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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN num: 9781932796094
ISBN number: 1932796096
Label: Devil's Due Publishing
Manufacturer: Devil's Due Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 160
Printing Date: April 07, 2004
Publishing house: Devil's Due Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 222684
Studio: Devil's Due Publishing
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Product Description:
Both G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and the Transformers have been loved by millions across the world for years. This story begs to ask WHAT IF the Transformers, living alien robots from another world, fell into the hands of COBRA, a small, quickly growing organization bent on world domination? When Cobra launches its very first attack on U.S. soil, armed with tanks, jets and vehicles that transform into giant robots, it's too much for the regular armed forces to handle, and G.I. Joe is formed to stop them. Freeing the heroic Optimus Prime from Cobra's control is our world's only hope.
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Rated by buyers 
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Good characterizations of all the people and 'bots we knew and loved from their cartoon shows so long ago mark this volume. The artwork is crisp, although the Transformers are all altered from their familiar forms - only their heads are the same. Great work on Megatron, Cobra Commander, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Optimus, Bumblebee, and many others. I've read that volume two is better than volumes one or three, but it's hard to get your hands on. This is a good start, though, bringing these groups together in a believable and enjoyable way.
Rated by buyers -
If you grew up in the '80's (and by that I mean young enough to play with action figures watch Saturday morning cartoons) then you probaly already bought this book and have read it a dozen times. But, for you younger guys, I suggest you get this book to see what was hot back in the day. The sheer testosterone fury of GI Joe combined with the awesome Manga style robot madness that was Transformers combine to make the slickest, most action packed comic book I've read in a long time. If you read comics to enjoy explosions, super-tanks, and giant robots then you have found your Holy Grail. Enjoy youngsters, this is what your daddy loved before he found girls.
Rated by buyers 
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This is absolutely one of the masterpieces of my collection. The mix of GI Joe and Transformers improves both. The Transformers feel larger and more epic than they ever had before, and the Joe's seem more fearless when battling for freedom among the giant transformers.
As a Transformers fan, I really appreciate the depth and accuracy given to each of the (relatively few) Transformers who star in this story. As a new GI Joe fan, it was a great introduction to some intersting characters.
This book is action packed, but remains fresh clever. The art does well to convey the story and is still engaging during the third re-read. The tone of this book is positive, extolling the virtues of bravery, cooperation, and heroism.
It's only fair to warn the buyer that this praise is equally true of the subsequent two volumes as well. Book I is a good mix of attention on on the Joe's and the Transformers. Book II gives most of the attention to the Joe's, and book III leans more toward the Transformers. All three serve up good action, sparse but enjoyable dialog and clever plot shifts. If you're only going to buy one, buy this one to start, then buy the other two anyway. You'll love them!
Rated by buyers -
Back in the 1980's Marvel comics had the license to produce comic books based on the two hottest selling toy lines: G.I. Joe and the Transformers. So it seemed like a natural that the two toy juggernauts should eventually meet and thus in 1987 Marvel gave the world the four issue mini series G.I. Joe & The Transformers. Reflecting the times and the fact that it was aimed at the kids who played with the toys, the story and art were very simplistic. Now, seventeen years later Devil's Due has the license for the G.I. comics while Dreamwave (now out of business) was doing Transformers. The companies combined for two different series between the two toy lines each collecting them into trade paperbacks.
The Devil's Due book, "G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers," takes a unique approach as they re-imagine the history and backgrounds of the two groups and intertwine their origins. In this new continuity, Cobra who is still unknown to the world, finds the Ark, the spacecraft that brought the Transformers to Earth millions of years ago. They very first think the Transformers are mere robots but soon discover they are sentient. They remove several of the robots and Dr. Mindbender figures out a way to control the Transformers so Cobra can force them to do their bidding. Megatron is essentially imprisoned in his gun form and worn by the Cobra Commander. Cobra uses the Transformers to attack a summit meeting that is being guarded by the U.S. Army who is no match for the Giant Robots including Starscream. But several of the Transformers seem to be malfunctioning including Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader. Megatron informs the Commander that he's not malfunctioning, but resisting. We actually see Snake-eyes as a soldier and it is in this attack that his face is disfigured and he soon dons the familiar ninja attire. As Cobra announces its presence to the world, the U.S. military creates the G.I. Joe force to counter the threat including Scarlett, Mainframe, Flagg, Snake-eyes, and others.
When the Joe Force is attacked again by Cobra, help comes in the form of two Autobots who were left behind by Cobra: Bumblebee and Wheeljack. They reveal that the Cobra attacks are meant to obtain the materials to make Energon, the Transformers power source. Furthermore Optimus Prime has managed to get a message out to the Autobots revealing the secret Cobra base and now the G.I. Joe Team and the Autobots prepare themselves for all out war versus Cobra and the Decepticons!
Transformer and G.I. Joe purists may have a problem with the changing of long-established continuity but if they do I chalk it up to stodginess. First, I don't think it's meant to be viewed as a change in continuity but rather as an alternate view in order to effect the teaming of these two forces in a logical manner that fit well with the plot as opposed to the hack job that Marvel did nearly 20 years ago. The bottom line is that this is just an exciting and fun story. The idea of Cobra locating the crashed Ark and controlling the Transformers (at least for a little while) is positively brilliant. I also like the way Josh Blaylock and Dan Jolley have given us a story that is edgier and fits well with what Dreamwave had been doing with the Transformers as opposed to the "G" rated stories of Marvel Comics. The art of Mike Miller is excellent, particularly his rendering of the various Transformers, especially Soundwave who's never looked better or more menacing. Kudos to the colorists as well; I remember the days when Soundwave would often look purple instead of blue! Joe fans will be please to see many of their favorites like Destro, Zartan, Firefly, and The Baroness.
Complaints? Not many. It might have been nice to see some of the other famous Transformers like Shockwave or the Dinobots but you understand there has to be a cutoff point somewhere. All in all this was a great book and I highly recommend it for both G.I. Joe and Transformer fans.
Rated by buyers -
For the record, this is not the very first time that Hasbro's two juggernaut action-figure franchises have collided: apart from a few references peppered into the final season of the old Transformers cartoon - including a supporting villainous role in one episode by none other than Cobra Commander himself - Marvel Comics, which then held the comic book license for the two franchises, brought them together for what I'm sure was supposed to be an epic crossover. Jeez, was it wretched. The quality of the art fluctuated terribly, characters were misnamed, continuities were mangled and basically the whole thing sucked even for Transfans.
Flash forward to 2003. Both 'G.I. JOE' and 'Transformers' are enjoying renewed comic-book success...but through different publishers, Devil's Due owning the Joe license and Dreamwave holding the TFs. When the time came that the idea of another Joe/TF crossover was brought up, the two companies hit upon a novel solution to the dilemma of a licensing conflict: each published their own separate Joe/TF crossover. Dreamwave's is far grittier - even set during World War II, to further distance it from the existing Joe and TF continuities - but Devil's Due's story, while still out-of-continuity, hearkens back to the glory days of the 1980s for both sagas. And whether you're an ardent fan of either saga and you either loved or hated it, in the end 'G.I. JOE vs. The Transformers' is a radical upgrade from its Marvel predecessor.
The story is as thus: instead of Mount St. Hilary erupting, thus awakening the Teletran-1 computer which controlled the Autobots' hijacked starship four million years ago, the Ark is instead uncovered by Cobra agents who decide to haul off as many of the dormant robots as they can, reprogram them to serve Cobra's will and retrofit them as Cobra vehicles, and then use them in a full terrorist assault against the civilian populace. Right from the start, there are problems for our villains - two in particular: 1) Decepticon leader Megatron can't be reprogrammed, so Cobra Commander has Megatron paralyzed and stuck in gun form, whereupon he taunts Cobra Commander vowing to crush him like the bug he is; 2) Fortunately for the free world, Autobot leader Optimus Prime, while encoded with Cobra's programming, refuses to carry out any of his destructive orders.
Since in this story G.I. JOE does not as yet exist, it's up an assembly of familiar faces in uniform - later codenamed as Flagg, Flint, Lady Jaye, Scarlett, Mainframe and, of course, our man Snake-Eyes - to get it all together and, as the newly-organized anti-terrorist force known as G.I. JOE, take down Cobra and their new toys. They get at least some help: namely, a self-serving ex-Cobra agent named Mercer, and two Autobots left behind by Cobra and awakened when Cobra demolitionists sealed up the mountain - Wheeljack and Bumblebee! Before it's all over, the Transformers break free of their programming and what starts as a mission to capture Cobra's higher-ups turns into a free-for-all which involves the Joes disobeying direct orders to prevent a nuclear attack, a defense satellite that goes haywire and begins blasting up Cobra's island headquarters with everybody on it, some heroes meeting their deaths (a la 'Transformers: The Movie'); and, of course, the brawl for it all - Optimus Prime vs. Megatron!
The story's pacing is pretty frenetic, which again improves greatly on the original crossover; the dialogue is snappier, particularly within the chemistry that develops between the Joes and their two new 'friends', despite (or due to) a few misunderstandings here and there; and while there are few chances to really get into it given the demands of the story, everyone is perfectly in character in this one - Destro and the Baroness get flirtatious, Wheeljack's the logical one, and Starscream is egotistical as ever. Clearly, Josh Blaylock is comfortable with his game writing for the Joes, and at least here he isn't required to remain too serious - half his cast are giant robots.
Mike Miller's art is a perfect complement to that effect, too, capturing every character to a tee - even the refit Transformers who, despite their new vehicle modes, still recapture the essence of their true-blue G1 counterparts.
In closing, 'G.I. JOE vs. The Transformers' may not be a comic-book classic, but it does its source material justice far more effectively than some of the attempts made before it. And if you're not into the grim-and-grit approach of Dreamwave's book - or if you just want to have a fun read - then pick this one up...and roll out!
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