GI Joe #9 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Joana Lafuente (colors) and Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: Destro, Duke and Mad Monk see their plans coming together.

Review (with SPOILERS): This is a very confounding issue.  I love the story, but I loathe the art.

Fred Van Lente’s story is great.  He has spent a number of issues creating layers of intrigue and it’s all starting to pay off.  Not only are GI Joe and Cobra locked in a battle, but each side has internal divisions.  Let’s start with Duke and whether he may or may not be a traitor.  I mean, how brave of a story choice is THAT?  Duke is basically the prototype for GI Joe: nice, no profanity, buzzcut, hard-working, honest, capable, leader-of-men, blah, blah…..  Just the thought that he might be a traitor is a brave step.  Even if he’s just allowing himself to be manipulated by Cobra because they kidnapped his wife pops some holes the the Duke mythos.  The Duke we think we know is duty-first, but the man in this story might be willing to compromise his duty and place comrades in danger to save his wife.  It’s understandable from a human point of view – many of us would do the same thing – but Duke is supposedly “better” than the rest of us.  Stay tuned to see how this works out.

Even more delicious than Duke’s possible betrayal is all the back-stabbing within Cobra.  This is already a time of turmoil for Cobra with Krake having only become the new Cobra Commander within the last year or so.  Baroness is on the outs for failing too many times, so she’s hanging out with Destro and Destro is always fun because of his questionable loyalties.  He seems to prefer Cobra’s ways, but that’s just because they buy his weapons… and he’s not above doing things to undermine Cobra if it means he’ll get to sell more weapons.  And then you have Mad Monk and Destro taking turns selling each other out……plus an appearance by Cobra Commander (who hasn’t been seen in many months)……and it’s all super-cool.

So, why isn’t a comic with all this plotting excellence the runaway “pick of the week”?  Well…..the art kinda stinks.  The art is bad enough that I’m considering dropping the title despite the cleverness of the story.

One problem with the art is that it is way, way too cartoony.  When I say “cartoony” I mean that the art plays too fast and loose with human anatomy and uses various artistic tricks to accentuate certain actions.  For example, a character who is doing something physical may be draw with arms and legs too long and a lean to their body that gravity would never allow.  And I actually like cartoony art, but I just don’t like it in GI Joe.  I think a story needs some element of comedy for cartoony art to work.  Spider-Man can be cartoony.  The Fantastic Four can be cartoony.  Batman?  Punisher?  Probably not.

So, I’m not objecting to the cartoony art because of a personal preference.  It’s simply that this art style is inappropriate for the subject matter.  This is GI Joe and there is nothing cartoony about terrorists and radiological bombs.

The other problem with the art is that it just isn’t very good from a sequential standpoint.  There are a number of action sequences in the comic where it just isn’t clear what happened.  Was Tunnel Rat throwing himself to the ground and letting the train pass over him OR was he diving to catch the back of the moving train?  Did Quick Kick throw both ends of his nun-chucks at the Dreadnoks?  These are quick-reading action sequences, not slower parts of the comic where you should be slowing down to see what happens.  There’s really no point in writing action sequences into a comic if the artists can’t do better; if the action has to look this poor, we might as well just have an extra serving of the political themes in the comic.

I really wish that IDW would get better with the art on the two “main” GI Joe books.  The Cobra-themed comic from Mike Costa and Antonio Fuso is fine, but the two GI Joe comics have been troublesome artistically for several years…..and this is at a time when the storytelling has been top-notch.  All the other IDW licensed comics from TMNT to Transformers to My Little Pony to Judge Dredd seem to have good art……I just wonder what GI Joe fans did to piss off some editor that we get this treatment.  It really baffles me.  I almost wonder if someone in the IDW-Hasbro licensing relationship is unhappy with the current state of the licensing contract and is burdening the comic series with poor art to force a renegotiation.

Conclusion: Story is great.  Art is not.   It would make a better audiobook than comic book.

Grade: C

– Dean Stell

GI Joe #8 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Joana Lafuente (colors) and Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: Mad Monk continues playing games with GI Joe.

Review (with minor SPOILERS): This issue would be so much more enjoyable with better art.  The story is good enough to merit a higher grade, but this series will never reach great heights with art that is this problematic.  THAT could be the whole of the review, but read on if you want greater details….

It’s a shame because there is a lot to like about the basic story concepts that Fred Van Lente is using.  I really like the idea that Cobra is using a Myers Briggs-type personality test on it’s key employees to evaluate their leadership potential.  The (new) Cobra Commander basically buried the needle in the “natural born leader” range, but Mad Monk (who has just been appointed to run the NY office of Cobra) scored at the absolute bottom of the scale.  A jealous Baroness and Destro have a minor laugh at Mad Monk’s expense, but we’ve come to see over the last couple issues that having a low score in this area doesn’t mean that Mad Monk is an idiot…..he’s just not a leader.  In fact, he has no use for any sort of leadership structures at all.  He’s kinda an agent of chaos.  It’s a nice little spin to show that just because people are weak in some areas, they can be strong in others…..kinda like the continuum from severe autism to severe attention deficit disorder: Both ends of the scale have strengths and weaknesses.

GI Joe: Cobra Files #5 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Werther Dell’edera (art), Arianna Florean (colors) and Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: It’s not good when the nerd who runs the network (i.e. Clockspring) starts to feel jilted.

Review (with minor SPOILERS): Again, this is another really tight issue of Cobra Files.  It’s really amazing how good this title has consistently been while the other Joe titles tend to wander in the wilderness sometimes.

One of the focuses for this series has been Clockspring, who is a new(er) Joe character.  He runs the networks for this Joe team and is the classic under-appreciated “IT guy”.  He’s also developed romantic feelings for Chameleon, only to be devastated when she and Flint start hooking up.  You can just imagine that this won’t turn out well.

This issue focuses on Clockspring’s past as we follow him through his high school and college years, seeing how he’s always been “the nice guy” who girls are friendly to….until they go hook up with the dumb jocks.  Each time, he’s retreated a little deeper into his computers and that got him the skill to be where he is today.  And now he has once again lost a woman he was interested in (Chameleon) to another dumb jock (Flint).  Except that this time he has the duplicitous Tomax whispering poison in his ears and subtly maneuvering Clockspring to a point where he might stop being “the good guy”.  It’s a really interesting study in bottled up anger.  If/When Clockspring flips out, everyone will be shocked that it was all due to the Flint/Chameleon relationship, but what this issue demonstrates is that this disappointment has been building in Clockspring ever since he was a kid – Losing out on Chameleon is just the final straw.

GI Joe #6 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Jamal Igle (pencils), Juan Castro (inks), Joana LaFuente (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Cover Girl’s past is revealed as she learns more about her kinda-boyfriend, Duke.

Review (with little SPOILERS): Wow….what a difference competent art makes!  The art has been very unsteady since the main GI Joe title renumbered a few months ago with Fred Van Lente as the writer.  It’s hard to really appreciate “the story” when you’re noticing funny looking panels and weirdly distorted faces.  But, replace the former art team with someone like Jamal Igle and you get the best issue of the series so far.  IDW really needs to decide on a direction for these Joe titles artistically because the books will never be more than mediocre until their hire seriously skilled artists (like Igle).

What’s great is that there isn’t anything flashy about Igle’s art.  He’s just pumping along and illustrating the story so that people can understand what is going on.  Perhaps more importantly, he isn’t making any glaring mistakes that pull us out of the story.  I sometimes think that being an artist is more about the mistakes you avoid than the spectacular pages you generate…and since the spectacular pages you generate depend on external factors (like the flow of the story, what characters are involved, etc.) it is much easier to just avoid the mistakes.  It’s kinda like being a goalkeeper in soccer: You have full control over avoiding the moronic mistakes, but you depend on other circumstances to be in position to make the spectacular saves.

GI Joe: Special Missions #4 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Paul Gulacy (art), Aburtov & Grafikslava and Romulo Fajardo, Jr. (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Crush Depth concludes….will anyone get to take the sunken Cobra money?

Review: This is not good.  As I was reading this comic, I tried to think of reasons could be so poor.  But, rather than dive into excuse-making for creators, let’s talk about why this issue (and series so far) have been a total waste.

The story is highly-problematic.  Whereas the main GI Joe title and Cobra Files are doing some very subtle, intricate storytelling that appears to be heading somewhere, this “Crush Depth” story has gone nowhere–literally.  In issue one, we learned about how Baroness had a plan to reclaim some money that was on a sunken Cobra ship.  Scarlet and her special team of Joes set off to interdict her and “tag” the money so they could monitor Cobra’s activites.  We’ve had some danger and fighting along the way, but the end result is that the money was sunk back to the bottom of the ocean.

GI Joe #5 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez, Marc Deering and Juan Castro (inks), Joana LaFuente (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: A small GI Joe team has to fight its way out of an American town that has been completely flipped by Cobra.

Review (with minor SPOILERS): “Pretty good story undone by poor art!”  THAT is the headline for this issue.

It’s never a good sign when an issue credits three inkers.  The art on this series hits new lows in this issue.  The problem is mostly related to depth.  If you stare at a lot of the panels, a crazy “magic eye” thing will happen.  Suddenly characters’ arms and legs will appear to be in totally different planes than the rest of their bodies.  It’s screwed up.  And once you start to see these problems with depth, the anatomy of the characters starts to come undone too because your mind starts trying to rationalize how an arm/leg could bend to achieve these weird depth positions.  Steve Kurth has never been my favorite penciller, but it’s not fair to heap this on him.  Depth problems are generally the fault of inkers and colorists.

GI Joe: Cobra Files #2 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Antonio Fuso (pencils), Emilio Lecce (inks), Arianna Florean (colors) & Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: GI Joe interrogates the former Cobra Commander’s son.

Review: Even if this issue was a couple weeks late, it is still showing why Cobra Files is the best of the GI Joe titles.  What really sets Cobra Files apart is that it isn’t trying to thrive on fan-service.  All the other Joe comics have some amount of characters referencing the past or or gadgetry having to look like 1980s toys or overt sexiness of the characters, but not Cobra Files.  If the creators wanted to, they could totally go down that path.  I mean, they have Lady Jaye on the team and we know from past GI Joe comic experiences that Lady Jaye can be drawn with an enormous, heaving bosoms–but not here.  In fact, in Cobra Files you can’t really even tell that Lady Jaye has bosoms; she’s just another soldier with her own particular expertise.

GI Joe: Special Missions #3 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Paul Gulacy (art), Aburtov & Grafikslava (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Scarlet tries to thwart a Cobra salvage operation.

Review: This is a pretty mediocre comic.  If you’re a big-time GI Joe fan and just want to keep connected to the storyline, I guess this will do, but it’s hard to imagine this issue winning anyone over to the cause of GI Joe comics.

The story is pretty mundane and routine: Cobra is trying to salvage a bunch of money from the wreck of one of their ships; Scarlet and a team of Joes is trying to stop them.  Most of the actual fighting happened last issue and this issue treats us to little more than Scarlet watching Cobra escape.  The storytelling choices in this issue leave a lot to be desired.  For example, at one point in the issue Scarlet and Mainframe have a mini-cliffhanger of “We’re not alone in this water filled room…”  Turn the page and they get attacked by a shark–and that’s kinda cool.  Who doesn’t enjoy a shark-attack?

GI Joe: Cobra Files #1 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Antonio Fuso (pencils), Emilio Lecce (inks), Arianna Florean (colors) and Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: Having defected from Cobra to G.I. Joe, Chameleon tries to fit in.

Review (with SPOILERS): If you’ve been following the IDW GI Joe books since IDW got the license a few years ago, you know more or less what to expect from a Mike Costa/Antonio Fuso Cobra comic.  No need to sell you on the qualities of this book because it picks up pretty much from the last Cobra series and is of the same quality that Costa and Fuso have delivered all along.

GI Joe: Special Missions #1 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Paul Gulacy (pencils), Aburtov & Grafikslava (colors), Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: Now that most of the Joes are out in the open, someone still has to do the dirty, secret missions.

Review: This issue was a bit of a disappointment.  The sorrow starts with the art.  This just isn’t good enough.  I was really excited when I saw that Paul Gulacy would be drawing this series.  Gulacy isn’t my favorite artist, but there’s no question that he is highly competent; the man has had an almost 40 year history in comic art and has drawn just about everything.  This issue is NOT one of his higher points.  I’m really not sure what happened with the art in this issue.  There are panels here and there that look like classic Gulacy, but there are also a LOT of rough images.  I wonder if IDW just didn’t pay him much and he drew it in a hurry?  I’ve heard rumors about what IDW pays their artists (~$40/page) and it’s really cheap….certainly not something a person could pay the rent with.  I also noted that Gulacy is only credited as a “penciller” and that no inker is credited.  If these are rough pencils (perhaps done in a hurry) where all the “inking” was added via Photoshop contrast adjustments and the spot blacks and shading by the colorists, that would explain a lot of the rough looking faces and inconsistency of the comic.  Ultimately, all these potential excuses don’t matter: Gulacy’s name is listed and the comic costs $3.99.

GI Joe #1 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Joana Lafuente (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters) and John Barber (editor)

The Story: The Joes are no longer a secret organization, but they still have to fight Cobra.

A Few Things: 1). A fresh start. – I really want GI Joe comics to be good.  I’m the perfect age to know that everyone likes Star Wars, but the cool kids were into GI Joe and Transformers and their triumvirate of toys/cartoons/comics.  Unfortunately, the modern day GI Joe comics haven’t been all that awesome.  They usually have a decent story, but suffer from a $3.99 price tag, overly long story arcs, crossovers and some really mediocre art.

But, there’s always reason for optimism when GI Joe restarts.  That’s especially true when they bring in a new writer like Fred Van Lente.  Unlike the previous writer (Chuck Dixon), I know that Van Lente isn’t up to his armpits in military knowledge.  But, Van Lente is a very good writer and is willing to do his research (see Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics).  IDW also brought in Steve Kurth to do pencils.  While Kurth isn’t at the top of my art list, he’s better than a lot of the folks IDW has hired for Joe books recently.  Optimism reigns supreme!

Previews – May 2012

Maybe we’ll start this as a new feature?  I’ll flip through Previews, tell you what I think is worthwhile and you can tell me I’m a moron.  Sound like fun?

DARK HORSE

– Axe Cop: President of the World #1 – At some point, this odd comic that is written by 8 year old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his brother, 31 year old Ethan, will lose it’s magic.  Someday Malachai will probably “grow up” too much or become too self-aware, but until that happens we should enjoy the ride.  Here’s a link to my review of last Spring’s Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1.

– Early issues where you can hop on before it’s too late.  Fatima: The Blood Spinners #2 by Gilbert Hernandez, Mind Mgmt #3 by Matt Kindt and The Massive #2 by Brian Wood.

– Eerie Comics #1 brings back the beloved old Warren Publishing title.  It’s really hard to go wrong with a horror anthology in black and white.  Of course, don’t miss the big brother: Creepy Comics #9.

GI Joe #11 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Alex Cal (artist), J. Brown (colors), Robbie Robbins (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: As the Cobra Command crossover comes to a close, Cobra has just about cleared out the country of Nanzhao.

A Few Things: 

1. Entertaining ideas, but… – This has been an entertaining and creative storyline, but it’s just too damn long.  I really don’t understand this fixation that publishers/writers/editors have on making stories longer.  When Cobra Command finishes, it’ll be NINE issues long.  I don’t see any good reason this couldn’t be 6 issues and still have accomplished the same things.  Let’s move onto what is next!  I guess when it comes down to it, I like the ideas presented in this story (and issue), but the execution is lacking a little bit.  Lots of the scenes are too long by a few panels.  As an example, there surely there was some drama in Scarlet’s decision to shoot down a nuclear armed Cobra drone, but that decision shouldn’t take a full two pages.  Comics aren’t supposed to read like a novel.  Keep it snappy!

2. Cobra will be in an interesting place when this is over. – I’ve really enjoyed IDW’s view of Cobra as it emerges from the shadows.  When this arc ends, they’ll have basically destroyed a sovereign country just to remove a competitor in the global drug trade.  Scary huh?  When you get down to it, this was all a big battle between two rival drug gangs; just like Marlo versus the Barksdales in The Wire…except that Cobra has nuclear weapons.

Snake Eyes #10 – Review

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

The Story: As Cobra is taking over the small country, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are going to have some business together.

Review: I honestly wasn’t planning to review this issue.  Last week I reviewed GI Joe #10 and was a little hard on the art by Axel Cal.  I knew that he was also doing the art on this issue and since here at WCBR we “sign up” for comics to review early in the week, I didn’t want to review something that I knew probably would be negative on.  See…..I’m not a total creep. 🙂

But, you know what, this issue was a lot better and I felt that Alex deserved a bit of a pat on the back after I was hard on him last week.  There are some artistic changes on this issue….  Namely, Cal has an inker on this issue.  But, the effect is that suddenly this comic is perfectly fine from an art standpoint.  It isn’t a comic that I want to be buried with me (or anything like that), but this will do just fine.  I can see the action now!  That is such a huge thing in a comic like Snake Eyes… I want to be able to tell how characters get into the positions they are in and how they threw that punch or kick.

It’s also worth mentioning that GI Joe comics are hard to draw.  For one thing, you’ve got to get all of the equipment correct.  Not only does that mean drawing accurate firearms which most comic artists barely bother with, but you also have to get all the GI Joe toys correct and make them look real.    That’s not easy.  Even the characters look like a pain in the butt to draw: Snake Eyes has that funky visor with six lines (and fanboys will complain if there are 5 lines), and pouches and kneepads.  These characters are harder to draw than typical superheroes which are mostly nudes with costumes colored onto them.

GI Joe #10 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Alex Cal (artist), J. Brown (colors), Shawn Lee (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: Cobra has taken over a sovereign country and is driving the civilians out!  The Joe’s have to stop them.

Five Things: 

1. Cobra is a pretty compelling enemy. – The best thing about the GI Joe relaunch at IDW (which is a couple of years old now) is how they have and are handling Cobra.  They’re not some out-in-the-open enemy and have been more of a rumor until very recently.  The Joes have a hard time even convincing people that Cobra is real.  In some ways, Cobra is kinda like a pre-September 11th Osama bin Laden; certainly a lot of folks knew who he was, but there was disagreement about whether he was a serious threat to the US or just an annoyance spouting venom in Afghanistan.  Combine this mystery with the fact that the main Cobras are all really interesting and you almost find yourself rooting for them over the very vanilla Joes.

2. Overall thrust of the story remains good. – Going with my first comment above, this is a good overall story: Murky criminal/terrorist organization, no one believes they’re a threat and the first thing they do after going public is to overthrow a sovereign country!  Wow!  That really steps up the treat level for Cobra!  You could understand how with their cool technology that Cobra could be a major nuisance, but this story is showing that they have a magnitude to them as well.  And, since any story is only as good as its antagonist, this Cobra Command story arc is opening a lot of possibilities.

3. Can’t really get behind this art anymore. – Unfortunately, Alex Cal’s art has gone from “competent” a few issues ago to “problematic”.  He seems to be drawing 2 or the 3 Joe books right now (this and Snake-Eyes) and while I presume that IDW started him working on these ahead of time, this art looks more rushed than his first issue.  Why IDW would dump such heavy art chores on a fairly new artist is beyond me.  Cal does draw some characters fairly well and sticks to a realistic style that will be pleasing to most GI Joe fans, but his action scenes leave a lot to be desired (i.e. you can’t tell what is happening) and his characters lack any sense of energy (i.e. they look posed).  Also, lots of depth problems in these panels between the characters and their backgrounds.  And, I’d stop doing splash pages.  Cal’s art would be better if it was smaller and allowed fewer opportunities for error.  Note to editor: Caption boxes telling us who the characters are would be appreciated.

Snake Eyes #9 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Alex Cal (artist), J. Brown (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: Cobra has taken command of a piss-ant country.  Snake Eyes & his team go in to cause them trouble.

Four Things: 

1. Pretty simple & linear story. – This is kind of a weird issue.  The main thrust is about Snake Eyes taking out a bunch of Cobras.  His team is there with him, but he does the killing himself.  And, there’s nothing wrong with that.  The action scenes have some imagination to them and are pretty well-drawn, so if you like watching a cool ninja dude who is equally adept with guns as he is with swords, then you’ll have fun with this.  But, there isn’t a lot of meat on the bone.

2. Just barely tied into Cobra Command crossover. – This Snake Eyes series is so close to being a stand-alone.  Ya know, read GI Joe and Cobra for the “main” story, but the real Joe fanatics will want to read Snake Eyes too just to see him killing things on the periphery of the “main” story.  But, there are just enough little niblets of the “main” story in here that you’d be ill-served to miss this issue and just read the other two GI Joe series.  That’s really a mixed bag for me because most people will get sick of seeing Snake Eyes stabbing stuff and it’d be nice for that to be optional.  But, if IDW is going to include this as a numbered part of the Cobra Command Crossover (it is Part 2), then it better tie into the main story (and it does).  OR give Snake Eyes a more important mission than killing random Cobras!

GI Joe #9 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Alex Cal (artist), J. Brown (colors), Shawn Lee (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: The Joes must react to the first big act of the new Cobra Commander.

Four things: [SPOILER WARNING]

1. Beginning of a new crossover story. – Coming out of the Cobra Civil War where a new Cobra Commander was selected (the winner was whoever killed the most Joes), we had to wonder: What will the bad guys do next?  Well…..they’re taking over a damn country!  Not a big country like the United States or Germany, but a little country that no one cares about.  There are….of course….real world parallels.  Should the Joes be given unlimited resources to fight bad guys in a country that nobody cares about?  IN real life, should we care about bad guys in Somalia and Afghanistan?  It’s always nice to see comics tickle current events.  I also give IDW huge props for numbering this Cobra Command crossover.  If they’re going to cross over, I want a sequential reading order and not just a bunch of titles happening under a banner.

2. Love the vibe of secret Cobra. – I LOVE that in this GI Joe universe that Cobra is a secret organization.  They’re not outward and overt, but kinda behind the scenes and emerging.  That makes it much more difficult for the Joes to fight them (or even get the resources to fight them) because people question how real and dangerous this Cobra organization is.  Again, there are real world parallels and regardless of how you personally come down on current (real world) events, it’s fun to see a comic that is relatable.

Snake-Eyes #8 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Casey Maloney (pencils), Juan Castro & Chris Dreier (inks), Simon Gough & Romulo Fajardo, Jr. (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters) & Carlos Guzman & John Barber (editors)

The Story: Snake-Eyes and Duke try to find a cure for a Cobra engineered bioweapon.

Four Things:

1. Generally been enjoying GI Joe comics recently. – I don’t know how this happened.  I read some of the old Marvel GI Joe series when I was a kid and had enjoyed the GI Joe/Cobra series from IDW featuring Chuckles as a spy within Cobra.  But, something clicked in me that I needed to read this Cobra Civil War series a few weeks ago and via the beauty of digital comics I was able to mainline the whole story in a week or so.  And, it’s a really good and strong story.  There’s one big caveat with the books that I’ll get into below, but the storyline behind the GI Joe books is pretty hot.

2. Snake Eyes busting the place up. – This story is pretty basic: Cobra has released a bioweapon and Duke has also been infected.  So, Snake Eyes and Duke go charging into the Cobra lab facility to find the cure.  Duke has some kind of armored hazmat suit that’s kinda cool.  And they fight all kinds of Cobra troops with Snake Eyes being all bad ass, and that’ definitely cool.  There really isn’t a whole lot of subtlety to a comic like this and there are plot holes galore (what happens to the Vipers if they shoot Duke’s suit and the virus spills out?), but it is exciting to read.  Duke is in really bad shape and IDW has demonstrated that they’re not afraid of death.  A LOT of GI Joe’s have been killed recently and a few “named” Cobra guys too.  So, this issue isn’t something you can read thinking, “Oh sure…..Duke will be fine in the end because it can’t end any other way.”  That threat of DEATH adds some weight to these scenes of Snake Eyes fighting all these Hasbro-toy-line inspired Cobra bad guys.

G.I. Joe #0 – Review

By Chuck Dixon, Larry Hama, Mike Costa, and Christos N. Gage (writers), Robert Atkins, Tom Feister, and Antonio Fuso (artists), Andrew Crossley and Chris Chuckry (colors)

What You Get: Three short stories that serve as teasers for three upcoming series from IDW: G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: Origins, and G.I. Joe: Cobra. One story takes us back to the beginning where the Joes hear the first iteration of a new terrorist group, Cobra. The second story shows us how Duke is recruited onto the Joe team and gains his call sign. And the last story features a covert op by one of the more obscure characters in Joe lore, Chuckles!

What’s Good? There’s a lot of potential here. Larry Hama knows Joe history inside and out and even after all these years he shows he still has what it takes. I love how all the writers keep the exposition to a minimum while the acronyms and military terms are properly used with no explanations given whatsoever. It’s called “not talking down to the reader” and I appreciate that. All three writers (and artists) make out well given the small workspace they’ve been given and this issue is a great example of how to get readers excited about the new G.I. Joe series.

What’s Not So Good? I realize that there’s a G.I. Joe movie coming out next year and Hasbro rapes comic book publishers with the licensing costs, but having three series out next year is too much too soon. Comics are expensive as it is — does IDW really think people are going to buy all three titles at $3.99 a pop? Do we really need cardstock covers?

Conclusion: At $1.00, buying this issue’s a no-brainer. Granted the production values are excellent and the stories conveyed here seem to have genuine promise, but like most of IDW’s titles the prices of these forthcoming G.I. Joe series cannot be possibly justified (unless they’re 48 pages each). As excited as I am to read these on-going series, I’ll be holding out for the inevitable trades.

Grade: B+

– J. Montes

IDW reveals three new G.I. Joe series

When IDW Publishing announced they had reached a deal with Hasbro to plan a re-launch of the G.I. JOE comic book franchise, they kept their mission plans secret. But now, with the impending release of the kick-off issue, October’s specially priced G.I. JOE #0, it’s time to discuss the plans in detail.

G.I. JOE #0, a $1.00, 24-page comic being released next month, will debut three new series launching in early ‘09. The issue contains three stand-alone five-page stories unique to the #0 issue, as well as character sketches and commentary from artist Robert Atkins, previews of upcoming covers, and interviews with the new G.I. JOE creators. The issue features two regular covers, one from Dave Dorman and one from JonBoy Meyers, as well as two special incentive covers from Atkins and a wraparound image by Ben Templesmith.

As to the content of the stories themselves, well, so far, the only news announced to fans has been the return of acclaimed G.I. JOE writer, Larry Hama and the addition of artist Atkins. While Hama is indeed back in the fold, he’s returning as part of a larger action team that will present these three initial comic book series in which G.I. JOE and COBRA are fully revitalized and re-established for a new generation of fans.

The first title to come storming out of the gate in January will be the singularly titled G.I.JOE, written by Chuck Dixon and featuring art by Atkins. This title moves ahead in the timeline from Hama‘s series and looks at the fledging G.I. JOE organization as it explores an all-new threat, a shadowy organization that is first introduced to the team in a #0 issue story. Dave Johnson (100 Bullets) will provide covers for the series, as will Atkins. The first issue features a special wraparound variant cover by superstar artist Gabriele Dell’Otto (Secret War).

Larry Hama will be heading up G.I. JOE: ORIGINS, a series that re-envisions the G.I. JOE team for a new generation. Hama will be putting his great strength of blending strong characterization and action storytelling, honed over decades of writing these characters, to effective use in looking at the formations of the G.I. JOE organization and just who the characters on the team really are. Hama will be joined on this series by artist/colorist Tom Feister (Ex Machina). Each issue will come with two regular covers, one by Andrea Di Vito and one by Feister himself. The series launches in February.

Finally, launching in March will be the third round of this initial salvo: G.I. JOE: COBRA, a four-part miniseries written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa, with art by Antonio Fuso, and covers by Howard Chaykin (American Flagg) and Fuso. This series provides a unique look at the new status quo for the primary threat in the G.I. JOE universe. The series views the sinister COBRA organization from a ground-floor view as a familiar G.I. JOE team member seeks to infiltrate Cobra and learn their inner workings.

In addition to these titles, IDW will be launching comics that lead into next summer’s G.I. JOE live-action major motion picture from Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, as well as deluxe reprints of past fan-favorite tales. Details for both these projects will be released soon.

G.I. Joe #0 (item code AUG08 4120, a 24-page, $1 issue, will be available in October. G.I. Joe #1 launches in January 2009; G.I. Joe: Origins #1 debuts in February 2009; and G.I. Joe: Cobra #1 premieres in March 2009.

G.I. Joe: America’s Elite #35 – Review

By Mark Powers (script), Mike Bear, Mike Shoyket, Pat Quinn (art), and Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colors)

It’s probably a little too late to start reading G.I. Joe: America’s Elite (the series is ending next month), but as I always say, better late than never! Issue #35 is part 11 (of 12) of the “World War III” story line that’s been touted as one of the best Joe stories ever told. Since I’m only familiar with the early issues Marvel put out in the 1980s, there’s not much for me to compare it to (unless you count the TV show, which I’ve seen countless times).

One thing I’ve noticed is how mature this story is. It’s G.I. Joe all grown up, and the war they’ve been fighting with Cobra feels like there’s a lot at stake. The preface is Cobra’s been starting skirmishes around the globe to weaken all the superpowers’ armies. With global defenses spread thin, Cobra Commander unveils a maniacal plan to detonate nukes in Antarctica and the Amazon, creating an ecological catastrophe on a global scale. With Joe forces in disarray, a last ditch effort is hatched to push the remaining forces into the heart of Cobra’s facilities to shut down its communications and higher level technology, while smaller Joe teams go to disarm the nukes.

It’s a wonderful concept that carries a lot of urgency – it’s just too bad I’ll have to wait for the Omnibus to come out to read what I missed. As a stand alone issue, I think I came in at the wrong time. There’s absolutely no character building going on here – and there shouldn’t be! This is the climax of the battle, and everything comes to a head. There’s so many battles taking place concurrently that I found myself getting confused a couple of times. And I’m not sure how regular readers will feel about this, but I thought things wrapped up a little too conveniently and quickly. From what I’ve gathered, Cobra has been very smart thus far, and suddenly, it’s all fallen apart.

The art serves the issue well. I was able to make out most of the Joes by their trademarked designs, though there were a few characters I’ve never heard of before. The storytelling is excellent – the team goes to work producing 22 pages of non-stop action with little cohesion lost. The only thing that feels a bit off is the coloring, which feels a bit rough around the edges at times. But for the most part, the overcoloring and use of “blooming” gives the book a nice “anime” look to it.

I may have come on to this title a bit too late, but I had fun with what I was given. Cobra Commander’s got one more trick up his sleeve and I’m anxious to see what it is. (Grade: B-)

– J. Montes

FEATURE: Interview with Robert Atkins (Forgotten Realms: Legacy) – Part 2

Part 2 of our interview with Forgotten Realms: Legacy penciler Robert Atkins is now online. Be sure to check out his experience at big conventions, dealing with fans, hitting those pesky deadlines, and what he’s got in store for comic fans in the future. Robert’s work on NBC’s “Heroes” comic book series, is now online! Check it out!

Read Part 2 of the interview here!

FEATURE: Interview with Robert Atkins (Forgotten Realms: Legacy) – Part 1

The first part of our interview with Forgotten Realms: Legacy penciler Robert Atkins is now online! In it, he talks about breaking into the industry, his work at Tsunami Studios, and life as a budding artist. Robert’s work on NBC’s “Heroes” comic book series, is also debuting online today! Be sure to check it out. Part 2 of our interview will be up tomorrow.

Read Part I of the interview here.

X-Factor #28 – Review

By Peter David (writer), Pablo Raimondi (art), Jeremy Cox (color)

After all the super hero / mutant antics of Messiah Complex, a storyline that derailed, and even stole some of X-Factor’s identity and momentum, the series is finally back on track with issue #28. It’s very much welcomed, too. This is probably the only consistently good book amongst Marvel’s X-titles. Don’t get me wrong, the cast here is definitely feeling the ramifications of the Messiah Complex – Layla Miller is still stuck in the future and Rahne is leaving for X-Force, but the on-going subplots are finally back in play.

Speaking of X-Force, Marvel really dropped the ball by not promoting this book. In a way, it feels somewhat as a prequel to the X-Force #1. In Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine is on vacation in Europe – at least Peter David was smart enough to respect current continuity with Rahne.

So Rictor is out wandering around Mutant Town when he finds a girl who resembles Layla. But she’s not Layla. Instead, she’s a (very) fashionable prostitute who proceeds to hit him with a stun gun while her pimp beats the crap out of him. Strong Guy comes to the rescue, but I’m still wondering how Rictor recovered from the stun gun so quickly. Must have been those mutant genes!

Anyway, Madrox finally loses it and does more damage to the Purifiers (by himself, no less) than anyone in X-Force #1 ever does. Sure, we don’t see blood, but his butt kicking in 2-3 panels had me more excited than that book ever could. Now, is it me or are the Purifiers just a device Marvel created so the X-Characters had mindless fodder to kill. They’re like the Battle Android Troopers in G.I. Joe – it gave the Joes a faceless enemy that they could destroy with their guns, because heaven forbid they kill any *real* people or *real* bad guys! This same idea applies with the droid army in the Star Wars prequels! I honestly don’t like it. It’s such a lazy idea.

Tangent aside, Peter David’s dialogue is fun, as always, and you can tell he loves writing Strong Guy. Pablo Raimondi’s art is outstanding. His painstakingly detailed backdrops (especially Mutant Town), are beautiful and well complimented by Jeremy Cox’s colors. And as much as I hate pop cultural references in my comics, there’s a scene involving an iPhone that’s hilarious! This is how an X-Book is done. Way to go, guys. (Grade: B+)

– J. Montes

Steve Gerber Dead at 60 (1947-2008)

Steve Gerber died today at the age of 60. We at WCBR give his family our condolences and thoughts. Steve was best known for creating Howard the Duck for Marvel Comics. He also wrote for TV shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, G.I. Joe, and Transformers.

Rest in peace, Steve. You will be missed.