Summary

• Cobra Commander #1 brings Cobra-La, a controversial element from G.I. Joe: The Movie, into the Energon Universe.
• The origins of Cobra Commander in the new continuity reveal that he is a wayward human adopted by the serpent-people of Cobra-La.
• Cobra Commander's experiments on Megatron, and desire to find more Energon, lead him to leave Cobra-La in search of the power to create even greater weapons.

WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Cobra Commander #1

Cobra Commander #1 brings the iconic G.I. Joe villain into the Energon Universe, but one major twist may prove controversial amongst some fans. The Commander’s origins in the new continuity are embracing a hotly-debated piece of lore from 1987’s G.I. Joe: The Movie, taking the franchise in a decidedly more supernatural direction.

First appearing in G.I. Joe: The Movie, Cobra-La proved controversial among G.I. Joe fandom for decades after. Cobra-La took the franchise into a completely new direction, pushing what was previously a military action/adventure show into full-blown sci-fi/fantasy territory.

Coming from the creative team of Joshua Williamson, Andrea Milana, Annalisa Leoni and Rus Wooten, Cobra Commander #1 reveals the origins of its titular character. Readers learn that Cobra Commander hails from the underground society of serpent-people known as Cobra-La.

Revealed to be a wayward human adopted by the secret society, Cobra Commander worked as a scientist for Cobra-La, developing new weapons from his prisoner, Megatron. His experiments eventually caused disruption within Cobra-La, which ultimately leads to the Commander leaving the wider world to search for Energon to power his new weaponry.

Cobra-La Returns Becomes Canon Once More As The Energon Universe Continues To Expand

First appearing in G.I. Joe: The Movie, Cobra-La proved controversial among G.I. Joe fandom for decades after. Cobra-La took the franchise into a completely new direction, pushing what was previously a military action/adventure show into full-blown sci-fi/fantasy territory. Cobra-La was explained as a race of snake-people dating back some 40,000 years, who sent Cobra Commander out into the world to establish an army that would dominate the world. It was a major retcon, and was quite notably left out of the Marvel Comics G.I. Joe: A Real America Hero series entirely.

By re-introducing the whole concept of Cobra-La, Cobra Commander #1 contains the first Energon Universe appearances of several notable characters. The first is Pythona, an emissary and assassin for Cobra-La, who is equipped with poison-tipped claws. Also making their debut is Golobulus, the ruler of Cobra-La, who is centuries old. The product of bio-engineering, Golobulus’ most defining characteristic is their lower body, which is entirely the tail of a snake. Cobra Commander himself is scarred in a battle with Cobra-La dissidents who disapprove of his experiments, leading to his familiar masked visage.

Energon Embraces The Most Controversial Twist In G.I. Joe History

Upon operating on him, Cobra-La surgeons actually use the venom of a snake to revive the Commander, making the future leader of Cobra even more serpentine than ever in this new continuity. After being patched up and put on trial by Golobulus, Cobra Commander manages to forestall a death sentence, using his Transformers-derived weaponry to defend himself. In the process, he convince Golobulus that he will go out into the world to find more Energon, in order to create even greater weapons than those he’s created from experimenting on Megatron.

Given that Cobra Commander's future erstwhile ally Destro is already making Energon-based weaponry through his company, M.A.R.S. Industries, fans can assume that the pair will eventually forces to form the terrorist organization known as Cobra. In Cobra Commander #1, the future terrorist leader states his ambitions to not just to conquer the world, but to conquer entire worlds beyond Earth – something that could prove possible as the Eenergon Universe continues to expand. With the stakes never this high before in the franchise, G.I. Joe fans will have to keep reading Cobra Commander to find out what happens next.

Cobra Commander #1 is on sale now from Skybound Entertainment.