G.I. Joe (2024) issue 19
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 "Why are you here? You said you'd be home at 1600 hours. You're like 500 hours early." | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Image Comics Skybound Entertainment | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 18, 2026 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | February 2026 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Joshua Williamson | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Andrea Milana | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Lee Loughridge | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Rus Wooton | ||||||||||||
| Editors | Ben Abernathy | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Energon Universe | ||||||||||||
Duke must come to grips with the shocking secrets Clutch has been hiding from him. Elsewhere, Matt Trakker learns he may have a chance to go home... if he can live long enough.
Synopsis
[edit]Zartan contemplates the nature of Energon, and how it is more than just a power source or a weapon; it is creation itself. While his own supply is beginning to run low, he can now use the information he’s gathered from both G.I. Joe and Cobra to track the Energon deposits that remain across the globe.
Back in the Chihuahuan Desert, in the aftermath of their conflict with Cobra Commander and the Dreadnoks, Duke aims two blasters at Hound, demanding the Autobot talk. Stalker tries to talk him down, preferring they deal with this unexpected surprise back at base. Clutch and Risk join in, but the revelation that Risk also knew about the robot just serves to agitate Duke more. When Hound tries to explain, Duke fires at him, leading Clutch to tackle him. Clutch emphatically defends Hound, saying that he’s a Joe like the rest of them, an idea Duke rebuffs. However, he does reluctantly concede that Hound is the best source for answers about the robots, and so places him under arrest. He orders the Joes back to the Pit.
Meanwhile, in the weeks since Clutch first brought Hound to him, Matt Trakker has continued to stay off the grid, constantly traveling all over the world, never staying in one place too long. He currently resides in a small mobile lab in an undisclosed woods. As he works one day, he receives an encoded message saying “NEW INFORMATION ON MAYHEM” and asking him to meet. Reluctantly, Matt decides to take the invitation.
At the Pit, the Joes look forward to a bit of R&R after their desert battle. Stalker looks back on their repeated losses recently and suggests that the Joes need to upgrade both their gear and their ranks, as they are always outnumbered by Cobra's forces. However, "Colonel Hawk" insists they have to keep their team small in order to ensure trust. He then tells them that he has their next mission, much to the chagrin of Risk. He informs them that he’s splitting the Joes into smaller teams, each venturing into different Energon-rich locations in an effort to cut Cobra off from retrieving it themselves: Risk, Stalker, and Baroness will be sent to Badhikistan, while Cover Girl will connect with Harlan "Snow Job" Moore, who has recently lost eyes on an undercover agent he was in contact with. "Hawk" then notices that Duke and Clutch aren’t with the rest of the team; they're in another level of the Pit, having placed Hound in temporary confinement. Hound tells Duke about the war between the Autobots and Decepticons and informs him that the robot who killed Frosting was a Decepticon named Starscream. Reluctantly, Duke decides to believe Hound, but wants more. If Hound is a soldier, he must have a commanding officer that he can take Duke to. Hound tells Duke that he’s been trying to contact the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, but has been unsuccessful with his transponder still broken. Duke asks how they can fix it, but Clutch says the only person who could do so isn't going to be easy to find unless he wants to be found.
Elsewhere, Matt Trakker meets with Agent Walker at a busy motor speedway. Walker tells him that due to recent events, the U.S. government is now aware that Miles Mayhem stole his tech and tried to pass it off as his own, but that Mayhem is now in the wind with his own agenda. Matt is incredulous, having been forced to go on the run because of Mayhem's actions and not believing he can trust the government again. Walker tells him that the world is changing and that he might have an opportunity to go home. However, their conversation is interrupted by an explosion and a lifted 4x4 driven by Scrap-Iron blasting its way into the race. Scrap-Iron incinerates Agent Walker before cornering Matt, telling his old buddy that he’s here to collect the bounty on his head.
Featured characters
[edit]Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Dreadnoks | Others |
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Quotes
[edit]"He’s not just some robot... He’s shown me time and time again that he’s one of us... he’s a soldier. More than that... Hound is a G.I. Joe!"
"No robot will ever be a Joe. Not as long as I’m breathing."
- —Clutch and Duke regarding Hound
Notes
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]- Zartan's disguise as Colonel Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy and his plans for Energon were revealed at the end of issue #17.
- Matt Trakker hasn’t been seen since the events of the G.I. Joe segment of the Energon Universe 2025 Special, which apparently took place "weeks ago" before the events of this issue.
- Matt learns about recent events concerning Miles Mayhem, which readers of Transformers witnessed across issues #25 to #28 of that series. Agent Walker likely works for Shadow Watch, as at the end of Transformers #28, General Flagg orders his men to find Trakker.
- Hawk tells Cover Girl she will be linking up with Snow Job to locate an undercover agent, referencing the events of the Scarlett series, where Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara infiltrated the Arashikage ninja clan. The events of Scarlett have largely gone unmentioned until this issue, setting up the return of those characters for issue #21. At the time, it was unclear if Scarlett’s mission fell under the purview of G.I. Joe, or just the United States military in general, but this seems to confirm that it is.
G.I. Joe references
[edit]- Badhikistan is a fictional country from the Devil's Due Press G.I. Joe comics, where Cobra relocated to their new Monolith Base after abandoning Cobra Island.
M.A.S.K. references
[edit]- Matt Trakker is shown taking down a photo of a young boy while packing up his things. This is likely Scott Trakker, Matt's son from the original M.A.S.K. cartoon and comic.
- Reiterated in this issue is that Mayhem stole Trakker's designs, which was the inciting incident for M.A.S.K. in the comics.
- Though not exactly the same, the lifted orange truck that Scrap-Iron drives at the end resembles the M.A.S.K. vehicle Firecracker.
- Likely mere coincidence, but Scrap-Iron being a scarred individual who has a history with Matt Trakker and works for Miles Mayhem is similar to the role Bruno Sheppard played in the IDW Publishing Hasbro Universe M.A.S.K. series.
Other notes
[edit]- Energon Experience: Presented by Skybound Executive Editor Ben Abernathy.
- Character Spotlight: Hound
- One Trakk Mind: Recap of the history of Matt Trakker in the Energon Universe
- Creator Spotlight: Ben asks Andrea Milana who in the Energon Universe they’d disguise themselves as. Milana answers Beach Head.
Covers
[edit]- Cover A: Clutch gets between Duke and Hound, by Tom Reilly.
- Cover B: Connecting cover, by Joshua Cassara & Romulo Fajardo Jr..
- Cover C: Chameleon, by Ben Oliver.
- Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Duke and Starscream, by Tonči Zonjić .
- Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Clutch and Hound, by Trevor Hairsine, Andy Lanning & Romulo Fajardo Jr..
- Cover F (1:100 Copy Incentive): Matt Trakker in Thunderhawk, by Simon Parr.
- Cover G: Die-cut Hound face, by John Amor & Andres Juarez.
Ads
[edit]- Explore the Energon Universe in Void Rivals #27, Transformers #30, and G.I. Joe #20.
