G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers 4: Black Horizon #1

Credits

Writer - Tim Seeley / Artist - Andrew Wildman / Letters - Brian J. Crowley / Colors - Wes Dzidba & Art Lyon

Story

In 1978, soldier-of-fortune Joe Colton is leading an adventure team in the mountains of Tibet when they are attacked by a trio of Chinese jets. The team is saved when the jets are downed by strange organic creatures, whom their sherpa identifies as "Kohbrala." The adventure team tries to escape, but are stopped by Bludgeon, a giant robot dressed in samurai armor. Bludgeon kills Joe's partner, but Colton is spared when Pythona orders him to take them captive instead...

In present-day Denver, the Joe leader called Hawk awakes screaming from a recurring nightmare of an angry god scoring the Earth. Since he was fused with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership (from the end of the previous G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers limited series), his life has been a mess -- he's been receiving cryptic prophetic dreams, driven away his girlfriend Carolee, he's resigned from G.I. Joe to protest government misuse of Cybertronian technology, and is now targeted in a smear campaign. But before he can meet with a reporter to tell his story, he's summoned by the Autobots and picked up by Cosmos in response to an urgent crisis.

On a freighter near Cuba, Destro is closing a deal to sell q set of SNAKE battle armor when they're suddenly attacked by the Autobots Eject, Prowl, and Sideswipe. Destro's troops drive back the Autobots, who are working with Hawk and Firewall -- without authority from the Joes -- to reclaim Cybertronian technology. Their communication is interrupted by a thunderous voice that proclaims "I RETURN". Hawk summons Optimus Prime from Cybertron, who promptly responds, then surreptitiously contacts Flint of the G.I. Joe team for a trip to Tibet.

In the Himalayan kingdom of Cobra-La, Pythona taunts the imprisoned Joe Colton about their beacon, which will summon Unicron and bring about the downfall of humanity. Elsewhere, Dr. Mindbender informs Lord Golobulus of an incoming aircraft entering their airspace; it turns out to be a Chinese military transport, which air-drops Optimus Prime, Hawk, and Flint into the mountains. Upon landing, the trio follow Hawk's premonitions to find the "god beacon" behind his nightmares...

Things You Never Expected to Hear a Giant 20-foot-tall Robot Say entry #3,278.

On the edge of the solar system, a trio of alien thieves are suddenly devoured by monster planet Unicron. At Destro's castle in Transcarpathia, Pythona thanks Destro for carrying a load of special "mushrooms" on his abandoned freighter, then reveals to Dr. Mindbender that they were used to mark the attacking Autobots with tracking spores during their raid. Sure enough, as Prowl, Skids, and Firewall rest undersea in the Arc II, they are suddenly attacked by the Monster Pretenders -- agents of Cobra-la!

In the Himalayas, Optimus Prime, Hawk, and Flint are suddenly attacked by Bludgeon and a squad of Cobra-la warriors. While Hawk and Flint manage to defeat the inhuman warriors, Bludgeon gets Optimus Prime in a metal-eating grip, but is thwarted when Hawk uses his Matrix powers to overload his senses. As Cobra-la reinforcements arrive, the heroes escape through a hidden tunnel. Golobulus is outraged that a machine has infiltrated Cobra-la, but Dr. Mindbender note that they still have to contend with yetis and The Enforcer...

Cosmos skims the ocean, looking for the Arc II, but finds instead Firewall and Eject, the survivors of the Monster Pretender's raid. As Eject heads for repairs, Firewall boards Cosmos, and the two go to Tibet to help Optimus Prime's team. In Tibet, Pythona visits Colton with news about the arrival of Hawk, Flint, and Optimus Prime. After she leaves with a promise to kill them, Colton secretly frees himself and vows to stop her. And in the Utah headquarters of G.I. Joe, Firewall contacts Duke and calls for their help.

In the Tibetan tunnels, Hawk is translating a set of hieroglyphs that document the alliance between Unicron and Cobra-la: 160,000 years ago, Unicron arrived on Earth, ready to consume the planet for substenance and enslave its inhabitants. He was foiled by the denizens of Cobra-la, a technology-shunning species armed with metal-eating spores. But rather than repelling Unicron, they agreed to go into hiding and secretly guide the rise of humanity. Once the people of Earth have reached a sufficiently advanced level of technology, Unicron would be summoned, and the beings of Cobra-la would take over the Earth after humanity has been assimilated.

Hawk recognizes his premonitions as the beacon summoning Unicron, and Optimus Prime notes that he's unable to summon help due to interference from the beacon. They're suddenly attacked by Bludgeon and the soldiers of Cobra-la, ensnaring Flint in an organic husk. From the shadows, Joe Colton appears, offering to show them an escape route...

Notes and Comments

• This was a double-sized isssue.
• Joe Colton's partner on the Adventure team was Major Mike Power, the Atomic Man.