Infestation (IDW)
| The name or term "Infestation" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Infestation (disambiguation). |
Infestation is a 2011 IDW Publishing crossover event that sees a zombie infection spread between dimensions. Kicked off by a framing story that collides IDW's own Zombies vs. Robots and CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations, the resulting "infestation" then reaches into the worlds of Transformers, Star Trek, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, and Pocket God, representing the majority of IDW's licensed properties at the time. The different licensed worlds do not interact with each other at any point, only with invading ZVR and CVO characters.
Infestation's framing story was told in a pair of issues bookending four two-issue limited series, each of which contained a tie-in story set in the universe of one of the four major licensed properties. Pocket God, by this point a digital-only comic, joined in with a single issue in May. In advance of Infestation, an eight-page preview booklet was published featuring in-universe prose teasers; post-hoc, the Zombies vs. Robots and CVO universes dealt with the fallout from the event in the miniseries Zombies vs. Robots: UnderCity and Infestation: Outbreak respectively.
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (who used to work on most of those properties decades ago for Marvel UK) were the brain trust behind Infestation and wrote both the bookend issues and The Transformers: Infestation mini-series. Nick Roche drew the Transformers portion of the crossover.
Since this is the Transformers Wiki, we only cover the portions of the story relevant to Transformers.
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| « | The Transformers: Infestation issues: | » | |
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Overview
[edit]Scientists at Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Complex inadvertently open a portal to "Dimension Z", home to a horde of zombies controlled by the ravenous Undermind intelligence. Covert Vampiric Operations is sent in contain the facility, but one of their vampire agents, Britt, is bitten by a zombie and becomes an ultra-powerful zombie-vampire. Seeking new power and knowledge, the Undermind uses Britt's power to open portals to other worlds, sending zombies and an avatar of Britt to each one.
In the world of the Transformers, Britt and the zombies emerge in deep space, but are recovered by Galvatron's ship. The zombies attack the crew, infecting several Sweeps and sending the craft crashing down to Las Vegas on Earth, while Britt uses her power to disguise herself as the Transformer "Bayonet", enthralling Galvatron and his remaining comrades to believe her a longtime ally. The Autobots arrive on the scene and clash with Galvatron's forces, eventually reaching a tenuous truce in order to respond to the greater threat of the zombie infestation. Before long, an unstable Kup, his suppressed memories of fighting "zombies" on Tsiehshi resurfacing, sees through Britt's illusion and correctly identifies her as the true threat. She promptly infects the elderly Autobot and absorbs his memories, gathering precious knowledge of Cybertronian technology for the Undermind. Hungry for more, Britt transforms her robot body into a time-space transportation gateway, and prepares to send the zombie infestation to Cybertron's prosperous past, as glimpsed in Kup's mind. However, Prowl uses a mental connection installed years ago to have Kup redirect the gateway to the birth of the Dead Universe, successfully trapping Britt and her horde in a world of nothingness—but the elderly Autobot is trapped with them...
Back in CVO's universe, the original Britt transports her avatars home and reabsorbs them, elevating her power such that she can open a portal leading to the Undermind's horrific physical form. To prevent it accessing their world, Britt's fellow agent Cross transforms himself into a second zombie-vampire, protecting himself from the Undermind's control with demon blood. Following a super-powered zombie-vampire showdown, Cross manages to use his newfound abilities to totally rewrite the laws of magic and erase the Undermind from existence. With its influence gone, Britt is left comatose, and Cross, thought dead by his teammates, goes into self-imposed exile.
Checklist
[edit]The full story of Infestation was told across the following issues.
| Franchise | Issue | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Infestation | "Classified Secrets of Infestation" | November 11, 2010 |
| Infestation | Infestation issue 1 | January 26, 2011 |
| The Transformers | The Transformers: Infestation issue 1 | February 2, 2011 |
| Star Trek | Star Trek: Infestation issue 1 | February 9, 2011 |
| The Transformers | The Transformers: Infestation issue 2 | February 16, 2011 |
| Star Trek | Star Trek: Infestation issue 2 | February 23, 2011 |
| G.I. Joe | G.I. Joe: Infestation issue 1 | March 2, 2011 |
| Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters: Infestation issue 1 | March 9, 2011 |
| G.I. Joe | G.I. Joe: Infestation issue 2 | March 16, 2011 |
| Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters: Infestation issue 2 | March 23, 2011 |
| Infestation | Infestation issue 2 | April 6, 2011 |
| Pocket God | Pocket God issue 9: "Infestation" | May 17, 2011 |
Infestation begins in a world similar to (but not strictly compatible with) IDW's Zombies vs. Robots series, in which Sergeant Davis Wade (from Zombies vs. Robots: Aventure) has been brought out of permanent leave to supervise the clean-up of a trans-dimensional zombie portal. Naturally, everything goes wrong, and a botched infiltration by the CVO (from CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations) sees Britt possessed and split across at least four Earths.
The Transformers portion of the crossover takes places in IDW's ongoing continuity, in particular setting up the events of Heart of Darkness and the era-ending "Chaos" storyline. The Star Trek portion takes place in the show's expanded universe in the time frame of the motion picture revivals, and sees Admiral Kirk, Commander Spock, and Dr. McCoy land on a Federation colony world enduring a zombie plague. The Ghostbusters portion takes place in the continuity established by IDW, and features the Ghostbusters learning to combat zombies by weaponizing ghosts, climaxing with a zombified Stay Puft Marshmallow Man rampaging through New York City. The G.I. Joe portion sees the Baroness and less important characters trapped in an underwater Cobra base with a zombie computer virus controlling the B.A.T.s; though presented here as a separate universe, the later Hasbro Universe would retcon IDW's G.I. Joe continuity as being in canon with Transformers.
After the conclusion of Infestation proper, the event received something of a bonus chapter on the INFESTATION Comics app (see below), in the form of Pocket God issue 9, a crossover with the comic adaptation of the phone game of the same name that saw Britt trying to capitalise on the power of Oog Island's respawning mechanics and raising a zombie army of the local tribe's previous dead bodies. This light-hearted tale did little to affect the continuities of either Pocket God or Infestation.
Infestation had a larger effect on the Zombies vs. Robots and CVO properties, leading to each getting a new limited series. Zombies vs. Robots: UnderCity (April-September 2011) saw the worsening of the zombie occupation following the event (again, not quite in line with other goings-on) lead to more desperate measures, acting as a prequel to the original ZVR mini. CVO returned in Infestation: Outbreak (June-October 2011), which rolled in characters from IDW's 2009 comic Groom Lake (revealed to be part of the same universe) and ended with the startling revelation that Hell itself had been invaded... by Elder Gods! This set the scene for the next big event, Infestation 2.
App
[edit]IDW Publishing also released the INFESTATION Comics app, an off-shoot of its digital storefront available on the Apple App Store for iOS devices. Features included a checklist, cover gallery, character designs, a free digital release of "Classified Secrets of Infestation", and in-app purchases of subsequent issues, with Infestation #1 available at a special price of $0.99. The app teased a "special TOP SECRET digital-only cross over";[1][2] on May 17, this was (underwhelmingly) revealed to be the Pocket God crossover issue, released via INFESTATION Comics in advance of its forever home on the Pocket God Comic app.[3]
Collections
[edit]- Infestation, Volume 1 (August 10, 2011) ISBN 1600109772 / ISBN 978-1600109775
- Collects Infestation #1, The Transformers: Infestation #1–2, and G.I. Joe: Infestation #1–2.
- Bonus material includes an art gallery.
- Trade paperback format.
- Infestation, Volume 2 (August 31, 2011) ISBN 1613770030 / ISBN 978-1613770030
- Collects Star Trek: Infestation #1, Ghostbusters: Infestation #1, and Infestation #2.
- Bonus material includes an art gallery.
- Trade paperback format.
- Infestation (January 11, 2012) ISBN 1613771061 / ISBN 978-1613771068
- Collects Infestation #1, The Transformers: Infestation #1–2, G.I. Joe: Infestation #1–2, Star Trek: Infestation #1, Ghostbusters: Infestation #1, and Infestation #2.
- Bonus material includes Pocket God: Infestation and an art gallery.
- Hardcover format.
- The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Seven (October 17, 2012) ISBN 1613774060 / ISBN 978-1613774069
- Infestation Omnibus (July 30, 2014) ISBN 1631400142 / ISBN 978-1631400148
- Collects CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations #1, Infestation #1–2, Infestation: G.I. Joe #1–2, Infestation: Ghostbusters #1–2, Infestation: Outbreak #1–4, Infestation: Pocket God #1, Infestation: Star Trek #1–2, Infestation: The Transformers #1–2, Infestation 2 #1–2, Infestation 2: 30 Days of Night #1, Infestation 2: Dungeons & Dragons #1–2, Infestation 2: G.I. Joe #1–2, Infestation 2: Team-Up #1, Infestation 2: The Transformers #1–2, and Infestation 2: TMNT #1–2.
- Bonus material unknown at this time.
- Trade paperback format.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 50: Heart of Darkness (May 31, 2017)
- Collects Heart of Darkness #1–4, and The Transformers: Infestation #1–2.
- Bonus material includes a post-mortem on "Zombots" across the various comics and a bio on IDW Hardhead.
- Hardcover format.
-
Volume 1 – cover art by John K. Snyder III and Jason Wright -
Volume 2 – cover art by John K. Snyder III and Jason Wright -
Infestation – cover art by Gabriel Rodríguez -
The IDW Collection Volume Seven – cover art by E. J. Su -
Omnibus – cover art by Gabriel Rodríguez -
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 50: Heart of Darkness – cover art by Guido Guidi (Prowl) and Ulises Fariñas (retro)
Notes
[edit]- Amusingly, IDW's Transformers line would eventually go on to have proper crossovers with the three "main" properties involved: various incarnations of the Transformers cast crossed paths with G.I. Joe in 2014's Transformers vs. G.I. Joe maxiseries and 2016's Revolution event, met up with the crew of USS Enterprise in 2018's Star Trek vs. Transformers, and encountered the Ghostbusters in 2019's Transformers/Ghostbusters miniseries.
References
[edit]- ↑ IDW Publishing releases custom Infestation Comics app for iOS on Alternative Mindz
- ↑ IDW's <i>Infestation</i> crossover goes digital on Comic Book Resources
- ↑ Pocket Blog: Oog Island is Infested with Zombies!
