Skybound’s Energon Universe, the home of the publisher’s new takes on the Transformers and G.I. Joe, as well as original titles like “Void Rivals,” will continue to expand this summer with two new miniseries: “Scarlett,” by Kelly Thompson & Marco Ferrari, and “Destro,” by Dan Watters & Andrei Bressan.
“Scarlett,” written by Kelly Thompson with art by Marco Ferrari (“Frontiersman”), follows G.I. Joe member Shana O’Hara as she’s sent to infiltrate the Arashikage ninja clan. “Her one lead is her former partner — Jinx — turned Arashikage enforcer. Now, Scarlett must use her skills to survive undercover… and discover a shocking weapon that could change the balance of power on Earth.” It will debut June 5.
“Destro,” by writer Dan Watters and artist Andrei Bressan (“Dark Ride”), follows the masked arms dealer (full name James McCullen Destro XXIV) and ally of Cobra, as he reckons with how the discovery of energon has changed the game. “As [his] ambitions grow, the ‘Crimson Twins’ Tomax and Xamot Paoli emerge to destroy their competition, and Cobra Commander realizes his current ally could be his future greatest enemy.” Issue #1 releases June 19.
Thompson comments, “G.I. Joe’s Scarlett is truly one of my first geek loves as a kid, and I am absolutely thrilled to have a hand in building her for this new, incredibly cool and rich universe at Skybound.” Watters said, “I’m incredibly excited to bring Destro to life with Andrei. This is going to be a visceral, explosive thriller in which he isn’t very nice to anyone at all — everything you’d want from your favorite amoral arms trafficker.”
The books continue the character-centric approach Skybound took with G.I. Joe last fall, launching “Duke” and “Cobra Commander” series in lieu of an ongoing. (A spot seemingly reserved for the continuation of Larry Hama’s original “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” run.) Those two miniseries, written by Joshua Williamson, with art respectively by Tom Reilly and Andrea Milana, will conclude in April and May. Williamson isn’t quite done with G.I. Joe and Cobra yet though, as he will pen an original Joe story in the Energon Universe’s Free Comic Book Day special, due out May 4.
It was not specified how long “Scarlett” and “Destro” will run for, although they will presumably be five issues like “Duke” and “Cobra Commander.” In the meantime, head to Skybound to hear from Ferrari and Bressan, and to check out the variant covers and interiors for the first issues of both series.
