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 rebellious 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 more formidable weapons.
Cobra Commander #1 reveals the G.I. Joe villain's Energon Universe origin, but it may spark debate among some fans due to a controversial interpretation of franchise history.
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 hidden underground society of serpent-people known as Cobra-La, a place shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
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 reintroducing the whole concept of Cobra-La, Cobra Commander #1 contains the first appearances of several notable characters within the Energon Universe. Among them are Pythona, an emissary and assassin for Cobra-La, whose poison-tipped claws signify her lethal nature. Another debut is Golobulus, the ruler of Cobra-La, who embodies the unique feature of a snake's tail as his lower body. Cobra Commander, scarred from a battle against dissidents who oppose his experiments, showcases his distinctive mask, revealing his clandestine past.Upon operating on him, Cobra-La surgeons actually utilize the venom of a snake to revive the Commander, ensuring that the future leader of Cobra is even more serpentine than ever. After being patched up and put on trial by Golobulus, Cobra Commander escapes a death sentence by using his Transformers-derived weaponry to defend himself. In the process, he convinces Golobulus that he will go out into the world to find more Energon, thereby creating 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 join forces to form the terrorist organization known as Cobra. With the stakes constantly escalating in the franchise, G.I. Joe fans will have to keep reading Cobra Commander to find out what happens next.