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Comic Reviews, Transformers: Generation 2

TRANSFORMERS GENERATiON 2 #3: OLD SCHOOL NEW

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I was very happy to find the main strip in this third issue of Marvel US’s Transformers Generation 2 ended after only 16 pages. Not because I was glad that particular story was over or anything, rather because it meant there was another back up strip to enjoy. After hoping we’d see the same format as last time return, the issue is off to a great start for this fan of Marvel UK’s winning formula, which the US comic is now embracing.

The main story, as ever written by Simon Furman, is called Primal Fear and I needn’t have worried about its title being similar to ones from the previous generation. Although the ‘ancient evil’ storyline is still to be built upon, for now this involves a sector of the galaxy that preys on hidden fears and aggression buried deep within the subconscious of any visitors.

It kicks off with this first page that’s notable for its heavy use of wiring and hoses within the framework of the robots. It reminds me of the live-action Transformers and something certain dark corners of the internet complained were unnecessary and ugly, proving some fans really don’t know their history (much like story elements of the films they complained about which were actually inspired by the original comics or cartoon).

Manny Galan (Sonic the Hedgehog, The New Warriors, Street Sharks) has taken over as penciller on the main story with inks by Jim Amash (Archie & Friends, Deadpool, Night Thrasher) and Marie Severin (Kull the Conqueror, The Haunt of Fear, Alf). I’m not sure how I feel about it if I’m honest. At times it feels like some of the earlier UK art and I’m all for that, it has a real classic vibe to it. However, at other times it comes across like they’re struggling with how the Transformers move; they can come across stilted, as if drawn from how the action figures moved.

Hound in particular looks like he could decapitate himself with a good sneeze

But it’s those necks full of robotics that I can’t help but notice. I may have been a big fan of the realism brought to giant alien robots in the live-action films, but here the necks in particular can look ridiculously elongated. Below are two such examples. This doesn’t happen on every page, but when it does it’s like the artist is trying too hard. Upon occasion it’s just too extreme for me. Thank goodness for Richard Starkings’ and John Gaushell’s letters and Sarra Mossoff’s colours returning.

Hound in particular looks like he could decapitate himself with a good sneeze, or perhaps he’s starring in an 80s futuristic movie with a person dressed up in a robot suit, the excess of wires hiding the shape of the actor’s neck. I do, however, like the reflection of Jhiaxus on Prime’s mouth guard. So, what’s this about an ancient evil feeding off others’ primal instincts?

The Transformers were created by Primus to fight and destroy Unicron, which they successfully did in the final year of the original comic. But that in-built aggression is a natural element of their being and something Jhiaxus argues is their true nature, believing Prime and the Autobots’ wish for peace is sacrilegious and ultimately doomed to failure. It’s these deeply buried instincts that Prime has been more willing than normal to embrace over these first few issues.

Indeed, Prime goes very dark in some parts of this early fight and initially I didn’t like these scenes at all. I thought they were just following on from the previous issues and were another example of how his character was more hard-edged. A lot of this is very out of character indeed, but once Simon gets the chance to explain all about this sector of the galaxy (and what’s really happening to Prime) I breathed a sigh of relief, and it’s a great little story.

Optimus eventually gets through to Jhiaxus as only he can, by talking him down and trying to make him see reason. Every ounce of Prime wants to fight back as Jhiaxus continues trying to violently finish things. But we soon realise Jhiaxus is fighting back so desperately because in the heat of battle he gets an element of peace from his own devastating past. He doesn’t want to remember who he was… but he does, below.

Confusingly, the page above is read in columns, although by looking closely you can see the first panel crumbling away into the image of the screaming Decepticon leader. He was a sadistic killer, murdering for the sport, and his greatest fear is that his so-called ‘higher calling’ of galactic conquest in the name of his race is nothing more than his past self dressed up in a more respectable cloak.

As Prime states, they were all created to fight and kill. It’s a heavy moment that hadn’t really occurred to me until now. No wonder Prime’s been struggling to hold back those darker feelings, when the events of the previous two issues seemed to outdo everything they’d achieved over millions of years. Something is forcing them to regress into what they were eons ago; earlier selves they’d overcome to become something greater, even if they’re on opposing sides of the conflict. This is the Prime I remember!

Much like a twisted version of Peter Pan’s shadow, the creatures have attached themselves, but they weaken as the Transformers walk away. And walk away they must. They can’t fight these things, or each other. To do so would release more rage and simply bait these creatures further. It takes a much stronger character to walk away from a battle and the two leaders order their warriors to back away and leave, agreeing to a temporary truce until they next meet.

However, on the last page of the story Jhiaxus can’t help himself and decides to wipe out all life on the planet to prepare it for colonisation. If this will come back to bite him in the time we have with this comic I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see. Jhiaxus’ anger at letting the Autobots live grows as he gives his orders. Is this anger being fed by the aliens? He’s made for an excellent baddie so far and we’ve only scraped the surface of his character. A truly excellent creation of Simon’s.

Old Evils is the back up strip and, speaking of great baddies, one of my absolute favourites is back. Firstly though, it carries on from the main strip as Jhiaxus returns to his ship, thankful there’s no sign of any Decepticons from the millennia-old war still alive to tarnish what he’s trying to do in the Decepticon name. Then, elsewhere in the galaxy we see an alien vessel attacked by a much larger ship commanded by none other than Bludgeon!

I’m sure this small strip is very much a prelude of what’s to come, much like the best black and white stories in the original UK comic’s later life; stories which added more depth and foreboding to the US strips, when we’d see elements of storylines long before American readers. The main point here is to bring Bludgeon and the Decepticons we all know so well back into the picture and send them off to our home planet!

I was wondering if Earth was going to get a look in since all of the stories so far have been set in deep space and it’s only a 12-issue run. Not that it was meant to be a 12-issue run of course… or was it? The first Transmissions page contains a surprise in the very first letter, in which reader Benson G. Yes says he’s aware of the current storyline ending with #12! Of course, he could just mean this particular story involving Jhiaxus rather than the comic itself, but it was still a surprise to read this as I’d assumed something had already slipped out that the comic was scheduled to end.

I was thrilled to read the confirmation that the two-strip format is going to remain, and even more thrilled that the stunning art of Derek Yaniger will continue to thrill me, even if it is only within the back ups. After this, the Marvel Bullpen Bulletin makes a brief mention of long-time Transformers writer Bob Budiansky who had moved over to run the company’s trading cards division, and that’s it for another issue.

I’m glad the main strip was more self-contained than the previous two. While it continued the overall story (particularly for Optimus Prime’s and Jhiaxus’ character arcs), the fact it also had a proper beginning, middle and end was like proper old-school Transformers. Three issues in and it feels like it’s just the beginning of true greatness. Transformers Generation 2 continues with #4 during the what-day-of-the-week-is-it-anyway period of the festive season, on Sunday 29th December 2024. Catch you then.

iSSUE TWO < > iSSUE FOUR

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TRANSFORMERS GENERATiON 2 #2: 2-iN-1!

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Well this second issue of Marvel US’s Transformers Generation 2 feels a heck of a lot lighter after the extra long strip (and 16 page advert in the middle) of last month’s premiere issue. The contents is also more like the UK comic than the previous G1 American title, with a 16-page main strip and a seven-page back up strip which was originally printed in a special mini-comic given away with toys for Halloween that year (1993).

The cover immediately tells us this issue will pick up from where the G.I. Joe crossover finished in #142 of their comic so I was excited going into this one, but absolutely thrilled to see the first two pages! Not only are favourite characters of mine, Scarlett and Snake Eyes right there in the very first panel of the story, but on the title page we see a team of artists were involved this time, including the simply wonderful Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville working alongside each other.

Inside The Ark, Megatron still has Dr. Biggles-Jones captive on his way back to Cybertron but Spike is also on board and sneaks off to find the rest of himself, namely Fortress Maximus. Not sure why Max has been left in his decapitated robot form (Spike was his HeadMaster companion) to protect the spaceship instead of his battle station form , but oh well.

Hot Spot is one of only two survivors of the battle with Megatron and Cobra, and realises the humans have access to advanced Cybertronian tech, unaware Megatron has made it unusable. Knowing humans can’t be trusted, he sets off to destroy it and I did laugh at Cobra Commander’s threat having to use a different word than “head” in the panel below. Then, is that Starscream Megatron is reactivating? Oh, this could be interesting.

Fortress Maximus seems to have slimmed down somewhat, but then again various artists in the original comic would draw him at different scales, although here he doesn’t even look like himself and more like a regular Autobot. (There’s also no mention of Spike transforming into Cerebros first, instead he just changes into Max’s head directly.) Skydive also joins in the fight and I’d completely forgotten he was lying waiting for his timer to ding and reactivate himself after G.I. Joe #142.

Look, I know this is a classic Transformers comic, and a new classic Transformers comic as far as I’m concerned, but that doesn’t change the fact my main highlight is the return of the Joes, especially Snake Eyes. They may only be on a few pages but when those pages are drawn by Andrew and Stephen you can’t blame me. I had no idea these characters crossed back over into this comic.

They aid Hot Spot but after the weapons are destroyed Cobra surrounds him; they want any Cybertronian technology they can get their hands on, no matter how. He ends up sacrificing himself and explodes(!), although from the art that’s not 100% clear until it’s mentioned later. Meanwhile, Spike and Fortress Maximus also seem to sacrifice themselves by entering the “antimatter stream” powering The Ark, allowing Skydive to rescue Dr. Biggles-Jones.

The ship explodes with Maximus on board, apparently taking Spike with him, although it appears Megatron was also destroyed and we know he’s not easily killed. Plus there was a new toy of him just out, so we’ll see who all return in a future issue. Then it’s on to the back up strip.

Light on plot but heavy on the action, character moments and throwing in a few laughs, it reads very much like one of writer Simon Furman’s monochrome strips from the latter part of the UK comic’s run. Anyone who followed along with my real time read through of the original comic will know this isn’t a complaint, far from it in fact. It’s a brill little strip, and to complete that UK comic flavour it’s even drawn by Geoff Senior (and kudos to Richard Starkings and John Gaushell’s letters below and Sarra Mossoff’s excellent colours).

Even Bumblebee and Bludgeon are back. It feels like the original comic had never been cancelled! On one of the planets Bludgeon and his Decepticons had randomly selected to terrorise, the Autobots have arrived. There’s an underground cache of advanced weaponry and Optimus Prime et all can’t allow them to fall into Decepticon hands, although there’s a hint within his thoughts that Prime actually wants them for himself, playing to the darker version of the character we saw last time.

Hot Rod has been sent down to activate some kind of auto-defence system to help them out, so when this monster appears Prime assumes it’s a hologram. He’s mightily impressed with Hot Rod’s capabilities, especially when its huge alien eyes take out one of Bludgeon’s minions. Then the young Autobot reappears, apologising for not being able to find anything to help in the battle, producing this funny moment from Optimus!

Confirmation then that they were also here to secure weaponry. They leave with the understanding they can’t go down that route again, as that would defy everything they stand for and recalls the war they fought for millions of years. The Next Issue caption mentions “Primal” and “Old Evils” and I still can’t shake the feeling of this leading to a path well trodden. Hopefully Prime’s speech is a hint in itself, that the story won’t simply be treading the same ground again.

To finish off with I couldn’t help but have my attention drawn to two of the advertisements in this issue. One is for a reissue of the original G.I. Joe 12” figure, which we knew as Action Man here in the UK, alongside a cool action figure version to sit among kids’ 80s toys. The other advert is for pants.

Not wishing to end the review on a bum note, I’ll just say how much I really enjoyed both stories this time. I’m not sure if it’s a one-off thing having two strips but I hope it’s something we can have at least once in a while over the next year (no spoilers please). Fingers crossed for more of the same on Sunday 24th November 2024 then. Actually, just typing that has made me realise my decorations will be up just in time for that next issue! Oh, now I’m excited.

iSSUE ONE < > iSSUE THREE

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TRANSFORMERS GENERATiON 2 #1: FOUR MiLLiON YEARS iN THE MAKiNG

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Finally here we are, ready to begin a brand new (to me and thus the blog) series of classic Transformers comics. Reading the entire original Marvel UK run in real time was one of the very best comics reading experiences of my life and here is the sequel, the highly regarded Transformers: Generation 2, the original US series. The hype I’m feeling is somewhat tempered by the fact there’ll only be 12 reviews over one year compared to the 375 posts I made on Instagram for the previous run(!), but it’s still all brand new to me, I’ve never read an issue of this, so the excitement levels are still very high.

This first issue is a chunky 68 pages, although cheekily the middle 16 are one long advert for Marvel’s new Midnight Sons so it’s not quite as chunky as it first appears. (And yes, it’s not a sample comic strip, it’s an actual 16-page advert.) However, chapter one of the new Transformers, entitled War Without End continues to be written by Simon Furman and comes in at 37 pages. That’s a good start. As for that shiny foil version of the cover, it opens out into this lovely gatefold image.

Before we get stuck into the meat of the story I do have one issue with that cover. I may not have read any of these yet but I’ve seen this front page umpteen times over the years, and it’s been peering out at me on my shelves since I completed the collection a few years back. It’s that tagline at the top. It had only been two years since the end of the first generation of Transformers comics, how young did Marvel US think people were having kids?!

Anyway, let’s roll out!

The story begins with a space cruiser’s captain being informed of an attack somewhere far out in the galaxy, far away from both Earth and Cybertron and the title spread shows some familiar faces surprisingly spearheading that attack. Hound, Broadside, Sideswipe and Blades (on the following pages) are seen killing everyone around them, with Blades taking particular glee in doing so.

The way it’s been conveyed to the reader is meant to lead us down the path of thinking these Autobots’ allegiances have changed. The war was meant to be over. The scene is reported as a surprise strike attack. The Autobots are the instigators. But then we see one of the so-called victims of their attack transform and the dramatic entrance of an old friend, it’s confirmed there’s More Than Meets The Eye here. How appropriate.

These pages of rollicking action art come courtesy of new Transformers artist Derek Yaniger (Hellraiser, Web of Spider-Man, Alpha Flight) and the colours of Sarra Mossoff (Deathlok, Darkman, Mighty Thor). This is some wild imagery. I’d only ever seen the occasional panel or some of their covers when used on Fleetway’s UK Generation 2 comics, but this is the first time I’ve held any of it in my hands and it’s right up there with the very best UK Marvel stuff from the likes of Geoff Senior, Andrew Wildman, Stephen Baskerville and Gina Hart.

“Early digital lettering days, so why not use a more robotic looking font?”

Richard Starkings, letterer

This is just gorgeous to look at. It’s genuinely exciting and begs to be studied at length before moving on to the next page. The lettering is also rather unique and it’s the creation of friend of the blog Richard Starkings (editor on The Real Ghostbusters, Dragon’s Claws, The Sleeze Brothers). It’s mentioned elsewhere in this issue by Simon that it was Richard who came up with Generation 2’s lettering style and so I just had to ask Richard directly about it.

“Early digital lettering days, so why not use a more robotic looking font?”, Richard told me about his and John Gaushell‘s work when we spoke. “We suggested color coding the boxes on the left to match the Transformer and gave the Dinobots a different style. If there was a bold word, we hit the boxes with black. Rob Tokar was the editor, one of a handful of editors who was happy to see digital lettering on his books. And this was a perfect fit.” No arguments here.

It’s actually Grimlock who comes out with a couple of rousing speeches during this story rather than Optimus Prime, including one where he wipes away the dirt from his body to reveal the new look Autobot logo Hasbro had designed for the new toy range. Simon has given him a speech pattern somewhere between the original UK strips and that of the famous cartoon voice, and it works. Then we find out that the robot called Jhiaxus (a creation of the comic), to whom the report of the attack was given aboard his spaceship Twilight, is actually the leader of the Decepticons. How so? Where’s Bludgeon? Intriguing.

So anyway, we find out the Autobots were actually saving some rather thin-looking humanoid aliens from an invasion by Decepticons they’d never encountered before, and Jhiaxus’ minions questions why they’re fighting. They’ve never heard of the term “Autobots” and thought they were all Cybertronians so should be working together. Jhiaxus describes the name as an acronym from the distant past and something to disregard. Curiouser and curiouser.

Four million years of conflict, stretching between Cybertron and Earth, and finally… all the old ghosts laid to rest!”

Optimus Prime

We finally catch up with Optimus Prime who seems to be having some sort of vision. A vision of him standing upon a dead world, surrounded by screams, dead beings rising from the ground and as soon as they touch him he turns to dust. It’s a recurring waking nightmare and he describes it as a vision of him “running from something unspeakably ancient and evil”. Again? After the whole Unicron and Primus thing we’re going down that route again? Then, as if in answer to my query we get this lovely next page.

I really like this. The story can be read with no previous knowledge of what came before, which Simon touches upon in a special page later in the comic, but this adds a bit of weight for new readers and an acknowledgment to fans. The best way I can describe it is if you started watching Doctor Who when Christopher Ecclestone or Ncuti Gatwa took over the role. These were two moments when the whole show reset itself and welcomed in new viewers while also showing them there’s a rich history there they can delve into if they so wish. I get that same vibe here and as a fan who has read everything that came before it’s an exciting feeling to have.

One thing that could’ve used a bit of explanation for long-term fans is how some characters such as Optimus and Grimlock can transform again after using the Nucleon energy source which gave them incredible powers but stopped this fundamental ability. We UK readers had the explanation in the prose story of the final annual but US readers didn’t, so I’m curious how this was met by them at the time. Not that the transformations occurring here are anything to write home about.

This is the one and only thing I can criticise the incredible art for. We don’t get those intricate drawings from issues past showing how each character changed from one form to the next, not even the wavy lines of Dan Reed. Instead we see the before and after shots in the same panels, with nothing in between. I have an overwhelmingly positive view of this comic as the start of something brilliant, but not showing these feels misguided in a Transformers comic. Although look closely and I do like how we can see Hot Rod‘s cannon fire continue through his (invisible) transformation.

At least Prime’s name isn’t plastered over the side of his trailer.

It’s interesting that they’ve kept their Earthen modes despite leaving the planet behind. Maybe they’ve grown attached. They find themselves out in the cosmos seeking out the worlds Bludgeon and his Decepticons have attacked as they look to build a new Cybertron (seemingly never finding out it wasn’t destroying itself at the end of the previous run but going through some kind of rebirth). Prime questions his own motives and those of Bludgeon until Grimlock gathers everyone together, having summoned them to this planet in the first place.

Reading the spread above the mystery deepens for the Autobots but the readers are aware of who is actually behind the creation of all of these “Little Cybertrons”, and possibly behind all of the conflict they’ve found in this sector of the galaxy. It’s a neat twist that we’re up to speed before the main characters and to see them trying to work it out. That is, until Jhiaxus’ ship arrives and blasts their base to pieces.

Before they get to meet him we get a very quick double-page spread for an update on the whereabouts of Megatron for anyone who hadn’t been on board with the G.I. Joe crossover event. It’s a neat addition and makes me wish David had been the artist on that comic after Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville’s earlier chapters!

So it all comes together with Optimus Prime and Grimlock hauled in front of Jhiaxus at gunpoint and he explains he and his cohorts left Cybertron four million years ago after Prime, Megatron et all went missing in deep space. Escaping their dying world and leaving behind those he deemed unworthy to lead (including a nice image of Lord Straxus for long-term fans, especially UK ones), they set about constructing new worlds. At least, that’s how he puts it.

To him, they are one race now: Decepticons. There is no more good or evil, he says. That way of thinking is for lesser beings than Cybertronians, like the Autobots who he sees as a strange “offshoot” of the true race. If beings can’t co-exist with them then they are simply deemed unworthy of sharing the universe and are exterminated. Jhiaxus has spent millions of years building new Cybertrons and a great galactic empire. He’s a genuinely original and interesting character for Transformers, bringing some social commentary with him.

Afterwards, it’s Grimlock who gives another speech (and is that a pictorial reference to the classic story with the best title ever?), this time for Prime’s benefit and in response something awakens inside Optimus. The war was won, but for what? He has fought for Cybertron and its people and all the while those very people were conquering the universe in the name of expansion and some higher calling. We see a battle to escape over the final pages with a more violent Prime not taking prisoners. He is disgusted at his own race and afterwards he goes over the task that lies ahead in his mind.

The final page, those final thoughts, sum up what this Generation 2 comic will be all about. Plus there’s that pesky ancient evil thing too, of course, which I’m still sceptical of because it feels well-trodden. It could be something brand new, but so far the pitch for it seems all too familiar. Still, the Jhiaxus storyline is fantastic! This has been an incredible opening chapter to what should’ve been another multi-year epic. It certainly has the potential, even without that apocalyptic vision which feels unnecessary with everything else here already being on such a grand scale.

What will eventually become the letters page is instead a personal message from writer Simon Furman in this premiere issue. He mentions Richard Starkings’ great lettering design and also the return of Geoff Senior. Fantastic! Between this and the back page advert for the series (below, taken from the back of the gatefold issue), a lot is made of the point I talked about regarding new readers. The thing is, with a name like ‘Transformers: Generation 2’, which screams “SEQUEL” I wonder how successful that goal could possibly be in reality.

The next issue box promises a return to the storyline involving Megatron and Spike from #142 of G.I. Joe and with that this big, fat first issue of this fondly remembered series comes to an end for the first time for this new reader. I know it ends up cut short after only 12 chapters, but this next year still promises to be an incredible experience for this Transformers fan. I can’t wait to jump back in on Sunday 27th October 2024.

G.i. JOE iSSUE 142 < > iSSUE TWO

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G.i. JOE #142: BiGGLES-JONESiNG FOR MORE G.i. JOE

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Our last cover for G.I. Joe in this Transformers: Generation 2 read through, by William Rosado. I’ll miss some of these characters but it does mean the actual Transformers sequel series is about to begin. In fact, #142 of G.I. Joe and #1 of Transformers: Generation 2 went on sale on the same day (despite advice to the contrary inside this issue) so there’ll be two reviews today, you lucky lot. Let’s begin where we left off last month, though.

Scarlett was seemingly going up against the newly rebuilt Megatron all on her lonesome during the last issue’s cliffhanger but here that old pantomime adage, “They’re behind you!”, could’ve been used by Cobra Commander and Zarana. The title spread for this last crossover chapter, Final Transformations (with credits in the photo below) shows no less than six Autobots were somehow able to sneak up without anyone spotting them.

I was tempted to conclude that Scarlett must’ve known they were there and that’s why she was so adamant she could stand up to Megatron, but we clearly see her running away in surprise, just being missed by incoming fire so clearly she wasn’t in cahoots. The fact none of the human characters saw them until this exact moment is highly ridiculous but it does speed things along.

It’s a somewhat random selection of characters to bring back. Brawn hasn’t been seen since the early years of the original comic, we’ve an Autobot cassette without Blaster on the planet and some Special Teams members without the rest of their combining pals. Then again, looking at the range of toys available at the launch of Generation 2 Larry Hama could’ve been somewhat restricted with who he could choose from to show a good cross section of the range.

The robot illustrations have certainly gone up a notch since last month. Brawn in particular comes off really well in almost every panel he’s in. Megatron doesn’t fair quite as well on some pages as his proportions seem to change from one scene to the next, but they’re all suitably solid, definitely feel their size and the fights pack a punch. Megatron also shows off his new abs and opens a compartment in his torso to plop Dr. Biggles-Jones inside.

I’ve always found it particularly funny when comedic moments come courtesy of the mute and deadly Snake-Eyes

It’s a high-octane issue once more, the culmination of the last few months of storytelling but at least there’s a proper plot this month, with the attempted escape plan for Biggles-Jones. Unfortunately, we don’t get to find out the secret she told Scarlett in #141 that saw the Joe lay her life on the line for her, that’ll have to wait until I can read the rest of the G.I. Joe run. But whatever it was, Scarlett is easily able to convince her teammates to get on board with helping the Cobra member.

There’s also room for some of the trademark humour these characters imbue. I’ve always found it particularly funny when comedic moments come courtesy of the mute and deadly Snake-Eyes. Last seen surrounded in the hospital ward he does as he’s told, lets go of the person he’s fighting and turns to face the masses. Terror flows through them as they instantly recognise who they’re facing, and as he opens his arms to show no resistance… out falls a handful of grenades from his hands.

I love the moody silhouettes used on this page, ending with his attackers continuing the fight amongst themselves, unaware he’s long gone.

There are some properly dramatic moments here, some of which definitely wouldn’t have had the same level of impact with the readers who were introduced to these particular Cybertronian characters for the first time here. But for long-time Transformers readers there are plenty of shocks. Steel Jaw and Chase are both destroyed and Override is literally pulled apart by the all-powerful Megatron in the final scenes.

The need for writer Larry Hama to translate his own character’s speech continues with this funny moment involving Cobra Commander and Zarana, then in the background of the battle a teeny tiny human makes a brief appearance in a few panels here and there, including one where he mentions his internal sensors. Given where things were left at the end of the first generation of comics this must be Spike, the Headmaster companion of Fortress Maximus, the only Autobot left on Earth.

Scarlett provides some laughs of her own in her fight sequence against the Cobra top brass. Distracted by what’s happening with Megatron and the Autobots, she’s able to take them both on before the troops Cobra Commander has summoned even make it to the scene. Her quick witticisms are classic 80s action movie stuff and apart from that awful new costume she remains one of my very favourite characters in the franchise. (She’s recovered pretty quickly from her ordeal last issue though.)

After much more action with the Transformers themselves the plan to rescue Dr. Biggles-Jones before Megatron extracts her brain (to put it to use developing new world-destroying weaponry back on Cybertron) is put into play. Enlisting Storm Shadow and Spirit who disguise themselves as Cobra troopers, they steal a vehicle and Skydive deactivates himself on a timer! This means he can be sneaked past The Ark’s sensors (which would sound a warning alerting Megatron) and automatically be reactivated inside.

It’s a neat idea and one the humans actually came up with. The only problem is that Megatron, who is trying to use The Ark to get off Earth with the doctor, is standing right outside. Another distraction is needed and Override bravely puts himself forward for the job. He puts up a good fight but as mentioned above he comes to a particularly grisly end. His death at the hands of Megatron has a profound effect on the conclusion of the story, though.

Override’s bravery doesn’t go unnoticed by Biggles-Jones, who questions how a robot could exhibit such a thing. The rescue mission continues with her, Scarlett and Snake Eyes on the back of the Cobra vehicle with Megatron in hot pursuit, and he’s about to wipe them all out when Biggles-Jones jumps off and surrenders in order to save the others; “I can be as brave as a mere machine.”

Megatron ends up taking off in The Ark, where Spike has smuggled himself on board, and leaves Earth. Looking at the doctor in a cryo tube, he notices she’d put a virus into the rail gun he had installed in his body. He’d deactivated the virus of course (and planted one himself in the weaponry he gave Cobra as part of their deal) but he still admires her intelligence. He decides not to kill her but to find another way to use her instead. I’m glad she’s not dead. I’d never met the character before this crossover and she’s an interesting addition.

Before rounding things up, the usual Marvel Bullpen Bulletin harps on about their Hallowe’en parties but of interest to blog readers is the inclusion of Dan Abnett (The Real Ghostbusters) and Andy Lanning (The Sleeze Brothers) and I’m a bit jealous of the Americans reading the continuing adventures of the 90’s version of Deathlok after Havoc’s cancellation in the UK. Plus, mention of the Biker Mice From Mars reminds me of teenage mornings watching The Big Breakfast before school.

The letters page sees some differing opinions about the inclusion of Transformers in the comic. There are certainly some overly dramatic readers here, their anger coming across like social media posts from certain corners of the ‘net before that was a thing. And, “realistic”? Yes, Larry grounded his characters and the military stores were well researched, but they’re based on toys. There’s sci-fi aplenty, body cloning, mind-bending, super-human ninjas… but okay.

Having read #1 of Transformers: Generation 2 for today’s other review I’m glad this got such an open ending with Dr. Biggles-Jones because of a litte preview of things to come in that other comic today. But I’m going to miss the rest of them, as I did during the Transformers G1 Instagram read through when they were unceremoniously kicked out of that comic’s back up strip spot. But I know I’m only months away from reading the whole of Marvel’s series, so this has acted not only as a great introduction to G2 but also as a great piece of hype for taking delivery of that Skybound G.I. Joe set next year!

For now, it’s goodbye to the Joes and Cobra and onwards into the depths of space. To say what’s ahead is truly epic in scale is selling it short, and that’s only after reading the first issue so far. You too can pick up where this crossover left off in the second of today’s reviews. It’s a cliché to say it, I know, but it truly only has begun.

G.i. JOE 141 < > TRANSFORMERS G2 iSSUE 1

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G.i. JOE #141: A POUND OF FLESH

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This somewhat uninspiring cover welcomes us to the latest issue of G.I. Joe and the penultimate chapter in the Transformers crossover leading up to the launch of the Generation 2 comic. William Rosado and Chris Wallace’s poorly coloured foreground distracts from the silhouette of Megatron in the background holding a captured Dr. Biggles-Jones. Not that we can tell who she is.

Unfortunately, in general the art for Sucker Punch inside isn’t the best I’ve seen in G.I. Joe over the years, or even in these few issues. In particular Megatron suffers from a lack of detail, the end result coming across like the artists just aren’t comfortable with Transformers at all. At some points he looks more like a Go-Bot than a Cybertronian, which is a real shame as his was one of the few really good G2 toys produced by Hasbro.

Written by Larry Hama (who else), this chapter is pencilled by Steven Leiber (Whiteout, Hawkman, Gotham Central) and William Rosado (The New Titans, Green Arrow, Iron Man of 2020), inked by Scott Moulter (a search for comics he’s worked on only brings up this issue) and Chip Wallace whose inking in previous issues has been great, and coloured by Bob Sharen and lettered by Rick Parker, both regulars on the series.

Among the 11 pages of adverts (nearly a third of the comic, normal for Marvel) there’s a strip in there somewhere too and we find out part of Cobra Commander and Megatron’s deal is the handing over of Dr. Biggles-Jones to the Decepticon leader for transport back to Cybertron. Her mastery of advanced weaponry and inventions impressed Megatron so much he saw the potential of letting her loose on Cybertronian tech, just as we saw her excited by the prospect last time.

“The Protoplasm Stripper is just the thing for hacking away all of that excess tissue!!”

Megatron

We also see Biggles-Jones continue to demand Scarlett admit she’s working undercover for the enemy, despite defending her against such accusations from Slice and Dice. Clearly the doctor knew they’d kill Scarlett if their hunches were proved right, which begs the question what have Biggles-Jones’ intentions been all along? Also, did anyone fall for the elaborate ruse?! It appears not. Snake Eyes watches on, ready to pounce to protect his love, but he and his men soon find themselves on a neighbouring rooftop against Cobra Night-Creepers, leaving the two women locked in their potentially deadly conversation.

As you can see, Cobra Commander is still going through his eating-a-thesaurus-for-breakfast phase, so much so that Larry has even included a little translation caption for us. Less successful is how Megatron is presented. Especially after the amazing work in the previous issues where he had real-world weight and scope, where he felt like a real threat. The previous months really spoiled us, it would seem.

See past the art though and the revelation of what will happen to Dr. Biggles-Jones is a shock and a few pages later (after some fighting in the sewers and on rooftops between the male Joes and Cobra), the more interesting story returns just after Biggles-Jones has told Scarlett some big revelation. Before we can find out what it is a huge robotic hand smashes through the window (and half the wall I presume) and takes her away.

I do hope we get the answer to what this conversation was about before the end of next month’s issue because that’s when the blog will be heading off in the direction of the actual Transformers: Generation 2 comic, leaving any unresolved G.I. Joe arcs for me to discover when I finally take delivery of the complete Marvel run in the Skybound box set next year.

Over the next few pages the action ramps up as the leader of the Night-Creepers, angry at Snake Eyes sitting zen-like on the roof instead of fighting him, slowly realises what he’s up against. Scarlett makes her escape in a moment of karma for Dice that was particularly satisfying to see after the last couple of issues, before she tells everyone that he was actually right while she makes her way, no-holds-barred, towards The Ark. Then her lover equally puts an end to things.

There are some other scenes here too, such as the rest of the Ninja Force leaving Snake to go and rescue other Joe teams in the sewers and on the streets, Dr. Mindbender’s continued recovery and Hawk sending Storm Shadow and Spirit back into the town to retrieve Snake Eyes after the former enemy refuses to follow orders to leave. But overall this chapter is very light on story.

This is not a complaint. Thanks to the previous chapter telling a good story this is a welcome action-filled issue with each of these incredibly well-written characters bouncing off each other. The action is pretty much non-stop. I only wish the previous art team had been responsible for bringing it to the page. The one plot that does get advanced is that between Scarlett, Biggles-Jones and Megatron.

The fact Scarlett is ready to go up against Megatron is a much bigger shock ending than any of the grander scale cliffhangers

The final double-page spread has Snake Eyes finally breach the hospital to rescue Scarlett, only to find she’s already escaped. Making light work of those that wished her harm he soon finds himself trapped against overwhelming odds, but the cliffhanger is the more entertaining moment. Clearly, whatever Biggles-Jones told Scarlett was important enough for her to… well, see below.

Now there’s a match up I can’t wait to see! Showing the resolve of the character, the fact Scarlett is ready to go up against Megatron is a much bigger shock ending than any of the grander scale cliffhangers. Vastly out-matched, does she have a plan? Is anger clouding her judgement? Just what was she told?! Next month’s issue is highly anticipated and we’re actually in for a double dose of excitement in September. Why? Take a closer look at the next page.

The Marvel Comics Bullpen Bulletins were identical across all of their titles every month, often containing news or views the company wanted to share with their readers across the board. At the bottom there’s also the Hypeline, a comics checklist which is described as showing what’s on sale that week, but it’s actually showing us what’s going to be on sale the week of the following issue. You’ll notice two certain comics right beside each other.

That’s right, the next G.I. Joe and the first Transformers: Generation 2 went on sale on the same day, so you’ll see both reviews on the same day here too. I’m glad, given the agonising wait there’ll be after this issue. Among the comedic commentary it’s also nice to see Marvel’s executive editor, the late Mark Gruenwald and I agree on comics being created to be read rather than collected for monetary value and never opened.

At the back of the issue is the Postbox: The Pit letters page and this is the first time we’ve seen it over these few months. You can see that the same ‘issues’ (female readers, cover price) that plague dark corners of social media today (where certain ‘people’ try to use these topics to justify their hatred or piracy) were being brought up even back then. At least the former of the two topics wasn’t a complaint at the time. What surprised me was that everyone’s address is printed! A way for fans to reach out for new pen pals at the time? Defintiely couldn’t do that today thanks to those same dark corners of the web.

Some disappointing art aside this has been an action-packed addition to the story, with just enough plot progression to make me eager for the final chapter. The mystery between Scarlett and Biggles-Jones in particular, not to mention Scarlett’s solo standing up to the might of a Deception, have me counting the days. I just hope we get to see some resolution, although with the predicament the doctor is in with Megatron I’m coinfident we’ll get an ending one way or the other.

But what kind of ending? That’s the question. That’s what’s made me impatient, but wait I must. Not for too long though, and with both G.I. Joe #142 and of course Transformers: Generation 2 #1 on the same day the wait will be doubly worth the wait. It’s all been building to Sunday 29th September 2024. Be here for the beginning of a most hotly anticipated sequel.

iSSUE 140 < > iSSUE 142

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G.i. JOE #140: A MiND-BENDiNG iSSUE

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This cover drawn by Chris Batista and Donald Hudson suggests the action is picking up inside and it’s not wrong. Goin’ South is, as ever, written by Larry Hama, Chris is on pencil duties, Chip Wallace inks, Bob Sharen colours and I’m guessing Rick Parker is lettering again although there’s no credit for some reason. Megatron presents The Ark to Cobra Commander as per their agreement after Cobra rebuilt the former Decepticon commander’s body, giving him a brand new form and paint job.

The title spread below initially threw me a bit. The trees on the surface of The Ark after it leaves its hiding place seemed far too small compared to Megatron, making the ship seem too big as a result. But think of them as being in the background and Megatron in the foreground, and remember that the biggest Transformers would be about the size of those trees, and the scale of The Ark suddenly seems spot on.

In the final issues of the original comic we saw The Ark crash land after a spectacular fight on board that involved Megatron, his future self Galvatron, Shockwave and Starscream. With Megatron revived in the prose story in the last annual, I really do love how Larry’s story is keeping faithful to what has gone before. It would’ve been easier to just do a soft reset set a few years later that wouldn’t have contradicted the first series, but which needn’t have deliberately linked back to specific moments. So kudos to him for the fan service.

Over the next few pages we check in on most of our human cast, beginning with Doctor Biggles-Jones being mesmerised by what their scanners are picking up from within The Ark. Then we see Scarlet still in a hospital bed (although inside a helicopter) giving an ominous warning to Slice and Dice that Cobra Commander isn’t going to need their Doctor friend anymore once Mindbender is revived properly, who it was revealed last month has been cloned since their leader seemingly tried to kill him.

It reminds me of a particularly good episode of the War of the Worlds TV series of the 80s

Destro, Baroness and master of disguise Zartan paraglide into the old castle fortress of his design where this all kicked off two issues ago, avoiding the troops and security systems on the ground. Inside they easily gain access to the throne room and take over the people stationed there by Zartan pretending to be their commander, before revealing his true identity and taking them prisoner. I always enjoyed Destro’s subterfuge as the outsider to Cobra (he’s basically an independent arms dealer) and reading this issue I’ve realised how much I’ve missed him and the Baroness characters in particular.

Meanwhile, we head to a place called Milleville in Canada (The Ark crash landed near there) and it looks like Larry’s script calls for the Transformers to be able to fly in robot form as they did in the cartoon of the 80s, something the comic (and thankfully the movies too) didn’t subscribe to. The town isn’t actually deserted. Instead, its populace are almost like mindless zombies thanks to a previous visit by Cobra and Dr. Mindbender’s Brainwave Scanner.

It reminds me of a particularly good episode of the War of the Worlds TV series of the 80s in which the aliens took over the bodies of everyone in a small American town, so I’m all in on the idea here. However, one of the people starts coming out of their hypnotised state. The troops try forcing an electrified helmet on him but he breaks it on the ground, electrifying a nearby puddle. In the struggle he knocks over Mindbender’s glass case, which smashes right on said puddle and electrocutes Mindbender’s non-responsive body.

As they knock out the man and prepare to hypnotise him again, Cobra Commander hilariously requests that somebody “mop up Dr. Mindbender and re-pickle him before he starts to turn again”! He always had a way with words. But this moment is interrupted when the de-pickled body speaks! I really like the lettering here, although it does return to normal by the time Mindbender talks again on the next page when he sees Megatron looming overhead.

As Dr. Mindbender tries to catch up on the state of the world in his absence it’s funny to see what the main issues are for this crazed evil genius

Cobra Commander tells him that trying to bury him alive (alongside everyone else he thought was against him) was a mistake and that this cloning is his way of making it up to him. Even Mindbender comments that he has some gall! Interestingly, Megatron queries if DNA cloning for the reanimation of organic material will be included in their trade. I wonder what he has in mind?

Meanwhile, the Joes have located Cobra and are closing in. Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and the Ninja Force make their way to the town’s hospital to check in on Scarlett and we witness Biggles-Jones telling Scarlett she knows she’s still working for the Joes. Snake draws his blade as he hears this from outside the window but that’s where this particular plot line is left for this month. It’s one I’m particularly interested in seeing develop next time.

I always enjoy Larry’s sense of humour and his natural ability to introduce laugh-out-loud comedy moments in the middle of what are fast moving, action-packed and dramatic plots. Above, the Joes rely on Spirit’s eagle friend for some covert aerial reconnaissance, giving the stoic character a chance to rise a smile with the reader.

But it’s while the Ninja Force surround the hospital that I genuinely laughed. As the Scarlett scene I described above plays out we also see Dr. Mindbender in another room having an ice bath as he recovers from his cloning. As he flicks through the television channels, trying to catch up on the state of the world in his absence, it’s funny to see what the main issues are for this crazed evil genius.

For me, if you’re going to promote a crossover with the Transformers you need to show transformations and, just as the story is about to end, one is squeezed in when Megatron is asked if he can be a bit more discreet in their current setting. After an example of how well the dialogue between these two characters is written, Tunnel Rat pops up from a storm drain and recognises a Cybertronian when he sees one. (Plus Megatron’s face hasn’t changed, just its colour.)

Their secret is out. The Joes now know that the situation is suddenly much more grave than they could possibly have imagined. So to end on we relocate to Mainframe sitting at a computer screen in the middle of a field of telecommunication arrays pointing towards the stars where he’s beaming a message to a designated point in the galaxy. What? It couldn’t be…. could it? As I turn to the final page I find out the answer to that is a resounding ‘yes’.

I’d always assumed Megatron was the only Cybertronian to feature in this crossover set up to Transformers: Generation 2, so to see Optimus Prime and Bumblebee suddenly pop up was a genuine surprise. Will the Joes remodel Prime’s alt mode with giant letters to give away who the truck really is? I doubt it somehow, but if you haven’t already make sure you read the introductory post to see what I’m talking about. This is a great cliffhanger to end on though.

Far less dramatic is a one-page advert for Stridex Maximum Strength spot cream. Given that the target audience for G.I. Joe would also include teenagers it’s an obvious place for an advert for such a product, but they do so in the most cringe-worthy way imaginable with horrible comic strip heroes. And that bottom-left panel looks more like it belongs in some adult magazine! Lew Stringer did a much better job when Pete and his Pimple went up against The Zit-Busters in OiNK a few years earlier.

After the surprise ending to this month’s strip I’m not sure where I got the information that these issues of G.I. Joe only featured Megatron but I’m glad they were wrong. Of course, I don’t know how much involvement the other characters will have and I’ll have to wait to find out (such is the nature of this blog and I love the anticipation, so no spoilers please if you remember this from your own childhood). It’s also been good to see the G.I. Joe comic still going strong 140 issues in (Marvel US’s Transformers made it to #80), although it only had a little over a year left with its original publisher by this point.

This issue has been a blast. It could easily have felt overcrowded with so many subplots going on but Larry handles them all superbly. Each one advances and they’re interlocked so tightly that each one is affecting the rest to varying degrees. This means Transformers fans can rest assured the non-Cybertronian parts of the story are just as entertaining. We’re still a couple of months off from their own comic so join me for #141 of this comic on Sunday 25th August 2024 as we take another step closer.

iSSUE 139 < > iSSUE 141

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G.i. JOE #139: TANKS FOR THE MEMORiES

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With this issue of G.I. Joe (or, to give it its full title, G.I. Joe starring Snake Eyes and Transformers: Generation 2 – phew!) we start down the path to the new Transformers series proper. There may only be one Cybertronian in the tale but it’s Megatron, so you know he’ll be centre stage. The cover by Chris Batista (Steel, 52, Robin) and Chip Wallace (The Legion, Justice League Task Force, Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron) sets the tone perfectly and throws a hint for both the plot and Megatron’s new body as Transformers fans wouldn’t have missed the fact he’s rather green and blue. More on that below.

As always with G.I. Joe the story is written by the legendary Larry Hama although this issue the art team are completely different. While pencils are by Chris, you’d swear it was another Andrew Wildman/Stephen Baskerville masterpiece but that could be because Stephen’s inking work is so identifiable. There are no less than three other inkers alongside him this month! They are Chip, Keith Williams (Alpha Flight, Action Comics, Sensational She-Hulk) and Donald Hudson (Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, Forever Amber, Wolverine). Rick Parker and Bob Sharen return for letters and colours respectively, with Bob joined by Jurassic Park story editor Renée Witterstaetter (Silver Surfer, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Savage Sword of Conan). That’s a lot of people. So what are the results of their collective skills?

Personally, I think this opening spread is just incredible! Megatron’s savagery is spot on, and the pages may be a good bit smaller than those that UK Transformers fans were used to but the sense of scale is magnificent. He truly comes across as a terrifying entity. In their own comic it was easy to forget their size because in its later life it all but forgot about human characters (or being in disguise). Facing up against Cobra the might of Megatron feels palpable. I love the little details too in his openly damaged body, in the firepower hitting him and the cracks throughout his frame.

Scarlett is in bad shape after being stabbed by her love Snake Eyes last time, and despite what they saw Slice is still suspicious of her motives. The story kicks off with Cobra Commander making a run for it, aghast that Megatron would open fire when Cobra was just trying to make a deal with him. But as Zarana points out, what could a robot want? “It’s the currency we’re talking about, not the amount!”, realises Cobra Commander. Intriguing.

I just love big transformation pages and this is right up there with some of the best we ever saw in the Transformers comic. Megatron’s voice patterns are somewhat different than normal but it isn’t so drastically different as to take away from anything. He always did love the gravitas of his own voice. Him and the human leader here have that in common at least.

Doctor Biggles-Jones reckons her specially crafted Hyper-Velocity Rail Gun could go up against “that folding robot” (love that, it’s so close to swearing), noting that just because Megatron is alien tech doesn’t necessarily mean he is better tech. She grabs a H.I.S.S. Tank with the gun attached and let’s rip on the Decepticon leader. It hits him but goes straight through with such velocity that it continues travelling until it’s outside of Earth’s atmosphere!

The action is great so far. It does calm down after this to focus more on the negotiations between Cobra Commander and Megatron, which are just as entertaining to read, but the first handful of pages are quite breathtaking in their relentlessness. The only thing that’s ever so annoying is the American comic’s insistence to shove adverts on to nearly every-other page, interrupting the flow somewhat.

Convinced the technology is of alien original, Megatron goes in for a closer look, grabs the doctor and squeezes her. It looks like she’s about to die when a voice calls out. Pausing momentarily to listen to Cobra Commander, Megatron is told that the “fleshling” he now holds is the designer of the very-human weapon that damaged him. Instantly, Megatron changes his tune about negotiating. 

Acknowledging that these particular humans could actually have the ability to repair and upgrade his damaged body, a deal is struck. There’s a palpable sense of foreboding to this collaboration, one we know won’t be of mutual trust. As the issue goes on, both leaders’ inner thoughts betray their intentions to the reader while their outer speech is cleverly worded to twist those thoughts for the benefit of their partner-in-crime. Larry Hama is just superb at writing this pairing.

Meanwhile, up in the air in their C-130 the Joes, Destro and the Baroness are making their way home. Snake Eyes and Destro are two of my favourite characters (alongside Scarlett and Stalker, also featured in this crossover) so to see them together in Scarlett’s undercover and Destro’s defection storylines is a joy. I just wish I had more issues to enjoy this to the full. (Thankfully that’ll soon be rectified.)

While this storyline continues we pop in on Cobra Commander and Megatron to see how their deal is shaping up, in an image that brings back memories of the first live-action Transformers movie with Megatron surrounded by scaffolding (albeit not in cryostasis this time). I knew going in that Cobra was responsible for rebuilding him (while the Joes were responsible for killing Bumblebee in the American continuity – in ours it was Death’s Head) but I was worried about how that would be depicted. I shouldn’t have been concerned.

Zarana’s vapour-inducing thought on the next page is that they should keep on dismantling Megatron so they can change the deal completely in their favour, however Cobra Commander shuts down the idea, at least until they get their hands on the goodies aboard The Ark. Unbeknownst to them (although surely you would assume) Megatron is listening in and simply smirks to himself.

Doctor Biggles-Jones is a character I’d never seen before until reading the previous issue, so I’ve no idea how long she’s been in the comic or anything about her background. She’s a technical wizard to put it very mildly, responsible for the most destructive of Cobra’s weaponry, and now the rail gun that damaged the giant Cybertronian is going to be installed in him, replacing his previous arm cannon. Things are building nicely towards Generation 2.

Biggles-Jones heads off to stop Slice from killing Scarlett after it’s confirmed the stabbing by Snake Eyes wasn’t accidentally non-fatal, it had been done with precision. Meanwhile, Destro and the Baroness have been taken back to Cobra Island by the Joes which at some point has been abandoned. Again, this is something I’ve missed between the time the stories appeared in Marvel UK’s Transformers and this. They’re rather shocked to find Cobra Commander waiting for them! Until, that is, he starts to glow and change…

… into Zartan, the master of disguise. His “new image” is clearly a reference to a new toy model Hasbro had created for him, and it’s clever of Larry to write in a quick panel or two to show readers (particularly this one who wasn’t aware of the change) his original look. All reacquainted now, Hawk explains why they’ve all been brought here.

On one side of the island is a cave that’s permanently on fire. Apparently when they left the island Cobra had drilled down to an oil deposit and lit it. Zartan mourns the loss of life, the bodies inside unrecoverable ash. That is, unrecoverable without Dr. Mindbender’s Brainwave Scanner and cloning vat, the former being an infamous device in the comic’s lore used to torture more than a few Joes. His cloning vat is missing, which had been used to create Serpentor from the remains of the greatest military leaders in history and resurrect Storm Shadow, both stories I remember fondly from Transformers.

There’s a funny moment here when Destro laments the fact Mindbender’s warped genius wasn’t used to resurrect Newton, Da Vinci or Einstein, while the Baroness would have preferred Elvis! There’s a passing mention of Mindbender having died but his body could’ve been moved along with a computer program able to resurrect the man himself. Having read IDW’s continuation of the story decades later in which Mindbender turns himself into a mad, mobile, weaponised computer system (yes, really) I’m assuming this is the start of bringing that character back into the comic.

To finish off this month’s chapter we return to the headline event for Transformers fans as a door slides open at Cobra’s current base and a huge green and purple tank rolls out. It makes light work of three H.I.S.S. tanks; we see its artillery slice through them like butter and continue out the other sides of them. This means it’s equipped with the rail gun, which means this is the new alt mode for Megatron! In case there was any doubt the tank shifts and changes on the next page to reveal his new body.

I have to say I really like the new look! It suits him. Cobra Commander gets a rude awakening as he realises Megatron could hear what they were saying all along. Yes, they’d only been praising the doctor on her great work a distance away from the test, but it means Megatron heard everything earlier too. How will this affect their deal or their mutual distrust of each other? We’ll find out soon I’m sure.

After he gives a quick run down of his stats the story ends with Megatron telling them his sensor arrays have located an experiment in the basement of the castle. Cobra Commander tries to dismiss it but Megatron warns him it’s started breathing… and we see Dr. Mindbender suspended in liquid with electrodes attached to his naked body. I knew it. Just to finish off, we’ll take a look at the back page advert which once again places the comic in the timeline of my life.

I remember all the fuss over Mortal Kombat at the time but I’d never been a fan of one-on-one beat-‘em-up games (I’m still not) and when a friend rented out a copy for his Mega Drive from the local video store we were both left feeling rather “meh” about it. That didn’t stop shows like GamesMaster and Bad Influence wetting themselves on an almost weekly basis over it though, or the British press making a whole overblown hoo-ha over its unconvincing digitised gore.

Not only have I enjoyed the Transformers aspects of this issue, it’s been a blast to read new (for me) adventures of the Joes and Cobra. Recently on the blog I’ve written about Skybound Entertainment’s Kickstarter in which they’ll be collecting the whole of Marvel’s run in a gorgeous hardback collection. These two issues so far have really whetted my appetite for that collection to arrive next year. For now though, I’ll look forward to the next part of this particular story in #140 of G.I. Joe, which you’ll see reviewed here on Sunday 28th July 2024.

iSSUE 138 < > iSSUE 140

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G.I. JOE #138: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

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I do love it when I get to start a brand new real time read through and this is one I’ve been particularly looking forward to. Not only have I never read Transformers: Generation 2 before (and as usual I’ll be discovering it one month at a time and telling you about it as I do) but the story actually kicked off in a special crossover event in the pages of another favourite comic, G.I. Joe.

I discovered the Joes and Cobra when they were known as Action Force in the UK in their position as back up strip in Transformers, after their own weekly was cancelled. When reading their adventures as part of that read through on the blog’s Instagram I became a huge fan all over again, collected some of IDW’s continuation and am now a dedicated reader of the same comic under the stewardship of Image Comics.

In case you didn’t know, this actual comic continues to this day and it’s still being written by Larry Hama! So going back to read these issues is extra exciting for me because they’re earlier stories of the new comic I’m reading today. Regarding that title on the cover, the Ninja Force were a sub-section of both sides of the conflict and a new range of Hasbro toys at the time. With Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as the main characters the comic’s name was temporarily changed to promote the range.

Instantly I recognise the art style, that unique Marvel UK look produced by Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville

That secondary title would be replaced with ‘and Transformers: Generation 2’ from the next issue and initially I thought that was where I’d begin with the four-part story between #139 and #142. But this issue was also in the bundle of comics I purchased from eBay and a quick flick through it showed me why. You’ll see why, so let’s begin.

Instantly I recognise the art style, that unique Marvel UK look produced by Andrew Wildman (also on cover duties) on pencils and Stephen Baskerville on inks, now in this American comic. Together they produced some incredible art for the original Transformers towards the end of its run. Andrew is best know for his Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters and G.I. Joe work, while it’s the former two and 2000AD for Stephen. The art is completed with letters by Rick Parker (Spider-Man, Time magazine, Tales From the Crypt) and colours by Bob Sharen (Alpha Flight, Ghost Rider, Invincible Iron Man), both of whose work I recognise from those earlier back up strips.

“I want that uxorious chrome-visaged twit and his xanthippic consort winkled out like the limeceous bivalves they are!”

Cobra Commander

So I immediately felt right at home. Things begin with one of my favourite characters, Scarlett going through a mental crisis. She’s apparently defected to Cobra although in reality this is just an undercover mission. However, she believes her actions led to the death of Hawk and Stalker, however they survived whatever transpired in previous issues. She just doesn’t know this yet.

Obviously I haven’t read the chapters leading up to this so I can only tell you what happens here. In a nutshell Destro and Baroness are trying to escape from Cobra with the aid of G.I. Joe (a separate story from Scarlett’s). The action takes place inside a tall fortress of Destro’s design that can shift its shape into different defensive and offensive configurations. Destro also included secret crawlspaces behind the walls, where they are currently hiding. However, these have now been discovered, a hole has been blown in a wall and Cobra Commander has sent his troops in to capture them.

At this point in the story it seems Cobra Commander has a… unique use of language. Throughout this issue he seems to use half a dozen words when one would suffice. It adds to his superiority complex and I enjoy it. Only Larry could carry these lengthy speech balloons off in the heat of the action. We also see Destro’s use of cool 80s tech from within his metallic face mask that I hadn’t seen before and we find out just how dedicated the Joes need to be to Scarlett’s mission.

Despite Scarlett and Snake Eyes being very much in love, he and Storm Shadow must treat her like any other Cobra enemy if she’s to remain alive. It’s a fine balancing act that leads to a shocking moment later in the issue. (If you’re wondering, “Xin-loi” is a phrase used during the Vietnam war and roughly translates as “tough luck”, albeit a more vulgar version.) Once inside the crawlspaces, laden with boobie traps, Larry shows he’s still not afraid to kill people in glorious fashion in this children’s comic, something the cartoon couldn’t do.

Storm Shadow and the ever-silent Snake Eyes skilfully parachute in on top of the transforming building and we can see how it’s whole form is shifting about, taking care of many of the Cobra grunts as it does so. I’ve searched online and I can’t find evidence of this strange castle being a toy in the original range but I’m happy to be proven wrong if any readers can point me in the right direction.

I’ve seen some wonderful fan-made models of it though, complete right down to the colour of the stone and the ability to alter its shape. It’s this shape altering that brings us to the first shock of the issue, at least for anyone who had been reading this in 1993 and especially those who had been fans of Marvel’s other popular licenced monthly from a few years previous. As the building continues to change it’s caught the attention of an outside force.

Many fans of Transformers were also fans of G.I. Joe (and this continues to be the case today, like me for example) so imagine the impact that page would’ve had as they’d been reading what is already an exciting climax to a story. That’s just a tiny glimpse, one that perhaps those not au fait with the Transformers wouldn’t have fully grasped, but I’m sure the majority were thrilled. I wish I hadn’t flicked through the issue when I first got it as part of my eBay bundle, I’d loved to have been surprised by this.

Back to that story though and the plan will be familiar to those who have seen The Dark Knight (as one example). To extract Destro and Baroness they’re fastened to Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and long wires with balloons on the end are attached to the ninjas. The balloons are inflated and travel far up into the night sky where planes grab the wires and haul all four of them off the ground at high speed.

Imagine being a fan of both franchises and reading this for the first time without knowing it was coming

But what Snake Eyes didn’t reckon on was Scarlett being part of the Cobra team sent to return Destro to Cobra Commander. They come into contact with each other on the roof of the castle. Quite literally! Now remember, Snake was ordered by Hawk to treat Scarlett as if she were any other enemy so as not to blow her cover. What happens as a result is truly the most shocking moment of the issue.

This shocked me even though I know Scarlett is in the modern comic! I can only imagine what impact this page would’ve had decades ago. A few pages later though, this moment proves to be cathartic for Scarlett. Slice, a member of Cobra who is suspicious of her still isn’t convinced despite seeing it happen, even though Dr. Biggles-Jones declares Snake trying to kill her is clear proof of her loyalty.

However, back on board the Joes’ plane Storm Shadow explains Snake had to do the near-impossible; he had a split second to make it convincing and at the same moment make sure his aim was “pure”. It had to be so, so close. Hawk tries to sooth Snake’s obvious anxiety by telling him Scarlett of all people knows how good he is, she knows he never misses “except on purpose”, that even if she still believes she was responsible for Hawk’s and Stalker’s supposed deaths she “now knows that you couldn’t hold it against her!”

Back at the now-stationery castle Scarlet is in incredible agony, yet has a smile beneath all the tears and is just about able to utter the words “I know” before passing out. Amongst all of the action, whether that be the ninja-based, sci-fi or war storylines the comic flipped between, Larry’s characters have always been fully formed, grounded and believable, even when their very existence is far fetched. Decades of writing them hasn’t blunted any of that expertise either.

The panels above form the bottom half of the penultimate page of the strip, with Cobra Commander’s cold reaction to Slice’s request to gut Scarlett, to see how the Joes react as a final test of her loyalty. Then a huge shadow falls over the group. The terrorists looks up in horror. And we turn the page.

What an ending! Again, imagine being a fan of both franchises and reading this for the first time without knowing it was coming. Especially with Andrew and Stephen’s familiar superb work on Megatron! The last time we saw ol’ Megs was in the final UK annual released for Christmas 1991. The Decepticons were trying to use the unstable nucleon (which had had unexpected side effects on some Transformers) to resurrect their fallen leader, recently separated from the body he shared with Autobot Ratchet before The Ark was blown up and crash landed on Earth.

Here he looks suitably patchy, with wires hanging out of battered parts of his body. I knew this was coming but it was still a thrill to read this page as the end of this story. I’m super hyped to get stuck into the next four issues of G.I. Joe and even more so for the 12 issues of Transformers: Generation 2 to come after that! Simon Furman writing that forthcoming series and having these robotic characters resurrected by Larry Hama is going to be something special if this small preview story (as it is for me) is anything to go by.

Before we wrap up, a quick look at a couple of contemporary adverts from the issue. First up, a movie that has been derided in the years since but which I still enjoy. Super Mario Bros was a flop (and the recent animation knocks it out of the park) but it’s a zany, ridiculous and oh-so-90s film that’s completely unique. I have the BluRay and the documentary tells a fascinating tale about its creation. Apparently the original script was great, aimed at a teenage-and-up audience and the cast were very happy with it (as were Nintendo). But just a few days before shooting was to commence the studio produced a new, more child-friendly script that threw everything out that had been created before, so its directors had to shoot something they didn’t like while using all of the sets and effects created for the previous script!

In the documentary John Leguizamo explains how they made the most of such a horrid situation and to me it’s a miracle any movie got made. As much as I enjoy the silliness of the end result, I can’t help but wonder what this talented cast could’ve done without the interference of studio executives who didn’t understand the original source material. Oh well.

Another ad that stood out (among the many, many adverts in the comic that often interrupted the strip on every other page) was for classic video game Flashback. I remember seeing friends play it on their Commodore Amigas and it looked stunning in a demo for my own 3DO but I never played it myself. Well, as it turns out it’s been rereleased for the Nintendo Switch so after seeing this ad I just had to break out the wallet.

It’s a great start to this latest real time read through and for all intents and purposes it’s not even the beginning yet, that’ll come next month with the actual first part of the G.I. Joe and Transformers: Generation 2 storyline by Larry Hama. It seems suitably timely with a crossover movie coming to our screens in the not-too-distant future. Be sure to check back on Sunday 30th June 2024 for the next/first chapter.

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Comic Introductions, Transformers: Generation 2

TRANSFORMERS GENERATiON 2: iN REAL TiME

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Even back in the 1990s, when the computer-generated intro sequence to Transformers: Generation 2 first aired I remember thinking it looked very primitive, especially when compared to the graphics being produced by the new wave of CD-based videogame machines. Having collected Transformers toys for a few years until the original comic’s cancellation in the UK in January 1992, this did not inspire me to restart that obsession.

Transformers: Generation 2 was Hasbro’s attempt to relaunch the successful toy line for a new generation of children but it always felt half-assed to me. (So why am I covering the comic on the blog? I’ll get to that.) The cartoon wasn’t even a new series. Instead, it was a rerun of 52 of the original series’ episodes with that CGI introduction (taken from advertising) and some incredibly intrusive computer graphics overlayed on top of the episodes themselves.

The word ‘lazy’ springs to mind. The toys themselves didn’t fare much better to young teenager eyes. The G2 line ran from 1992 to 1994 and, apart from a few impressive new models such as Megatron who now transformed into a tank, most of the initial releases were reruns of previous toys with garish new colour schemes. Oh, and I mean garish! It was very 90s.

Optimus Prime’s ‘new’ toy played a bit fast and loose with the term ‘Robots in Disguise’

Some received new spring-loaded weapons and missile launchers etc., but for the most part even this eager Transformers fan, who would’ve happily continued collecting the original toys, thought some of them looked like cheap knock-offs rather than the official range. The original toys had declined in popularity but they’d had a great run which should be celebrated, and of course the franchise continues very successfully to this day.

Images from Transformers France

With the vast array of different types of Transformers (even ones that couldn’t transform) towards the end I can commend Hasbro for wanting to go back to basics but for me this was the wrong way to go about it. The franchise recovered of course but Generation 2 didn’t excite me as a child and apparently I wasn’t alone. Also, just as a side note, Optimus Prime’s ‘new’ toy in particular played a bit fast and loose with the term “Robots in Disguise”, which was still on the box despite his trailer’s design. Less of a disguise and more of an announcement I’d say.

The colour schemes no longer matched the cartoon they’d repackaged with that CGI, and some of the characters in it weren’t available in any G2 toy form, making it all seem like it wasn’t very well thought out. In the end the toy line was discontinued when the first Transformers: Beast Wars toys began hitting shelves, which went off in a completely different and much more successful direction. 

[The Transformers: Generation 2 comic’s] reputation proceeds it and I’ve seen some of the hard-edged artwork which looks just incredible

So if I’m so unimpressed, why on Earth am I dedicating room to this strange little spin-off on the blog? Well, in September 1994 a new comic arrived on the shelves from OiNK‘s second publisher, Fleetway Publications. I was initially thrilled to see a brand new Transformers comic, even if it was monthly instead of weekly and didn’t seem to have a lot of content by comparison. Still, the first issue drew me in with its cover and the foldout poster inside which the editorial used to describe the comic as a ‘Transformer’ too, which I still think was fun.

Images from Transformers Toys

I didn’t buy any more issues at the time and it only lasted for five months in the end, but what I didn’t know about at the time was the Marvel US monthly (which Fleetway started serialising in #3), written as ever by the original comic’s Simon Furman. I’ve never read the series but its reputation proceeds it and I’ve seen some of the hard-edged artwork which looks just incredible, reminding me of some of Kevin O’Neill’s early 2000AD work. That alone made me want to collect it in recent years.

It was marketed at the time as a more mature comic, less for the kids buying the new (well, new-ish) toys and more for those that had been reading the previous Transformers a few years before. No longer restricted by Hasbro in how he could portray characters, nor having to write in certain toys as a way of marketing new releases, Simon was given free rein to tell the story he wanted.

Because the UK title is so hard to come by for a decent price I’m going to cover the original American one first (a first for the blog), then at a future date we’ll see what Fleetway did with the license. Unfortunately, even the US comic only lasted for 12 months but that’s not an indictment of its quality. After all, just a few years before it the original G1 (as it was called from this point on) comic was cancelled when it was still selling about 100,000 copies per month!

That would be a massive hit today or for a new, original comic at the time, but at its peak Transformers had sold 250,000 a month so all Marvel saw was the decrease, sadly. Even with Transformers: Generation 2 technically being a new title it wasn’t going to reach those previous lofty heights for a licensed comic and, despite sales figures of around 100,000 per issue again, the rug was pulled. However, I’m really looking forward to seeing what all the positive fuss over that year is all about. Technically, there are more than 12 issues too because there were another four monthly chapters to the story before #1!

That’s right, it all kicked off as a crossover event in the pages of G.I. Joe in #139-#142, so I’m going to be including those issues on a month-by-month basis too in real time. As a fan of those characters (thanks to them being a back up strip in Marvel UK’s Transformers G1) I’m even more excited about the prospect of this read through than I already was. In fact, the issue before that again leads into the crossover, so altogether there are going to be 17 monthly comic reviews covering the entirety of Transformers: Generation 2.

It all begins with G.I. Joe #138 on the 31st anniversary of its release State-side on Sunday 26th May 2024. The Transformers have a bright future ahead on the blog and this is only the beginning of it!

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