While the appeal of a zombie plague impacting the worlds of the Transformers, G.I.Joe, Ghostbusters and Stark Trek may be the draw for this event, Infestation seems more intent on setting up a shared universe for some of IDW Publishing’s creator-owned properties, including CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations, Groom Lake and Zombies vs Robots.
In fact, it would be some time before the Transformers and G.I.Joe would be shown to exist in the same universe (during REVOLUTION (2016)).
The black ops CVO team defend America from supernatural threats. But this time, the threat will be multiversal! The infestation hits the Transformers’ universe just as they’re are about to face the threat of Galvatron and his ties to the Dead Universe. The Ghostbusters are still picking up the pieces after the events of their 2009 console game. And it’s all about to go horrifically wrong for the crew of the USS Enterprise and Cobra’s Baroness.
Infestation would spawn a sequel in 2012, switching out zombies for Elder Gods and drawing in characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Danger Girl and 30 Days of Night.
SCROLL DOWN to the bottom for the KEY COLLECTED EDITIONS for this event!
Major Crossover: ‘Infestation’ is comprised of four two-issue mini-series and two bookend issues, though there’s also a digital tie-in and four-issue epilogue series that pushes it into the ‘major crossover’ category. Outbreak acts as a bridge between ‘Infestation’ and ‘Infestation 2’.
Must Reads: Story arcs marked with a ✔are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
Note: A one-shot titles ‘CVO: Infestation 100-Page Spectacular’, but this is not a tie-in to the event itself. The issue collects a selection of previous CVO issues.
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- THE ROAD TO CHAOS (2011) – Galvatron obtains the Heart of Darkness
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- ✔ Infestation #1
- Classified Secrets of Infestation
- ✔ Star Trek: Infestation #1-2
- ✔ Transformers: Infestation #1-2
- ✔ Ghostbusters: Infestation #1-2
- Pocket God: Infestation #1
- ✔ G.I.Joe: Infestation #1-2
- ✔ Infestation #2
- Infestation: Outbreak #1-4
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| Must Reads | Title, Issue Number & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Infestation #1 Following a zombie outbreak at a munitions storage facility in New Mexico, the US Government try to find a way to weaponise their portal to Dimension Z. When more animated corpses spill through, the Covert Vampiric Operations unit (CVO) send their agents – the vampires Britt and Cross – to investigate. The mission goes horrifically wrong as Britt is bitten and subverted by the zombie hive mind. The war robots in storage begin to rampage. Britt tries to regain control of herself, but passes through the portal along with infected humans and robots. CVO agents follow Britt through… |
| Classified Secrets of Infestation (2010) A series of text reports details events taking place directly before the infestation hits the four realities. | |
| ✔ | Star Trek: Infestation #1 In another universe, Admiral James T Kirk, Mister Spock and Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy head to planet Calibus for a ceremony, only to find the inhabitants dead… but walking! The rest of their crew are quickly infected and phasers prove ineffectual. The zombies prepare to leave the planet via shuttle, so Kirk’s team blow the crafts up. Not knowing how long they’ll be able to survive before Scotty picks them up in the USS Enterprise, Kirk orders Spock and Bones to set phasers to kill… |
| ✔ | Star Trek: Infestation #2 The robot Thirty-Seven explains that a woman named Britt offered to help his creator to advance his robotics programme. But the robots ran wild and spread a virus through the colony. Bones creates a cure for the virus, but Britt returns to the lab before they can launch it. Kirk fights her and knocks her into a vat containing the cure, while Spock launches the airborne version. The colonists are cured, but still look like zombies and remain under quarantine. |
| ✔ | Transformers: Infestation #1 Despite being believed dead, Galvatron’s shuttle crash-lands in Las Vegas and spews out zombified Sweeps, other robots and humans that they encountered in space. Galvatron himself is faced with a small band of Autobots led by Bumblebee. But it seems he wants their help against the zombies who have infected some of the Sweeps and infect some of Spike Witwicky’s Skywatch agents. Galvatron’s ally ‘Bayonet’ turns out to be the infected vampire Britt who kills Kup in from of his friends… Also see THE ROAD TO CHAOS |
| ✔ | Transformers: Infestation #2 The Infestation’s Undermind – it’s collective hunger – learned how to spread to other universes through Britt. It divided her into its emissary, sending her to other reality to spread its plague. Now, as Bayonet psychically defeats the Cybertronians, but Kup fights back, spurred on by his memories of the Dead Universe (as seen during STORMBRINGER). The zombies swarm the Autobots until Galvatron uses the Heart of Darkness to allow all Cybertronians to escape. Bayonet absorbs Kup’s abilities and knowledge and allows her to open a gate to Cybertron’s past. Kup sends Bayonet – and himself – to the beginning of the Dead Universe, instead. Now, knowing the Autobots refuse to ally with him, Galvatron has Jhiaxus open a trans-portal back to Cybertron… Also see THE ROAD TO CHAOS |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue Number & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Ghostbusters: Infestation #1 On another Earth, the Ghostbusters are still recapturing spirits that escaped the containment unit’s latest leak. Egon Spengler becomes distracted when his fellow Ghostbusters find a zombie. Winston Zeddemore fires his proton pack, making the attacking creature explode. Another zombie absorbs a ghost and hardens, allowing it to be sucked into a trap. Meanwhile, Ray Stantz finds out the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man escaped containment… |
| ✔ | Ghostbusters: Infestation #2 Britt materialises in the Ghostbusters’ HQ to explain that the zombies have stopped feeding and are drawn to Mr Stay-Puft, intent on locating Gozer the Gozerian. When they turn Stay-Puft into a zombie marshmallow man, the Ghostbusters unleash ghosts for him to absorb. But a new Marshmallow Man emerges from the necrotic one and the two fight it out. Egon’ plan dissipates the two Mr Stay-Pufts. Meanwhile, Britt steals a piece of Gozer’s essence and leaves necrotic slime in New Jersey for the Ghostbusters to deal with… |
| Pocket God #9 (digital comic) On a bizarre world, Nooby is taken prisoner by Britt’s zombie monkey. Britt hopes to learn how Nooby and his allies can regenerate when they die. Realising Britt is an enemy, Nooby gets Britt’s zombie T-Rex to eat her instead of him. | |
| ✔ | G.I.Joe: Infestation #1 On another Earth, Baroness holds G.I.Joe operatives Psyche-Out, Dolphin and Hound captive in their Cottonmouth outpost under the Pacific Ocean. She kills Hound to force Psyche-Out to hand the robot arm they were guarding. In a nearby Cobra lab, the tests on the prototype android Battle Android Troopers (BATs) goes poorly. Baroness gives the head scientist Dr Zych the arm, plugging it into her own enhancements. It immediately takes her over, along with the base and the BATs. The slaughter begins… |
| ✔ | G.I.Joe: Infestation #2 With no means of calling for assistance and the virus raging through Cottonmouth base, Baroness frees Psych-Out so he can help her survive. The BATs’ attack causes a hull breach. The robotic arm is now part of Dr Zych who has gained a full cyborg form as Britt. Psych-Out rips the virus from her body while being shot at by the BATs. With Psyche-Out and Dr Zych dead, the Baronness escapes the base using the Eels’ diving gear before it floods. |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue Number & Synopsis |
| ✔ | Infestation #2 Under the Presidents orders, the US Air Force bomb the Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Complex to prevent the plague from spreading from New Mexico. CVO agents Cross and Bools narrowly escape via the Trans-Gate with the unconscious Britt. Cross allows Benny the Smith to bite him in order to let the Undermind in and defeat Britt. But the Undermind is already free, so Cross risks his own life to destroy it. Artillica – the CVO’s magical tech – in rendered inert by the Undermind’s defeat. In fact, all magic is gone. Britt is missing, while Cross shows up alive… |
| Infestation: Outbreak #1 The CVO get two new recruits – the super-strong genius Isaac and the serpentine Yumiko – while Cross has returned, still riddled with artillica. It’s also given him new abilities, including teleportation, tech manipulation and day-walking. Britt is sedated in the infirmary. After an assassin invade the CVO’s Coffin HQ, Leticia Pope and her little grey friend Archibald of Project: Black Book arrive, looking to take Ulysses Overmars’ place a Director. Cross is drawn to Centralia, New Jersey, where he’s set upon by ‘demonic’ thugs who turn out to be shapeshifting aliens… | |
| Infestation: Outbreak #2 Britt is back on the team and exhibits new powers which she uses to save her allies when the CVO jet explodes. They’re stranded in the Mojave Desert, until Letitia leads them to Groom Lake where they obtain the means to see through shapeshifting aliens’ disguises. In Centralia, Cross and Nikodemus are surrounded by aliens until Cross incinerates them. They investigate the aliens’ underground colony, but are laid low by leading alien Ng and Nikodemus’ demonic parents… | |
| Infestation: Outbreak #3 Leticia Pope and Archibald fly the CVO agents away from Groom Lake in an alien craft, but they’re attacked by UFOs. They escape their crashing ship and head to Centralia where they’re attacked by aliens and demons. Yumiko Is killed. They escape to a lower circle of Hell where Cross and Nikodemus are hiding out. Britt and Cross combine their powers to defeat the aliens & demons. But the alien leader Ng rips out Cross’s artillica heart and prepares to use it to kill the others… | |
| Infestation: Outbreak #4 Bools takes on Nikodemus’ demonic parents, with help from Yumiko in a transformed serpent form! Archibald retrieves the heart from Ng and tosses it to Britt. She restores Cross at the cost of her own artillica. A gigantic creature emerges, terrifying the demons and aliens. Archibald teleports himself, his allies and Nikodemus’ parents to safety. The CVO agents return to Coffin HQ. Nikodemus warns of a new threat. The Elder Gods have infested Hell… |
| Must Reads | Issues & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Transformers: Heart of Darkness #1-4 (2011) How Galvatron obtained the Heart of Darkness is revealed. | THE ROAD TO CHAOS |
| ✔ | Zombies vs Robots: Undercity #1-4 (2011) The impact of the zombie infestation of the Earth it spawned from is revealed. | |
| ✔ | Transformers #24-30 (2011) The combined forces of the Autobots and Decepticons oppose Galvatron; the true purpose of the Heart of Darkness is revealed. | CHAOS |
| Ghostbusters #1-4 (2011) Gozer the Gozerian’s energies threaten to reform; Gozer is defeated by the Ghostbusters; Mr Stay-Puft’s true form is fully restored. | ||
| G.I.Joe #7 (2011) The Joes deal with a more-developed version of the Cobra BATs. | ||
| ✔ | Infestation 2 #1-2 (2012) The Elder Gods’ make their move on Hell and a number of other realities; the CVO gain assistance from a member of the Autobots, G.I.Joe and others to turn the tide. | INFESTATION 2 |
| Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #25-26 (2014) While witnessing a vision of the future, Shockwave sees Kup is still alive; Nova Prime tries to utilise Kup’s link to the Dead Universe to his own ends; Kup is rescued by Optimus Prime. | DARK CYBERTRON |
Notable collected editions featuring Infestation
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Infestation vol.1 | G.I. Joe: Infestation #1-2 Infestation #1 Transformers: Infestation #1-2 |
| Infestation vol.2 | Ghostbusters: Infestation #1-2 Infestation #2 Star Trek: Infestation #1-2 |
| Infestation | Ghostbusters: Infestation #1-2 G.I. Joe: Infestation #1-2 Infestation #1-2 Pocket God #9 Star Trek: Infestation #1-2 Transformers: Infestation #1-2 |
| Infestation Omnibus | CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations #1 Ghostbusters: Infestation #1-2 G.I. Joe: Infestation #1-2 Infestation #1-2 Infestation 2 #1-2 Infestation 2: 30 Days of Night #1 Infestation 2: Dungeons & Dragons #1-2 Infestation 2: G.I. Joe #1-2 Infestation 2 Team-Up #1, Infestation 2: The Transformers #1-2 Infestation 2: TMNT #1-2 Infestation: Outbreak #1-4 Pocket God #9 Star Trek: Infestation #1-2 Transformers: Infestation #1-2 |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| G.I.Joe: The IDW Collection vol.5 | G.I.Joe #23-27 G.I.Joe: Cobra #10-13 G.I.Joe: Infestation #1-2 G.I.Joe: Origins #20-23 G.I.Joe Special: Helix #1 |
| Transformers: The IDW Collection vol.7 | Transformers #7-18 Transformers: Infestation #1-2 Transformers: Ironhide #1-4 |
| Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection vol.50: Heart of Darkness | Transformers: Heart of Darkness #1-4 Transformers: Infestation #1-2 |
Reading Order ©OmniverseComicsGuide 2023
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