Movies News Talk
G.i. Joe has faced some nasty villains in the past, but two of the most prominent characters just got an especially brutal makeover in the Energon Universe. Tomax and Xamot, known as the Crimson Twins, make their debut in Destro #1, and they kick things off with a brutal massacre that would never have happened in the cartoon series from the 1980s.
Destro #1 – written by Dan Watters, with art by Andrei Bressan – finds its silver-masked protagonist fighting for his place in the international arms market. Although Destro’s Energon-infused B.A.T.s give him the edge over his competitors, the threat of being overtaken is ever present.
Destro is holding an illegal arms fair in the nation of Darklonia for his contemporaries, but he notices one company’s absence at the bazaar: Extensive Enterprises, the weapons and mercenary company run by Tomax and Xamot Paoli. Turns out the twins are currently in South America, loaning their elite Crimson Guard mercs to a local rebel army.
A conflict between two giant arms manufacturers sounds like the perfect storyline to play out in a Destro series, and should lead to plenty of intrigue in future issues, as both parties attempt to one up each other in their makeshift “war.”
As depicted in Destro #1, the Crimson Twins get into a rather heated argument with a local leader, frustrated that he decided to pull his men from the battlefield instead of securing a victory. When the field commander explains he was trying to save his injured men’s lives, Tomax and Xamot coldly explain they calculated twenty percent in casualties for the battle - the same percentage that is currently wounded. The twins then order their Crimson Guardsmen to kill the wounded soldiers as well as the field commander, explaining that they can’t have their reputation tarnished due to “cowardice.”
After this brutal display of cruelty, the Crimson Twins then unveil their master plan: they didn’t show up to Destro’s arms fair because they were planning an attack on Destro himself, effectively declaring war on M.A.R.S. Industries. The brutality shown by Tomax and Xamot only serves to raise the stakes immeasurably for Destro, making what could be goofy characters into a serious threat in the Energon Universe.
Publisher Skybound Entertainment and its creators have been rather playful in assembling the pieces of the G.i. Joe corner of the Energon Universe. Fans can assume that all these characters will eventually put aside their differences and form the full Cobra organization seen in the classic continuity, but anything is possible in comics' most exciting shared universe as it continues to expand. However things play out, it will be very intriguing watching G.I. Joe’s Destro and the Crimson Twins go to war in the Energon Universe.
Destro #1 is available now from Skybound Entertainment.