« Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #6 »
"Expelled from the Garden"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	April 8, 2015
Cover date	January 2015
Written by	Tom Scioli and John Barber
Art by	Tom Scioli
Colors by	Tom Scioli
Letters by	Tom Scioli
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Production by	Chris Mowry
Continuity	Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

While the captive Joes and Autobots are at Decepticobra's mercy on Cybertron, on Earth, it's all-out war in the streets of New York as Optimus Prime invades T.H.E. P.I.T. just as the Serpentress leads an attack on the United Nations!

Synopsis

Roadblock is left dumbfounded by the contents of the Decepticobranomicon—the holy scripture of the cult of Cobra—which tells a warped, Cobra-centric version of the Biblical Book of Genesis that claims Cybertronian involvement in mankind's history since the Garden of Eden, and that the infamous serpent in that garden was the father of a reptilian race sired through Eve. Roadblock does not have long to ponder the book, though, as he is soon put to work in Cobra's kitchens, while the rest of the captured Joes and Autobots are shuttled off to the Polyhex Killway on the Astrotrain. An Autobot/Joe unit attacks Astrotrain en route, and although they are defeated, an insertion team led by Scarlett is able to stow away on Astrotrain as he takes off for Polyhex and Scorponok, the city of madness.

Elsewhere on Cybertron, Snake Eyes confidently strides into Maccadam's Lubricarium and scales the bar. The sozzled patrons are amazed at the little human's bravado and even pour him a drink... which Snake Eyes then kicks into a boozehound's face, igniting a bar fight. During the brawl, Snake Eyes pins one of the 'bots to the floor with his swords; in agony, his victim offers information, fuel, guns, or whatever the ninja wants, but Snake Eyes remains as silent as ever...

On Earth, the Inuit mercenary Kwinn leads Major Bludd, Tomax and Xamot, their unidentified liberator, and the masked mastermind behind their escape to a remote spot in the Arctic. There, the sibilant mystery man bemoans the depths to which Cobra has sunk, turned by its new leaders into "slaves of the machines", and resolves to put things to right... and from a chasm in the ice, he summons the monstrous, tentacled Koh-Buru-Lah, demonic god of the cult of Cobra, and its reptilian army!

In New York City, General Flagg appeals to the "Jugglers"—a secret cabal within the government—to nuke Cybertron, which has infected Saturn and Mars with its technological touch, and now floats above Earth itself, having made the moon its latest victim. Simultaneously, in the nearby United Nations building, the forces of Decepticobra attack, and the Serpentress addresses the assembled delegates with the intention of convincing them all to submit to Megatron's rule. Her speech, however, is cut off by an explosion elsewhere in the city—Optimus Prime has arrived on Earth and tracked Bumblebee's life-pattern to Joe headquarters T.H.E. P.I.T., now revealed to be located beneath New York. As Prime tears into the secret base, Doctor Venom counterattacks with the fruit of his arcane experiments: he has transformed Bumblebee's body into armor for himself, and binary bonded himself to Soundwave's corpse as its new head!

Back on Cybertron, Megatron and an audience of onlookers watch as Destro and Zartan pit the captive Autobots and Joes against one another in the Polyhex Killway arena, manipulating their movements remotely with mind-control technology. When Spearhead splits Galen's helmet with his weapon, all assembled are shocked as the helmet falls away to reveal that Galen is actually a human!

In Metroplex, Bazooka awakens to discover that he has drawn a strange map in his sleep, that points the way to "Primus", who the Autobots explain is their legendary creator. A Joe/Autobot team heads out to follow Bazooka's map, which leads them to a vast underground chamber containing Primus's continent-sized visage. But the cybergod's mind has been overtaken: the Decepticons have erected a temple on his brow and infected him—and through him, the planet—with Megatron's will. As battle breaks out between the Joes and Autobots and the temple's guards, Bazooka finds himself sucked into Primus as the god takes an inward breath, and sees a vision of a Cybertron transformed, consuming other planets in the name of Megatron...

Grotesque surprises await Tunnel Rat in the core of Trypticon; having escaped his cell before the prisoners were sent to Polyhex, he now stumbles upon a machine containing numerous human beings in cubes... though he cannot tell if they are captives, or if the machine has grown them. Turning a corner, he gets one more unwelcome shock, as Wild Bill's corpse is autopsied... by Perceptor, turned traitor and now wearing the Decepticon badge!

In New York, the Jugglers reject Flagg's suggestion, hoping to exploit Cybertron's resources for their own gain, and inform him that G.I. Joe is being decommissioned and their duties handed over to a "private contractor". Flagg does not take this lying down, and instead opens fire, announcing that the Joe team will be taking control of not just the Cybertronian situation, but the world. His show of force is returned by the Jugglers' intended replacements for the Joes: an army of ninjas known as GIJONIN! The fight quickly spills into the streets outside, which are already awash with violence—Decepticobra has suspended their visit to the UN to get involved in Optimus Prime's continuing battle with Doctor Venom, and has met with Joe resistance, including the long-mothballed Battleforce 2000. Worse still, the Joes discover their own ranks have been infiltrated when five of their vehicles reveal themselves to be the disguised Combaticons, who combine into Bruticus! And as if things were not chaotic enough, over the horizon, the floating, globular form of Koh-Buru-Lah soon comes into view! None of this fazes the stoic Optimus Prime, however, who focuses on his primary goal: he wrenches Bumblebee free from Soundwave's body and departs the still-ongoing battle to return to Cybertron with his small friend's remains... with Doctor Venom still inside!

And elsewhere... perhaps, elsewhen... Scarlett awakens to find herself in a hospital, surrounded by Transformer and G.I. Joe action figures. A Doctor Mindelbinder addresses his colleagues, informing them has Scarlett is an ex-soldier coping with trauma by retreating into fantasy, and that she has dreamed the entire Joe/Cobra/Autobot/Decepticon conflict. But Scarlett refuses to believe this, and pounces on the doctor...!

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"The prisoners get their assignments. Those with useful skills are put to work serving the needs of Megatron's elite. They get loaded on the Astrotrain and sent to their fates. To the Polyhex Killway or worse—to Scorponok. Dark things happen within the walls of Scorponok. Pray you catch the Astrotrain before he delivers you friends to that city of madness. And if you catch the 'train, make sure you kill the 'train, or he'll make you his passenger too."

—Dramatic narration!

"This is bigger than any of you clowns! It's a war for the planet— it's Joe's war!"
"You're talking about a coup—a military takeover of the nation!?"
"No! I'm talking about a G.I. Joe takeover of the world! On behalf of the American people I want to thank this committee for its service. You are hereby relieved of duty. If the human race goes down the drain it's on me and mine. JOE'S IN CHARGE!!"

—General Flagg takes on the Jugglers

"You're an impressive specimen, Optimus. Imagine what you could accomplish with my high I.Q."

—Doctor Venom

Notes

Continuity notes

• In the image we see of Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam is holding a wooden staff, identical in shape to Hawk's mysterious tomahawk, which was shown last issue to date back to the time of the Vikings. Looks like it's a lot older than that!
• Though the identity of the sibilant, blue-clad mastermind responsible for organizing Bludd, Xamot and Tomax's escape from prison last issue is not revealed this issue (with Scioli referring to him only as "the mystery villain" in the issue's commentary, and a large "?" appearing in place of his face during a series of talking-head shots), c'mon, it's friggin' Cobra Commander. He was revealed to not be dead after all last issue.
• "Koh-Buru-Lah" was previously suggested to be the name of Cobra's temple headquarters in issue #0, where the narration referred to Starscream as the "Colossus of Koh-Buru-Lah". Here, we discover it is actually the name of the "god" the Cobra cult worships.
• Doctor Venom began his experiments on Bumblebee and Soundwave in issue #4. During the fight, we see several skeletons spill out of Soundwave's chest compartment—the unfortunate "Greenshirt" Joes that Venom sacrificed to his dark work.
• Bazooka saw the face of Primus in a hallucination back in issue #4.
• Wild Bill died in issue #2, but we didn't realize it until last issue.

Transformers references

• Ironhide's "file card" gives his function as "Royal Guard to the House of Primes", a rather grand re-interpretation of role as Optimus Prime's bodyguard, which was mentioned in his original bio but has never factored into fiction very much.
• Bruticus' file card simply reads "We Aim to Maim", a line uttered by Brawl in reference to the Combaticon unit in Spotlight: Arcee.
• Though the word isn't used, Doctor Venom's bond with Bumblebee and Soundwave is obviously evocative of Headmaster technology, further highlighted with the revelation that Galen is also a human (no word on whether he is an Earthling or not; in the Marvel Transformers series, Nebulans were often referred to as humans). Optimus Prime refers to the link as a binary bond. Also, Doctor Venom's mention of his own "high IQ" is possibly a reference to Prime's traditional Powermaster partner Hi-Q.
• Tripwire remarks on Rodimus's similarity to Primus, which originated with the first physical depiction of Primus in Marvel UK's "The Legacy of Unicron!".

G.I. Joe references

• The "Jugglers" were a secret committee of generals with whom the Joes often butted heads in the original Marvel G.I. Joe comic series.
• "Kwinn the Eskimo" [sic] (named after the Bob Dylan song) was a memorable supporting character during the first two years of the Marvel Joe series.
• The idea of Cobra being the offshoot of some kind of ancient race that dwells beneath the ice seems to be inspired by Cobra-La, from G.I. Joe: The Movie. Where that story depicted said race as vaguely-serpent-themed human-like creatures living in a city beneath the Himalayas, here, "Koh-Buru-Lah" is an "Elder God"-style beast, and progenitor of a race of reptilian humanoids that began with the reptiloid foetus we see growing inside Eve on the first page. The ululating battle cry from the movie is adapted into the story just as the name is: "KOH-BURU-LA-LA-LA-LA-LAH!"
• The Polyhex Killway bears some resemblance to the Cobra Arena of Sport, seen in the original two G.I. Joe animated mini-series, "A Real American Hero" and "The Revenge of Cobra", in which unwilling combatants also had their bodies remotely manipulated through gladiatorial matches via "joystick"-style controllers.
• The Combaticons (though not individually referred to by name) mostly turn into recognizable G.I. Joe vehicles. Vortex is a Tomahawk helicopter; Brawl is a MOBAT, and Swindle is an APC, while Blast Off turns into a generic transport plane. These modes are generally evocative of their standard vehicle forms, but the odd 'bot out is Onslaught, who turns into a stealth bomber, so as to give Bruticus a nifty chestplate.
• The pilot of the stealth bomber that turns out to be Onslaught has his file card obscured by the action, so only "Ghost" is visible. He's Ghostrider, and his name being obscured is a running joke in Joe lore. Although his toy could be sold under the name without difficulty, the existence of the far more visible Marvel superhero of the same name meant it posed a problem when it came time for the character to appear in the Marvel G.I. Joe comic. Rather than try to ignore it and hope for the best, writer Larry Hama made it a source of comedy instead, and had it that no characters could ever remember Ghostrider's name—a product of the character's skill at "not being noticed", which was what made him such a good stealth flier. He normally pilots the X-19 Stealth Fighter, but not here.
• Battleforce 2000 are a sub-group of G.I. Joe originally introduced in 1987. The whole team save Dodger were killed in the Marvel series in 1991, and since then, as Scioli and Barber note in this issue's commentary and as the characters themselves meta-textually allude to in the story, they haven't really appeared in anything until now.
• If the fantastic mustache and the positioning of his dislodged glasses to suggest a monocle aren't enough to tip you off, the alias on his nametag should do it: Doctor "Mindelbinder" is Cobra's shirtless wonder, mind-tampering former orthodontist Doctor Mindbender.

Real-life references

• The Serpentress professes that Megatron was the inspiration for the human legend of the archangel Metatron.
• Destro notes that Decepticobra are mind-controlling the Joes and Autobots through processes devised by the MK-Ultra program, which was a real-life CIA mind-control project.
• The GIJONIN take their name from the real-life ninja ranking system, where "jonin" were the highest rank. It's okay to admit you only know it from Naruto, so do we.

Other notes

• This issue was originally solicited for release in January, but production delays meant it did not come out until early April.
• Tom Scioli began this issue as part of a "24-Hour Comic" challenge held from December 6-7, 2014 at Atomic City Comics in Philadelphia. He produced 19 rough pages as part of the challenge, but they were mostly discarded and re-worked for the finished issue; the complete set of thumbnail pages is included as a bonus feature this issue, in addition to the regular story commentary.
• Scioli suggests several possible names in the commentary for the memorable Decepticon bus who appears transporting Crimson Guardsmen to the United Nations: "Busicon", "Busicus", "Cerebus", "Bus-Top", and "Omnibus".

Covers (5)

• Standard cover: Optimus Prime by Tom Scioli
• Subscription cover: Optimus Prime, Alpine, Scarlett, and Shipwreck hold off an attack, by Dave Crosland
• Cover RI: Snake Eyes and Grimlock by Antonio Fuso
• Yesteryear Comics exclusive cover: Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in the snow, by Jamie Tyndall and Ula Mos
• Ottawa Comiccon exclusive cover: Optimus Prime and Duke play ice hockey, by Derek Charm

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Reprints

• Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Volume 2 TPB
• Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Quintessential Collection Hardcover
• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 73: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Part 1

• 

  Volume 2; cover art by Scioli

• 

  Quintessential Collection; cover art by Scioli

• 

  Definitive G1 Collection: Vol. 73: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Pt. 1; cover art by Don Figueroa and Scioli

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