G.I. Joe (2024) issue 6

Publisher	Image Comics; Skybound Entertainment
First published	April 23, 2025
Cover date	April 2025
Written by	Joshua Williamson
Art by	Tom Reilly
Colors by	Jordie Bellaire
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editors	Ben Abernathy
Continuity	Energon Universe

The opening salvo of G.I. Joe's fight against Cobra climaxes as Duke and Cobra Commander face off for the first time. But this is just the beginning of the war to come…

Synopsis

With Duke holding him at gunpoint, Cobra Commander decides to introduce himself to the G.I. Joe leader. Knowing Duke's history, the Commander says they're not so different: both men loyal to systems greater than them that found themselves betrayed. However, while Duke went back to the military, the Commander built something new. Duke rejects this notion, at which point the Commander fully activates the Brainwave Bomb. After explaining its effects, Duke orders Cobra Commander to shut it down, but the Commander tells him the only way to do so is to kill Doctor Monev. As the Commander turns to leave, Duke fires on him, but he blocks the bullets with his metal gauntlet and fires back with Energon blasts.

Meanwhile, Destro pursues the escaping Joes in a F.A.N.G. As Baroness tries to evade his fire, Clutch insists that they go back to rescue Duke. Despite her objections, Clutch is able to goad her into turning around, much to Destro's shock. Chameleon reports to him that Cobra Commander has activated the Brain Bomb. With the likelihood of the Joes being caught in its blast, Destro orders the rest of Cobra to return to Springfield.

As Duke and Cobra Commander continue their fight, the Commander taunts Duke that he's already lost. However, Duke counters that he doesn't need to win; he just needs to keep the Commander within the Brainwave Bomb's blast radius so that he dies too. The Commander says he's not afraid to die, but Duke counters that if he does, then Cobra will rule the world without him. In response, Cobra Commander turns and fires an Energon blast through Doctor Monev's head, shutting down the Brain Bomb. He then retrieves a small orb from the Brainwave Scanner. As the other Joes arrive, Cobra Commander takes his leave, telling Duke that he looks forward to their future battles.

In Springfield, Cobra regroups. Destro is outraged that Cobra Commander's actions have compromised M.A.R.S. so completely, but the Commander remains unperturbed. He reveals that while the Brainwave Bomb was but one means to an end, his real goal with merging the Brainwave Scanner and the Cybertron shard was to unlock a piece of technology hidden inside. He decides it's time for Destro to know the truth about the robots in disguise on Earth.

At The Pit, the Joes recover. Duke reports to Colonel Hawk that they lost, but Hawk simply commends him on surviving the incident. Duke reaffirms that while the Joes need more training and time in the field together, their unique abilities is what made sure they survived. However, they can't lose focus on why the Joes were formed in the first place: finding the robot that killed Frosting. Meanwhile, Clutch decides to go for a drive to clear his head, hopping into a jeep outside the Pit. As he drives into the desert, he is suddenly thrown from the vehicle… as it transforms into a giant robot!

Featured characters

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

G.I. Joe	Cobra	Others
Duke (2) Rock 'n Roll (5) Clutch (6) Stalker (7) Cover Girl (8) Risk (9) Baroness (10) Hawk (21)	Cobra Commander (1) Chameleon (13) Destro (14) Tomax and Xamot (15 & 16) Scrap-Iron (17) Mercer (18) Ripper (19)	Archibald Monev (3) Starscream (4) Golobulus (11) Nemesis Enforcer (12) Megatron (20) Hound (22)

Quotes

"You should have run. Like your team did.”
"They only ran because I ordered them to. Luckily, they don't listen to me."

—Cobra Commander and Duke

Notes

Continuity notes

Cobra Commander first learned about Duke from Destro in the first issue of this series. However, he appears to know far more about Duke's recent history — including his encounter with the Transformers — than was gleaned from that brief exchange. While it is possible Destro, who learned the full ordeal of Duke's encounter with Starscream from General Flagg's files back in Destro #4, told him about it off panel, that seems dubious given Destro's distrust of the Commander.
During Cobra Commander's “we're not so different” speech, we see flashbacks to the events of both Duke and Cobra Commander.
Cobra Commander was seen upgrading his energon blasting gauntlet, first seen in Cobra Commander #4, in issue #1.
Duke is still mad about the death of Frosting from back in Transformers #2.
Hey kids, it's Hound! The Autobot tracker makes his Energon Universe debut in this issue, also marking the first proper appearance of a Transformer in the main G.I. Joe title. We had previously seen an arm that appeared to belong to Hound among the Autobot remains aboard the Ark in Transformers #1. What is he doing here? We'll find out in the Energon Universe 2025 Special!

Transformers references

The piece of technology Cobra Commander was powering up looks eerily similar to a Transformation cog, specifically the version seen in the Generation 1 cartoon but colored as the version seen in Transformers One. This was later confirmed in backmatter of later issues.
As Hound transforms, the transformation sound effect is rendered in onomatopoeia.

Wait, what?

Let's review Cobra Commander's "plan" for a minute:

Step 1: Retrieve piece of Cybertron. (Okay, cool.)
Step 2: Combine it with Brainwave Scanner. (Makes sense.)
Step 3: Brainwash everyone in Washington, D.C. into being Cobra loyalists. (Great plan.)
Step 4: Get impatient and use the scientist who built the Brainwave Scanner as the test subject even after he said it could kill said test subject. (...wait, what?)
Step 5: Shoot said scientist in the head to deactivate the machine because he couldn’t get away in time to not die in the explosion. (Okay, but-)
Step 6: Retrieve a transformation cog from the machine that you apparently needed to unlock by combining it with the Cybertron piece. (Where the heck did that even come from?)

...and apparently this was his real goal all along?

Other notes

Originally scheduled for release April 16, this issue was pushed back a week.

Covers

Cover A: Duke and Cobra Commander clash as everything burns around them, by Tom Reilly.
Cover B: Baroness and Destro, by Derrick Chew.
Cover C: Cobra Commander is full of snakes, by Lorenzo De Felici.
Cover D (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover, by Karl Kerschl.
Cover E (1:25 Copy Incentive): Destro on an explosion background, by Travis Moore and Adriano Lucas.
Cover F (1:50 Copy Incentive): Hound looms over Clutch, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
The 616 Comics Cover A: by Iván Talavera.
The 616 Comics Cover B: Foil virgin variant.
claytoncrain.com Cover: by Clayton Crain.
ComicSketchArt Fan Expo Dallas 2025 Cover: by Rose Besch.
Comic Book Exclusives / Mellow Fellow Trading Cover: Foil virgin variant of Cover B.
Skybound Shop Cover A: by Davi Go.
Skybound Shop Cover B: Virgin variant.