Destro issue 5

Publisher	Image Comics; Skybound Entertainment
First published	October 16, 2024
Cover date	October 2024
Written by	Dan Watters
Art by	Andrei Bressan
Colors by	Adriano Lucas
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editors	Ben Abernathy
Continuity	Energon Universe

Destro returns to reclaim his company from the Crimson Twins, but a far greater threat leads to an alliance the likes of which the world has never seen.

Synopsis

Tomax and Xamot give Cobra Commander a tour of the M.A.R.S. headquarters, where they are already busy acquainting themselves with the company’s technological advancements - minus the defective Battle Android Troopers, of course. However, waiting for them in his secret chamber is Destro! At that moment, Scrap-Iron and Chameleon attack, with Chameleon using her fluke pulse to disarm the Crimson Guard's H.I.S.S. tanks. Destro questions if Cobra Commander is allied with the Paolis now, who responds that they offer the financial means to grow Cobra's armies, especially since they can't rely on the B.A.T.s. The Paolis attack Destro, reiterating their promise to kill him themselves. Meanwhile, the Crimson Guard is attacked by Mercer, having disguised himself as one of their own. He and Chameleon herd them into a basement full of B.A.T.s, which Destro activates via remote while he fends off the Twins. The few that manage to escape the B.A.T.s flee outside, only to be met by the Overkill-controlled drones.

With their army decimated, Destro reveals to the Twins all that he's discovered in his travels, including the Overkill A.I., and has come to one conclusion: there are forces emerging in the world far beyond the squabbles of M.A.R.S. and Extensive Enterprises, and the only way to maintain their power in a world ever at war, they must unite under the banner of Cobra, much to the satisfaction of Cobra Commander. He then orders the Commander and the Paolis out of his house.

Later, Astoria and Destro meet for lunch. Astoria asks if she'll ever get to meet this mysterious "Commander," but Destro suspects that he was her anonymous benefactor who helped fund Overkill’s development. But Destro does not trust Overkill or the Commander. He launches one of his recovered nuclear warheads towards the Overkill satellite in orbit, destroying it. Initially horrified, Astoria agrees it's for the best and thanks Destro as the two share a kiss.

Destro later meets with Darklon at the Tomb of the Family Destro. Darklon apologizes for his hasty sale of M.A.R.S. to the Crimson Twins, but says that its ended well with them all united with Cobra. Destro reveals his plan to let the Commander build up Cobra, then install himself as the organization’s leader when the opportunity allows. Darklon assures Destro that he will have his support as family, but Destro questions his loyalty; after all, he doesn’t hear the voices of their ancestors as Destro does, and he does not wear his family mask. As punishment for handing M.A.R.S. over so easily, Destro forces Darklon's scorching hot mask onto his face, just as their ancestor had been punished long ago.

At Cobra headquarters, a Cobra Trooper reports to the Commander about Destro’s destruction of the Overkill satellite. The trooper then reports that something else is entering the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean made of an alloy that their scans can’t identify but appears to be organic in nature. The Cobra Commander is eager to see what new gifts Cybertron has brought him.

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in photos.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

M.A.R.S.	Cobra	Extensive Enterprises
Battle Android Troopers (5) Destro (6) Scrap-Iron (7) Mercer (9) Darklon (10)	Cobra Commander (3) Astoria Carlton-Ritz/Chameleon (8) Cobra Trooper (11)	Tomax and Xamot (1 & 2) Crimson Guard (4)

Quotes

"How was this meant to go, Destro? You, standing alone against our army?"
"I’m not alone... I have three soldiers."

—Tomax and Destro

"He acted as you predicted. He did indeed launch nuclear armaments to impress a woman."

—A Cobra Trooper on Destro’s romantic gestures

Notes

Continuity notes

When last we saw M.A.R.S. HQ, it was destroyed by the burgeoning Cobra organization back in Cobra Commander #5. Evidently, it has been rebuilt and is back in use, right down to the S.N.A.K.E. armors being developed that we first glimpsed in Duke #1.
Destro's collection of nuclear warheads was established in issue #2.
We learned about the Clan Destro's tradition of wearing masks to honor their ancestor in issue #3.
The final pages depict what appears to be the pieces of Cybertron falling to Earth from Transformers #12. This gives us our clearest indication of the timeline for where the G.I. Joe titles fall relative to the main Transformers series. However, see Errors.

G.I. Joe references

Tomax and Xamot are finally seen wearing their classic costumes.
The Crimson Twins being able to feel each other’s pain comes from their original A Real American Hero incarnations, an extension of their overall psychic connection that allowed them to communicate with each other.
Astoria taking on the Chameleon codename has an added layer as she takes on the dual roles of Cobra's femme fatale and Destro's love interest typically occupied by the Baroness, as the original Chameleon was created to be a trademark-replacement for the Baroness.
Darklon's mask is finally shown this issue.

Real-life references

Tomax and Xamot's ability to feel each other’s pain is also based on the novella The Corsican Brothers by Alexandre Dumas.

Errors

The end of this issue pretty clearly takes place at the same time as Transformers #12, buuuuut that means we have to squeeze all the G.I. Joe miniseries (except maybe Scarlett) in between Transformers #2 (where Duke first encountered Starscream) and #12, which, thanks mainly to the implicit and explicit timeskips, doesn’t really work, as the Transformers ongoing features no such major timeskips. Oops?

Other notes

Covers (6)

Cover A: Destro versus Tomax and Xamot, by Andrei Bressan & Adriano Lucas.
Cover B: The forces of Cobra reflected in Destro’s helmet, by Sanford Greene.
Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover, by Nikola Čižmešija.
Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Chameleon on explosion background, by Marco Ferrari.
Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): M.A.R.S. attacks, by Taurin Clarke.
Gotham City Limit Cover: Mercer Flexing his muscular arms, by Tyler Kirkham.