Cobra-La
| Notable characters | Golobulus Cobra La Royal Guards Nemesis Enforcer Pythona |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Cobra-La is a fictional civilization created by Hasbro for the military-themed toyline and TV series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Introduced to the public in G.I. Joe: The Movie and the 1987 series of action figures, Cobra-La was created as a reference to James Hilton's Lost Horizon, and the name itself is likely a pun on Shangri-La. It was originally meant as a working name, but Hasbro liked the name so much that it remained.
Cobra-La made their first comics appearance in the G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers series from Devil's Due Publishing, holders of the G.I. Joe license. They first appeared in the second crossover, springing Cobra scientist Doctor Mindbender from jail. They would reappear in the fourth crossover "Black Horizon", with a much-expanded back story.
Although the series does not directly reveal their origins, it does reveal the reason for their secrecy. Believed to be the children of an old god who was worshipped by early humans, the creatures found themselves confronted by another creature who was also believed to be a god; Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer, had come to Earth to devour it so he could feed his own hunger. Cobra-La opposed him, threatening to attack him with a metal-devouring organic spore. Before the two sides could annihilate each other, an agreement was reached favoring both parties. The creatures would go into hiding, allowing humanity to develop. Then, when they had reached a sufficient technological level so they could serve as slaves for the Chaos-Bringer's inner workings, the creatures would call Unicron. He would destroy the remainder of humanity and Cobra-La would inherit the human-free world he left behind.
Thousands of years later the pact would be kept, and the creatures, now calling themselves Cobra-La, would summon Unicron via a beacon, using Bludgeon and his team of Decepticon mercenaries to kill all interlopers, including Autobots from Cybertron. They also have an unusual captive - Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe. Here they are also led by Golobulus. They attempted to sacrifice Firewall to Unicron, but they are stopped by an escaped Colton, Hawk and Autobot leader Optimus Prime. Golobulus attacks Hawk as he attempts to free Firewall, while Colton battles Nemesis Enforcer. Ranting about how he intends to destroy the mechanical Transformers, Golobulus is then crushed by Prime's fist. Pythona has a change of heart and kills the Enforcer. With Unicron defeated by Cosmos and Flint, Cobra-La are detained by the rest of G.I. Joe.
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