Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Image | Tagged: cobra commander, gi joe, Joshua Williamson

Cobra Commander #1 Makes G.I. Joe History With Nearly 80,000 Orders 

Joshua Williamson, Andrea Milana & Annalisa Leoni’s Cobra Commander #1 has set another record for Hasbro with orders of nearly 80,000 copies

Just a few weeks ago, we broke the news that Image/Skybound's Duke #1 from Joshua Williamson, Tom Reilly and Jordie Bellaire set a new G.I. Joe sales record in comics, with nearly 70,000 orders marking both the largest solo character launch and the largest sales in nearly two decades for the franchise. That follows the record-breaking launch for Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers #1, which is the biggest Hasbro launch in comics history. Now I've learned that Joshua Williamson, Andrea Milana and Annalisa Leoni's Cobra Commander #1 has set another record for Hasbro, with FOC orders of nearly 80,000 units and breaking both the G.I. Joe records we mentioned above.

It probably didn't hurt that someone let you know that Cobra Commander #1 has a secret connection to Transformers #4, an issue that saw orders over 10% higher than the previous issue. We've told you before that The Energon Universe – kicked over by Robert Kirkman in Void Rivals #1 – has seemingly established a Big Three next to Marvel and DC's shared universes, but neither of those companies routinely sees that kind of sales trajectory without some kind of special anniversary, variant cover program or big change to legacy characters who have the incomparable MCU promotional vehicle behind them.

Skybound also just announced new printings for nearly every issue of the Energon Universe released in 2023 and despite Skybound printing fully to meet all orders with no allocations on any printings, the demand shows no signs of slowing down. I'm told that the total sales on some Transformers and Void Rivals issues have increased over 30% with new printings included, meaning that retailers are finding lots of interest from both new readers and collectors even well after these series debuted.

So, it begs the question – even with record breaking sales, have retailers ordered enough copies of Duke #1 and Cobra Commander #1 to meet the demand from all the Transformers fans who will soon learn (probably from me) how these books impact their favorite Robots in Disguise?

We'll find out the answer soon when Duke #1 arrives in stores on Wednesday, December 27 and then Cobra Commander #1 releases a few weeks later on Wednesday, January 17.

COBRA COMMANDER #1 (OF 5) CVR A MILANA & LEONI (RES)
IMAGE COMICS
NOV230295
(W) Joshua Williamson (A) Andrea Milana, Annalisa Leoni
Mini-Series Premiere. The Rise of Cobra begins here. In a world where the Cobra organization hasn't formed, one man's sinister plans to utilize the mysterious alien substance known as Energon sends shockwaves across the globe.  Who is Cobra Commander? Where does he come from? And what horrors is he planning to unleash that will rock the world-and maybe the universe-to its core? Red-Hot writer Joshua Williamson (Superman, Duke) and artist Andrea Milana (Impact Winter: Rook) kick off the second of four action-packed miniseries that will introduce the best and worst humanity has to offer in the Energon Universe.
In Shops: Jan 17, 2024
SRP: $4.99

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