The Has-Bros explore the Energon Universe with Duke #1, Transformers #4 and Cobra Commander #1

In Duke #1, a bold new era kicks off for America’s daring, highly trained special mission force, written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Tom Reilly, colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Rus Wooton. Meanwhile, an arm-less Optimus Prime races to save Spike’s life as the Decepticons continue to push the Autobots to their limits in Transformers #4 by Daniel Warren Johnson and colorist Mike Spicer. And Cobra Commander begins to … command … Cobra … in … Cobra … Commander #1, written by Williamson, drawn by Andrea Milana, colored by Annalisa Leoni and lettered by Wooton.

Austin Gorton: When we reviewed Transformers #1, we revealed that as much as we love Transformers, we’re both bigger G.I. Joe people. Since then, we’ve seen the official launch of the Joe side of the Energon Universe (beyond the much-appreciated continuation of Larry Hama’s Joe continuity in G.I. Joe #301) via Duke #1, and like Transformers, it strikes the right balance between “familiarity” and “new.” 

Tony Thornley: I wrote an essay about how G.I. Joe has been struggling for the last decade or so over at Comicon. I’ve been nervous about the Energon Universe take on G.I. Joe ever since Void Rivals launched. Transformers is easy: You start with giant robots fighting and build from there. G.I. Joe is much harder. They’re realistically not a military group, they’re a superspy organization. But they’re also so mired in the military and U.S. nationalism that any Joe story needs to address that. I think this week, Duke and Cobra Commander stepped right into that challenge with both feet.

Austin: You’re spot on; I’ve never considered G.I. Joe the conservative fantasy that a segment of its fanbase does (Then again, I’ve always been more drawn to the sci-fi elements of the franchise than the militaristic ones), and I think Hama, for all his legitimate respect for the armed forces (and being beholden first and foremost to a toy company), could be more subversive than he’s given credit for. Yet there is no denying that G.I. Joe comes with some pretty distinctive Americanisms and “of its time” elements baked into it, things that make shifting the property into different eras challenging.

Duke #1

Austin: Right off the bat, I love the way this issue upends expectations. The characters in G.I. Joe are hardly perfect, but their struggles are usually external, or the kind of internal struggles common to heroes — will I be good *enough*, can I overcome my demons, etc. They are the best of the best, and usually act like it. Here, after a couple of pages establishing Duke as the paragon of G.I. Joe as a collection of “real American heroes,” the sort of thing we’d usually see at the start of a series like this, that gets completely blown away as we see a disheveled Duke being browbeaten by his superior (Hawk), a Duke who is disdainful and distrustful of his government and utterly broken, thanks to his brief encounter with Starscream in Transformers #2. It’s a hell of a way to start off the new Joe-verse. 

Tony: And not only that — Duke walks out on Hawk. This isn’t a story about how Conrad Hauser got his groove back. This is a very different story than I expected, and a very different Duke than we’ve ever gotten. Duke has always been sort of the platonic ideal of the Joes. His very first appearance was all about him showing up (with Roadblock!) and saving the day. In the Hama series, if he disappeared for a few issues, he’d always show up at the team’s most desperate hour. He’s the Superman or Cyclops of the Joes.

That sets the tone for this version of the Joes. He’s still capable, still “Duke,” but there’s a … I want to say edge, but that’s not the right word. It’s a modern take on him.

Austin: Modern, and more nuanced. He’s more than, pun intended, a walking action figure representing the best of the best of the American military. He’s still a great warrior, but he’s also human. 

Told to take some time off, Duke digs deeper into the Giant Alien Robot Conspiracy he’s found himself embroiled in, eventually showing up at a gathering of like-minded conspiracy theorists at the behest of their leader, one Dr. Adele Burkhart. This is a cute callback by writer Josh Williamson, as a different Dr. Burkhart was the catalyst for the very first Joe comic book adventure in Marvel’s G.I. Joe #1. There, she was a scientist creating doomsday weapons for the U.S. government who gets kidnapped by Cobra; here, she’s a scientist looking into the arrival of what we know to be the Transformers, but finding her efforts stymied by the MARS Corporation. How’d this reimagining work for you? 

Tony: Burkhart is a favorite Z-list supporting character, because I wore out my reprint of G.I. Joe #1. I always thought she was way more important than she ended up being. Here though, she’s crucial, she’s getting us on the path to what I think the Energon Universe can be. And these pages are FILLED with easter eggs, many of which have to be teases (MINDBENDER!). The only thing that could have added to that is Dr. Biggles-Jones!

Austin: It’s a fun callback, the kind of thing that adds a little something if you recognize the name but takes little away if you don’t. Similarly, when Duke infiltrates MARS (which is, of course, the company run by Destro that supplies Cobra with all its weapons), he gets accosted by Mercer, who was introduced as one of Sgt. Slaughter’s Marauders and is said to be an ex-Cobra Viper. Again, if you catch the reference, it’s a fun wink, but you don’t need to have caught it to get the general vibe of “Duke gets beat up and tossed out by one of Destro’s heavies.”

Something we haven’t really touched on yet is the art from Tom Reilly, which is a shame, because it’s arguably the star of the book. It’s pulpy and energetic, as deft at visually expressing Duke’s state of mind as presenting something like the SNAKE armor on model. The way Reilly is using layouts and depicting motion reminds me of David Aja’s work on Hawkeye. 

Tony: Reilly was about 80% of why I was excited for this series. I’m hoping he’s the artist on the third “Codename GI Joe” miniseries that Skybound has announced but not fully revealed as well. He has Chris Samnee’s eye for figure work (with a little bit lighter line) and Aja’s sensibility for layouts and motion. Duke’s brawl through the Mars facility just ruled, for example, and I love that he lost. Reilly made that all so believable.

So with Duke making all the wrong decisions, he now has MARS on his tail, and the U.S. military. And in an unexpected twist, Hawk and his aide bring in two very familiar G.I. Joe faces: Stalker and Rock & Roll!

Buy Duke #1 here.

Transformers #4

Austin: We weren’t able to get reviews done of issues #2 and #3 of this series, but rest assured it continues to, as the kids say(?), slap. That is the case with Transformers #4 as well, which opens with Starscream leaving an injured Skywarp for dead as he harries a one-armed Optimus Prime who is racing to get Spike to a hospital. 

Tony: This echoes the opening of the second issue, which I love. There, after his escape from the Decepticons, Optimus realized that Earth is much more delicate after crushing a fawn accidentally. There it was a sweet character beat about an alien learning about Earth. It would have been great on its own, but Johnson continued it in this issue with an Optimus actively seeking to get Spike help, but also protecting other humans endangered by the Decepticons.

It’s like the inverse of the Starscream panel from Transformers #2, where he squishes Duke’s compatriot. There, he delights in the mayhem and the humans’ fragility. Here, Optimus steels himself to protect humanity more ardently because they’re so fragile.

Johnson could have easily turned this series into “giant robots beat the hell out of each other.” Instead, it continues to have an unexpected emotional depth from every character involved.

Austin: It also makes the Decepticons all the more chilling — and Starscream that much more of a jerk. The moment when Starscream realizes the purpose of a hospital and shifts from attacking Optimus to destroying the building because he knows that’ll hurt Optimus more is all the more impactful because we know Optimus cares about the humans — Spike specifically and everyone in general — in a way that goes beyond a kind of generic, “he’s a good guy, so of course he protects the innocents.” 

Similarly, the scene later in the issue between Carly and Cliffjumper does a lot to underscore the fact that, for as much as the Autobots are better equipped than humans to fight the Decepticons, they’ve still suffered at their enemies’ hands, and are generally outmatched as well. Which of course speaks to the already-forming partnership between the Autobots and the earthlings, and sets the stage for more of that to come, the notion that, for all their (physical) weakness, the Autobots’ alliance with humanity is what gives them a leg up on the Decepticons. 

Tony: And holy cow do I like Cliffjumper. So far, he’s not way more than just angry Bumblebee, but that little bundle of machine rage is going to be fun to watch grow and advance as a character. He’s already grown a little, and I dig it. His alliance and growing friendship with Carly is going to be fun to watch.

Beyond that, the increasing desperation of this first arc is starting to become a selling point. Ratchet is trying to back Optimus up, Optimus uses the Matrix of Leadership to charge the hospital, endangering his own life, Jazz shows up to bail them out but immediately passes out due to the limited Energon.

Austin: Jazz turning out to be the big gun Ratchet pulls out to help Optimus turn the tide against Soundwave and Starscream is an interesting choice. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never thought of Jazz as the Snake-Eyes (or Wolverine) of the Transformers, more of a scout or second-in-command type. Am I missing/forgetting some established bit of characterization, or is this a new turn for him? 

Tony: Honestly, the most I know about Jazz is that Megatron murdered him in the first Bay movie. It was a cool moment that might have felt like a bigger deal to bigger TF fans?

Austin: One of the things Daniel Warren Johnson continues to do really well is play around with perspective. We’re never allowed to forget that, from the perspective of the humans, these are extremely large and scary beings, yet at the same time, he’s careful not to let them come across as massive kaiju, more forces of nature than complex beings with thoughts and feelings of their own. Not only does this keep the Transformers grounded, it helps the action feel both over the top, but grounded. 

Tony: Definitely. He even uses it when Soundwave and Starscream cannibalize Skywarp for parts — the perspective there makes the moment even more disturbing.

Austin: The first four issues have done a great job of showing just how shitty things would be for the Decepticons under Starscream’s leadership, but Transformers #4 really sells the idea that he’s just a total dick. I love it. 

Tony: And speaking of cannibalizing other Transformers for parts, Optimus gets a replacement arm after he ripped his arm off to beat Skywarp with it last issue, and it’s from an incredibly unexpected source.

It’s Megatron’s gun arm.

I love this book.

Austin: Seriously. It’s a payoff to a moment that we didn’t even realize was setting something up, when Optimus had his arm ripped out in the previous issue. At the time it just seemed like a kewl moment to underscore the violence and highlight how awesome Optimus is to keep fighting (while using his disconnected arm as a weapon). Now we see it’s also setting up this moment, a moment which also speaks to the way Johnson has used these issues to highlight the differences between the Autobots and Decepticons: The Autobots are moved by the humans’ frailty, the Decepticons laugh at it. The Decepticons are trying to harvest Earth’s energy, Optimus willingly gives up his energy to save Spike. Despite the odds against them, the Autobots refuse to abandon their powered-off companions, the Decepticons are literally ripping pieces off one of their (active) teammates, etc. Now that disconnect is given physical form as Optimus takes up Megatron’s arm(s). 

Yet, in a nod to the fact that the Energon Universe is a true interconnected universe, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Megatron this month.

Buy Transformers #4 here.

Cobra Commander #1

Austin: Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: Cobra-lalalalalala!

Cobra-La, the secret society of organic technology-based snake men from a hidden city in the Himalayas retconned into Cobra Commander’s backstory by G.I. Joe: The Movie is a deeply divisive element in Joe fandom. Fans of the more pure military aesthetic of Joe hate the way it injects this enormous lore dump of whacky sci-fi/fantasy elements into the narrative. Hama seems to have disliked it; even in a series in part defined by the way he made lemonade out of the lemons handed to him by Hasbro, Hama only ever pays the smallest of lip service to the concept in his comics. Yet for all that (and let’s be clear, “Cobra Commander the failed used car salesman” is a much better origin than “Cobra Commander, the failed eye-covered scientist of a hidden snake society”), I love the ridiculous Cobra-La goobers so much. One has giant bat wings! Another is a snake centaur. What’s not to love? I am young enough that I came to Joe a touch later, past its initial launch and the beloved heyday of the ’84-’85 figures. The years 1987-89 were probably peak Joe for me, which happens to coincide with the movie that introduced Cobra-La, so I ate it all up with a spoon. Where do you come down on Cobra-La? 

Tony: I LOVE G.I. Joe: The Movie. I think a more sci-fi G.I. Joe is a better G.I. Joe. Making Cobra significantly more sci-fi is better for all of us. I love this gross biotech version of Cobra-La, too. There’s a lot of worldbuilding here that makes this so interesting off the bat. I would love to spend time in this bizarre biotech hidden world, because it’s very quickly realized and put on page.

But I agree that the radicalized used car salesman Cobra Commander is more interesting. For the Energon Universe and the modernization of the franchise, I think this might be the better move.

Austin: Honestly, even if I hated Cobra-La, I’d have to admire Williamson’s chutzpah in not only using it, but centering it so directly, so soon, in this new take on the Joes. In some ways, it’s the elephant in the room of G.I. Joe, and I love that he just went there immediately. 

In a text piece in the back of the issue, he details his reasoning for doing that, and also talks a bit about the way he is recontextualizing Cobra Commander as less the buffoon of the cartoon and someone more insidious and personally dangerous. There’s a great sequence that speaks to this in the issue, when we see the Cobra-La mob attacking the science complex, and one of the scientists (looking very much like the pre-transformation Cobra Commander we see in G.I. Joe: The Movie) is yelling about how the scientists need to retreat, very much in the timber and cadence of cartoon Cobra Commander. Then the actual Cobra Commander shoots him and declares they won’t be retreating. That two-page sequence seems like it could be the Rosetta Stone for Williamson’s take on the character.  

Tony: Especially when you combine that sequence with the opening of the issue, in which CC stole a dude’s snowcat and murdered him with an unseen piece of horrifying technology. This is a ruthless and bloodthirsty version of the character. It’s a great mirror to the disillusioned and angry Duke we talked about a few paragraphs back.

Austin: Well said. Both are examples of well-known characters being presented in a way that is both consistent with past portrayals and shockingly new. Particularly coming from a background in the animated series, Cobra Commander isn’t really a character I think of as particularly violent in a direct way: He directs troops and underlings, he commands, but he rarely gets his hands dirty. The opening pages of this issue upend all that, as his hands get very, very dirty. Creepy Cobra Commander is as shocking in its own way as Disillusioned Duke.

The other big twist here, aside from the Cobra-La of it all, is the fact that the thing which has everyone in Cobra-La so riled up is the presence of (armless) Megatron, whom Cobra Commander is harvesting, somehow, for knowledge and technology. What’d you think of this? 

Tony: I mean, we got from earlier in the issue that CC was stealing Cybertronian tech from the hints given. I did not expect that Cybertronian to be Megatron. It was such a cool twist, and I love it. This is the sort of little detail that in my mind will make the Energon Universe way more successful than other attempts at making a Transformers/Joes shared universe.

Austin: Even moreso than Starscream squishing Duke’s buddy in Transformers #2, this is the most direct connection between the two series in the Energon Universe, and it’s a big one. I assume the idea Williamson and company are going for here is that Megatron is responsible for much of Cobra’s advanced tech, but what’s interesting about it is the way it has the potential to create a multi-dimensional conflict, versus the kind of Joe/Autobots vs. Cobra/Decepticons good vs. bad showdowns that have characterized past team-ups between these properties.

You get the sense here that Cobra Commander hasn’t just been using Megatron, he’s been effectively torturing him, and I can’t wait for the inevitable moment when the shit hits that particular fan. 

Buy Cobra Commander #1 here.

Notes from the Toybox 

• Nice to see Lt. Falcon is as big a fuck-up in this universe as he was in G.I. Joe The Movie.
• Destro being introduced brooding in the shadows, in a room ringed by fire, various historical weapons and a frickin’ leopard, is very on-brand. 
• It’s not called out, but the woman Hawk is talking to at the end of the issue, Krieger, is Cover Girl.
• The third and fourth Codename GI Joe limited series are going to have to be Snake-Eyes and the Baroness, right?
• Shades of Transformers: The Movie when Soundwave dropkicks Optimus and declares, “Optimus: inferior.” 
• The panel in Transformers #4 of Rumble turning his pylons to pummel Optimus in the back is both beautifully rendered and shockingly violent in its way, the kind of thing we’d never see in the cartoon. 
• Cobra Commander’s initial look in Cobra-La, when the mob attacks and before he gets sent out into the world, matches the look of his fourth action figure from the early ’90s, with the more ceremonial blue suit, gold helmet and orange face shield. 
• It’s mentioned in Cobra Commander #1 that Golobulus brought Cobra Commander to Cobra-La, suggesting he’s not a native, which means technically, the used car salesman backstory could still be on the table.
• Pythona makes a brief appearance, bringing Cobra Commander before Golobulus. The one named Cobra-La character from the movie to not receive an action figure, apparently Ron Rudat (who helped design at least one female figure in each of the previous years) planned to include her in the 1987 wave alongside the other new figures from the movie, but the plan was scuttled due to the belief that female figures didn’t sell.
• Tell that to the Baroness and Scarlett!
• Megatron being strung up and used to power developments in a seemingly less advanced society’s technologies also has shades of the first Michael Bay Transformers movie. 

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