G.I. Joe and the Transformers (comic)
| This article is about the 1986 crossover by Marvel Comics. For other stories with G.I. Joe, see G.I. Joe crossovers. |
G.I. Joe and the Transformers is a four-issue limited series produced by Marvel Comics in 1986. Set in the contemporary Generation 1 continuity, it follows the Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Cobra as they struggle for control of Power Station Alpha.
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Overview
The crossover begins around issue #23 of the Marvel Generation 1 series and wraps up around issue #27. Scant reference is made to it by the main series, and apart from Bumblebee becoming Goldbug and the disappearance of Dirge, its influence is minimal. It was entirely ignored in the pages of the G.I. Joe comic at the time, such that it was not even mentioned in Yearbook #3, which covered the events of the 1986 series, or Yearbook #4, which recounted the issues from 1987.
The story is centered around Power Station Alpha, a mobile nuclear power plant that can beam energy across the globe. The Decepticons and Cobra both want it, and briefly ally themselves to steal it from the United States of America... until Cobra's agents discover that Shockwave has plans for the station that will bring about the destruction of the Earth itself.
The series was published at a time of considerable upheaval within the main Transformers book. During the course of the crossover, both Optimus Prime and Megatron are killed off, which makes for a somewhat disjointed story. On the G.I. Joe side, Serpentor replaces Cobra Commander.
Creative Team
The series was written by Michael Higgins. Art is by Herb Trimpe and Vince Colletta. Regular Transformers colorist Nel Yomtov also worked on the series.
UK belated printing
The mini-series is the only story from the Marvel US G1 cycle that was not immediately printed by the UK comic. Why this was is unclear, although as Marvel UK had only just acquired the licence to print Action Force (the UK counterpart to G.I. Joe) and their reprints were some way behind the events in this story, it's possible the crossover was considered to be too confusing.
The changes made by the series were substituted or ignored. An alternative origin for Goldbug would appear in "Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!" and "Hunters". Dirge would appear alive in the later UK story "Salvage!"
Marvel UK would later run their own Transformers/Action Force crossover in "Ancient Relics!" in Transformers #125 and Action Force #24–27.
In 1990 problems with publication deadlines resulted in the latest US comic stories not yet being available for the UK comic. This problem had occurred twice already in the last year and the previous solution of printing reprints of past UK stories had resulted in many letters of protest. So instead the decision was taken to run the G.I. Joe and the Transformers series, although modifying the series title to Transformers and G.I. Joe the Action Force, in order to create a much larger gap between the US and UK printings. The series appeared in issues #265–281.
No attempt was made to incorporate the series into the UK continuity. Instead the story was presented from the outset as a US tale that included their origin of Goldbug.
Toys
25 years after the publication of G.I Joe and the Transformers, Hasbro commemorated the series—and answered the wishes of many fans—by releasing the first-ever toy to share the brands of both properties: a 2011-model G.I. Joe Skystriker meant to be an incarnation of Starscream, and including Cobra Commander with a "human-scaled" Megatron pistol. The package logo is a perfect match for the original G.I. Joe and the Transformers motif, and even includes a number 5 to imply a continuation of the storyline after the series had ended. The set was a 2011 San Diego Comic-Con exclusive.
The following year, Hasbro released another SDCC exclusive crossover set featuring a G.I. Joe: Retaliation HISS tank retooled into Shockwave. The tank included Destro in an all-purple Decepticon suit, a Cobra B.A.T. in Construction colors, a cart of energon cubes, and a "human-scaled" Soundwave cassette player with three cassettes representing Ravage, Laserbeak and Ratbat. Like the previous year's box, the package is designed to look like the cover of a "lost issue" 6 of the Marvel series.
Collections
- G.I. Joe and the Transformers TPB (February 1993) (ISBN 0-87135-973-1)
- The collection contains no issue covers, bonus material, or advertisements. The title page for issue #2 was omitted.
