Crossover events are quite popular from comic book publishers. DC Comics is finishing Brightest Day, while Marvel had a major hit last year with Siege. However, I think that the IDW crossover that started recently has to be one of the craziest ideas I’ve seen. What do you get when you cross Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, and Star Trek? If you add zombies, you get “Infestation,” a truly galactic event, that began in January, and will continue through early April.
Now, don’t get too excited here. I would not expect to see Egon meet Spock, or any mixing of the characters from the franchises in that way. What we will see is a squad of elite Covert Vampiric Operations (CVO) agents travel to each of these universes to battle the zombies that have used a portal on our Earth to try to invade these four universes.
The first issue, “Infestation” #1, set the stage, showing how the zombies broke through an interdimensional portal to our world. The CVO agents were sent to take care of the situation, but actually ended up making it worse, as it allowed the zombies to obtain technology and power that allowed them to use the portal to invade other Earths.
The real meat of this event is the zombies being fought in each universe. There will be two issues set in each one. Transformers has finished, and Star Trek #2 will be released next week. G.I. Joe and Ghostbusters will hit stands in March. The event will end with another general issue the first week of April.
The Transformers story, from writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, was good, but I have to admit that I’m saying that from a standpoint of someone who has never been a Transformers fan. However, from what I do know of the overall story of the franchise, I think the “Infestation” story is a good fit. The concept of “artillica,” magical technology or weaponized magic, which was explained in the first issue, is a major concept here. Not only is that how the Autobots and the Decepticons are transformed, but it is also a major motive for the actions of the invaders. They see the Transformers universe as perfect for them, as not only can they swell their ranks, but use the technology to further their own knowledge and invade other universes.
There was one aspect that was predictable, even to myself as a non-fan. The Autobots and Decepticons had to put aside their differences and work together to defeat Britt and the others. While predictable, I feel this was likely the only way this story would have worked. With Britt trying to get Galvatron to bring the Decepticons to her side, if that had happened, the invasion would probably have succeeded.
I was impressed with the art for this story. The Transformers generally includes bright, vivid, primary colors and hard edges and corners. Zombies are the complete opposite. Yet, in the art by Nick Roche with colors from Joana Lafuente, they seemed to blend here and be right at home beside each other. I particularly liked the art on Kup, the Autobot who had been infected. It was truly interesting to see a robot/zombie combination, and see the deterioration.
Before I read part one of the Star Trek story (part two releases next week), I was a bit worried that this would be a zombie story that happened to have Star Trek elements. I am pleased that it is exactly the opposite. The story from Scott and David Tipton is a solid Trek story, that happens to have zombies.
The story takes place shortly after the events of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and puts Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in the spotlight. We see some of the regular banter between these characters, but we also see their professionalism when the danger begins. The “red shirts” are also written well, doing their duty even once they know that they have become infected. The three officers will have to survive for a few days on a planet that has been completely overrun, and all the inhabitants they have encountered so far have been infected.
On the last page of this issue, Kirk has come to the conclusion that they will have to use lethal force to stay alive. However, no shots have been fired, and they may yet be able to avoid killing any of the colonists. This is a nice, if somewhat typical cliffhanger, with Spock trying to open a door that may lead to safety, but could also lead to even more danger. It will definitely be interesting to see how Kirk, Spock, and McCoy survive until the Enterprise arrives. Also, I’m looking forward to seeing how the invasion itself is thwarted. As fans would expect, McCoy sees this “disease” as a challenge, and perhaps that will be the answer. The final part of this story will be released next week.
This series is progressing very nicely. It will be interesting to see how all of the individual stories tie into the big finale. I think that we can all predict at least part of the outcome, that the zombies will not win. However, what will be fun is seeing how each universe defeats the threat, and what that means for the final chapter.
