A comiXologist Recommends

Transformers Vs. G.I. Joe #10

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Tom Scioli’s Transformers vs. G.I. Joe is the best thing happening in mainstream comics today, and maybe the best thing happening in comics period.  In doing what he’s done with the series, Scioli has achieved at least two remarkable feats.  First, he has made an art comic under the guise of a mainstream comic- in theory, what could be more mainstream than Transformers vs. G.I. Joe?  Superman Vs. Batman, maybe?  Mickey Mouse vs. Donald Duck?  Coke vs. Pepsi?  And it’s been successful, too, both critically and commercially,

More than that, though, Scioli has a made an art comic out of a licensed mainstream comic, with ties not only to other comics, but to two lines of popular toys, cartoons, multi million dollar movie franchises, diehard fans and some 30 plus years of history.  This isn’t to say that there aren’t good comics made from licensed properties, or even these two particular properties- just check out Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, but even some of the best must adhere to certain constraints.  They must play the right amount of fan service and provide what is primarily a recognizable version of these characters and the created universe in which they exist.

Not so for Scioli and collaborator John Barber.  Sure, the G.I. Joes are recognizable as G.I. Joes, and the Transformers as Transformers, but the world around them, by today’s t issue #10, has gone entirely off the rails in many wonderful and frightening ways. 

Scioli reveals some of his artistic intentions in the fragmentation of the narrative, skipping what would, in other books, be key expository moments in favor something, at times, more mysterious and inscrutable.  The ever expanding conflict between G.I. Joe/Autobots and Cobra/Decepticons takes on the fevered tenor of an epidemic, not a war so much as a slowly creeping infection, changing the landscape of two worlds, the fate of two races.

At times, this might seem confusing, but ultimately, it is not, and it’s also not Scioli’s domain to give us a standard, by the numbers A to B to C narrative, with easy answers to all our questions, spelled out for us in big block letters.  It could be said that the exact story here is, while not irrelevant, certainly not the star of the show. 

That star would be Scioli’s visuals.  Once a disciple of Jack Kirby, Scioli has emerged through this series as an artist with his own distinctive visual style and aesthetic.  It certain draws on the influence of Kirby- both love a good splash page, and draw one like no other, but Scioli’s busy frames, frantic multi-character action sequences and hazy, textured colors are all his own.  Coupled with the abstracted narrative, Trasnformers vs. G.I. Joe sometimes has a dreamlike quality, an idea and style not entirely divorced from Howard the Duck creator Steve Gerber’s tenure as story editor on the G.I. Joe animated cartoon in the 1980s, but with even less concern for editorial constraint.

This, too, is an achievement, because Scioli has not only taken this licensed, mainstream comic and made an art comic out of it, he’s made it his own, and he’s managed to do so while staying remarkably close to the spirit of the original properties (let’s not forget, the 1980′s Transformers and G.I. Joe animated movies got pretty loopy at times, thought still remained firmly rooted in the arena of kids entertainment and toy marketing).

In its filled-to-the-brim, hyperkinetic nature, Trasnformers vs. G.I. Joe feels like a collision, a cathexis of commerce and art, corporate visions and individual creativity, targeted marketing and narrative abstraction, commercial cynicism and the pure joy of imagination, the past and the future.  Read it.  Embrace it on its own terms.  Love it.  Accept everything about it.  This is everything comics can be in the hands of the right creator.  This can be the future of the comics.  Just let it happen.

Harris Smith is a senior production coordinator and the editor of comiXology’s Tumblr.  He’s also the publisher of Felony Comics, featured in Best American Comics 2015, and the co-host of the weekly radio show Negative Pleasure on Newtown Radio.