I had the action figure, then the soundtrack, now this comic, and I still haven't played it?

Well, not the new one, anyway! From 2009, Bionic Commando: Chain of Command, written by Andy Diggle, art by Colin Wilson. Cover by Dave Gibbons!

No number, since this was a promo comic, no UPC, for the 2009 game, based on the '87 arcade game and its later ports and a 2008 enhanced remake, which retconned the unrelated 1985 Commando as part of the continuity! Nathan 'RAD' Spencer was the Bionic Commando, a decorated soldier after rescuing the captured Joseph "Super Joe" Gibson: Super Joe had been the player character in Commando as well as one of three choices in Mercs. Here, Joe was no longer a field officer, but gives Nathan his orders; to prevent a pair of bionically-augmented soldiers from defecting out of Alaska. In the course of the mission, Nathan discovers the soldiers weren't really defecting as much as running for their lives: bionic components had been forced upon them, but the government had maybe decided they didn't cost out and was decommissioning them, which would've been fatal. Taking their side, Nathan tries but seemingly fails to save them, when the army betrays him. His backup Magdalene is forced to retreat, while Nathan is arrested and court-martialed, ala the A-Team; setting up the start of the new game.

Plotwise, that's a little grim; and the original game was basically fighting neo-Nazis! Not necessarily here, but the remake also pulls a bit I didn't like from the first Mission: Impossible movie...I had only played the original arcade game, but I still got the update's NECA action figure in early 2009. Sadly, the update only got middling reviews, even though it had Mike Patton as Nathan's voice actor! Much later--maybe this year, even?--I got the Rearmed soundtrack from Internet Archive and love it. It's mostly remixes of the original game's music. Still, Bionic Commando hasn't been completely forgotten: he's managed to turn up in later Marvel vs. Capcom installments: you'd think I might play those, but honestly I haven't bought a system since PS2, and I still play that on occasion. Including the ported Bionic Commando! Maybe I'll take a run at it now...