Scarlett issue 1

Publisher	Image Comics; Skybound Entertainment
First published	June 5, 2024
Cover date	June 2024
Written by	Kelly Thompson
Art by	Marco Ferrari
Colors by	Lee Loughridge
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editor	Ben Abernathy
Continuity	Energon Universe

Oh, he's doin' somethin'...

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Scarlett must undergo her most dangerous mission yet: braving a storm to infiltrate the shadowed world of Clan Arashikage to save her best friend!

Synopsis

Sergeant Shana “Scarlett” O'Hara infiltrates a party at a private compound in Monaco looking for information about a group of hostages. She suggests to her superiors that the hostages could be on site, but they remind her that even if their intel is incorrect, she is ordered not to engage. Scarlett identifies their target, a buyer named “Bartleby” but is soon distracted by the sight of a woman with a tattooed symbol that she vaguely recognizes, only to realize the woman is Jinx, an old friend of hers who went missing years ago. Noticing that Jinx and several men are wielding swords, she requests permission to engage but is repeatedly denied. She then notices a series of symbols scrawled into the wall, a code from Jinx telling her not to get involved. Jinx and the swordsmen free the women being held hostage, leading to a brawl with the compound’s security. Scarlett - against the orders of her superiors - engages, grabbing a crossbow and taking out the rest of the security detail, saving Jinx and allowing her to escape with one of the hostages.

Featured characters

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

United States military	Arashikage	Others
Scarlett (1) Gorman (4) Stalker (5) Snow Job (6)	Jinx (3) Arashikage ninjas (7) Hard Master (8) Storm Shadow (9)	Bartleby (2)

Quotes

Notes

Continuity notes

Back in Duke #3, Stalker displayed his martial arts prowess, saying he learned a roundhouse kick from “a friend.” This issue reveals that he received some of his training from the Arashikage.
Storm Shadow makes his first full appearance this issue after being glimpsed on a computer screen in Cobra Commder #5.
It isn’t entirely clear when exactly this series takes place relevant to the other Energon Universe Joe titles: Stalker makes no overt reference to the new team formed at the end of Duke #5, so while it's possible Jinx's operation was merely a standard military op, it could have been under the purview of the Joes.

G.I. Joe references

In a departure from previous Energon Universe Joe comics, most of the cast of Scarlett does not seem to be based on their Classified Series toys: Scarlett's main uniform (seen only on the covers) is an updated interpretation of her classic costume, while Storm Shadow wears an original design. The one exception to this is Jinx.
During the skirmish in Monaco, Scarlett grabs a crossbow, her signature weapon.
Stalker training with the Arashikage plays on his history with both Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes from back in the Marvel series.
Scarlett's snow uniform is based on Snow Job's usual attire.
Snow Job is shown in flashback using a sniper rifle. The original Snow Job’s file card made note of his expertise in such weapons.
Jinx's real name is conspicuously never addressed in this first issue. Originally, her true identity was classified top-secret, with all that was known about her identity being that her family had ties to the Arashikage clan and later she’s identified as Storm Shadow’s cousin. The Devil's Due Press comics introduced her given name as “Kimi Arashikage”, while noting that “Kimi” might be a nickname. This name was later used in G.I. Joe: Renegades cartoon, and it has also been given as just “Kim” starting in 2012. HOWEVER. This isn’t true of every version of Jinx. IDW’s Hasbro Universe incarnation was a Chinese-American with some martial arts background but not a ninja, though they later introduced the character of “Ronin/Chameleon” as a stand-in for the original after Jinx’s death. The 2019 IDW G.I. Joe series introduced a half Japanese-American, half Korean version named Elaine Song. What route will this series take? Only time will tell!

Errors

In her letter at the end of the book, Thompson writes the G.I. Joe slogan as "GO JOE" instead of "YO JOE".

Other trivia

Covers

Cover A: Scarlett with the Arashikage symbol in blood in the snow, by Marco Ferrari and Lee Loughridge.
Cover B: Scarlett, Jinx, and the Arashikage, by Joëlle Jones.
Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover, by Gleb Melkinov
Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Scarlett on explosion background, by Steve Epting.
Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Scarlett and Stalker, by Leonardo Romero.
Cover F (1:100 Copy Incentive): Scarlett and Storm Shadow, by Jonboy Meyers.
Cover G (1:250 Copy Incentive): Scarlett and Storm Shadow, by David Mack.
Cover H: Blank sketch cover.
Cover I: Energon Universe Anniversary connecting cover, by Jason Howard and Annalisa Leoni.
Cover J: Energon Universe Anniversary connecting cover (black and white), by Jason Howard.