G.I. Joe Energon Universe 2026 Special story
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| Publisher | Image Comics Skybound Entertainment | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 2, 2026 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Joshua Williamson | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Tom Reilly | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Lee Loughridge | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Rus Wooton | ||||||||||||
| Editors | Ben Abernathy | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Energon Universe | ||||||||||||
The story of the man called Zartan, revealed at last!
Synopsis
[edit]Zartan regales his history to a captured Colonel Hawk:
Once, Zartan was the greatest master of disguise the world had ever known, using his abilities as a mercenary. However, as time progressed, modern surveillance and technology rendered his skills obsolete. That was, until he discovered Doctor Laszlo Vandermeer and his study of Energon. Zartan forced the doctor to help him create a synthetic skin using Energon and nanotechnology, granting him the ability to change into anyone he desired. However, the procedure proved imperfect, and long-term exposure to the synthetic skin forced him to rely on Energon to survive.
Now, he plans to use Hawk’s identity – alongside the resources of Hawk’s newly-formed special mission force – to amass the Energon that he needs. Hawk warns him that he will be found out eventually, but Zartan reminds Hawk that they’ve known each other for a long time and that he knows how to imitate the Colonel perfectly. He then bids Hawk goodbye, leaving him trapped and screaming out for help...
Featured characters
[edit]Characters in italic text appear only in photographs.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Quotes
[edit]"This is not just about ruling the world. Or money. Or power. For me. It is about pain. It is about survival."
- —Zartan
Notes
[edit]Continuity notes
[edit]- This story finally gives us confirmation of when Zartan replaced Hawk, doing so sometime between the events of Duke issue #5 and the G.I. Joe Energon Universe 2024 Special story.
- Laszlo Vandermeer was first seen working with the Dreadnoks in Cobra Commander #4.
G.I. Joe references
[edit]- The side effect of Zartan's synthetic skin turning blue is a reference to his original toy’s color-changing gimmick, where the figure’s skin tone would change while in sunlight. In addition, the bald and bearded mask seen in panel three is based on the mask that the original figure included as part of his disguise gimmick.
Errors
[edit]- Laszlo Vandermeer’s first name is spelled "Lazlo."
- The quote above should read "for me, it is about pain", with a comma combining the sentences rather than a period.
