G.I. Joe Vs. the TransFormers #6

January 4, 2004

Quick Rating: Good

As nuclear warheads head for Cobra Island, G.I. Joe and the Autobots stage a final attack on the bad guys.

Writer: Josh Blaylock
Pencils: Mike S. Miller
Inks: Cory Hamscher
Colors: Lynx Studio
Letters: Dreamer Design
Cover Art: Dan Norton (Cover A); Mike S. Miller (Cover B)
Publisher: Image Comics/Devil’s Due

This meeting of the two most popular licensed comics in America comes to a bang-up finish in this issue, as the Autobots and Joes face off against Cobra and the Decepticons, knowing that a volley of nuclear missiles is headed their way to destroy the robots. What the military didn’t know when it launched the missiles, though, is that when the blast hits the Energon cubes stockpiled on the island, the resultant explosion will rip the planet apart.

This book is basically one long fight scene, and it’s a good one. We get unlikely match-ups like Bumblebee versus Storm Shadow, Wheeljack and Mainframe double-teaming Dr. Mindbender more logical things like the alliance between Cobra Commander and Starscream, and the requisite “epic final battle” between Optimus Prime and Megatron that no TransFormers tale would be complete without. Optimus tears loose in this one, and that fight scene in particular is great.

The climax actually has elements from both of the feature films featuring these characters (the Prime/Megatron battle and the “blow ‘em up in space!” bit), but since this is a story told by cobbling together pieces of other stories, that’s somewhat allowable. Blaylock also takes advantage of the freedom of this “alternate universe” to throw in more casualties than you would normally see, even in a major battle of the two regular titles.

Mike Miller shows himself to be a great TransFormers artist throughout this miniseries, especially in this issue. The massive battle sequences are great, the designs for the robots are spectacular, and even the way the robots look when broken and beaten mirror the animated series quite well.

The ending, of course, leaves a big, wide gaping hole for a sequel, but that’s fine by me. Blaylock created a really fun universe mashing these two properties together, and it would be a shame to see it end with the end of this series. There’s plenty of room left to find new stories to tell.

Rating: 7/10