It’s interesting how there is an ’80s revival going on, be it Thundercats, Transformers, or comics like Cobra Commander. Most of these nostalgic reboots are selling out, and they also have incredibly talented creators making them. Cobra Commander came out swinging with some interesting sci-fi world building as well as a lead villain who was as dangerous as Marvel’s Wolverine. Now that we know what his mission is, Cobra Commander #2 further fleshes out the villain side of this universe.
Cobra Commander #2 opens with Ripper and Buzzer doing some horrible things to two folks to get some information. These guys enjoy sticking a running chainsaw into a person, and you’ll quickly see how brutal they can be with a great full-page splash by Andrea Milana. They come complete with a cool vehicle that should please G.I. Joe fans. It’s an interesting opening, albeit it’s off track from our main character’s journey.
Cobra Commander enters the tale as he’s nearby looking for Energon. He’s a source of power he wants to bring back to his people, but he’s not exactly trusted, so he has a bodyguard to keep tabs on him. Violence ramps up a couple of times as Cobra Commander encounters folks in the way of his task.
These dudes are sick!
Credit: Skybound
If you like unadulterated violence, you’ll love this issue. There’s an innocent guy that gets ripped apart, and plenty of explosions to be had, too. Milana’s art is great at making you feel the blood splatter. From a cool shot of Cobra Commander shooting and “bang bang bang” all around behind him to the well-drawn glee of Buzzer and Ripper, there are a lot of cool visuals to linger on. Color artist Annalisa Leoni gives the book a nice ’80s pulp comic feel with splashes of orange and yellow here and there. Generally, the colors are a bit muted, which helps ground things.
The plotting overall feels a little clunky, though. This issue does well to introduce Buzzer and Ripper, but the Cobra Commander makes little progress on his mission, with most of the events of this issue being stubborn distractions. Cobra Commander also conveniently gets away not once, but twice. The issue is also lacking in character development, save for people pointing out, oddly, Cobra Commander is in a buttoned-down full-length coat in the humid Everglades.
Cobra Commander #2 is a half step in the right direction. While it introduces more beloved G.I. Joe baddies, it also progresses the main plot too slowly while missing all the cool world-building and character work of the first issue. The visuals make up for the delay for more of the good stuff in issue #1, but only so much.
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