GI Joe Vs. Transformers: Black Horizon #1

Another random comic from the backlog. No idea how I ended up with this.

Title: GI Joe Vs. Transformers: Black Horizon
Issue: #1
Date: January, 2007
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Andrew Wildman
Colorist: Wes Ozioba, Art Lyon
Letterer: Brian J. Crowley
Cover Art: Mike O'Sullivan

Scorecard definitely needed here.

Basically, the setup is that there is a race of monstrous creatures living an a lost city in the Himalayas called Cobra-La. No, really.

Anyway, back in ancient times, they defended the Earth against Unicron. Well actually, what they really did was to negotiate to sell out the Earth to Unicron at a later date. Which has arrived.

Now it's up to Optimus Prime, Hawk, and Flint to stop them. Oh, and joining them is "G.I." Joe Colton, an original member of the Adventure Team, who has been held captive in Cobra-La since 1978, and who has conveniently just now figured out how to pick a lock.

There is also some other stuff going on. Destro is doing some generally evil things. Lady Jaye gets a cameo. Snake Eyes gets a cameo. Various other good guys and bad guys show up, and if you're really into this stuff, then it probably makes more sense than it did to me.

But even if you are really into this stuff, this story was still trying to do too much at once.

Rating: 4.5/10 (And now you know. And knowing is half the battle.)

Transformers: Movie Prequel Free Comic Book Day Edition

Back to the Free Comic Book Day stack. This is another Free Comic Book Day promo from a previous year that I picked up this year as a bonus giveaway.

Title: Transformers: Movie Prequel Free Comic Book Day Edition
Date: 2007
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Chris Ryall, Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa
Colorist: Josh Burcham
Letterer: Robbie Robbins
Editor: Chris Ryall

"*All dialogue (inner and outer) translated from the Cybertronian - Optimal Ed." Ha! Nice nod to Marvel on the first page.

And now, a disclaimer. I'm not a Transformers guy. I was just a bit too old to be into the toys when they came out (although I owned a few of the early transforming Shogun Warriors toys that were the predecessors of the Transformers). I was still watching a few cartoon shows at that point, but my TV routine didn't include Transformers. Maybe it was just on at a bad time. I watched G.I. Joe, although I tended to mock it. I took Robotech a lot more seriously. But I don't think I ever even sat through a full episode of Transformers.

So I'm probably not the target audience here.

The book takes place on Cybertron, some unspecified length of time before Megan Fox started running away from explosions in slow motion. This story sets up the background and the motivation for the events of the Transformers film.

See there's this thingee called the Allspark. It's sorta like a combination of God, the Force, and the One Ring. Megatron and the Decepticons are fighting a war against the Autobots in an attempt to seize the Allspark. Optimus Prime has hidden the Allspark in an obscure location while he tries to decoy the bad guys.

Most of the tension in this comes from the fact that only the leader of the badly outnumbered band of good robots who are the focus of the action actually realizes that they are, in fact, guarding the real location of the McGuffinspark.

The story take itself very seriously. Megatron has a Lucifer vibe as the former "Lord Protector" who co-ruled with Optimus prime before he turned heel.

The story isn't anything all that original, but it's effective.

What is not effective is the artwork. See the disclaimer. Maybe I'm just not used to dealing with these more-than-meets-the-eye types, but I had a really hard time telling who the heck anyone was or what was going on during most of the fight scenes.

Now I understand that if I pick up an issue of say, X-men, in the middle of some monster crossover event (say, Fall of the Mutants) that the random issue is not going to make it easy for me as a new reader to figure out a complex storyline with a huge cast at whatever point I decide to jump in.

But folks, this is a Free Comic Book Day giveaway. It is supposed to be written for the purpose of bringing new fans on board. I don't need my hand held, but could we at least make it so I can tell which robot is a good robot and which robot is a bad robot?

Rating: 5.5/10