Cobra #10 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Alex Cal (breakdowns), Beni Lobel (finishes), J. Brown (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: As the new Cobra Commander takes over a SE Asian nation, his lieutenants begin to scheme against him.

A Few Things: 

1. The Cobra characters are so much more interesting. – Honestly, I’d rather this comic didn’t show what the Joes are doing… ever.  Let me summarize what the Joes are doing in case anyone wants to skip it: “We have to stop Cobra.”  We need a little pre-emptive strike action from the Joes, otherwise they’re just reactionary.  On the flip side, the Cobra main characters all ooze charisma.  Each is unique and has his/her own strengths, flaws and goals.  They’re so much more three-dimensional than the Joes.  Maybe villains are just more interesting than heroes?  Maybe Mike Costa is a better writer?  Am I the only one who sees this?

2. Scheming is good! – Well…you didn’t really think that all the main Cobra guys would just say, “Cool!  We have a new commander.  Let’s blindly follow him!”  So, it isn’t a huge surprise that everyone is scheming against Krake.  Here we’ve got all kinds of weird little alliances forming among the Cobra lieutenants and that’s cool because you know that those alliances won’t last a second longer than necessary.  Plus, the scheming gets Baroness into the action (in a towel no less) and that’s always positive.  And….it won’t surprise anyone if Krake has been a step ahead of his minions all along.

3. What’s in the briefcase? -I got a huge Pulp Fiction/briefcase vibe as we saw the Cobras geeking out over whatever image Major Bludd has on his iPad.  Tomax especially had a great look.  What could Krake have done on a hidden camera that is so horrible that he might lose his leadership position?  Is it an old YouTube video he made when he was 15 where he professed his deep love for Snake Eyes?