WRITER: James McDonough & Adam Patyk
PENCILS: Pat Lee

CAST
GI JOE: Flint, Mutt & Junkyard, Gung-Ho, Clutch, Rock 'n' Roll, Snake-Eyes, Blowtorch, Grand Slam, Quick Kick, Shipwreck, Airtight, Bazooka, Doc, Wild Bill, Lift-Ticket, Spirit, Alpine, Barbeque, Cover Girl, Duke, Stalker, & Scarlett

COBRA: Destro, Scrap-Iron, Cobra Commander, and lots of Cobra Officers & Tele-Vipers

AUTOBOTS: Blaster, World War 2-era Optimus Prime (cameo)

DECEPTICONS: Starscream, World War 2-era Megatron (cameo)

BEST LINE:
unnamed Commanding Officer to Flint: "Nathaniel never gave apologies...he gave results."

SYNOPSIS: It's a sunny day in New York, circa 1985; but for the Joes, it's just another day of duking it out with the Cobra terrorist organization. Under the command of Flint, a squad of Joes consisting of Mutt & Junkyard, Gung-Ho, Clutch, Rock N' Roll, Blowtorch, Snake-eyes, Quick Kick, Shipwreck and Grand Slam attempts to seize crateloads of unknown weaponry from Cobra. Just as they thought that they were able to gain the advantage and even capture Destro, a number of Cobra flight pods appeared from the skies and quickly turned the tides of battle and foiled a carefully planned GI Joe operation. Twenty-four hours later, we see Flint narrating to his superior the events that unfolded, feeling miserable for the failure of his unit.

During the dead hours of the night at Oregon, an alien ship crashes into the forest near Mt. St. Hilary. This incident did not go unnoticed, though, as Cobra Commander immediately orders his troops to investigate and retrieve whatever may be found at the crash site. Unbeknownst to Cobra, a lone jet also known as the Decepticon Starscream hovers above Cobra island, also aware of the information that the humans below have acquired. He, however, being low on energy, does not  interfere with Cobra's retrieval operation and decides it is best that someone else do the job for him if he wanted to return to Cybertron.

GI Joe's intelligence also got word of the crash and Flint was immediately put in charge of the mission along with Shipwreck, Blowtorch, Airtight, Bazooka, Doc, Wild Bill and Lift Ticket. Flint, however, was told to pass command over to Spirit once they arrive at the crash site.

Near the crash site, three Joe trainees - Cover Girl, Alpine and Barbecue - were caarefully observing the movements of the Cobra troops surrounding the fallen ship when Flint's unit arrived. Their covert operation, however, was cut short as they were spotted by Cobra troopers. A battle soon erupted, with Cobra attempting to steal away their loot from the crash. This was foiled by the Joes but only found themselves at a loss when they discovered that the loot was that of a giant, seemingly lifeless robot (Blaster).

Back at headquarters, Flint and Spirit were summoned by three former Joes: Duke, Stalker and Scarlett. After a brief introduction, the pair were shown footage of two colossal robots fighting during the World War Two era: Optimus Prime and Megatron.

ONDOHER'S DETAILS: First of all, I would like to address my minor irritation at this series being dubbed "Pat Lee's Transformers" in Diamond Comics' shipping list, which made me almost miss out on the first issue! And since I'm already in the topic of Lee, i'll start this off with the artwork: after reading the issue, I was very impressed with his work, to be honest - considering that I really hated the way he draws stay-puft Optimus Prime. He really made a good work of drawing the GI Joe characters - very different from his previous human drrawings. It has that gritty, edgy feel to it that makes you know that this series deals with combat and war. Plus it gives a good transition from the too dark Jae Lee artwork of volume 1 to that of volume 2. Just look at those facial expressions on Flint! That is, for me, an improvement to Pat Lee's artwork since I saw him draw Spike in G1 volume 1. (and look at Cover Girl...)
As for the story, I'm glad Patyk and McDonough managed to create a more interesting story following the first volume. At least there is a more fluid continuity in it. The appearance of aged Duke, Stalker and Scarlett is a good inclusion. But at the same time, it has the modern feel and all the familiar elements of 80s GI Joe goodness are in it (look at the spread on pages 2-3: it really reminds me of the opening clip of the '80s GI Joe toon). Not to mention that there are some interesting 80s references throughout the issue: the Vilage People jokes, the Eye of the Tiger music playing in the background, and the Cold War reference. However, it has a more in-depth look at the characters - Flint in particular. Looks like he's pressured to be at the same pedestal as his grandfather was (Flint from the first volume). And I am glad to see that Snake-eyes is not getting centerstage. Well, so far, that is. Spirit's character, though I am used to his mystical and deep personality, seems to have more to show to us readers in the coming issues. It is also interesting to see what Starscream's schemes are for this series; and questions as to how he survived from the first volume is wonder for me (more on that below).  And it looks like Blaster is getting another push in this series, just like in War Within Volume 3. I also particularly like how Cobra have developed their technology by using Cybertronian science (probably - it's just a guess that I'm waiting to be confirmed in later issues). Finally, anyone else glad that we haven't seen Optimus Prime and Megatron playing a role in this issue other than a trip down WW2-memory lane? (But I won't be surprised if they show their faces again, though).
One thing I'm wondering about, though, is how did the Transformers who were in volume 1 (well, Starscream, so far) survive after the events in issue 6 of volume 1? Wasn't the destruction of the Matrix supposed to be a sacrifice so as to end the threat? Then how come Starscream's alive?! Looks like there's an error in the continuity here, but I'm hoping this will be cleared up (blame Neiber!)
Another note on continuity: if the theories made by fans turn out to be correct, then the Transformers circa TF/GI Joe volume 1 are the same guys we are reading about in the G1 ongoing series: 2 generations of Flint and then Marissa Fairborne... but it's still just a theory.

RATING: A good start to a hopefully promising series. Well, the same thing happened in volume 1, but I have a feeling this time it will be different 'coz the writers know what they are handling. Good action and a good glimpse at interesting characters that I hope will further develop during the series' run.

out of 5.

This review was written on 07 November 2004.
Image copyright Hasbro 2005.