Star Trek Comics Weekly #137

An ongoing discussion of how the comics provide prequels, sequels, and tie-ins to the Star Trek episodes and films, soon to be a book from BearManor Media.

137: IDW Publishing, 2018–2019

If you thought IDW had struck gold with “The Primate Directive” as the title of its Star Trek and Planet of the Apes crossover, then you’ll get a kick out of how it named its Star Trek and Transformers team-up. The five-issue Star Trek vs. Transformers miniseries, published in 2018 and 2019, was written by John Barber and Mike Johnson, with art by Philip Murphy and Jack Lawrence. The title? Not “Spocktimus Prime,” amusing though that might have been, nor even “Decepti-Khan.” No, it was perfectly named “Prime’s Directive,” which—much like “The Primate Directive”—provided a great double-pun significant to both franchises.

By 2018, IDW had reached the end of a string of crossovers between Star Trek and other properties. That trend began in 2011 with Infestation, which indirectly tied Trek to Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, Zombies Vs. Robots, CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations, and Pocket God—indirectly because the casts (specifically those of Trek and Transformers) did not interact. This was followed by Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes, The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation², Star Trek/Planet of the Apes, a pair of Star Trek/Green Lantern minis, and the announced but canceled The Next Generation/Aliens: Acceptable Losses. And all of the above were preceded by a Star Trek/X-Men trilogy from Marvel Comics and Pocket Books.

Some of these stories worked. Others, not so much. But several, like Transformers, were unexpectedly fun. Transformers, co-produced by toy companies Hasbro and Takara Tomy, comprises a vast line of comics, toys, cartoons, films, and more. It ranks among the highest-grossing franchises of all time, due in part to Michael Bay’s films. The series centers around giant living robots from the machine planet Cybertron, including the heroic Autobots and their nefarious nemesis, the Decepticons. As the name implies, these sentient automata can transform into a variety of forms, including vehicles and beasts.

Star Trek and Transformers might sound ill-fit. After all, one features space explorers charting the final frontier, while the other stars 18-wheelers, sports cars, motorcycles, and dinosaurs that resemble Godzilla‘s Jet Jaguar and fight like metal-encased professional wrestlers. Yet this crossover isn’t about the 1960s live-action Star Trek show—it’s a mash-up of the 1984 Transformers cartoon and Star Trek: The Animated Series, and instead of taking the concept too seriously, it leans heavily into the absurdity of it all. And that’s exactly why it works.

The two mythos have surprisingly strong ties. Several Star Trek actors have starred in Transformers productions, including LeVar Burton, Jeffrey Combs, Michael Dorn, Leonard Nimoy, John Noble, George Takei, Wil Wheaton, and Michelle Yeoh, while Trek producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman scripted some of the Transformers movies. Plus, the Beast Wars: Uprising fiction imprint was set in the 24^th century, with uniforms and starships based on those of Jean-Luc Picard’s crew, and characters from both franchises appeared in the Kre-O Transformers: Think Like A Kreon 2014 short “Detention Escape.”

Amusingly, the comic not only introduced “Crewbot” mecha-suits based on Arex, M’Ress, Spock, Hikaru Sulu, and Montgomery Scott, but also reconfigured Optimus Prime’s Fortress Maximus as an Enterprise-shaped Autobot called Fortress Tiberius—which is fitting since it was the Star Trek cartoon that first revealed Kirk’s middle name. The Crewbots do not transform in the comic, though concept art posted on Twitter by artist Philip Murphy indicates the suits could become Class-F shuttlecraft.

One might be tempted to dismiss this as a quick cash-grab, but it isn’t. As a love letter to both cartoons, “Prime’s Directive” is giddy fun, written and drawn with obvious love for the source material. That much is clear from the clever decision to utilize the cratered green planet from the opening credits of every Animated Series episode, the oft-used overhead view of the bridge crew, and even the characters running like on the covers of various home-video releases. There’s more here than meets the eye, so let’s roll out!

Both M’Ress and Arex are highly visible, with M’Ress taking an active role in helping the Autobots, and Arex commanding the Enterprise in Kirk’s absence. The Caitian had shown up in the Power Records comics with the wrong physiology, then she and Arex were added to DC Comics’ Star Trek line as recurring players. The two have appeared in such IDW titles as Year Four, Year Four: Enterprise Experiment, New Frontier, Mission’s End, New Visions, and Year Five, but the Transformers crossover is the first bona fide Animated Series comic, and it gives them their meatiest material to date. That crown may soon transfer owners, though, given the recently announced digital-first comic Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents the Scheimer Barrier.

Star Trek vs. Transformers spotlights Commander Kuri from the animated episode “The Time Trap,” who once again resembles Captain Koloth (“The Trouble with Tribbles”), just he did onscreen; perhaps they’re from the same Klingon House. Kuri’s forces raid a mining world, then ally with the Decepticons when the robots attack the same planet, and together they battle the Enterprise crew and the Autobots.

The planet under siege is Cygnus VII, cited on a computer graphic created for Star Trek Beyond (though not used in the final film) as an unaffiliated world undergoing a planetary survey. A planet called Cygnus VII has appeared in several Transformers tales as well, notably “The Big Broadcast of 2006,” so this may have been an intentional in-joke on the writers’ part.

Those serving under Kuri include Kor, Kali, and Kaz of the IKS Klothos, who worked alongside Kuri in “The Time Trap” to ensnare the Enterprise. (Kor debuted in The Original Series‘ “Errand of Mercy,” of course, then returned on Deep Space Nine.) None of the trio are named here, though they are drawn identically to their cartoon selves, making it clear who they’re meant to be. Kaz now sports cybernetic implants, including a red mechanical eye that recalls Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator.

Eagle-eyed readers might spot a gossamer mouse (“The Terratin Incident”) and glommers (“More Tribbles, More Troubles”). This is the second comic to feature a gossamer mouse (the first was Gold Key’s issue #1, the earliest Trek comic ever published), and the first to feature a glommer. The miniseries also references Starfleet Order 2 (“One of Our Planets Is Missing”), prohibiting the taking of intelligent life.

It’s not just The Animated Series that the comic references, however. A flashback shows Autobots and Decepticons departing Earth at the outset of World War III while narcotics-controlled soldiers wage war, recalling Q’s depiction of same in The Next Generation‘s “Encounter at Farpoint.” Perhaps the most on-the-nose allusion occurs when Decepticons invade Qo’noS. One of them dubs the attack “Operation: Annihilate,” referencing not only the Trek episode title, but also the frequent Transformers phraseology (“Operation: Breakdown,” “Operation: Distant Thunder,” “Operation: Volcano,” and so on).

“Prime’s Directive” also pays homage to the Star Trek films. Scotty boasts that he could modify a Constitution-class vessel so a crew of only five could fly it, which he later does in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.And when Kirk links with the Fortress Maximus, each experiences the others’ thoughts, including the captain’s memories of running through an Iowa corn field as a child, with young Jim drawn as actor Jimmy Bennett from the 2009 movie. One film not tied in is Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which seems like a missed opportunity since V’Ger encountered a planet of living machines. It could have been Cybertron!

Artist Philip Murphy deserves a lot of credit for the miniseries’ success, as his capturing of the cartoon aesthetic is pitch-perfect. Not only do the main cast, the Klingons, and the Enterprise look like they do in The Animated Series, but Murphy goes the added step of rendering characters from the Trek films in Animated Series style. In the above flashback, the Autobots’ vessel flies over the encampment of Zefram Cochrane and Lily Sloane, perhaps inspiring Cochrane to construct his warp-capable Phoenix rocket. The two apocalyptic survivors are drawn as though lifted right out of the cartoon.

What’s more, the comic calls back Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country… almost. The Klingon High Council are drawn non-ridged and in The Animated Series‘ distinctive style, and both Memory Alpha and Memory Beta claim the chancellor is Gorkon. However, the character is unnamed in the comic, and it’s unclear whether Gorkon yet ruled the Empire a quarter-century before Star Trek VI. The Klingon’s graying beard does match Gorkon’s, but Murphy himself explained, in a comment posted to the Star Trek Comics Weekly Facebook group, that this was not his intent.

“They were not meant to be anyone specific,” Murphy wrote. “They didn’t have names in the script, so I just designed them from scratch, not based on anyone.” We’ll let the artist have the final word on that point. Meanwhile, the next installment of this column will discuss a crossover of another kind: Star Trek: The Q Conflict, which brought together the crews of The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager for a battle among the gods. See you then!

Looking for more information about Star Trek comics? Check out these resources:

• My ongoing column for Titan Books’ Star Trek Explorer magazine
• The Complete Star Trek Comics Index, curated by yours truly
• The Star Trek Comics Checklist, by Mark Martinez
• The Wixiban Star Trek Collectables Portal, by Colin Merry
• New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, by Joseph F. Berenato (Sequart, 2014)
• Star Trek: A Comics History, by Alan J. Porter (Hermes Press, 2009)
• The Star Trek Comics Weekly page on Facebook

Rich Handley has written, co-written, co-edited, or contributed to dozens of books, both fiction and non-fiction, about Planet of the Apes, Watchmen, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Stargate, Dark Shadows, The X-Files, Twin Peaks, Red Dwarf, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman, the Joker, classic monsters, and more. He has also been a magazine writer and editor for nearly three decades. Rich edited Eaglemoss’s Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection, and he currently writes articles for Titan’s Star Trek Explorer magazine, as well as books for an as-yet-unannounced role-playing game. Learn more about Rich and his work at richhandley.com.