The 2 strains dominated toy aisles of the Eighties thanks largely to their syndicated animated sequence: G.I. Joe: A Actual American Hero, which ran from 1983 to 1986 whereas The Transformers ran from 1984 to 1987. However regardless of their shared dad or mum firm, the 2 franchises solely made winks to 1 one other, with aged variations of Joes like Snake Eyes and Flint displaying up within the 2006 setting of The Transformers.
Nonetheless, comedian books made the connections way more specific. Marvel obtained the comedian rights to each franchises within the Eighties, and first introduced them collectively in 1986 for G.I. Joe and Transformers, a four-part miniseries that started with the Joes murdering Bumblebee and later teaming with the Autobots to maintain an atomic base out of the arms of Cobra and the Decepticons. Seven years later, Marvel launched the Era 2 Transformers into continuity by way of a narrative arc within the G.I. Joe ongoing, which spun off right into a Transformers sequence.
Ultimately, the licenses went on to different comedian e-book corporations, together with Satan’s Due and IDW. Understanding the worth of the properties, these publishers frequently introduced the 2 toy strains collectively. However as a lot because the settings and tones modified, the essential premise remained the identical: The Joes used Autobots as weapons to defend Earth/America/oil Pursuits, and Cobra used Decepticons as autos for terrorism/destruction of the Earth.
Even a 2004 miniseries from Dreamwave Publishing—that includes a script by John Ney Rieber and moody visuals from penciler Jae Lee, inker Rob Armstrong, and colorist June Chung—adopted the essential plot beats, regardless of going down within the Thirties with the Joes because the Allies and Cobra because the Axis. Comedian runs from present rights-holder IDW Publishing have been extra playful of their strategy, together with the 13-issue Transformers vs. G.I. Joe sequence by John Barber and Tom Scioli, which takes the type of an early Silver Age comedian.
Regardless of the ubiquity of G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover comics, it’s stunning that the 2 properties haven’t but correctly crossed over in motion pictures, particularly given Hasbro’s many makes an attempt at breaking into Hollywood. Along with the Michael Bay-produced Transformers motion pictures and the (underrated!) G.I. Joe motion pictures, Hasbro has made movies out of board video games Clue, Battleship, and the Ouija board. They’ve additionally introduced toy strains Jem and the Holograms and My Little Pony, in addition to licensed properties Power Rangers and Dungeons & Dragons.
However the makes an attempt to make a shared universe have largely faltered, together with a never-produced toy-centric franchise that introduced G.I. Joe along with M.A.S.Ok., Visionaries, ROM, and the Micronauts. Extra not too long ago, Hasbro’s film studio (which has passed by Hasbro Studios, Allspark, and now Leisure One) has fallen on exhausting instances, and has been restructuring its properties internally because the finish of final 12 months.
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