Publisher: Image Comics (Skybound Imprint)
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Andrea Milana
Colourist: Annalisa Leoni
Lettering: Rus Wooton
Release Date: 17th January 2023

---

Skybound’s Energon Universe continues to expand this week with the launch of their brand new Cobra Commander solo series, and as promised, writer Joshua Williamson is taking the iconic bad guy in some creative and unexpected new directions. While the opening pages (which you can feast your eyes on below) showcase some of the stark brutality that has permeated the Energon Universe to this point, the bulk of this first issue focuses on the origins of Cobra Commander from his time spent in Cobra-La. Yes, you heard me, folks. We’re going back to Cobra-La!

For those who aren’t aware (and somehow missed 1987’s outstanding G.I. Joe: The Movie), Cobra-La is an ancient, technologically advanced society – think evil Wakanda – that has existed for centuries and once ruled the entire globe. Taking the G.I. Joe mythos in a slightly more magical and fantastical direction from its standard toy soldier approach, Cobra-La has received some mixed receptions over the years; hell, even legendary G.I. Joe creator Larry Hama called it “silly” and drew the line at including it in his iconic Real American Hero series.

For me though, Cobra-La fits perfectly into the Energon Universe, which is blending the already fantastical world of the Transformers with the more grounded G.I. Joe.  This first issue lets us know a little more about this secret society and some if its key characters, while also showcasing a Cobra Commander who, in Williamson’s own words, would rather fire back and take charge than retreat when faced with danger. I’m a big fan of this new approach, and the merging of the Transformers and G.I. Joe worlds is given yet another unique wrinkle over the course of this issue.

On the visual side of things, Andrea Milana’s artwork feels like pretty much the perfect fit for the tone of this story, eschewing unnecessary detail in favour of scratchy menace, and bringing a cinematic flair to some of the reveals and action set-pieces. It can definitely be a challenge with a “faceless” character like Cobra Commander to convey emotion and menace, but Milana does a fantastic job of emphasising his menace and cold assessment of situations with little more than his body language and posture – and, of course, Williamson’s top notch dialogue, brought to the page by letterer extraordinaire Rus Wooton.

While the real meat of this five-part story is yet to fully reveal itself, the groundwork laid in this first issue is nothing short of impeccable, throwing out several intriguing storyline hooks and doing a fantastic job of establishing the latest version of this classic villain, with plenty of teases and hinted cameos to please long-time G.I. Joe fans. A violent and ambitious reimagining of the classic Saturday morning cartoon baddie, and another thrilling addition to Skybound’s Energon Universe.

Rating: 4.5/5.

---

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]

---

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
You can follow Ceej on Twitter

---