Review: Duke #2 (Image Comics)

If you enjoy military-style conspiracy theories, then you’ll really enjoy the solo series featuring one of G.I. Joe’s main event character, Duke.

From the last issue where he copes with the fallout of watching a fighter jet turn into a giant robot and murder his friend in front of his eyes, we see the transformation into a soldier obsessed with his personal mission to learn the truth. 

As of now he suspects a rogue corporate entity, M.A.R.S. to be behind this atrocity, but while there are sinister forces at work, we have not quite seen the link between them and the Decepticons, if there is even a connection at all.

As this issue unfolds, it seems Colonel Hawk has sent two of his finest after the rogue soldier in order to bring him after being accused of an assault at a M.A.R.S. facility. Familiar faces of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Stalker arrive and manage to subdue Duke and his friend Clutch. Both are arrested and brought to The Pit, a known holding station for high-profile criminals. Is Duke really a criminal though? 

A conversation about loyalty and the meaning of being a soldier is interrupted by a familiar individual, one of whom always has ulterior motives of her own. While not named directly, we can easily tell who the cunning and manipulative seductress is. 

The Baroness.

Plenty of action in a few pages, but the misdirection we can see taking place is fairly cunning. Joshua Williamson, also writing Cobra Commander, along with artists Tom Reilly and Jordie Bellaire graphically and verbally convey a tale weaving the intricacies of conspiracy and what loyalty means to a dedicated soldier. 

Duke #2 is now available at your local comic book retailer.