Cover art of trade paperback of the first miniseries
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers refers to four crossover miniseries between G.I. Joe and Transformers published by Devil's Due Publishing, with the first published in 2004 and the last published in 2007.In spite of the first series being published around the time of Dreamwave's Transformers: Generation One series and Devil's Due Publishing's G.I. Joe series, the miniseries are notably in their own continuity, with the Autobots and the Joes crossing paths at the start of their careers.
Cobra discovers the crashed Ark and the stasis-locked Cybertronians within, turning them into powerful weapons in their bid for World Domination. In response, the United States gathers its best soldiers and operatives to form a daring special mission force.
But not all of the Cybertronians have fallen under Cobra's sway. But their efforts to free their comrades will have powerful and long-reaching consequences for the people of earth.
Miniseries:
- G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers (2004)
- G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II (2005)
- G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: The Art of War (2006)
- G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: Black Horizon (2007)
There have been several reprints of the miniseries, with Devil's Due publishing trade paperbacks of the first three miniseries as well as an omnibus containing all four miniseries. After IDW Publishing obtained the comic book rights to both G.I. Joe and Transformers, they included reprints of the miniseries in the second and third volumes of G.I. Joe/Transformers (the first volume reprinting the two crossovers with the Marvel Comics Transformers and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero continuities), with volume two containing the original miniseries and G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II and volume three containing The Art of War and Black Horizon.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Origin Connection: A major theme of this continuity is that the origins of Transformers and G.I. Joe characters are now interconnected.
- The first miniseries has G.I. Joe founded to do something about Cobra when the terrorist organization is revealed to have enslaved the Autobots and Decepticons after their arrival on Earth and used them as weapons. Optimus Prime eventually resists Cobra's control so he can convince the Joes to help him free his fellow Autobots and turn the tide against Cobra and the Decepticons.
- In the Sunbow cartoon and the Marvel comic, Serpentor was created from the DNA of several conquerors and tyrants from humanity's history. In The Art of War, Serpent O.R. is created from the remains of Megatron.
- Black Horizon establishes that Cobra-La have ties with Unicron due to making a deal with the Chaos Bringer when he attempted to devour the Earth during prehistoric times and promising to summon him again when they deem humanity ready to be wiped out.
- Alternate Continuity: The miniseries is not in continuity with the Dreamwave Transformers comic or with Devil's Due Publishing's G.I. Joe comic, the most notable discrepancies including the Autobots and Decepticons being discovered and enslaved by Cobra after their arrival on Earth, the Joes first meeting the Transformers shortly before their official founding and the narrative not pulling any punches when it comes to character casualties.
- Anyone Can Die: Several notable characters are killed off throughout the miniseries' run, the more glaring casualties being Bumblebee and Megatron on the Transformers' side as well as Major Bludd and Tomax on the side of G.I. Joe characters.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Serpent O.R. Seizes the Matrix of Leadership and gains its wisdom. and immediately sees how wrong his actions have been.
- Bad Future: G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II features a Bad Future where the Decepticons have wiped out most of humanity and the only remaining resistance comes from the Dreadnoks and a severely disfigured Duke who has lost most of his limbs.
- Covers Always Lie: The cover of the third issue of G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II depicts a giant Decepticon who doesn't appear anywhere in the comic, or the rest of the story for that matter. Facebook blog Ask Vector Prime would later reveal that the robot, named Ragnarok, had been shunted into a parallel universal stream as both his size and his ability to create duplicates of himself would have made it even more difficult for the time-traveling Joes to complete their mission.
- Eye Scream: The fifth issue of the first miniseries has Snake-Eyes slash Starscream in his left optic.
- Mythology Gag:
- When discovered by Cobra in the first miniseries, the briefly revived Megatron states "I still function", which was also what he said in The Transformers: The Movie when he protested against Starscream disposing of his damaged body from Astrotrain.
- Cobra Commander uses Starscream(as a Night Raven) for his personal conveyance. In the 80's cartoons, Chris Latta voiced both of them.
- The Joes' first encounter with Bumblebee has them threaten his life due to a misunderstanding, mirroring their encounter in the crossover between the Marvel Comics The Transformers and G.I. Joe series.
- In the Bad Future seen in the second miniseries, the Dreadnoks ride motorcycles resembling the vehicle forms of the Junkions.
- Pitiful Worms: During his final confrontation with Hawk at the end of The Art of War, Serpent O.R. refers to the Joe as an insignificant flea.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Hawk gives one to Serpent O.R. (this continuity's version of Serpentor, who in this continuity was made from the remains of Megatron).Hawk: You feel nothing because you've got nothing to make war for. You've got nothing to love, care for, or fight for. You exist to destroy. You're just a weapon. Like your "father" before you, you're nothing but a glorified gun.
- Sequel Hook: The first three miniseries each end with a sequel tease that is eventually given closure in one of the subseqent miniseries.
- The first miniseries ends with the US government intending to develop new technology from the remains of the fallen Decepticons, setting up the creation of Serpent O.R. in The Art of War.
- G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II ends with Dr. Mindbender being busted out of prison by Cobra-La, who plan on summoning Unicron. This plot thread was eventually resolved in Black Horizon.
- The Art of War ends with Optimus Prime musing on how Hawk may benefit humanity after his connection to the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which is also given closure in Black Horizon.
- Tally Marks on the Prison Wall: When Joe Colton is shown to be imprisoned in a cell by Cobra-La since his disappearance in Black Horizon, he's carved tallies into his cell's walls to keep track of his decades of imprisonment.
- Time Travel: The second miniseries involves Joes, Cobra agents and Autobots being sent to several different time periods to retrieve time-displaced Autobots and Decepticons before a time paradox wipes out all life on Earth.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: When the time travelling Spirit, Barbecue, Mindbender, Tomax, and Xamot arrive in the Bad Future at the end of Issue 2 of G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II, they see several giant Transformers striding across the ruined landscape. Come Issue 3, the giant Transformers have been replaced by a fleet of Scourge clones. Ask Vector Prime stated that Ragnarok (the main giant Decepticon) was shunted into an alternate reality between issues so the team could complete their mission.
