THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Cover Date: July 1993

Script: Larry Hama
Breakdowns: Andy Wildman
Finishes: Stephen Baskerville
Letters: Rick Parker
Colours: Bob Sharen

Synopsis: Cobra Commander believes Destro and the Baroness, working with GIJoe, to be at large in his Trans-Carpathian castle, and posing traitor Scarlett and Dr. Biggles-Jones lead the hunt. Meanwhile the Joes prepare to send in Snake-Eyes and Stormshadow. Destro provides the distraction he promised the Joes by transforming the castle. This attracts Megatron and Starscream. Meanwhile, Destro and the Baroness make their escape, but not before Snake-Eyes is forced to run Scarlett through to protect her cover. Just as Cobra are recovering from the raid, Megatron appears.

Notes: Right, the Notes for these issues are going to refer almost entirely to the Transformers. Megatron and Starscream are back online after the Ark crashed in "A Savage Circle".

Transformers featured [in rough order of appearance]: Megatron, Starscream.

Notable Others: Scarlett, Dr. Biggles-Jones, Cobra Commander, Slice, Dice, Zarana, The Baroness, Destro, Wild Bill, Hawk, Stormshadow, Snake-Eyes, Stalker, Road-Pig.

Production Notes: The comic cover gives the title as 'GIJoe Starring Snake-Eyes and Ninja Force', though the title details at the bottom of page 1 still give the name of the comic as 'GIJoe - A Real American Hero'.

Extras: The issue came polybagged, with a free GIJoe "Search and Destroy" trading card. This lead to a price increase to $1.75. Okay, so the card's not free, it costs about 50¢.

Review: A fun piece of cod sci-fi/ninja high-jinks, not bad for later GIJoe, enlivened by Wildman's superb art and a witty script from Hama. From a Transformers point of view, it's a completist item with only two pages featuring them, but if you don't mind GIJoe, you could do worse than fill yourself in a little on the book's plotline before the crossover picks up.

Cover Date: August 1993

Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Chris Batista
Inks: [Stephen] Baskerville, [? ] Williams, [?] Hudson and [Chip] Wallace
Letters: Rick Parker
Colours: Bob Sharen

Synopsis: Megatron realises the Silent Castle isn't a Transformer at all, and begins to attack, while Slice takes Scarlett to the medical bay. Biggles-Jones fires her experimental rail-gun at Megatron, damaging him, but is captured. Cobra Commander is able to broker a deal, trading Megatron a new body incorporating the gun for the Ark and its technology. As his new body is built, Cobra Commander plots treachery, Biggles-Jones checks on a recovering Scarlett, and Destro and the Baroness meet up with Zartan on Cobra Island. Megatron tires out his new body.

Notes: Megatron's clearly already upgraded a bit since "Aerialbots over America!", as he can not only fire in useless, sorry, gun mode without someone's help, but can also choose where he points, and fly. According to Biggles-Jones, he fires a plasma beam. She's invented a much better weapon called the Hyper-Velocity Rail Gun, which Megatron has fitted to his new body - which is based on the 1993 Generation 2 Megatron toy.

Transformers featured [in rough order of appearance]: Megatron.

Notable Others: Cobra Commander, Zarana, Slice, Dice, Dr Biggles-Jones, Destro, The Baroness, Zartan, Scarlett, Will Bill, Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow. Serpentor shows up in flashback, and Dr. Mindbender in a big jar.

Production Notes: The comic cover gives the title as 'GIJoe Starring Snake-Eyes and Transformers Generation 2', though the title details at the bottom of page 1 still give the name of the comic as 'GIJoe - A Real American Hero'. The price is back down to the GIJoe regular one of $1.25.

Review: A bit more Transformers action, and Batista's detailed art as Megatron attacks the castle is superb, very reminiscent of Wildman's, no doubt helped by Baskerville's inking. His instant handle on the brand-new tank model is also impressive, and it's a shame he wasn't drafted onto the G2 book instead of Manny Galan. He also provides a dynamite cover, later stolen paid homage to by Dreamwave for a poster. The biggest problem, though, is that Larry Hama unusually drops the ball, and Megatron talks like no Transformer's done since the original limited series. Also, Transformers-only fans may be turned off by the rather complex ongoing GIJoe plotlines, especially if they haven't seen anything since the cartoon ended...

Cover Date: September 1993

Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Chris Batista
Inks: Chip Wallace
Letters: Rick Parker
Colours: Bob Sharen

Synopsis: Cobra transfer to Canada, where Megatron collects the Ark. Destro & co. use this as an opportunity to infiltrate the Silent Castle. Meanwhile, Cobra and Megatron head to Cobra's puppet town of Milleville. The slaves begin unloading the Ark, but Doctor Mindbender is accidentally revived. GIJoe are observing the town, and deploy a reconnaissance team, and Ninja Force. The former see Megatron, and report this to Hawk, who uses a subspace radio given to him by the Autobots to contact Cybertron. The message is received by Optimus Prime, who orders a team to be send to Earth.

Notes: The Autobots gave GIJoe a transmitter in the "GIJoe versus the Transformers" limited series.

Errors: Where's Starscream gone? Optimus has a red waist. Sorry, but how would bloody Tunnel Rat recognise the new improved Megatron?

Transformers featured [in rough order of appearance]: Megatron, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime.

Notable Others: Cobra Commander, Zarana, Slice, Dice, Dr Biggles-Jones, Destro, The Baroness, Zartan, Scarlett, Spirit, Mutt, Dialtone, Hawk, Flint [yeh!], Roadblock, Rock 'n' Roll, Tunnel Rat, Airtight, Stormshadow, Snake-Eyes, T'jbang (:D), Nunchuk, Dojo, Jinx, Chuckles and Mainframe. Dr. Mindbender is reawakened.

Production Notes: The comic cover gives the title as 'GIJoe Starring Snake-Eyes and Transformers Generation 2', though the title details at the bottom of page 1 still give the name of the comic as 'GIJoe - A Real American Hero'.

GIJoe #140-142 and the foil-stamped variant Transformers Generation 2 #1 were issued in a Marvel Adventures Collector's Pack [costing $6.70 originally] which includes a blurb that refers to the GIJoe issues as "the complete Star Brigade storyline", though this isn't used anywhere on the comics.

Review: A bit dull, despite some sharp scripting by Hama and fine artwork from Batista. For Transformers fans there's not a lot to enjoy here, and most GIJoe fans will be rather melancholy to see Flint reduced to an extra while the cringe-worthy Ninja Force get centre-stage.

Cover Date: October 1993

Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Jesse Orozco & William Rosado
Inks: Chip Wallace & Tim Tuohy
Letters: Steve Alexandrou & Rick Parker
Colours: Bob Sharen

Synopsis: The Joe teams battle Cobra in Milleville, and Scarlett shows her true colours. Meanwhile, Megatron plans to capture Biggles-Jones, and take her brain and neural core. He grabs her, but Scarlett stands in his way.

Transformers featured [in rough order of appearance]: Megatron.

Notable Others: Cobra Commander, Zarana, some Ninja Master, Doctor Mindbender, Slice, Dice, Tunnel Rat, Airtight, Roadblock, Rock 'n' Roll, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Dojo, T'jbang, Hawk, Scarlett and Spirit, Dr. Biggles-Jones.

Production Notes: The comic cover gives the title as 'GIJoe Starring Snake-Eyes and Transformers Generation 2', though the title details at the bottom of page 1 still give the name of the comic as 'GIJoe - A Real American Hero'.

Review: Bah. Dodgy, padded, boring, badly drawn dirge. Megatron is very poorly rendered throughout, the Joes simply walk in and back out again... And the fight with the Cobra "Ninja-Master" is among the most excruciating sequences I've ever read in comics. And I've read Geoff Johns' Avengers. How many issues to the end of the crossover lads? Plod, plod...

Cover Date: November 1993

Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Jesse Orozco & William Rosado
Inks: Chip Wallace & Tim Tuohy
Letters: Adrienne, Steve Alexandrou & Rick Parker
Colours: Andre Ani & Chi

Synopsis: The Autobot team, led by Hotspot, then arrive, saving Scarlett. They try to subdue him, but the Decepticon kills Steeljaw with ease. Cobra then weigh in, and the Autobots withdraw, though Chase is caught and killed by Megatron. Scarlett is rescued by Snake-Eyes, but Megatron then kills Brawn, also destroying the Autobots' shuttle. The battle moves to the Ark, where Override sacrifices himself to allow the Joes to sneak a deactivated Skydive onboard, unaware that Spike has also stowed away. Megatron then heads off in the Ark, taking Biggles-Jones with him.

Notes: Transformers can put some kind of deactivation timer on, as Skydive is able to shut down his systems, and revive without outside help. Megatron can now cause neutron implosions [a conversion of the ol' antimatter eyes mayhaps?]. Spike's been separated from Fort Max at some point since "The Last Autobot".

Errors: Chase gets Searchlight's character model throughout. Does no-one know what he looks like [see "The Cure" and "Space Pirates"]? Override calls Hotspot "Hotshot" on the splash page. Would Prime really send such a weak team to combat Megatron? This motley crew wouldn't give him much trouble before his upgrade... The way the Autobots leave Chase without much of an argument is a little bothersome. What happens to Hotspot? He'd have been some help against Megatron. Poor Override...

Transformers featured [in rough order of appearance]: Megatron, Steeljaw [blown up by Megatron], Skydive, Override [torn apart by Megatron], Chase [blown up by Megatron], Hotspot and Brawn [atomised by Megatron].

Notable Others: Cobra Commander, Zarana, Slice, Dice, Scarlett, Snake-Eyes, Spirit, Storm Shadow, Dr. Biggles-Jones, Spike Witwicky.

Production Notes: The comic cover gives the title as 'GIJoe Starring Snake-Eyes and Transformers Generation 2', though the title details at the bottom of page 1 still give the name of the comic as 'GIJoe - A Real American Hero'.

Letters Page: Postbox: The Pit plugs the upcoming Transformers Generation 2 comic, plus alot of GIJoe fans bitching about how having the Transformers in the comic compromises its' realism. Obviously things like Serpentor, a transforming castle, Zartan, eight thousand ninjas, combat operatives dressed as basketball players, the Dreadnoks etc, etc are staple elements of a gritty military series...

Review: Not bad, really. Despite several flaws in the story, the action rolls along nicely - carnage of minor characters helps. The art's improved over last issue, but is still a bit flat and emotionless, though at least it's no longer bloody ugly. That said, there are a few very nice sequences - Megatron's battles with Brawn and Override are well done. Readable, but in a kinda mid-run Bob Budiansky way.