Destro issue 3

« Destro #3 »
Publisher	Image Comics Skybound Entertainment
First published	August 21, 2024
Cover date	August 2024
Written by	Dan Watters
Art by	Andrea Milana
Colors by	Adriano Lucas
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editors	Ben Abernathy
Continuity	Energon Universe

Destro finds himself beset by a mysterious new enemy, but his survival may depend on a new pawn.

Synopsis

Destro exits his family's mausoleum to find Chameleon waiting for him with a rifle in her hands. Believing her to work for Tomax and Xamot, he gloats that her efforts are for naught, but she cooly ignores him and fires. Destro tries to fire back with his wrist-mounted rocket launcher, but it shorts out and he is hit. As Chameleon moves to inspect the body, Destro gets up and attacks. He questions how she is disabling his equipment, but she continues to ignore his banter and radios Overkill to activate her Buzzard drones. Destro retreats to his Despoiler and tries to escape as the drones bombard him with rockets. Once again his technology fails him as his Despoiler begins to malfunction before being shot down by one of the Buzzards.

Meanwhile, at M.A.R.S. Industries, Mercer and Scrap-Iron examine the Buzzards that attacked Darklonia. Scrap-Iron reports that the drones have computing and guidance systems similar to that of their own Battle Android Troopers, but points out that Destro only got the B.A.T.s to work thanks to Energon. He also reports that the dud missile that Destro rescued Astoria Carlton-Ritz from appears to be in perfect working order. Mercer begins to suspect that there’s more to the attack than meets the eye and that the Paolis were not behind it, and goes to find Destro, who’s been dark since he ventured to his homeland.

Destro crawls from the wreckage of his Despoiler and treks his way across the Scottish mountains to a United States Air Force base, and demands to speak to General Flagg! Destro regales Flagg with a story about the origins of his mask:

During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Laird Destro sold weapons to all sides of the war: the Irish, the Scottish, and to the eventual victor, Oliver Cromwell. But when Cromwell's men discovered Destro’s betrayal, he balked: they would not kill him. Cromwell needed his weapons. Instead, Cromwell's men placed a hot iron mask made from smelted musket balls on the Laird’s face, as a mark of shame for the world to see. However, Clan Destro reclaimed that mark of shame and turned it into a symbol of pride.

Flagg asks Destro what he wants while threatening him with extradition to a black site, but Destro - like his ancestor - knows the value he has and intimates to Flagg that if something were to happen to him, the United States of America would no longer receive weapons from M.A.R.S., thus making them an open target for hostilities. Begrudgingly, Flagg agrees to listen to Destro’s demands.

Featured characters

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

M.A.R.S.	Others
Destro (1) Mercer (3) Scrap-Iron (4)	Chameleon (2) Cromwell’s soldier (5) Laird Destro (6) General Flagg (7)

Quotes

"They thought to shame a Destro through discomfort. As though discomfort is not a weaponeer's stock in trade. We dance in the grey spaces between international law. We refuse to look away from the devastation of our wares, which turns the stomachs of a world that finds it all so necessary, yet impolite. Our Clan took that melded mask of shame, and it became a symbol of out pride. That we can carry such weight. That we can thrive in it. And God, how we thrive."

—Destro

Notes

Continuity notes

• The attack on Darklonia occurred back in issue #1.
• Scrap-Iron’s remark about the similarity between the Buzzards and the B.A.T.s further hints towards the involvement of Cobra Commander, as only he has the Energon necessary to power the B.A.T.s.
• Scrap-Iron alludes to weapons "thinking for themselves," likely a dual nod to either the robotic Overkill who has been alluded to previously or the Transformers.

G.I. Joe references

• The story Destro tells about the origin of Clan Destro’s mask being based in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms was first referenced on the 1988 figure file card.
• General Lawrence J. Flagg is the original commanding officer of the G.I. Joe team from the A Real American Hero era, appearing in both the Marvel comic and the Sunbow cartoon series (though in the case of the latter, he was merged with fellow general, “Iron Butt” Austin) and served as namesake for the USS Flagg. While Flagg has appeared sporadically in subsequent Joe media, such as Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, more recent iterations have tended to see his role fulfilled by either Hawk or Joe Colton.

Real-life references

• As mentioned above, the Clan Destro backstory is tied into the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil Wars, one of the major turning points in British history that helped lead to the modern day United Kingdom.

Other notes

• This issue features a guest artist in Andrea Milana, returning from the previous Cobra-centric Energon Universe miniseries, Cobra Commander.

Covers (6)

• Cover A: Chameleon attacks Destro, by Andrei Bressan & Adrian Lucas.
• Cover B: Destro dual-wielding machine guns, by Karl Kerschl.
• Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover, by Nikola Čižmešija.
• Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Xamot on explosion background, by Mico Suayan & Rex Lokus.
• Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Destro and an army of bats are confronted by a group of soldiers led by Hawk, by Eric Canete.
• Gotham City Limit exclusive: Chameleon, by Tyler Kirkham.

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• Explore the Energon Universe in Void Rivals #12, Scarlett #4, and Transformers #12.
• Codename: G.I. Joe continues in Scarlett!
• The Cobra threat continues in Destro!
• Experience the Energon Universe in the trade paperbacks for Cobra Commander, Void Rivals, Transformers, and Duke
• Impact Winter
• Invincible: The Hero-Building Game
• Skybound Insiders

Reprints

• Destro Volume 1: The Enemy (December 4, 2024) ISBN 1534357688 / ISBN 978-1534357686
  • Collects issues #1–5.
  • Trade paperback format.

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  Volume 1: The Enemy – cover art by Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas