Matt Trakker

Matt Trakker is a M.A.S.K.-aligned human from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Trakker, Spectrum Ranger.

Matthew "Matt" Trakker, codenamed Spectrum, is the leader of the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. He is the primary pilot of the Thunderhawk and wears the powerful Spectrum Mask. He has a personal history with Miles Mayhem.

Fiction

Unit:E comic

Matt Trakker was a policeman in Detroit before the city fell into chaos. Matt, along with several other rescue workers, found the workshop of the League of Ancient Wheelmen. They used the workshop's advanced technology to upgrade their equipment and protected the streets of Detroit as M.A.S.K. Unit:E

Island Revolution!

Specialist Trakker lent the Thunderhawk to G.I. Joe member Sky Mate for a mission on Cobra Island. Island Revolution!

2005 IDW continuity

This is why you take mech class, not MECH class.

Main article: Matt Trakker on the IDW Hasbro Wiki

Born to Cornelius and Alessandra Trakker, Matt was a child prodigy who idolized his equally brilliant father. While Cornelius was away working on secret government research, Matt passed the time by building a wide variety of gadgets to help his mother's marketing company. When Cornelius was mysteriously murdered, Matt took the loss hard, turning to illegal street racing as an outlet for his grief. His mechanical aptitude gave him an edge on the underground circuits, and over time he used his engineering skills to illegally tamper with city infrastructure to help those without.

Trakker's disregard for the law landed him on several most wanted lists, so his mother reached out to family friend Miles Manheim to see if the military general could rehabilitate her prodigal son. Faced between working for Manheim or a lengthy prison sentence, Matt Trakker opted to join Manheim's newest initiative—the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, a secret team wielding technology designed to hunt down the Transformers. Matt Trakker profile

"And if it's a sentient being, that means..."

While working on the Thunderhawk at Governor's Island, Matt was introduced to Scarlett. When asked what M.A.S.K. does, Matt replied that they solve problems. Matt was then deployed along with the rest of the M.A.S.K. team to Greece, where they were tasked with neutralizing Kup and Aileron. Matt was confused as to why the Autobots weren't acting like machines. Mayhem told Trakker to use his Spectrum mask to jam Aileron's communications with Autobot City, forcing Aileron to retreat and leave behind the wounded Kup. After the battle, Matt saw Kup in pain, revealing to him that the Transformers were living beings. Mayhem just told him that this was war, and war means people—and things—get hurt. The Divine Source of Liberty

Back on Governor's Island, Matt confronted Scarlett about her unwillingness to divulge the true nature of the Transformers. Before he could get anywhere, Manheim led Matt away to talk to him in private. O Ship of State Mayhem reminded Trakker that M.A.S.K. was humanity's only defense against the extraterrestrial menace - and that he should trust him like his father did. The Modern World

Following Action Man's daring heist on the island and Kup's subsequent escape, Trakker walked in on Miles as the military leader met with his "reinforcements"–Baron Karza and the Dire Wraiths–and discussed his plans to storm Autobot City and loot their supplies of Ore-13. When the time came to attack, Matt voiced his misgivings about the plan, but Trakker goaded him into attacking Victorion and overran the Autobot cordon with his Wraith reinforcements. A horrified Trakker maintained that this wasn't what he had signed up for, shortly before the Wraiths turned on their human allies and shot down the Thunderhawk. Though Matt was infuriated by this turn of events, Miles revealed that he was only just beginning, and used the Cybertronian technology in his Switchblade to activate Metrotitan's spacebridge to summon Baron Karza from Microspace. Baron Karza used his enerchange powers to combine the Dire Wraiths and M.A.S.K. tech to become a monstrous fusion. The New Colossus

You might even say he has the power.

A horrified Matt blamed Mayhem for unleashing the monster, even as his commanding offier denied his role in the atrocity. As the factions became increasingly muddled, Acroyear broke through the Thunderhawk's windshield even as Snake Eyes protected the M.A.S.K. pilot from Rom. It took Optimus Prime's leadership to force the combatants to put their differences aside and focus on the true threat: Karza. Matt ordered the other members of M.A.S.K. to concentrate their fire on the Baron, but was soon shot down after Karza sliced the Thunderhawk in half. Though grounded, Trakker teamed up with Rom, Mainframe, Oziron Rael, and Soundwave. Matt's Spectrum mask was able to create the proper counter-resonance to the Ore-13, and the others used Metrotitan's spacebridge to send a defeated Karza back to Microspace. Rom carried Matt to safety as the spacebridge exploded; in the aftermath, Scarlett assured Trakker that Miles Mayhem and several members of M.A.S.K. were nowhere to be seen.

But back on Governor's Island, Matt discovered a note on the remains of his Thunderhawk from Miles Mayhem, which confirmed that he had faked his death and was still at large. Scarlett remarked that life would remain exciting from now on, a sentiment Matt agreed with. Valley Forge

On the run from the government, Matt and his small group of fugitives clashed with Miles Mayhem's VENOM operators several times. Eventually, he and Gloria Baker were introduced to Scarlett's old comrade Stalker, an ex-Adventure Team alumnus who had recently met up with Mayday. Needing the money, the two pilots joined Jones' team on a mission to Brasnya to investigate Garrison Kreiger's "Project Ice Man" facility and Mike Power's last known location.

Following a failed infiltration on the part of Kup, Garrison Blackrock, and Action Man, Trakker and Baker swung into action. While Gloria rescued Action Man from drowning, Trakker used the Thunderhawk's onboard sensors to track Ore-13 all the way to Kreiger's nerve center while contending with Kreiger's reanimated doppelgangers of "Optimus Prime" and "Shockwave". Kreiger's Transformers were defeated after Atomic Man broke his brainwashing and committed suicide, leaving the team to marvel at the mysterious reappearance of the time-tossed Sgt. Savage. Power and Glory

When Worlds Collide

When trying to retrieve the stolen Matrix of Leadership, Optimus Prime joined forces with Matt Trakker, along with several other heroes. When Worlds Collide

Toys

Revolution

Compared to his last figure, he's lost 25 years and gained a better set of legs.

• Revolution Set (SDCC Gift Set, 2017)
  • Accessories: Helmet, armor, gun, G.I. Joe display stand

Released as part of a San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive set, Matt Trakker is an action figure made up of redecoed parts from various G.I. Joe action figures (and the helmet, armor, and gun from 2008's Specialist Trakker), with a new head based on IDW's version of the character. He was packed with several other Hasbro Universe action figures: Jetfire, Action Man, Visionaries' Leoric, Roadblock of G.I. Joe, Rom and a Dire Wraith, and 9 Micronauts mini-figurines. He does not, tragically, come with a Thunderhawk, transforming-into-a-robot or otherwise.

Notes

• While the original 80s version of Trakker was white, the IDW take is African-American. (The Unit:E variant on the character was not glimpsed out of his mask, so it's not certain what ethnicity he was.)

• Prior to his inclusion in Unit:E, Trakker was introduced into G.I. Joe continuity as "Specialist Trakker". M.A.S.K. and its opponent V.E.N.O.M. were mentioned to be sub-divisions of Joe and Cobra, respectively.^[1] The JoeCon 2016 script reading "Island Revolution!" later used this designation.

References

External links

• Matt Trakker at the IDW Hasbro Wiki