IDW's GI Joe

I just posted a review of what will be the last issue of ARAH that I am going to buy over at The Terrordrome.

My friend Tom Whalen's RI Covers for Issues 26 and 27.

Check out his other stuff, too!

Pretty awesome cover, yeah, I don't understand the whole GI Joe MASS thing either. Anyone else have a clue?

Oh, btw, Josh, that is the funniest review of a GI Joe comic ever. Congrats. I, like many others, will continue to get the book for the same reasons we all have: it's classic G.I. Joe.

I kinda want to try some GI Joe comics, but I have no idea what I should check out. Anyone have any suggestions? I want to stay fairly current, and check out something from within the last five or so years (so in other words I don't want to read something from the 80s). Thanks in advance for any help.

GI Joe: Cobra is easily the best one on the market...but it's all so VERY espionage and focuses on a lot of the b-level characters.

GI Joe: A Real American Hero READS like it's from the 80s, continuing off from the Classic series written 15 years ago (Devil's Due) by Larry Hama.

It's all in just a matter of preference; I get both since they're both so different.

^Okay.

I ordered the first trade of the Chuck Dixon stuff. I know the response has been lukewarm, but I like Dixon so I thought I'd try it.

I never bothered do to middling reviews. Let me know what you think.

Honestly, of them all, I find the main series the most enjoyable.

Origins is awful, ARAH is campy, and Cobra is a bit dry, though usually quite quality beyond that. Dixon's main title is odd, don't get me wrong, but to me, it FEELS like GI Joe. Personally, though, the Image/Devil's Due stuff is my favorite. It's over, but it was amazing.

I read the first volume of Dixon's G.I. Joe.

The stuff collected here was decent. I don't think it was anything spectacular, but I was entertained enough. I think one problem I had was the sheer amount of GI Joes. I know there are a ton of them, and only a small percentage of them appeared in this trade, but there were still a lot. I get that's the nature of the beast, but I kind of would have rather gotten introduced to a small handful, had them really developed, and then gradually had more introduced. It's one of the few problems I've had with IDW's Transfomers. There are just too many of them, and I'm not versed in them well enough to name them all. One of the things I loved about Beast Wars and I'm loving about GI Joe: Renegades is the smaller cast.

Anyway, I still enjoyed this book. Duke is cool, and Snake Eyes is kick ass. I liked it well enough to pick up the other trades at some point.

What's funny is, on top of the Joes that have ALWAYS been around, Dixon's already setting up some cannon fodder, it would seem. A number of the named Joes in his run are, to the best of my knowledge, brand new for this book. I'm sure once it seems like they're important, they'll start to die.

I had no idea that a lot of the Joes here were created by Dixon. That's good to know. Like I said, I'm not too knowledgeable about them. I know the big ones (Duke, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, etc.), but that's about all.

G.I. Joe Cobra II #12

This is the next to last issue. That sucks! I guess the creators had no problems going a guns a blazing with their 2-page spread as shit literally hit the brink. Lots of nifty twists and turns that could have legitimately pushed the story another year or so. I suppose it's a shame this series is ending next month, especially considering how much better in quality it is than Origins or the Dixon-penned series.

At least I'll save another $4.

3.5/5

G.I. Joe: Cobra II #13

Unfortunately, this series is over. G.I. Joe: Cobra, arguably the most fantastic title IDW has to offer, at least for now, is put on the shelf. While Mike Costa’s other IDW title, Transformers, has certainly received my attention in the past year, I’ll never forget the greatness of this current, noir alternative to Larry Hama’s classic cartoon portrayal.

What made this version of G.I. Joe so appealing was the sharp focus on a select number of characters, most of them being unheralded members: Jinx, Crimson Twins, Serpentor, etc. But no star shown brighter than Chuckles, whom Costa and Gage easily made the most appealing trademark this side of Snake Eyes. While this series often got sidetracked by some pretty bizarre ideas (i.e. The Coil), when the panels followed the Chuckmeister, the book could do no wrong.

Now that Chuckles has put Cobra in a leadership-depleted clutch, he must once again use his convincing senses to get the hell out of dodge. Things don’t always go as planned, and the Hawaiian-shirt donned sleeper agent must face several roadblocks. Thankfully, Costa and Gage never make the end result overtly lucid to readers, making this finale issue the best written of the bunch.

Fuso also must have saved his best for last as well, considering how sloppy some of the recent issues were. Every corner, every shadow and every piece of mise en scene is layered with improved detail. The book never gets away from its cartoon heritage, yet still places the book in a creepy, impending barrage of doom. Not for once do you think the Joes are just going to ambush the party and takeover. We thank the creators for that.

Now, the bad news… The Cobra Civil War is coming out next month and Chuck Dixon is penning it. I’ve not followed the regular, updated version of G.I. Joe since its inception; nor, do I plan to. Considering Cobra has been receiving the highest accolades of the bunch, this creative switch for me doesn’t have me excited for the next event. While Dixon’s done some fantastic work in the past with Nightwing and Robin, I have yet to hear a good word about his Joe. Too bad. I notice Costa is also helping out, but I doubt I’ll buy into it without first seeing some results.

If we can’t get Costa in control, at least put this comic team on something else. Now.

4.5/5 - Best of the series.