Transformers Vs GI Joe

Next week, Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe finally proves itself to be too good for this fallen world when it comes to a senses-shattering conclusion. But just so nobody forgets that it's the best thing going, they're going out with the scene I've been waiting to see since the whole thing began: Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, he of the wrist-rockets, the high collar and the Beryllium Steel mask, is stepping into the spotlight for an all-out slugfest against the Joes --- and it's all taking place on Megatron's head while he tries to eat the sun.

The new blockbuster Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is in cinemas now, and surprisingly it patches the flaws from its predecessor and ramps up the ridiculousness in a way that makes it an enjoyable family superhero film for the summer. The Turtles have been mainstays of film, TV and video games for decades, but their origins go way back to the black and white independent comics boom of the '80s. If you’re a fan of Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, odds are you’re already keeping up with IDW’s excellent ground-up re-imagining of the franchise, but if you want more in that vein, we’ve selected five of the best independent, creator-owned, or alternative licensed comics that live up to the spirit of Turtle Power!

Way back in 2014 when the zero issue hit stands on Free Comic Book Day, Transformers vs. GI Joe kicked off with the death of Cobra Commander. And folks, it was a death - that dude was stabbed straight through the heart by Snake Eyes and then immediately crashed the fighter jet he was flying. So naturally, it only makes sense that he'd return from the dead in the grandest possible fashion.

The one thing that I've always said about Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe is that it feels like a comic that shouldn't be allowed to happen. From the zero issue that came out on Free Comic Book Day and gave us Snake-Eyes stabbing Cobra Commander in the heart while Cobra Commander blew his face off, it felt like we were dealing with something that went way beyond a crossover between toy properties, and ended up somewhere that was equal parts subversive and surreal. Now, it seems like reality is finally catching up with us. When Transformers vs. GI Joe #13 hits shelves in June, it'll be an extra-sized 48-page final issue that ends the series --- and possibly the entire universe.

If you've been reading Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe, then it will not surprise you for even a second that there is a scene in the next issue where Duke stands in front of a gigantic American flag, Patton-style, and has a very serious discussion about jet-hook-fu, the art of battling giant killer robots with a jetpack and a grappling hook. And if you haven't been reading Transformers vs. GI Joe, well, in the next issue, there's a scene where Duke has a very serious discussion about jet-hook-fu, the art of battling giant killer robots with a jetpack and a grappling hook. I don't think there's any better way to get you on board than that. Check out a preview.

Given the events of the previous nine issues, you could be forgiven for thinking that Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe had gotten as wild as it was going to get. I mean, eventually there has to be a point where things just can't get weirder, and you'd think that Scarlett going into a Prisoner-esque world where she explained that GI Joe and Transformers were just toys created by Hasbro before burning everything down would probably be it. But you would be wrong. Witness next week's Transformers vs. GI Joe #10, in which Earth has fallen, Optimus Prime is dead, and the Oktober Guard, the horror-themed Russian counterpart to GI Joe, has claimed an alien planet as New Transylvania --- and that's all just page one. The rest of it is taken up with Destro's dinner party, and before you read on, be warned: It gets real bloody real fast. Check out a preview that includes an amazing variant cover by Ulises Farinas.

To say that Tom Scioli and John Barber‘s Transformers vs. GI Joe is an unusual comic is underselling things quite a bit. On paper, it’s a natural fit, an ongoing series that follows in the footsteps of earlier books that have combined the two toy lines into one massive interplanetary battle. In practice, though, it’s something a lot bigger, a comic that almost assaults the reader by cramming in as much big, wild stuff as it possibly can — a toy comic so weird, and so great, that it almost feels like it shouldn’t exist. With the book's second storyline well under way, throwing in everything from vikings to old gods to Dinobots (and a new printing of his amazing American Barbarian on the way this summer), I talked to cowriter, artist and occasional ComicsAlliance guest contributor Tom Scioli about the series. Today, he talks about building a history for a universe that's even more important than our own, the two-page Free Comic Book Day story, and why his book isn't a paean to Snake Eyes.

To say that Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe is an unusual comic is underselling things quite a bit. On paper, it's a natural fit, an ongoing series that follows in the footsteps of earlier books that have combined the two toy lines into one massive interplanetary battle. In practice, though, it's something a lot bigger, a comic that almost assaults the reader by cramming in as much big, wild stuff as it possibly can --- a toy comic so weird, and so great, that it almost feels like it shouldn't exist. With the book's second storyline well under way, throwing in everything from vikings to old gods to Dinobots (and with a new printing of the amazing American Barbarian on the way this summer), I talked to cowriter, artist and occasional ComicsAlliance guest contributor Tom Scioli about the series. Today, in the first part of the interview, he talks about the exhausting process of fitting it all into 20 pages, and reveals the adaptation he wrote for a Transformers vs. GI Joe movie that does not actually exist.

If you were just going by what was on the covers when you grabbed your Free Comic Book Day titles on Saturday, you might have missed one of the best comics on the stands. I almost did --- as much as I've been enjoying IDW's Transformers comics now that I'm finally reading them, I haven't had much of a chance to watch the new cartoon, and as a result, I skipped over the FCBD tie-in comic when I picked mine up. It wasn't until I flipped through it later that I realized there was a short story from Tom Scioli and John Barber in there, tying into their GI Joe vs. Transformers ongoing series. And it's amazing.

If you asked me to pick my favorite comics of the year, there's not even a question about it: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe would be at the top of the list. Even aside from my well-known love of America's daring, highly-trained special missions force, writer/artist Tom Scioli and co-writer John Barber have been doing something amazing with this book, creating an ongoing series combining two toy franchises that has the kind of raw, unstoppable energy that you almost never see from corporate comics. Now, with the first volume of the series hitting shelves this week, I spoke to Scioli and Barber about how they created one of the most transgressive comics of the year, why they think of the Jose as "nasty, destructive creatures," and just how much more they want to push the book until it's as strange as they want it to be.