THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

DEVIL'S DUE TRANSFORMERS COMIC ISSUE GUIDES

G.I.Joe vs The Transformers IV: Black Horizon

| #1 | #2 |

Black Horizon #1

Released on 3rd January 2007. Written by Tim Seeley. Art by Andrew Wildman. Colours by Wes Ozioba and Art Lyon. Letters by Brian J Crowley. Edited by Mike O'Sullivan. $5.50 cover price, choice of covers.

Synopsis: 1978: The American Military Adventure Team, lead by "G.I." Joe Colton is on a mission in the wilderness of Tibet when they come under attack from Chinese aircraft. This battle is swiftly joined by Cobra-La Troops and their ally Bludgeon, who kill the Chinese and two members of the Adventure Team. Joe and local guide Chok-Pa are captured alive as pets for Pythona.

The 21st Century: The Joes have returned to Earth following volume three, but Hawk has resigned in disgust at the fact the American government developed Serpent O.R, and is now seen a disgraced nut by the American media. However, he's also secretly working with the similarly resigned Firewall and a force of Autobots lead by Prowl (who no longer trust the Joe's fully) to track down and stop the trade of Cybertronian based weapons, whilst at the same time avoiding their former colleagues.

As Prowl's team stop Destro from selling such technology Hawk receives a Matrix-induced vision of impending doom and calls Optimus Prime to Earth. The Autobot leader comes alone out of a desire not to see any more comrades fall following the death of Bumblebee. Hawk also calls in a favour from Flint, and the three of them quickly head for Tibet, where he feels the new danger is coming from.

But, unknown to the Autobots, the ship Destro had used to travel on had mushroom spores hidden upon it, spores that Cobra-La can use to locate their base of operations. Golobulus sends the Pretender Monsters to deal with this one obstacle to their plans.

In deep space Unicron attacks and eats a pirate spaceship about to pillage Earth, whilst Prowl's ship comes under attack. Only Cosmos and Firewall manage to escape unharmed.

In Tibet, Bludgeon and Cobra-La troops attack Prime and the Joes. Though he's now in a new body Optimus still recognises the Decepticon who tried to assassinate him the day he became Prime, and Bludgeon relishes the chance to correct his failure. Though his new body's metal eating slime seems to give him the advantage Hawk uses his Matrix powers to briefly overwhelm Bludgeon's mind with useless information, and they escape in Cobra-La's tunnels. Golobulus is uneasy at mechanical beings being free in their base but Dr. Mindbender assures him that if all else fails "The Enforcer" can deal with them.

Pythona visits the now aged Colton to gloat at him over the imminent death of the group that bears his name. But mention of Hawk leads him to find the motivation to escape. Meanwhile Firewall contacts the Joe base and asks Duke for help.

In the caves the Joe's and Prime find hieroglyphs that tell the whole story of Cobra-La: when Unicron once tried to attack Earth they held him off with a metal-eating virus. But they then agreed to let humanity spread over the planet and become technologically adept so that Unicron could one day return to harvest them for his own purposes, leaving Cobra-La the dominant life on the planet. Prime is shocked to see the legends of the Chaos Bringer have some basis in fact, but has little time to ponder as a recovered Bludgeon once more leads an attack on them. Just as it seems they'll have to make a last stand, Joe Colton appears and tells them to follow him...

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Joe Colton (both 1978 and century 21 versions), Atomic Man (killed by Bludgeon), Nemesis Enforcer, Bludgeon, Pythona, Crimson Guard, Hawk (Matrix Powered), Cosmos, Destro, Eject, Prowl, Sideswipe, Armada [The Cobra character, not the Cyclonus look-alike...], Skids, Firewall, Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, Ultra Magnus, Snake Eyes, Duke, Flint, Lady Jayne, Golobulus, Dr. Mindbender [In both his kinky Cobra-La outfit and in his regular costume on the GI Joe status screen], Unicron [Present day and flashback], Birdbrain, Bristleback, Icepick, Scowl, Slog, Wildfly, The Baroness [On a GI Joe status screen- At large], Destro [On screen- At Large], Zartan [On Screen- At Large], Firefly [On Screen- At Large], Iron Claw [On Screen- At Large], Tomak [On Screen- In Custody], Overlord [not the Masterforce guy, on screen and in custody], Darklon [On Screen- In Custody].

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

Black Horizon #2

Released on 21st February 2007. Written by Tim Seeley. Art by Andrew Wildman. Coloured by Wez Dzioba and Art Lyon. Colour assists by Timothy Straub. Lettered by Brian J Crowley. Edited by Mike O'Sullivan. $5.50 cover price, choice of covers.

Synopsis: Cosmos and Firewall arrive in Tibet, but are quickly separated when the young Joe falls through the ice and is captured by the Yeti. Underground, Golobulus berates Pythona over Colton's escape and orders her to revive Nemesis Enforcer, which she does with her blood. Back at the Pit Duke convinces General Flagg to launch a full scale attack on Cobra-La despite the political ramifications of military action in Tibet. As Unicron approaches he overwhelms N.O.R.A.D.'s satellite tracking station with his scream of I WILL RETURN. In the caves Optimus and the Joes follow Colton- who has frequently escaped to explore and map the tunnels over the last quarter century- to a narrow bridge over a deep chasm. Here Optimus fights Bludgeon, ripping open his Pretender shell before pushing down into the depths.

As Unicron appears in the skies over Earth Firewall is prepared for sacrifice to Unicron by the Yeti. Colton and Flint make their way through a passage too narrow for Prime to where the metal-eating spore is grown. The veteran explains that despite leaving his cell many times over the years he's never tried to escape as he knew Cobra-La had to be stopped, so he ought to keep close. They are set upon by Yeti but rescued by Cosmos blasting his way down. Luckily Colton can speak enough Yeti to interrogate one about Firewall's location. The Joe reinforcements arrive in Tibet and are attacked by Monstructor, though a Joe unit with a honking big laser gun quickly deals with him. Flint and Cosmos go off into space with the spores in order to destroy Unicron with them, whilst Prime and the other two Joes gatecrash the ceremony for Firewall's sacrifice. Nemesis Enforcer comes close to killing Colton, but when Joe appeals to her better nature Pythona kills the winged one and breaks down crying. The arrival of the other Joes quickly turns the battle in the good guys' favour.

In space Flint and Cosmos find Unicron's servants (bloomin' Battle Beasts!] easy to deal with as they destroy his brain with the spores. With the day saved, Prowl and the other Autobots are repaired, Optimus sits down to watch some trashy reality TV (no, really) and Hawk sorts out his love life. And GI Joe put Colton in charge of a space faring team going to give aid to survivors living on Unicron's body. It's going to be an awfully big adventure.

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Cosmos, Firewall, Golobulus, Pythona, Lady Jaye, Duke, General Flagg, Flint, Hawk, Joe Colton, Optimus Prime, Bludgeon [Seemingly Killed], Crimson Guard, Nemesis Enforcer [Killed], Unicron [brain destroyed], Dr. Mindbender, Snake Eyes, Birdbrain, Bristleback, Icepick, Scowl, Slog, Wildfly, Monstructor [Head blasted off by the Joes, it's unclear if this killed his individual components], Battle Beasts, Airtight, Bushido, Cover Girl, Flash, Mainframe, Outback, Scarlett, Sci-Fi, Snake-Eyes, Snow Job, Prowl, Skids, Sideswipe, Eject.

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek