series.

Then came SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE, which, while ostensibly still a sequel to the prior series, seemed to move so far past and away from what the Transformers had previosly been, that it felt like a brand-new thing (notwithstanding occasional references to Optimus Prime and manga-exclusve appearances by a few characters from prior series). The MASTERFORCE roster was comprised of many characters who were released in the United States (albeit with different names), along with a number of Japan-exclusive characrers, like Godbomber and Overlord.

Now it's on to VICTORY, a series whose cast seems to be composed entirely of characters/toys who were never released in the United States! In 1989, when VICTORY was broadcast in Japan, the American Transformers line was still producing Pretenders and was introducing Micromasters. But it appears the Japanese line was more focused on new combiner teams (Brainmasters, Breastforce, and Dinoforce), along with a few larger-scale figures: the new Autobot leader, Starsaber, and the new Decepticon emperor, Deszaras. (Note: I'm more familiar with these names parsed/translated as "Star Saber" and "Deathsaurus", but I will abide by Viz's versions for the remainder of this post.)

TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA VOL. 2, PART 2

"SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE"
Story by Masumi Kaneda | Art by Ban Magami

Now we plunge into an era of Japanese Transformers mythology with which I'm mostly unfailiar, aside from reading articles about it on the Transformers Wiki. Though I own the SUPER-GOD MASTERFORCE series (and its follow-up, VICTORY, whose manga tie-ins we will examine next week), I have never watched it. So, with that said, here we go!

The MASTERFORCE manga appears to begin in the future at some point, during an era where the Transformers have become legends on Earth, believed by humanity to have been gods who walked the word years ago. But when the Decepticon Pretenders appear, a clandestine group of Autobot Pretenders stationed on Earth reveal themselves. Following from some of the nomenclature oddness from HEADMASTERS, in this go-round, Viz has elected to present all the characters with their Japanese names -- so the Decepticon Pretenders, known in the U.S.A. as Bombburst, Skullgrin, and Iguanus, are referred to consistently in the manga as Blood, Dowlos, and Gilmer. Likewise for the Autobot Pretenders, the "Junior Headmasters" on both sides, and all the other Transformers presented here.

Personally, I don't really like this choice. I mean, I kind of get why they did it: MASTERFORCE is its own thing. It is not the American continuity. One need look no further to confirm that, than the fact that the character we Americans know as Powermaster Optimus Prime is a completely different character in Japan; an Autobot named Ginrai who was built to resemble Optimus. And while the early manga chapters were set in the American Generation One universe, telling "side stories" of that continuity, everything from HEADMASTERS on is more of a parallel universe. So it makes sense, even if I would rather be reading the American names I remember from my childhood.

TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA VOL. 2, PART 1

"THE HEADMASTERS"
Story by Masumi Kaneda | Art by Ban Magami

The second volume of TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA delves into the Japanese-exclusive series, beginning with HEADMASTERS. The story opens up with Optimus Prime dead again, and Rodimus Prime back in charge of the Autobots, leading them from their new base on the planet Athenia. The HEADMASTERS cartoon remains the only one of the Japan-exclusive series that I've seen (though I bought all three, HEADMASTERS, MASTERFORCE, and VICTORY, when Shout! Factory realeased them on DVD in the United States a decade or so back). My recollection is that it was somehow simultaneously more juvenile and more mature than the original American cartoons. It had no qualms about killing characters off and serializing its story, two things the first series never did outside of the tie-in movie. But at the same time there was a lot of humor clearly aimed at small children, and some of the story premises felt extremely simplistic.

The manga, meanwhile, continues to be its own thing, advertising characters via huge chapter-length battles rather than telling stories of any great depth. This time around, we get the Autobot and Decepticon Headmasters, the Trainbots (a Japan-exclusve combiner team), Sixshot the Decepticon ninja, and so forth. Strangely, the translated manga has kept the Japanese names for some of these characters, which it had not done previously. I.e., in past stories, Optimus Prime was called by his original American name, rather than his Japanese appelation, Convoy. There was never any point in the early chapters where a Japanese name jumped out at me. But here for example, the Decepticons known in the U.S. as Mindwipe and Skullcruncher are referred to consistently by their Japanese names, Wipe and Skull. It's a little weird.

Here, the Autobot and Decepticon Headmasters introduce themselves via an extra-long first chapter on Planet Beast, a world which also featured in the HEADMASTERS cartoon. Beast is an oddity, featuring the Takara-owned "Battle Beasts" characters in a crossover with the Transformers. In the manga, the good and evil Battle Beasts are referred to as being Autobot and Decepticon beasts, which I don't think I recall being the case in the anime. But anyway -- the Decepticon beasts team up with Predaking and a huge fight ensues, with the Autobots coming out victorious. Oh, and the Headmasters meet a human kid named Kane, who was raised among the Autobot beasts and fights alongside them.

In subsequent chapters, the Headmasters battle it out in Alaska, the Trainbots' combined form of Raiden heads into the sea to beat up a bunch of Sharkticons (shown here to serve the Decepticons rather than the Quintessons as in the cartoon) and a giant robot squid which seems to be based on a smiliar beast from planet Quintessa in TRANSFOMERS: THE MOVIE, the Headmasters battle the Decepticon Headmaster Horrorcons and then save Christmas, and finally the Autobot and Decepticon Targetmasters (including Artfire and Ricochet, Japanese-excluse characters who were repaints of Inferno and Jazz, respectively) all appear.

TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA VOL 1, PART 2

"THE STORY OF THE SUPER ROBOT LIFE-FORMS: THE TRANSFORMERS"
"THE GREAT TRANSFORMERS WAR"
Story by Masumi Kaneda | Art by Ban Magami

And just like that, we move twenty-five years into the future, to the far-flung world of 2010. After the second season of the TRANSFORMERS animated series ended, TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE released in American cinemas, followed immediately by the cartoon's third season. The movie was set in 2005, and season 3 in 2006. In Japan, however, things went a little differently. For convoluted reasons, TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE didn't reach Japanese shores for a number of years, but they did import and localize the third season. However in Japan, the season was presented as, essentially, a new series titled TRANSFORMERS: 2010 -- and that's the continuity these next stories cover.

I'm not sure why the Japanese writers decided to bump the timeline up five years. I don't think it has anything to do with missing TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. Maybe they just thought 2010 sounded cooler than 2006. Though it's notable that, at least according to these manga chapters, TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (which did happen in the Japanese continuity even if they hadn't yet seen it), was still set in 2005. There's an explicit line by Rodimus Prime in one of these stories where he discusses Megaton vanishing during the "Unicron Wars" of five years ago.

It's actually an interesting moment in the manga, as the Autobots speculate on what actually happened to Megatron. Some think he died. Some think Galvaton is Megatron in disguise. I don't believe the cartoon -- or at least the original American version -- goes into this at all. It's pretty much accepted by all characters that Galvatron is Megaton, the end. To the point that when Optimus Prime eventually returns in the season 3 finale, he talks about Galvatron and Megatron as if they're the exact same person, even despite Galvatron's clear personality differences.

TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA VOL. 1, PART 1

"FIGHT! SUPER ROBOT LIFE-FORM TRANSFORMERS"
Story by Masumi Kaneda | Art by Ban Magami

The Transformers manga was serialized in Japan's TV Magazine around the time the original series debuted. Ostensibly, at least from the start, it exists in the same continuity as the TV show, though it was clearly produced with a Japan-centric mindset, unlike the cartoon, which -- while inspired by Japanese toys -- was conceived, written and produced in the United States, with only the animation outsourced to overseas companies, including Japan's own Toei studio.

It's a little jarring at first, I'll admit. From the manga's start, the Autobots hang out almost exclusively in Japan. It's established that the Decepticons have a strong interest in conquering Japan for its energy resources, so the Autobots regularly patrol the country. It makes sense though, when you stop to think about it. After all, this manga was produced for kids as a tie-in to a cartoon series they were watching on TV. The cartoon was set basically entirely in the United States, so the manga creators likely wanted to give their young readers something a little more familiar.

I will say, though, that the series is "Japanese-centric" in more ways than simply the setting. There are a number of anime/manga tropes on display here that never showed up in the cartoon. In the first chapter, the Autobots befriend a young boy named Kenji. Somehow, this lad is a tactical genius, making suggestions to the Autobots on how to defeat their enemies, to the point that Optimus Prime names Kenji an "honorary Autobot" and provides him with a special helmet he can use to contact the Autobots the next time the Decepticons make trouble in Japan.

TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA

Years ago, I had sort of an annual tradition where every Fall, I would do a series of Transformers posts. It started in the blog's first two years, with the full run of TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE in September/October/November of 2013 and 2014. In the Autumns of 2015 and 2016, it was Dreamwave's TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE and WAR WITHIN comics. Then in 2017, it was all the G.I. JOE/TRANSFORMERS crossovers by Devil's Due Publishing.

After that, the tradition sort of faded away as I ran out of "limited run" Transformers series that piqued my interest. But that's changed! Here we are, five years after my last Fall Transformers project, and I've got something new. This will probably be the shortest of all the Transformers review series I've run here, but it's something I've had some interest in for a long time: TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA.

Now that's not what this stuff was originally called when it was published in Japan in the eighties; rather this is the umbrella title given to all the various Transformers manga that was published back then, as collected in three lovely hardcover volumes by the good people at Viz. I've known about this material for a long time, but never had a way to read it until recently. This stuff spans all of the "Generation One" era, starting with a tie-in to the original animated series (known in Japan as SUPER ROBOT LIFEFORM: TRANSFORMERS) all the way up through various Japanese-exclusive continuities. I honestly have little idea of what to expect here. Beyond TRANSFORMERS: HEADMASTERS, I know little about the Japanese stuff that came after the 1984-87 cartoon.

So hopefully you'll join me, starting next Monday, for the next little while as I take a look at this stuff. Overall, this will take the next five weeks -- two posts apiece for the first two books, and one single post for the final volume. And then after this brief diversion, it's back to the Marvel Universe for one of my favorite runs that I've never read!

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Available on Amazon:
TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA vol. 1: Hardcover | Digital
TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA vol. 2: Hardcover | Digital
TRANSFORMERS: THE MANGA vol. 3: Hardcover | Digital

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.

SPRINGTIME GRAB BAG

It's time once more for that annual tradition where I dig through the various and sundry comics I've bought but have yet to read, and review some of them. This year, I've got offerings in the queue from DC, Dark Horse (sort of), and Dynamite.

We'll start on Monday with the first DC offering, a crossover I would've gone nuts for as a child: HE-MAN/THUNDERCATS. I bought this one a few years ago via Comixology, I think around the same time I also picked up BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ADVNTURES, but I just never got around to it until now.

We'll follow that up with another crossover, also half from DC: WONDER WOMAN/CONAN. The Conan half of the story comes from Dark Horse, back when they still had the license. And then we'll keep the Conan theme running with a book I grabbed in a Comixology sale when Dark Horse lost that license: CONAN: THE DAUGHTERS OF MIDORA & OTHER STORIES. But our Hyborian Age antics won't end there! The following week, we'll read our first of two books from Dynamite: RED SONJA: THE BALLAD OF THE RED GODDESS, written by Sonja's co-creator, Roy Thomas.

After that, it's one final Dynamite offering: FLASH GORDON: KING'S CROSS, a limited series which sort of revisited the concept of the 1980s DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH cartoon series, in that it teams up King Features' best-known comic strip action stars -- Flash, the Phantom, and Mandrake the Magician. And then we'll hop over to IDW for a look at last year's STAR TREK/TRANSFORMERS series.

All of this will take us through April, and when it's done I'll reveal what's coming up next: something from the House of Ideas, a place we haven't visited in over a year, if you can believe it!

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: BLACK HORIZON #2

Written by Tim Seeley | Art by Andrew Wildman | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Wes Ozioba & Art Lyon | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: In Tibet, Firewall is captured by a yeti while she and Cosmos explore. Meanwile, G.I. Joe prepares to head for Tibet to help their friends. Meanwhile again, Colton leads Hawk, Flint, and Optimus Prime through the tunnels beneath Cobra-La, but they're ambushed once more by Bludgeon and his Royal Guards. Prime defeats Bludgeon, who chooses death over dishonor, while Colton takes out the guards. Elsewhere, under orders from Golobulus, Pythona awakens Nemesis Enforcer to deal with the group.

Unicron makes his final approach to Earth, while Doctor Mindbender informs Firewall she will be sacrificed upon his arrival. Colton leads Flint and Hawk to a cavern containing Cobra-La's metal-eating spores and the yetis that guard them. Cosmos arrives to help the humans fight off the yetis, and reveals Firewall is missing. Colton interrogates one of the creatures as to her whereabouts. Outside, G.I. Joe arrives in Tibet to be greeted by the Monster Pretenders in their combined form of Monstructor. Back in Cobra-La, Flint boards Cosmos with the spores to go after Unicron, who transforms into robot mode as they approach.

Golobulus holds a ceremony for the citizens of Cobra-La, but Optimus Prime, Hawk, and Colton crash it and attack. Flint and Cosmos enter Unicron, while on Earth, Unicron's appearance disrupts natural weather patterns. In Cobra-La, Colton duels Nemesis Enforcer, Optimus Prime fights the Royal Guards, and Hawk battles Golobulus. On the surface, the Joes defeat Monstructor, while underground, Pythona reveals an unforeseen fondness for Colton by killing Nemesis Enforcer. Inside Unicron, Cosmos is shot down by his "antibodies" and Flint moves out with the spores. In Cobra-La, Hawk frees Firewall, Optimus Prime defeats Golobulus, and G.I. Joe arrives as Colton takes out Mindbender.

Flint uses the spores to destroy Unicron's brain, then he and Cosmos retreat to Earth. With the day saved, everyone returns to the Pit to rest and recover.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS: BLACK HORIZON #1

Written by Tim Seeley | Art by Andrew Wildman | Letters by Brian Crowley
Colors by Wes Ozioba & Art Lyon | Edits by Mike Sullivan

The Plot: In the year 1978, as they trek through the Himalayas, adventurer Joe Colton and his team are attacked by mysterious humanoid beings from the lost civilization of Cobra-La, allied with a Decepticon named Bludgeon.

In the present day, Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy struggles to cope with the powers of the Matrix of Leadership he now possesses. When the Autobots summon him, Hawk joins them in stopping an arms deal between Destro and a Cuban nationalist. Destro escapes, but the deal is stopped -- however when a bizarre signal announcing "I return" is intercepted by Hawk's group, he summons Optimus Prime to Earth. The signal is traced to the Himalayas, where Hawk, Prime, and Flint, in response to Hawk's request for backup, travel to investigate. Meanwhile, Unicron jouneys toward the Earth.

The rest of Hawk's team is attacked by Decepticon Monster Pretenders, while in the Himalayas, Optimus, Hawk, and Flint are assaulted by Bludgeon and the forces of Cobra-La. Meanwhile, Autobot Cosmos rescues Hawk's associate, Firewall, from the Pretender attack and ferries her to the Himalayas, while inside Cobra-La's citadel, Joe Colton -- prisoner for decades -- frees himself upon learning Hawk is in the vicinity. While Firewall contacts Duke and G.I. Joe for aid, Hawk, Flint, and Prime learn that Cobra-La met Unicron when he visited Earth millennia ago, and convinced him to space the planet while they prepared it for his second coming. Then, as Bludgeon and his forces close in on them, the trio is approached by Colton, who instructs them to follow him.

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.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS II #4

Written by Dan Jolley | Pencils by E.J. Su, Tim Seeley, Emiliano Santalucia, & Guido Guidi
Inks by Andrew Pepoy & Sean Parsons | Letters by Dreamer Design
Colors by Jeremy Roberts & Val Staples | Edits by Mark Powers

The Plot: On Cybertron, the Joes and Cobras, having escaped from Shockwave's clutches, discus their options. Since Transformer sensors don't find anything of interest in organic material, it's decided that Lady Jaye and Roadblock should strip to their underwear and infiltrate Decepticon headquarters. There, while Roadblock distracts the enemy, Lady Jaye reactivates the time portal which Shockwave had disabled. The final Joe/Decepticon group returns from prehistoric times with the Dinobots, who quickly rout Shockwave's forces.

Later, the Autobots send the Joes and Cobras back to Earth, while elsewhere, Starscream pleads with Shockwave for his life. But when a recorded message from Cobra Commander plays from inside Starscream's cockpit, warning anyone against dealing with the traitor, Shockwave turns on him.

Three months later, on Earth, Doctor Mindbender is released from prison by the NSA and flown to a secret faclity. But the agents aren't what they seem, and Mindbender finds himself in the clutches of Pythona and the forces of the Kingdom of Cobra-La.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS II #3

Written by Dan Jolley | Pencils by E.J. Su, Tim Seeley, Emiliano Santalucia, & Guido Guidi
Inks by Andrew Pepoy & Sean Parsons | Letters by Dreamer Design
Colors by Jeremy Roberts & Val Staples | Edits by Mark Powers

The Plot: Barbecue, Spirit, Doctor Mindbender, Tomax, and Xamot are attacked by Decepticon Sweeps in the post-apocalyptic wasetland, but the Dreadnoks, now more cyborg than human, rescue them. Buzzer, Torch, and Ripper take the humans to the leader of their resistance, Duke (also now a cyborg). Duke explains that the Decepticons invaded Earth in 2014 and have ruled ever since -- but two years ago an Autobot appeared who joined the rebels' cause. Realizing this is the Transformer they came to find, the Joe/Cobra team leaves Duke to search for him. Torch joins their quest in hopes that returning the Autobot to the past will erase his history from existence.

Back in the present, Shockwave and Cyclonus discuss the imminent failure of the force field protecting the remaining Autobots and Joes from an all-out Decepticon assault. In the future, the Joes and Cobras are led by Torch across the wasteland to find their quarry, Ratchet. Now hardened by his fight against the Decepticons, Ratchet agrees to discuss returning to the past if the Joe/Cobra group will help him rescue a group of human slaves from a nearby factory. Their mission is a success, but Ratchet refuses to leave the timeline. Barbecue forces him back to the past, but as soon as the group materializes on Cybertron, Ratchet is shot in the back by Shockwave. The force field has failed and the Autobots have been defeated.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS II #2

Written by Dan Jolley
Pencils by E.J. Su, Tim Seeley, Emiliano Santalucia, & Guido Guidi
Inks by Andrew Pepoy & Sean Parsons | Letters by Dreamer Design
Colors by Jeremy Roberts & Val Staples | Edits by Mark Powers

The Plot: In the 1930s, Beachhead, Roadblock, the Baroness, and a Cobra Viper named Percy locate Optimus Prime and restore him to robot mode. In the present day on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus informs Stalker that the force field he's using to protect the Autobots and Joes will fail in six hours, meaning the various time-teams have that long to return before the Decepticons attack.

Back in the past, Roadblock and the Baroness infiltrate a gangster's nightclub and find their way to four more Transformers who turn out to be Sunticons Wildrider, Breakdown, Dead End, and Drag Strip. The Stunticons chase Optimus Prime and his human allies across town until they bump into Motormaster. As soon as Motormaster is transformed back to robot mode, the entire group vanishes back to the present.

Meanwhile (sort of), Barbecue, Spirit, Doctor Mindbender, Tomax, and Xamot materialize in an apocalyptic future.

Continuity Notes: Roadblock, pretending to be Miles Davis, plays trumpet for an all-black band as part of his cover.

G1 References: Not really any to speak of here.

G.I. References: Likewise.

G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS II #1

Written by Dan Jolley
Pencils by E.J. Su, Tim Seeley, Emiliano Santalucia, & Guido Guidi
Inks by Andrew Pepoy & Sean Parsons | Letters by Dreamer Design
Colors by Jeremy Roberts & Val Staples | Edits by Mark Powers

The Plot: G.I. Joe thwarts a Cobra arms deal while Cobra Commander meets with Destro. The Commander has gotten wind of a private lab in Boston which has used Cybertronian technology to open a wormhole to Cybertron. He convinces Destro to help him steal the device. G.I. Joe's undercover agent, Chuckles, reports this new scheme to headquarters as he escapes Destro's mansion.

Eventually the Joes burst in on Cobra as they attempt to harness the wormhole tech. Joes and Cobras alike are transported to Cybertron, where the wormholes go wild and send several Transformers back to Earth at various points in the timestream. Aided by Ultra Magnus and Perceptor, groups of Joes and Cobras are transported back in time to recover the missing robots.

In the California Bay Area of the 1970s, Lady Jaye, Storm Shadow, Snake-Eyes, and Zartan recover Jazz, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and Blitzwing, and return to the present. Meanwhile, the Baroness, Roadblock, Beachhead, and a Cobra Viper appear in another timeframe in the middle of a skirmish between two groups of mobsters.

Continuity Notes: We're told that it's been two years since the previous G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS miniseries. In that time, the Joes have integrated Transformer technology into their own gear. We see two of the large mechs left behind by the Autobots when the prior story ended, and the Joes have a number of smaller enhancements as well, such as portable force shields.

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.