Creators: Joshua Williamson (writer), Andrea Milana (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer)
Story: Picking up from last issue, Trakker and Scrap-Iron go at it, with Trakker driving away. He is soon rescued by the Joes and Autobot Hound and Clutch has him fix Hound's transponder so he can contact the Autobots. Duke, Clutch and Hound meet Optimus Prime (from Transformers (2023) #30) and he and Duke have a good talk and come to an understanding. Meanwhile, Snow Job and Cover Girl meet up to talk about Scarlett.
Writing: While this issue starts with some good action, that's where most of it is. The rest is a good set up issue with getting more of Duke's motivation and more insight into Cobra. After 2 years' worth of stories, Duke is starting to see a bigger picture and realizes what his goals are now. The end of the issue also starts to bring in more elements from the various miniseries and sets up some more stories. I will say this, though; there are spoilers for what is going on over in the ongoing Transformers comic.
Art: With a nice action and chase scene to start us off, the art is pretty decent. We also get a nice two-page spread when Duke and Optimus finally meet. Like we get a lot, there are a lot of yellows, oranges and reds used as background colors throughout it but it mostly works.
Overall: A strong issue that has been nearly 40 years in the making! We get a good side-by-side conversation with two of the leaders from the original series of the Transformers and G.I. Joe - Optimus and Duke. Just some old soldiers, saddled with the burden of leadership, sharing a few stories and bonding over a lot of their common personality traits. It might not be this big, climactic battle followed by an understanding. These two individuals recognize how much they are alike and how they can help each other. The end also promises to start bringing in more Joes onto the team.
