by Michel Fiffe
Publisher: IDW
Publishing (August 27, 2019)
Softcover, 104
pages
Normally I’m
skeptical of anything G. I. Joe not
written by Larry Hama. There’s been a lot of mediocre material printed in the
past, by people wanting to “put their stamp” on the material, or who just
didn’t know how to write the Joes - a team fantasy of a small tactical force of
highly trained personally fighting the good fight over seemingly overwhelming
odds, where each member plays their part. Rather than the unstoppable
individual fighting against everyone. We see this when the writers focus of
Snake Eyes, who when done properly is about subterfuge and demolitions, rather
than running at people with swords. Or the current Mary Sue they keep shoving
down everyone’s throat, Agent Helix.
However,
I was more than pleasantly surprised by this three issue mini-series. It isn’t
canon to the Real American Hero series, but maybe it should become so. What I
appreciate much is that the series has absolute respect for the original
series. Each issue has a history portion of what had come before in the A Real
American History, including one of Snake eyes, and the fictional geography of
the countries the Joes have had conflicts in, and an interview with Larry Hama.
This story takes place in the fictional South American country of Sierra
Muerte, which translates roughly to Death Mountain. A place mentioned several
times in G. I. Joe, but never actually seen.
Some
people didn’t like the art, which is not really indicative of a war comic. The
technical details are realistic, the combat can look bombastic at times, and
the story varies wildly away from previous Joe stories, yet for me it works out
well. While it looks different, the interplay between Joes and Cobra, and the
internal politics of both are exactly on point. It’s fast and fun. Just what
you want.
For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.
No comments:
Post a Comment