It’s always a good time in the swamp.
Creative Staff:
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Andrea Milana
Colors: Annalisa Leoni
Letterer: Rus Wooton
What They Say:
After last issue’s shocking reveals, Cobra Commander searches for a power greater than any the Earth has ever seen. But when this mission brings him face-to-face with a fan-favorite G.I. Joe faction—will they be friend, foe, or something else entirely?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While I’ve enjoyed the Image Comics continuation of the main GI Joe series the last couple of months, I have not engaged with the Energon Universe of shared/crossover books that involve the Transformers until now. This series is my first foray into it and it was simply something I was curious about. This book comes from writer Joshua Williamson, whom I’ve read a decent chunk of over the years, and artist Andrea Milana with Annalisa Leoni coloring it. The artwork for it is definitely distinctive in a lot of ways and I love the look of the Commander here with the hat and jacket, which just scratches a particular itch for me. The book captures the world well overall and with the inclusion of Megatron later in the installment.
The opening installment had some solid stuff to it as I got to get a feel for this particular shared universe and the mechanics of it. There was a lot to like in the scale and weirdness of it what with understanding Cobra-La and the rest of it. What obviously kept me interested was the Commander himself and seeing him out in the world, especially with Milana’s striking artwork and Leoni’s strong color design. This issue has him dealing with his guardian as sent by Globulus to ensure his mission continues without a problem and there’s some decent stuff there that shows the guardian’s past a bit with more hints dropped about who they are while also showing just what level of violence he can engage in. With the pair in the Everglades, as the Commander searches for the Energon, it works well to showcase the tension between the two and reinforce the superiority complex that the Commander has – and needs – to survive in this world.
What the book opens on and deals with as a whole is a dingy shack where Ripper and Buzzer are torturing some bad guys that crossed their territory. It ends badly for the nobodies but showcases just how violent these two are. Having the Commander find traces of what he’s after in their shack sets up for an amusing fight since they think they can take down the Commander easily but it’s big in scale with its violence and action until he ends up following his path elsewhere. I did enjoy reconnecting with both of these characters and then having Zarana shown up at the end as it’s probably been close to thirty years since I last thought of the character. Zartan looks to show up next time around but it’s just fund to move around the swamp a bit and engage in all of this in a fun and action-filled way while still seeding more clues to the storyline.
In Summary:
I’m still trying to get a feel for this shared universe overall and I’m wildly out of date on my GI Joe side of things as well. But I’m enjoying the slow reconnect with it and the way it’s presented with such good style here. The visuals are a lot of the appeal and just some of how we view our title character since he’s always with a mask on. That puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the characters but the book handles it well to give us a lot to connect with and for the Commander’s personality to show through as strongly as it does. The big picture stuff with Cobra-La and Globulus and all of that is just kind of hand-wavy stuff for me at the moment but it’s certainly interesting and has me curious as to what’s really going on, something I hope we get sooner rather than later.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Image Comics
Release Date: February 21st, 2024
MSRP: $3.99
