I miss Saturday morning cartoons — well, not the cartoons themselves, necessarily, but the experience.

Anyone can stream whatever cartoons they want now, but anyone who grew up with the Saturday morning memory of staying in your pajamas and watching TV at 7AM will know just exactly what I’m talking about.

If not, then you really need to read the latest issue of Star Trek vs Transformers to get a sense of the feeling that I’m trying to describe.

You see, it’s not about whether this comic validates the continuity of either one of these franchises. If anyone is looking for that in this comic, then you’re out of luck and probably didn’t sneak chocolate chip cookies for breakfast while you kept the television volume down.

At first glance, this is a strange combination of properties, but it’s one that not only appeals to a duality of generations of fans but taps into a spirit of playfulness that can only nostalgically exist in the memories of someone who was old enough to have watched at least one of these cartoons.

In this issue, the Enterprise crew and their new allies, the Autobots, are still in combat with the Decepticons and the Klingons. The Klingons in the cartoon were always a bit more exaggerated than their televised counterparts. They sneered, twirled their mustaches and always tried to use guile and back-stabbery as their avenues to success.

It’s a perfect foil for Megatron, who also had the same attitude towards any of his schemes. In this book, he has matched the mustache twirling completely.

Mike Johnson and Phillip Murphy work well together in recreating the styles of art and dialogue of both the animated version of Star Trek and the Transformers cartoon. John Barber’s contributions are not to be overlooked as well. Though the two franchises are separated by a decade or so, this comic can still be enjoyed by its original audience and different generations of fans who are looking to either recapture that spirit of playful fun or experience it anew for themselves – and these creators have made that happen.

I’ve followed Mike Johnson’s work on his other Trek books and he brings a good sense of continuity and character awareness to his work. He’s a thorough writer who knows his subject well. Still, I’d love to know how he prepared himself for writing this book. How many hours of cartoon viewing did he put into readying himself for this gig?

Phil Murphy really knows how to emulate the art style of the Animated Trek series well and recreates it perfectly. Especially the alien members of the crew. Remember M’Ress and Arex? They were significant because it was the first time we saw more of the alien members who were supposed to be on board the Enterprise, other than Spock, that is. It was a cool childhood memory.

But yeah… they’re here. It’s odd to read them without hearing James Doohan and Majel Roddenberry’s voice-overs or to hear the repetitive musical interstitials; but it’s great to see the characters drawn exactly the way I remember them from my youth. I miss the audio, but happy to see clear video.

Speaking of which, I had a chance to show my own kids the Filmation Trek on Netflix recently and then I showed them this comic. To their inexperienced eyes, there were no differences in the art. High praise from honest, geek-aware children.

Then there’s the Transformers. Optimus Prime, Jazz, Starscream, Megatron and even starring-in-his-own-motion-picture, Bumblebee. It’s a chance to have fun with characters that amused us as both toys and then cartoons. Creating stories out of our imaginations in playing with the toys and then, when the cartoon came out in the mid-80’s, being able to recreate cartoon episodes.

Transformers stimulated our imaginations and when it comes down to it, that’s what this book is about. The combination of two franchises isn’t about adhering to the canon of either, it’s just a chance to see what it would be like if they met.

All in all – it’s just pure fun.

• Cover ‘A’ has to be recognized as an incredible homage to the scene in Star Trek: The Motion Picture where the Enterprise triumphantly explodes out of the V’Ger cloud. We see the same effect in this stylistic cover from Philip Murphy as the Transformer version of the Enterprise sails majestically away from Optimus Prime opening a power cell. It’s pretty awesome, and is certainly is my favourite one of the covers for this book.
   
• Cover ‘B’ is by Priscilla Tramontano and it also evokes a giant Optimus Prime. As his head looms in the viewscreen, we get a good scene of the bridge crew reacting excitedly. The bridge looks a little cramped, but hey, it’s a cartoon, right?
   
• George Caltsoudas gives us a 1960’s-like pin-up poster for the retailer-incentive cover. Lieutenant M’Ress, the Caitian communications officer looks quite comfortable in Bumblebee’s arm. Caltsoudas has a penchant for these retro-styled pieces and in this case, just has the right amount of appeal for a kid’s cartoon.

Again, if you’re looking for Trek content, abandon hope all ye who enter here. This is a book meant to have fun, and it’s the same type of playful fun that adults just don’t have any more. It’s a sheer cartoony experience and if you remember what that was like, then you’re in for a trip down memory lane.

If you missed the Saturday morning experience, then you’re still in for a treat as you get to experience the pure joy of just enjoying a simple story that … more than meets the eye.