G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers issue 1

	; Prime collects G.I. Joes.
Publisher	Image Comics; Devil's Due Press
First published	July 2, 2003
Cover date	June 2003
Writer	Josh Blaylock
Penciler	Mike S. Miller
Inker	Armando Durruthy
Colorist	Lynx Studio w/ HI FI Colour Design
Letterer	Dreamer Design
Graphic design	Mike Norton
Continuity	G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity

The assault on Chocolate City.

Synopsis

A shaft of sunlight drops into a chamber containing the damaged bodies of deactivated Transformers. An entrance is blasted into the chamber, and in walk Cobra troops, led by Cobra Commander. They have discovered the buried Ark and plan to plunder its technology. As the Commander speculates on the age of the ship and its occupants, Megatron awakens just long enough to give the commander and the Baroness a brief scare.

Patchouli Oil… Entitlement… Poster board glue… Smooth hands… HIPPIIIIIIIIES!!

Later, a small team of U.S. soldiers stand guard over peace talks in Washington, D.C. A talkative soldier among them nicknamed Snake-Eyes takes a bet that he can remain silent for the operation's duration. While the peace talks go well (albeit with minor interference from protesters), several Cobra vehicles drop their cover and proceed to raid the crowd, with no concern for innocent life.

Air Force jets arrive to defend against the attackers, but they are quickly engaged by the Cobra jets enhanced with alien technology. Piloting one of the jets, Cobra Commander orders his pilots to engage the Air Force. The gun strapped in a holster on his hip warns him that he's unleashing a power he can't contain. One of the jets transforms, revealing itself to be Thundercracker, who tears through the Air Force jet. The American pilot, Ace, barely has time to eject and escape.

On the ground, the Baroness leads a force of Cobra tanks against the Army. At Cobra Commander's order, the tanks transform and reveal themselves to be gigantic robots. Joined by Starscream, the Transformers tear into the building where the peace conference is taking place, except for the tall red robot codenamed Hiss-14. It won't respond to Cobra's controls.

Snake-Eyes uses conventional weaponry to try to dissuade the robot, but a pulse of energy from Starscream destroys his transport and his face.

After the attack, General Flagg reviews footage of the assault. Flagg announces that the surviving soldiers will form a special-response task-force named G.I. Joe to combat the threat, led by Colonel Abernathy.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	G.I. Joe	Cobra
Cosmos (1) Cliffjumper (3) Jazz (4) Optimus Prime (12) Ironhide (14) Ratchet (15)	Starscream (2) Soundwave (5) Rumble (6) Megatron (10) Thundercracker (16) Skywarp (17)	Snake-Eyes (11) Stalker (12) Hawk (13) Ace (19) Cover Girl (21) General Flagg (23) Flint (24) Lady Jaye (25)	Cobra Vipers (7) Cobra Commander (8) Baroness (9) Wild Weasel (18) Major Bludd (20) Tele-Vipers (22)

Notes

The news stations seen on screens are all clearly based on real-life news media outlets. FAX News being FOX News, CNC being CNN, and MSM being MSNBC.
The back cover to the issue is the combined Cobra/Decepticon logo.
Megatron's line when temporary regaining consciousness is: "I... still... functionnn.".

Covers (8)

Cover A: Prime and Snake-Eyes by Mike S. Miller.
Cover B: Megatron and Cobra Commander by J. Scott Campbell.
Cover C: Prime and Joes in an anime style by Kaare Andrews.
Retailer Incentive Cover: Autobots and Joes (which could be ordered once for every 25 regular editions) by Steve Kurth.
Graham Crackers Comics exclusive cover: Scarlett and Bumblebee (limited to 2500 copies) by Mark Brooks and Clayton Brown.
Graham Crackers Comics exclusive gold foil cover: limited to 2500 copies
Devil's Due web store exclusive: cover B uncolored sketch
Second printing Cover: the Decepticon/Cobra logo by Mike S. Miller.