Duke issue 2

« Duke #2 »
Publisher	Image Comics Skybound Entertainment
First published	January 31, 2024
Cover date	January 2024
Written by	Joshua Williamson
Art by	Tom Reilly
Colors by	Jordie Bellaire
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editors	Sean Mackiewicz & Jonathan Manning
Continuity	Energon Universe

Duke hooks up with an old friend and winds up landing the both of them in hot water.

Synopsis

At the auto shop Manny's Mean Machines, genius mechanic Lance "Clutch" Steinberg laments to himself, as he sees on his phone that his old friend Conrad "Duke" Hauser is on the run. He heads inside his R.V. to drink some day-old coffee, but just as he finishes pouring a cup, Duke arrives at his doorstep; Duke reasons that the M.P.s searching for him are going to see if he's linking up with friends from his army days first, but Duke and Clutch go farther back. Clutch's girlfriend Sherry then walks in, having heard her boyfriend get startled. Clutch introduces her to Duke, but when he tries to likewise introduce Duke to her and can't remember her name, Sherry gives him a good SMACK and storms off. Duke then convulses in pain from his injuries and Clutch brings him into the shop for a tune-up and an explanation of what's going down.

Though Clutch doesn't believe Duke's story of a jet that turned into a giant robot, he does know his friend well enough to know that he didn't see nothing, and that the drive Doctor Burkhart gave him — essentially a stealthy, highly-advanced tracker for Burkhart's tech — is the key to figuring that out. Clutch manages to get the drive working, and it pops up a hologram of Earth, with a marker located in the western United States pointing to where Duke needs to go. Elsewhere, Destro receives a notice from his chair...

As Duke leaves, him and Clutch talk about his next move: it's too dangerous to go looking to his family for aid (especially not his younger brother), and Hawk likely won't believe him more than he did back then. Just then, Rock 'n Roll suddenly appears and begins firing on the two, leading to Clutch's beloved hot rod getting destroyed. Duke and Clutch rush into the shop and burst out of it in a van Clutch had been working on, prompting Rock 'n Roll to send a pair of armed drones after the two. Though the drones fail to hit their target, it turns out that they weren't trying to — it's a trap! Stalker uses his sniper rifle to shoot out their vehicle's front tires, causing it to crash into a tree, knocking Clutch out. Stalker orders Duke to stand down, but Duke retorts that he doesn't take orders any more and charges at Stalker, who dodges his punch and knocks him to the ground with a kick to the face before knocking him unconscious.

Stalker and Rock 'n Roll bring Duke and Clutch (under arrest for aiding and abetting) to "the Pit", a formerly-decommissioned underground facility now being used to house high-risk prisoners before they're transported. Stalker advises Duke to trust the system if he wants to get out of his situation, but Duke loudly fires back that the system didn't trust him. His words catch the attention of a mysterious woman being held in a nearby cell, who notes that the two of them both want freedom, and suggests that they could come to an arrangement...

Featured characters

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

United States military	M.A.R.S. Industries	Others
Duke (2) Rock 'n Roll (5) Stalker (6) Hawk (7)	Destro (4)	Clutch (1) Sherry (3) Baroness (8)

Quotes

"So, you saw a jet… turn into a giant robot?"
"You believe me?"
"Not even a little bit. But I know you enough to know you saw something."

—Clutch and Duke

"Fascinating. What you are saying. You and I have common... goals. You want freedom. I want freedom. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement?

—Baroness makes her sales pitch.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Though bits and pieces from last issue, later issues of Transformers, and Cobra Commander's first issue all indicated it, this issue definitively confirms that the Earth-based events of the Energon Universe happen in a "present-day" equivalent: Clutch sees the news regarding Duke going on the run on his smartphone, Rock 'n Roll uses modern-day military drones, and it's noted that the Pit was originally decommissioned in the 80's.
• Clutch's Bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology not only indicates that his usual chauvinism and crudeness belies a knack for mechanical engineering but also (assuming this is the comic's way of telling us where we are) gives us an idea of how far Duke traveled between issues.
• Off-panel, Duke recounts his encounter with Starscream from Transformers #2 and the events that followed (as depicted last issue) to Clutch.
• Burkhart's tracking device pulls up a hologram of Earth... much like the one Cobra Commander pulls up from his wrist-gauntlet in the first issue of his mini-series. This may be a remarkable coincidence, but considering how intricate the Energon Universe's web appears to be weaved, one can never be too sure...
• Clutch mentions that Duke has a "baby bro," making this the second time this series has referenced Falcon. Though Duke says the situation's too dangerous for him to get involved, the fact that Falcon's come up in both issues thus far indicates he's probably showing up sooner rather than later.

G.I. Joe references

• Manny's Mean Machines comes from Clutch’s original toy filecard, identified as his place of employment before enlisting in the Army.
• Much like his classic counterpart, Clutch is depicted as something of a skirtchaser.
• More than any character, Rock ‘n Roll’s design is based on his Classified Series figure, right down to sharing the exact same tattoos.
• Though it's unnamed in the actual comic and appears to be more of a van, the vehicle Duke and Clutch escape in is a version of the classic G.I. Joe VAMP, which Clutch was originally packed in with and has been regularly associated with ever since. Its general shape and the presence of a tow line on the front bumper make it clear that the G.I. Joe Classified Series rendition of the VAMP was used as a basis for the design.
• Stalker mentions an "old friend" who taught him his roundhouse kick, likely referencing either Snake-Eyes or Storm Shadow and their friendship from the original G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic.
• "The Pit" is the codename used for G.I. Joe's underground headquarters in various G.I. Joe comic series (including Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, where T.H.E. P.I.T. was instead used as an acronym), beginning with the original series published by Marvel Comics. The Pit also appeared as the Joes' headquarters in the live-action movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
  • The establishing shot, which shows the interiors of the Pit’s various levels, lifts many details from a diagram showing the schematics of the Pit from A Real American Hero #1.
• Like the VAMP, the lady at the end of the issue isn't named in the main story, but her signature black hair and glasses give her away as the scheming Baroness, who's usually depicted as a high-ranking officer in Cobra. She's also been regularly romantically paired with Destro, indicating that if this version of her isn't already working for him, she likely will be soon enough.

Real-world references

• LoJack is a system designed to track and retrieve stolen cars.

Errors

• The back cover is essentially a blue-colored reprint of last issue's, meaning that the grammatical errors are identical: "The contents of this booklet is confidential. This unauthorized disclosure of information within is prohibited."

Covers (8)

• Cover A: Duke in the clutches of the law, by Tom Reilly.
• Cover B: Duke takes the wheel, by Ricardo López Ortiz.
• Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover by Tyler Boss and Jason Wordie.
• Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Stalker on explosion background, by ACO.
• Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Stalker and Rock 'n Roll fire away, by Nick Dragotta and Patricio Delpeche.
• Big Clutch exclusive variant: Duke and Clutch drive the VAMP with Stalker and Rock 'n Roll along for the ride, by Ramon Villalobos.

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Advertisements

• Explore the Energon Universe in Duke #3, Transformers #5, and Cobra Commander #2!
• A new era for G.I. Joe starts in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #301!
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Reprints

• Duke Volume 1: Knowing is Half the Battle (June 5, 2024) ISBN 1534398163 / ISBN 978-1534398160
  • Collects issues #1–5.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Codename: G.I. Joe Deluxe Edition Book One (June 25, 2025) ISBN 153432822X / ISBN 978-1534326910
  • Collects Duke issues #1–5, Cobra Commander issues #1–5, and the G.I. Joe story from Energon Universe Special 2024.
  • Hardcover format.

• 
  Volume 1: Knowing is Half the Battle – cover art by Tom Reilly
• 
  Deluxe Edition Book One – cover art by Andrea Milana, Tom Reilly and Jordie Bellaire