Cobra, Cobra II, Cobra Special

[Cerebral Dissolution]

Hi, I just downloaded all of these issues on my iPhone (awesome btw), and I am confused on the order I am supposed to read them. After Cobra 1-4, it seems like Chuckles' story picks up again in Cobra II, yet Cobra doesnt stop and goes right into the Scoop story arc, then it seems it goes back to Chuckles. What the heck.

I also want to say even though its been mentioned before, the Cobra series has to be some of the best GI Joe literature I have ever read. I wasnt always a fan of the original GI Joe comic, and didnt bother with anything since. I have always prefered GI Joe vs Cobra as a war in the shadows, and loved seeing Cobra presented as it was. I think they blew it ending the series, and most importantly, killing off Cobra Commander. The whole contest on seeing who is going to rule Cobra by who kills the most Joes is ridiculous (Sand Crab? Really?), and Cobra without a Cobra Commander is like Star Wars without Darth Vader. So Destro, Baroness, etc, simply wont work for long. Serpentor, sure for awhile. But I am sure some faceless unknown comes around and takes over as Cobra Commander. And I have always loved the twins, so killing off Xamot blows too.

Its really a shame Cobra ended. I didnt even really care for Scoop and Serpentor, but I still appreciated it. I would have loved reading up on Lady Jaye or another covert ops doing something in another 4 issue arc. I dont follow the main GI Joe comic, or any of the others for that matter, and to be honest I feel like I've read the best there is or ever will be so there is no point.

[ucsf]

After Cobra II, Cobra continues with The Serpent's Tale story, and this is some nice add, since as a spiritual leader, Serpentor finally has a meaningful part in the Cobra leadership. The present comics are having much more sense, because we can see how Serpentor and the Coil works.

The new Cobra issues have the slow pace and with some valuable information about the candidates, that's still the best ongoing of the three IMO.

And yes, I think too that one of the lesser-known wannabes will end up as Commander.

[maczero]

Hi, I just downloaded all of these issues on my iPhone (awesome btw), and I am confused on the order I am supposed to read them. After Cobra 1-4, it seems like Chuckles' story picks up again in Cobra II, yet Cobra doesnt stop and goes right into the Scoop story arc, then it seems it goes back to Chuckles. What the heck.

I also want to say even though its been mentioned before, the Cobra series has to be some of the best GI Joe literature I have ever read. I wasnt always a fan of the original GI Joe comic, and didnt bother with anything since. I have always prefered GI Joe vs Cobra as a war in the shadows, and loved seeing Cobra presented as it was. I think they blew it ending the series, and most importantly, killing off Cobra Commander. The whole contest on seeing who is going to rule Cobra by who kills the most Joes is ridiculous (Sand Crab? Really?), and Cobra without a Cobra Commander is like Star Wars without Darth Vader. So Destro, Baroness, etc, simply wont work for long. Serpentor, sure for awhile. But I am sure some faceless unknown comes around and takes over as Cobra Commander. And I have always loved the twins, so killing off Xamot blows too.

Its really a shame Cobra ended. I didnt even really care for Scoop and Serpentor, but I still appreciated it. I would have loved reading up on Lady Jaye or another covert ops doing something in another 4 issue arc. I dont follow the main GI Joe comic, or any of the others for that matter, and to be honest I feel like I've read the best there is or ever will be so there is no point.Buck up, CD! Cobra didn't end. It started over. All the events still happened from the minis and volume 1. Hell, the entire civil war revolves around a very "significant" event from the original Cobra series. As for the deaths (CC, Xamot etc.), I think they served the story. Where in new territory now and I think that's even more exciting than seeing Chuckles or even another Joe try to infiltrate Cobra. We still don't know a lot about Cobra. Who are the consuls? How old is Cobra? What makes the candidates for Commander tick? I say there's a lot of interesting stuff up ahead.

I will agree that on the surface the contest seems stupid. But when you think about it, it actually makes some sense. The Joes have dealt the biggest blow to Cobra in the history of the organization. What better way to prove who's qualified to run Cobra by eliminating its greatest threat? My only gripe is how some of the candidates are going about it. Killing small squads of Joes is dumb. They should be trying to destroy or even discredit the organization as a whole. Thankfully Andy over at IDW said that the body count thing was just marketing sensationalism. He said Cobra will be hurting the Joes in a number of ways besides ambushes.

[Jay West]

The reading order is pretty simple just read them as published. I haven't done the digital thing, but I can't imagine there isn't some place with original publication date.

Cobra mini, Cobra Special #1, Cobra II mini 1-4, Cobra Special #2, Cobra II becomes an ongoing and is re-titled Cobra at issues 5-13.

Cobra is relaunched with a new #1 this past May.

So it was a mini, a special, another mini, another special and then it did well enough to become an ongoing.