The first comic book I ever put my hard earned, adolescent cash down for was G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #14. To this day, I know where I purchased that book: United Dairy Farmers, the corner market, in my home town. Back then, the United Dairy Farmers would give you 10 cents for each glass cola bottle you brought in. I had collected seven, thus covering my 60 cent cover price and a little extra for tax. I still have that first page indelibly inscribed in my psyche. Three legendary characters: Snake-Eyes, Dr Venom, and Kwinn, the Eskimo mercenary. From that point on, G.I. Joe was the book I collected. Larry Hama was the God of all things Joe. It was not until three years later that I was given my first superhero book (X-Factor #7) and I fell hard for collecting everything I could get my hands on. Shortly after I discovered G.I. Joe, I discovered Transformers #1 at the same corner market. It is worth remembering, that this was the 1980s, and there were no larger powerhouses of comic, cartoon, and toy lines aimed at kids, than these two behemoths. G.I. Joe and Transformers defined my childhood and taught me the value of storytelling which remains with me to this day. Both were must-read comics (the true canon) and must-see cartoons (as filler between months waiting for the next published panel). G.I. Joe and Transformers have had a multitude of adaptations over the decades. Within the comic book genre alone, both have been bastardized by commercialism, suffered 90s angst and been made extreme, and also wandered down the dark road that turned them morbid and gritty. At times, both licenses have thrived and suffered from these interpretations. In the 1980s, and...