Destro, Scarlett, and the road to G.I. Joe #1 (Skybound Energon Universe)

[@dmaynor]

It is such a good time to be a Transformers/G.I. Joe fan.

[@LynkCableReacts]

Skybound have done such an incredible job at making me care for these GI Joe characters and their stories, more than I ever expected I would to be honest, the Earthbound world building mainly coming from these two organisations has been an amazing way to include human characters that are equally interesting as a Transformer or one of the Void Rivals (especially to me as someone who’s never been a massive Joe fan) as well as showing us more connections to the other books in this universe while doing a good job at also being standalone tales too. I hope you continue to cover more of the the GI Joe side of the EU alongside Transformers dude :)

[@Moonbase3]

Thanks, man! I appreciate the kind words. My plan is to cover the G.I. Joe ongoing along with the other titles, so you can count on seeing more of that in the future! :) And well said about how Skybound is handling this part of the universe. You've articulated a lot of what I think makes the books so good. And It's always great to hear that this iteration of the franchise is landing for people who weren't big on past incarnations! Skybound is really hitting the mark with this universe.

[@darkroom0716]

Had some downtime recently and got ALL caught on up the Energon Universe. I liked Skybound more than I expected, and despite having never been passionate about GI Joe I'm actually looking forward to GI Joe #1 after reading CC, Destro, Duke & Scarlett. I think Skybounds really onto something here! I also found myself liking Void Rivals a lot more than I expected.

[@Moonbase3]

One of us! One of us! Welcome aboard, glad you're enjoying it. :)

[@simonbellmont]

Same here. It is exciting to know what GI Joe couldn’t possibly potential wise.

[@SwizzPrime]

Honey wake up new Moonbase Three video 🔥🔥🔥

[@Moonbase3]

🤗

[@CarlsCollection]

The way they are thoughtfully building this whole universe is so darn reassuring. It’s been said, but it’s worth repeating. Holding back major characters like Megatron (mostly) & Snake Eyes is a sign that character building is at the core of their overall mission. It gives so many opportunities for other characters to shine & allows us to get attached to them and their stories/motivations. Starting the GI Joe side of things with Duke was a bold move and it certainly paid off. Making an interesting Cobra Commander story was an easier (while also still very impressive) feat. Duke, for the first time in forever, is an interesting character and not just perfect cookie cutter loyal soldier guy. He finally feels like a true man of action that he has always been billed as. To me, that spoke volumes as to the GI Joe side of things being in safe & very much qualified hands!

[@Moonbase3]

Well said. I think you're right, while Cobra Commander was my favorite of the series, it is a bit more challenging to make an interesting and compelling character out of someone like Duke. The journey that he went on and the choices that he made in his series really sets him up to be an interesting leader in issue 1...really looking forward to seeing where they take it from here!

[@blazefaust8664]

Way awesome coverage...true excitement in there world building..blaze

[@Moonbase3]

Thank you! And yes, the world building is pretty good here!

[@Autobot-Sonic]

7:50 LOVE the reference to the Oldboy Hallway fight there

[@Moonbase3]

Dang, nice catch! It's been a long time since I've seen Oldboy, so I totally missed that.

[@Tigerkaya]

For long time I thought i was the only one who loved both franchises. Yet seeing more Transformers fans accepting GI Joe into the fold i am both relieved and cautious. I'm so use to Transformers fans being so venomous to the idea I thought they we're the X-fans.

[@Moonbase3]

The creators at Skybound won't be able to please everyone, but I think there's been a pretty positive reaction so far. Speaking just from some of the comments I've seen on my videos, there seems to be a good amount of TF fans who have been won over by the Skybound G.I. Joe books after having little to no experience with the franchise, so I think the creators must be doing something right!

[@chriscampanozzi6516]

Moonbase. Thank you. Fantastic recap of the G.I. Joe series.

[@Moonbase3]

Thank you! I appreciate that.

[@DeltaTrion]

I promise I'm gonna read these comics! But I'm waiting for that Book #1 for TF, VR, and GJ. They will look so good together.

[@Moonbase3]

Those are going to be some awesome collections!

[@Tigerkaya]

@DeltaTrion Looking forward to it. And I thought you were Transformers exclusive.

[@dmaynor]

crushing it!😊

[@Moonbase3]

🤗

[@adriannamorton1984]

I remember when all I wanted to see was the covers for Duke and Cobra Commander and now here we are less than 2 weeks away from the premier of G.I.Joe #1. Can’t wait!

[@Moonbase3]

Same here! I'm glad the wait is nearly over.

[@mr.end-game711]

Funny thing is that each mini series starts with the main character talking with their superiors, thought that was insisting motif. The idea of Energon swords are nothing new for transformers(Dinobots love those things) but the idea of human sized Energon swords is new, maybe they could be tied to real life damascus steel blades. Scarlet was with little exception was far removed for the main story but Destro is the inversion deeply rooted in the franchise. Astoria Cartlon-Ritz being introduced and being Chameleon, Destro learning more about the Starscream incident from Transformers #2 and the hunk of Cybertron falling to earth. We saw the power hungry nature in Storm Shadow when held the sword, so I could see an arashikage civl war being a story line.

[@Moonbase3]

That's interesting - I always thought the Dinobots' swords were just powered by Energon or something along those lines - I never considered that they might be made out of the stuff, like I'm assuming the Soul of the Arashikage is.

[@wayigotitfigured9800]

Another fine video. Tell me: Do you write these out before you edit them? Anyway, the only comment I have is on the piece of Cybertron hitting in Destro #5, which I think my last comment alluded to. It's definitely the same event. It almost has to be considering there's no mention of A BIG PIECE OF ANOTHER PLANET THAT WAS ORBITING EARTH anywhere else in the earthbound EU stuff. My question is, was this part of the 'plan' or a band-aid on a crazy event the rest of the titles didn't know about? We shall see. Joe and Transformers hit this WED!

[@Moonbase3]

Thanks! Yes, I write a script for my videos - though I sometimes go off script or elaborate on the fly when I'm recording. I think you're right about Destro 5, but you raise a good question, one that I would like to know the answer to as well - about whether this was part of the plan or not. Very excited for Wednesday!!

[@Cirex9000]

I don't think that this is the last that we've seen of Overkill. As the chunk of what might the part of Cybertron that was cut off when the portal went down was falling to Earth, it passed through the remains of the Overkill satellite. What if the Overkill AI hitched a ride planetside, either intentionally or just got snagged, and starts using Cybertronian materials to build itself an android body?

[@Moonbase3]

I like where you're going with this... I would be down for something like that! 🔥

[@mcpics4448]

So far pretty solid foundation for GI Joe for Skybound and my guess the space debris might be realted to Void Rival in some way have no proof but it would be nice to have some presence of that war into Earth to spice up the conflict even more

[@Moonbase3]

Now there's an interesting thought! I wonder how that might tie into Void Rivals...

[@robertgray1365]

Interestingly Overkill is a character in both GI Joe and Transformers. In GI Joe it's basically an Alpha BAT and in Transformers it's one of Soundwave's cassettes. I'm sure they're probably going with the GI Joe version but, considering intel and information gathering is Soundwave's specialty, it's possible Overkill is an infiltration unit sent by Soundwave to gather information on Earth's weaponry. Maybe even a combination of both.

[@Moonbase3]

I like what you're cooking up here...I always wanted Slugfest and Overkill to be utilized more, so if we have to combine characters across different franchises to do it, I say go for it! I mean, they already did it with Astoria and Chameleon, so why not?

[@zetaTF]

Yup. Cobra is def becoming my favorite villain faction in the EU💪

[@Moonbase3]

They're great so far. G.I. Joe has some catching up to do! ;)

[@wolfshadowism]

Wonder if the Arashikage will be involved with Nightbird creation..

[@Moonbase3]

That could be cool!

[@nelsonculligan1491]

Great review. I wonder if the second team Hawk refers to is Nightforce and will be focused on Energon itself whereas Duke’s team will focus on the ‘giant robot’ threat. We’ve been seeing a lot of crossover between the Energon universe and the Classified figures in terms of design so it is worth noting that the artwork on Classified’s Nightforce subline always depicts Energon. Thoughts?

[@Moonbase3]

That's a great idea! I think I wondered about whether or not it might be called Action Force, but I think your idea makes way more sense. In retrospect, Hawk said "more than one team" so maybe there are even more than two. There would be a good number of sublines to draw from in that case. But your suggestion with Night Force is a really strong theory, especially with the Classified connection to Energon that you mentioned. I wonder if that means we might see some Energon-infected Mole Rats in the future...

[@nelsonculligan1491]

@ “more than one team” that’s a great point. We could be in for a real treat, bring on Star Brigade!

[@ArcanaStorm]

I'm dying on the hill that TF#12 and De#5 don't overlap. It makes no sense timeline wise.

[@Moonbase3]

Duke created such a chronology mess with that time gap. I'm still very confused by how Transformers and G.I. Joe are supposed to fit together in terms of chronology.

[@ArcanaStorm]

@Moonbase3 I made a timeline and posted it in r/Energonuniverse. It actually works out pretty well. Transformers up to this point has been about a month at most and Cobra Commander happens at some point in arc 3 or arc 2 depending on where they put the ‘24 special in the trades. Pythona takes off after Megatron breaks out and given how long we know Void Rivals could have taken that leaves enough time for her adventures in VR to happen. The end of Destro is likely a separate event, probably a peice of Cybertron that fell off during the “Cyberfall” and went into a decaying orbit only to crash months later.

[@Moonbase3]

Nice! I'll have to see if I can find the timeline you made. Curious where you situated Duke.

[@FlamesofJagger]

The only thing I hated about Destro was that they brought back Cobra Commander's lisp. He didn't have that in his own series

[@Moonbase3]

Yeah, it was pretty prominent in Destro. He had it a couple times in issue one of CC, but then Williams dialed it way down to zero, so it did stand out more in Destro.

[@championjdg]

i want snake-eyes.

[@Moonbase3]

Me too. The creators are still being coy about him, but I'm sure he'll show up eventually.

[@ryanking6433]

void rivals 13?

[@Moonbase3]

Next in the queue! I'm hoping to have it out by next weekend at the latest. :)

[@ryanking6433]

@ awesome! Didn’t mean to sound hasty. Amazing video here!

[@Moonbase3]

No worries, it was a fair question! I'm looking forward to covering it. And thank you for the kind words and support! :)

[@samlittle7243]

@@Moonbase3 So to get things straight, Duke, Scarlet, Cobra Commander and Destro are all 5 part mini series, and G.I Joe is about to launch, maintaining the ongoing story's of all of them? So then energon universe will consist of 3 ongoing comic books, Transformers, Void Rivals and G.I Joe. I thought kirkman said there will only be 2 ongoing comic books at once in the energon universe. So what's wrapping up Transformers or Void Rivals?

[@Moonbase3]

@samlittle7243 That is correct about the mini series and that is my assumption that they will all feed into the G.I. Joe ongoing - though it's possible the events and characters of Scarlett may not show up until later. As for the 2 ongoings thing - I don't remember that off the top of my head...so you could be right, but I'm not sure how they would do it as Transformers is confirmed as going for 24 issues under DWJ, and there are already solicits out for the 15th issue of Void Rivals in January. I don't see either of them ending, but I could be wrong. As for Kirkman and the roadmap, all I remember is him saying that there wouldn't be more than 4 titles per month.

[@vwpac]

Need a SNAKE EYES issue also

[@robcolcort8007]

Liked duke, cc, and destro. Disappointed in scarlet.