Cobra Commander #1 Review

 

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Andrea Milana

Colorist: Annalisa Leoni

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Cover Artists: Andrea Milana & Annalisa Leoni; David Aja; Christ Burnham & Brian Reber; Steve Epting; Andrea Sorrentino & Sofie Dodgson; Jonboy Meyers; David Mack; Maria Wolf & Mike Spicer; Vincenzo Federici; Santa Fung; Alan Quah; John Giang; Nimit Malavia

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: January 17, 2023

 

Amid a snow-filled wilderness, the No Man’s Land Rest Stop And Pub represents civilization. Locals gather here to drink and ease the loneliness that seeps into their freezing bones. Yet a stranger will enter their last hospitable house, and their world will never be the same. Who is this man, and why is he here? Let’s leap into Cobra Commander #1 and find out!

 

Story

A stranger enters the bar. He requests transportation. A local man insults him while departing. The stranger follows him outside. He eyes the local man's vehicle.

 

Warning. There will be blood.

 

Before all this, a riot disturbed a secluded kingdom. Chanting the name of their hidden city, enraged citizens attacked the scientists’ enclave. As they pounded against the entrance, one scientist called for flight. The team leader shot him and ordered his people to punish the intruders. Explosions welcomed the mob. Death greeted them warmly.

 

Yet the lead scientist did not escape unscathed. Medical staff ministered to his ravaged body. He might live, but he would never be the same. Shielding his marred face with a mask, he attended his master. The city's ruler gazed down upon him. The ruler spoke of their past. The scientist's disrespect for tradition provoked the riot. For that, the scientist should die. Yet the men share a strange kinship based upon cruelty and a thirst for absolute power. They share it with another who now resides in their city. Although tortured and weakened, the captive’s smile is colder than the frozen lands the scientist now treads.

 

The stranger’s name is unimportant. His mission—to wield the power of an advanced civilization—is everything. His search has just begun. But in time, a fearful world will call him Cobra Commander.

 

Joshua Williamson sweeps readers off their feet and carries them along. Yet his embrace does not constrict, and his feet do not hurry. The story moves forward confidently, introducing the characters, their world, and the lead scientist's mission. Cobra Commander #1 feels like a Western set amid drifting white plains or Doctor Frankenstein pursuing a grand vision to reshape the world. Williamson’s debut issue promises a revelatory journey and departs with a hint of danger.

 

Warning. There will be blood.

 

Art

A bar and a row of tables greet the stranger’s gaze. His trenchcoat and wide-brim hat suggest an earlier era. A bartender studies him. A local man slaps his back. The man walks toward a tracked pickup in the snow-covered parking lot. Then Andrea Milana returns our attention to the pub. Blood sprays across our view of the No Man’s Land Rest Stop And Pub.

 

Flowing asymmetrical architecture evokes an undersea city in Cobra Commander #1. Yet people walk the streets unimpeded by water's density. They traverse grand avenues under hanging globe lights while workers harvest terraced fields. Twisted columns arise from rounded workstations. Articulated appendages sprout like limbs, extending tools for scientific use. While most scientists wear pants and a tank top, a sleek uniform, mask, and helmet adorn their leader. Doctors attend to his burns beneath intense overhead light. They place a jellyfish atop his chest.

 

Pastels dominate the introductory scene in Cobra Commander #1 before Annalisa Leoni unleashes an appealing mix of soft colors upon the amphibious city. The darker colors and the cold metal of a locked vault hint at the outrage that sparked the citizens' ire. Yellow, orange, and red overwhelm the laboratory as the lead scientist combats the mob. Afterward, blotches of crimson surround him. A glowing white respirator highlights his blistered forehead. Magenta tentacles writhe across his damaged body and burrow beneath his overexposed flesh. The doctors pull green snakes from a jar. Red globules arise wherever the snakes sink their blue-white fangs.

 

Large black italicized letters swim in white ponds in Cobra Commander #1. Rus Wooton’s bold letters suggest intonation or raised voices. Spikes extrude from balloons to express fright or duress. Sound effects emphasize gunshots, explosions, slashing blades, and the activity of menacing machines. Yet the brown letters that burst from a rounded rectangular balloon and the giant red letters accompanying a burst of sizzling electricity seem most destined to energize readers.

 

Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

An incredible discovery tempts a scientist to abandon his principles, cast aside tradition, and reject any reverence for life in Cobra Commander #1.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.