by Larry Hama (Author) & Ron Joseph (Illustrator) Publisher: IDW Publishing (May 14, 2019)
Softcover, 120 pages
Amazon Listing
Another
volume of great issues from the best war comics on the market written by the
unstoppable Larry Hama. Volume 22 collects issues 256 to 260 of the original
series. As always it is written by the indomitable Larry Hama and dawn by Ron
Joseph. who is probably one of the best artists on the series so far.
Most
of the action is around the return of Dr. Venom, whose mind has emerged from
the depths of the Brainwave Scanner and inhabits the body of Dr. Mindbender.
For those who don't remember, Dr. Venom was one of the original Cobra villains
from before the toy line kicked into high gear.
In
the original Marvel series, the authors had to flesh out new characters on
their own. The Baroness, Dr. Venom, & Scarface were added to the Cobra
lineup. Dr. Venom even outdates Destro
in the comics. The character was killed in issue 18 by Kwinn the Eskimo- of
which there is a flashback in this volume. While his return is over-the-top
there are similar precedents in the GI Joe universe for characters returning
from the dead using the brain-wave scanner- Storm Shadow, Dr. Mindbender
himself, and - technically- Snake Eyes.
A
fun fight ensues and we also see the twisted origins of Dr. Venom, whose actual
name was Claude Matthais Vinim, and who turned to Cobra after a violent and
troubled upbringing. We see a Joe become
maimed, a rare event. Destro starts to take down Revanche Industries- the
cybernetic Blue Ninja organization- not one of my favorite plot points. But it
quickly swings back to high gear with a Joe rescue of UN workers in war torn
Shazidar. This plotline exhibits the G. I. Joe at its best. A small group of
highly trained soldiers working against impossible odds, making due with
whatever they can scavenge to complete their mission. And as always, I am left
wanting much, much more.
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