Star Trek Vs. Transformers (Family Comic Friday)

IDW has been doing a line of miniseries based on classic cartoon shows from the 70s and 80s. A GI JOE and a Ninja Turtles book have been huge successes. Now the publisher is gambling on a micro-series based on the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon that ran on CBS from 1983-85. I'm trying to get all of these books and I think none of those 'Saturday Morning Adventures' would have happened if not for this miniseries.

This 2018 story joins the Star Trek and Transformers franchises for the first (and so far) only time ever! Drawn in the style of the 1973-74 Star Trek Saturday morning toon and the original Transformers syndicated series from 1984-87. 

The story starts with the Enterprise intercepting a distress call from a mining colony near the Neutral Zone. Expecting to run into Klingons, Kirk finds the colony under attack by aircraft from the late 20th Century! Adding to the mystery is the massive red and blue big rig that comes out of nowhere to counterattack the out of place planes! 

Oh.... Did I mention that the truck just transformed into a big ole' freakin' robot?

This story was just amazing! It had Arak and M'Ress! Klingons! And writer John Barber and artist Philip Murphy figured out a way to make a Transformer out of the Enterprise!

This story was also kinda sad. Or bittersweet. Star Trek: The Animated Series takes place around the year 2269. That means from 1990 to 2269, the literal hundreds of Transformers whittle down to about 6 Autobots and around a dozen Decepticons. Okay, there could be more. But that's about how many Transformers are in this crossover. So, I'm to infer that a whole bunch of characters died from my cherished childhood memories to about 270 years in the future; all thanks to a needless war for power and energy.

I did love the Easter eggs peppered throughout this book. To get to see the Eugenics war and Zefram Cochran and company from Star Trek: First Contact. Though this is supposed to be a family friendly comic book story, it is a bit shocking to see one of those soldiers from World War III taking narcotics in a throwaway panel. It's a lot like those innuendos that get thrown into Disney films. The kiddoes don't get it. But it's something the adults catch on to. Same thing here. It looks like a dude is picking his nose or something. But really, he's getting high as a kite!

There's something here for the whole family. Whole generations of family. The artwork was utterly amazing. The story was action packed and full of the stuff of dreams. If I had seen Optimus Prime transform into an iconic ship from pop culture history, like the Millennium Falcon or a Cylon raider one Saturday morning, I would have spit my cereal out like an exasperated grown-up drinking coffee when they hear something incredible and then done victory laps around the living room.

I don't think I need to have Star Trek and the Transformers ever meet-up again. But I hope this isn't the end of the animated Enterprise joining forces with other animated entities from my childhood.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek Vs. Transformers #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Today’s Family Comic Friday selection brings together two beloved cartoons from my childhood. Welcome to Star Trek Vs. Transformers!

Star Trek Vs. Transformers #1
Written by John Barber
Art by Mike Johnson
Published by IDW Publishing

From 1973-1974, the crew of the USS Enterprise concluded it’s five year mission in animated form. Along with Kirk, Spock and McCoy, this 30-minute series featured a three-armed and legged creature named Arak and a cat person named M’Press as part of the Enterprise crew. Though I wasn’t born yet, I grew up watching the acclaimed Saturday morning cartoon in rerun on Nickelodeon in the early-to-mid 1980s.

At the time Star Trek: The Animated Series was being aired in syndication, a new dynamic series was being aired new to young American audiences- Transformers. This series saw the friendly Autobots fighting the deadly Decepticons on planet Earth during the Me Generation 80s. Never in all the years of watching both franchises did I ever think I would get to witness these two cartoons ever crossing paths until now thanks to this fantastically retro comic book from IDW Publishing.

The story opens with the Enterprise receiving a distress call from Cygnus Seven. The planet, which orbits extremely close to Klingon territory, is also home to a dilithium mine. Kirk and his crew are asked to help the miners from a Klingon attack on the colony.

When Kirk beams down to Cygnus Seven, the captain finds the camp not attacked by Klingons but unmanned vehicles from Earth’s past. Suddenly, a fiery red and blue tractor trailer appears on the scene. Just whose side is it on?

Using their phasers, the away team defend themselves and they incapacitate the driverless truck. But when Kirk and his team go to inspect the vehicle, Mr. Spock discovers that there is more than meets the eye with this piece of ancient earth machinery.

OMG! This was such a great opening chapter. Generally with a team-up, the two parties never officially meet until the very last page of the first issue! Not here- instead Federation representatives and Transformers are facing off with each other by page two of this story! And don’t worry- those dastardly Klingons are lurking around here too!

I’m not sure why the Transformers from 1984 are now present at Stardate: 5892.7. But that’s okay as that is a part of the adventure and mystery that I have to look forward to in this four-issue miniseries. In fact, I’m actually glad that IDW decided not to go the route of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and have the Enterprise crew going back in time to the 80s again!

John Barber and the artist Mike Johnson have captured the spirits of both classic kids cartoons so very well in this book! I can hear the voices of all of the original actors in this first issue clear as day. Plus, I love how Johnson draws the book to look like it was a cartoon and not a comic.

There’s plenty of temptation to draw the characters in such fluid ways in this action filled opener. But that’s not how these characters were animated originally. When Kirk rescues a crew member from being zapped by a laser, he looks like an old action figure being thrown by an angry toddler. That’s not poor illustrating. That’s a master craftsman staying true to the original source material; something that is rarely seen in today’s comics.

With exception of one minor swear by Doctor McCoy, this was a great read for kids aged 6 and up. If you love Star Trek and they love Transformers; this is the book you have been praying for to share with the young readers in your life! IDW has a nostalgic hit on their hands! Excellent work! I felt like I was watching a lost episode of two of my favorite cartoons from long ago!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek Vs. Transformers #1 debuted in stores and digital platforms on Wednesday, September 25, 2018.

This review was concurrently published on Outrightgeekery.com.