Skybound/Image continue their relaunch of the G.I. Joe Universe with Destro, one of their second wave of miniseries focusing on key characters in the franchise. Writer Dan Watters tells a story of intrigue and action as artist Andrei Bressen, along with colorist Adriano Lucas, and letterer Rus Wooton detail the destruction and conspiracy taking place.
After a drone strike destroyed his Darklonia arms fair, Destro is entering scorched earth mode. The cloaked drones that were used against him are the handiwork of Extensive Enterprises, which puts its leaders, Tomax and Xamot Paoli, square in Destro’s sights. However, the Paolis identify the attack as an attempt to discredit Extensive Enterprises and turn potential customers off of using the services of their Crimson Guard.
The two sides are now revved up and ready to go to war against each other. Destro’s Iron Grenadier and Despoilers hit the Crimson Twins training grounds. The twins retaliate with a strike of their own. Tracking the cash flow of M.A.R.S. Industries, leads the twins to targeting one of Destro’s weapons factories. And then things really heat up.
The Crimson Guard have inadvertently attacked a B.A.T. factory. And in connection with the Energon Universe, this facility is holding Destro’s supply of Energon. Determined to keep the twins from discovering the Energon, Destro orders for all B.A.T.s in the factory to be activated. The mechanical soldiers clash with Crimson Guardsman, while in another location, Despoilers do battle with Crimson A.S.P.S.
Waging open war against each other leads to a loss of resources, but it doesn’t result in an advantage for either side. Rather than continuing to turn their forces into scrap heaps, Destro sets up a meeting with the Crimson Twins. They agree to a truce of sorts, or at least an agreement to limit collateral damage.
Afterwards Destro secrets away to a remote location. He travels to the tomb of clan Destro. A place that no one outside of his bloodline knows about. Hiding away from the assassins that Tomax and Xamot will surely send after him, while he awaits for his own assassins to take out the Crimson Twins. However, he is not as secure as he thinks. The final page reveals that Chameleon has been on his trail.
The code name Chameleon will ring some bells for followers of the IDW run of G.I. Joe comics and collectors of the 2000’s release of action figures. Originally conceived as a reissue of the Baroness action figure, Chameleon’s file card details her to be the half sister of the Baroness. Having a striking resemblance to the Baroness, Chameleon joins G.I. Joe and takes on a mission to infiltrate Cobra. The character would later be identified as Erika Le Tene in IDW’s G.I. Joe Special: Cobra #2.
Earlier, in G.I. Joe Special: Cobra #1, another character appears with the code name Chameleon. This character has a striking resemblance to Jinx, and is on a mission to extract Chuckles from an assignment within Cobra.
It is unknown if the latest version of Chameleon will be the rebirth of either of these previous versions of the character. It could be someone entirely new who was created to carry the name and reference the past. It does add more more intrigue heading into Destro #3.
