Fury: My War Gone By vol 1

 

by Goran Parlov (Illustrator), Garth Ennis  (Contributor)

Publisher : ‎ Marvel; First Edition (December 19, 2012)

Softcover, 144 pages

Amazon Listing 

A minor entry into the Marvel Max imprint which was a late response to D.C.’s very successful Vertigo imprint. It was designed for “adults-only readership” which, when translated into plain English, meant it only ramped up the sex, swearing, and violence. Unlike its competitor’s line, most of these imprints took existing Marvel characters and added ultra-violence. While some of them immediately leant itself to this treatment ex: The Punisher. While a few others didn’t work so well - The Rawhide Kid - though I must admit I loved the Howard the Duck series, absolute weirdness at its best. Fury: My War Gone By like The Punisher lends itself to the Max treatment.

This is the sequel series to the Fury series from 2001. It lasted thirteen issues, the first six of which are contained in this volume. The story is split up into two different three issue arcs. The first arc concerns Fury's time working for the C.I.A., which he did before joining S.H.I.E.L.D.. He is aiding the military in French Indochina and informing a politician named McCuskey. Fury is there to assess the situation and get an understanding of the Communist threat and how America could theoretically impact the situation on behalf of the French. The second arc takes place in Cuba in 1961 when Fury attempted to help assassinate Fidel Castro. The Bay of Pigs and its lack of preparation leading to a half-assed invasion attempt and Kennedy’s ultimate betrayal of those freedom fighters. Fury and crew barely escape Cuba with their lives.

This is not the over-the-top violent ridiculousness of a lot of Ennis’ work, but a straight up sober war story. An old fashioned book even, harkening back to E.C.’s Frontline Combat, Warren’s Publishing Blazing Combat, and even Charlie’s War from Battle Picture Weekly. It doesn’t glamorize combat, nor does it openly condemn violence. It is a neutral observer looking on armed combat as a fact of life for humanity, and amorally accepting that his side needs to win, because they might not be perfect, but the other side is even worse. Grim and well researched, this is worth a serious look.

     For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

GI Joe: A Real American Hero, Vol. 24 - Snake Hunt (War)

 

by Larry Hama  (Author), Robert Atkins (Illustrator), Netho Diaz (Illustrator)

Publisher : IDW Publishing; Illustrated edition (February 16, 2021)

Softcover, 248 pages

Amazon Listing

It's been a while since we had a GI Joe graphic novel and I've been champing at the bit for it's inevitable arrival. Now there have been a few feeble reboots along the way by IDW, but unless it's written by Larry Hama it always seems second rate. Volume 24 is a double sized edition, collecting ten issues, numbers 266 - 275.

This is a culmination of a lot of issues, this is a ten part story featuring every single GI Joe member - the ones left alive that is, though all of them, including the dead ones, are featured on the issue covers. Along with that nearly every vehicle, both Joe and Cobra, is featured, along with the entire Dreadnok crew - even Zanzibar- shows up. On the other end, ever type of cobra trooper - vipers, technovipers, alley vipers, etc., are there to fight. The only thing missing is the leftover old Cobras. Raptor, Big Boa, Croc Master, and so on. This is a nod to nostalgia and the old fandom and a welcome one at that.

The plot revolves around Cobra kidnaping Throwdown, believing him to be Danke Eyes. Cobra is not aware that Snake Eyes is dead. The plan is to put him into the brainwave scanner and turn him into the ultimate Cobra agent. Once Throwdown is grabbed, the entire Joe team rolls out to rescue him. Joining them were Zartan, the Dreadnoks, Destroy, The Baroness, the Iron Grenadiers, and the return of the October Guard.

It's essentially a straight forward plot with lots of shooting, backslaps, rah to the joes, boos to the cobras. It looks like half the Joes were injured. They bust into Springfield, shoot the place up, and blast back out. It culminates in issue 275, which is entirely made from splash panels and is completely silent - a nod to the classic issue 21. Absolutely loved it.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Light Brigade (Horror) (War)

 by Peter J. Tomasi (Author), Peter Snejbjerg (Illustrator)

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (April 1, 2014)

Softcover, 224 pages

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Set during WW II, a group of soldiers is recruited by a dying archangel to defend a monastery who is under attack by a rogue group to steal the light of God which is burning eternally from the remnants of the true cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The tale uses quite a few obscure Christian tales from apocrypha and the Bible. Marcus Longinus, the centurion who caused the final wound of Christ on the cross, makes an appearance. The Grigori, angels who were cast from heaven for sleeping with human women, are the antagonists, while the Nephilim, the off-spring of angels and humans are their foot soldiers. All of this material is gone into detail and this backstory provides much-needed depth and suspense to the supernatural aspects of this story and acts as a cohesive bond to the plot.

The book is well paced and action oriented. You get to know the characters, their hopes and dreams, and ultimately their final fates. This is not a graphic novel which plays favorites. Unlike some writers, who have difficulty letting go of their creations. No so here, there is no pulling punches, no spared bullet. The novel is a suspenseful death fight right up until the very end - even though you kind of know who is going to survive.

A lot of credit has to be placed on the artist for the success of this book, but also with the colorist. As much of the material takes place at night, the colorist gave that effect, yet did not diminish our understanding of what was happening. There was a point when the Nephilim first appear, we see the brigade engage them, and it was difficult to see who survived and who died. The material didn’t make it quite clear on which characters survived, and ones I had thought died turned up again. Should’ve taken a page from Joe Kubert who was a master of differentiating soldiers in combat.

   For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

G.I. JOE: Sierra Muerte (War) (Graphic Novel)

by Michel Fiffe  

Publisher: IDW Publishing (August 27, 2019)

Softcover, 104 pages

Amazon Listing 

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.

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero, Vol. 23 - Artificial Intelligence (War) (Graphic Novel)

by Larry Hama & Netho Diaz   

Published: IDW Publishing (October 22, 2019)

Softcover, 120 pages

Amazon Listing 

Another great collection of GI Joe: A Real American Hero. This volume brings together issues 261 - 265. The plots are all over the place here. We begin with Destro and the Baroness's continued assault on Revanche and the cybernetic Blue Ninjas which is a story that should've been shelved twenty issues ago. They are confronted with Alpha 001, the prime unit and are mentally taken over by other creature, which then goes on to infect many more iron grenadiers. The plot is worn thin with the unstoppable cybernetic monster that constantly rebuilds and grows bigger. X-Men did it better with the Sentinel Master Mold.

As this is going on, the Joe's are still rescuing UN aid workers from a war torn Middle Eastern country. This story expresses everything the Joe's are about. A small tactical force of highly trained personally fighting the good fight over seemingly overwhelming odd, but still managing to pull through.

The story is being set up for an attempt by Cobra Commander to kidnap and subvert Snake Eyes via the brainwave scanner (who we know is dead, but has been replaced by Sean Collins aka Throwdown, though the Cobras don't know this).

The set up to this brings back a lot of old characters: The October Guard- the old Soviet equivalent of the Joe's. Crystal Ball, the Cobra mesmerist, who I believe only ever appeared in one issue of A Real American hero. He has been working as a sleazy fortune teller since being booted from Cobra. Last but not least, Zartan, Zarana, Zandar and the entire Dreadnok crew (even Zanzibar) reappear to take on Cobra.

The book ends on a bittersweet note with a special Memorial Day tribute to all of the fallen characters in the series. To those unfamiliar with the whole series, a lot of characters will be mentioned that you might not have heard of. A third of the dead come from the vastly unpopular G.I Battleforce 2000 which sold so poorly Larry Hama was given permission to wipe out the whole squad. This is excellent fan service however and a lot of old characters are brought up. Except for the dead Cobras as they apparently don't mourn the dead.

My only fan-boy gripe is that when the Arisinkage clan is honoring their dead members: the Hard Master and the Soft Master, they forgot to include the Blind Master who was killed by Zartan. A small oversight, but it bugged me.

 For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

GI Joe: A Real American Hero Vol. 22 (War) (Graphic Novel)

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.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

 

 

 

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero - Silent Option (War) (Graphic Novels)

by Larry Hama, Ryan Ferrier, Netho Diaz, & Kenneth Loh 

Publisher: IDW Publishing (April 30, 2019)

Softcover, 120 pages

Amazon Listing Here 

God, I hate the character of Agent Helix. If there was ever a Mary Sue injected into the G.I. Joe, it is this character. She first appeared in video game of the second G.I. Joe movie, The Rise of Cobra, which should tell you the quality of craftsmanship right there. Then she was ported into the IDW Joe verse, which was an alternative running of G.I. Joe comic, while A Real American Hero remained the original continuity, not connected with any other series. Now after the other comic tanked, they’ve decided to port Helix into the Real American Hero storyline.

The character is given a new background- troubled of course- and the Joes are sent to find her and bring her in as she shoots her way through a human trafficking ring, only to find that Firefly and the red Ninjas are also part of the organization. Bang, bang, bang, stab, stab- they are no match for Agent Helix. Why are the other Joes there? Their sole story function seems to marvel at her skill and ability and brooding nature. Even with Larry Hama writing, the story is terrible. I hope they don’t use her much in the regular series, or at all. Hopefully, this shitbag character is dropped completely.

This image is the best part of the book. So now you don't have to buy it. 

I know the term Mary Sue is dropped a lot, but I will prove Agent Helix is one through the story as presented in Silent Option. Here are the characteristics of the Mary Sue:

Personality: None beyond her abilities. Now this is common in G.I. Joe characters, but since she is good at everything she tries. It goes above and beyond with her.

Loved By All: All the other Joes just follow in her wake as she kills everything. They are all in awe and still love her even after she acts like a total cunt to them. No matter what she does, they still want her to respect them, instead of expecting the opposite.

Dark and Troubled Past: Check. She was trafficked by Eastern Europeaners and had to be tied up because she was so violent towards them, but was rescued by Snake Eyes who instantly loved her and got her back to the states.

Flaw that is No Real Flaw: She has problems connecting with others because of her dark and troubled past and doesn’t like to be touched. But that just means the others have to try harder.

Skill Without Trying: Her adopted mother was an MMA champion who taught her to fight and her adopted father was in special forces who taught her to shoot at a young age. Again this is not unusual for a G.I. Joe character, but they also added in that she possesses some kind of “photographic reflexes” like the Taskmaster, so she just has to see someone doing something once in order to copy it perfectly. Thus she doesn’t really need to train more than once to do something perfectly.

As you can see the character doesn’t fit into a team series like G.I. Joe as she can just do it all herself, and with no character development she becomes boring after her fiftieth kill. The only good parts of this book are when she isn’t in it. But as the point of this series is to prop Agent Helix up, all the characters can do is talk about her and wonder at her skill. Ugh.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

G.I. Joe vs The Six Million Dollar Man (War) (Graphic Novel)

by Ryan Ferrier & S. L. Gallant 

Publisher: IDW Publishing (August 21, 2018)

Softcover, 96 pages

Amazon Listing 

At last we have the crossover that we never asked for, but strangely always should have. G.I. Joe vs The Six Million Dollar Man is a violent tribute to the seventies action star, Lee Majors who fits strangely easily into the G. I. Joe universe.

For those who are unaware the Six Million Dollar Man was a TV show that ran from 1973-1978 starring Lee Majors. The premise was a NASA astronaut Colonel Steve Austin crashes an experimental plane and is rebuilt using new bionic parts. His right arm, both legs, and left eye are replaced. These new items enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms: he can run at speeds of over 60 mph (97 km/h), and his eye has a 20:1 zoom lens and infrared capabilities, while his bionic limbs all have the equivalent power of a bulldozer. He is then recruited by the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence) as a secret agent. This was all loosely based off the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin.

Fans of The Venture Brothers will note that this character and OSI- only in the Venture universe is called the Office of Secret Intelligence- is part of their main lore as well. In fact Austin and his most memorable opponent, Bigfoot (originally played by Lou Ferigno), appear in the series as cross-species lovers. Both OSI are plays on the original OSI, or Office for Strategic Services, which morphed into the CIA.

In this variation, Cobra has captured and brainwashed the Six Million Dollar Man into their service. They then take over a small country, rich in resources, and begin to play havoc. The Joes are sent in to stop them. Violence ensues, a secret weapon is deployed, and I’m sure you can guess the end. Light, fun, and all your favorite Joes in a big bundle.

 

The only bone I have to pick is that they writer didn’t go far enough. This is obvious a one-shot deal, so kill a few characters. Whack a Joe or two. In a self-contained story it’s perfectly acceptable, makes it even more interesting. Another quibble is that the writer seems to make the same mistake everyone but Larry Hama does when writing Snake Eyes. Being a ninja is about stealth, misdirection, and silent action. It doesn’t mean you’re invulnerable and can run at four guys with automatic rifle while wielding a sword and still beat them - as happens in this comic. Snake Eyes has never been above using a gun once he’s been spotted.

I have to give this book credit for not only bringing in the Six Million Dollar Man, but reintroducing the character of Mike Power, the Atomic man. A little more history here. In the 70s, Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe, character was changed to more of an adventurer type, since the military was in disfavor among the media, and companions were added to help him explore. One being the Atomic Man, who was essentially Six Million Dollar Man rip-off. The toy came with transparent mechanical arms and a red flashing atomic eye. This was an awesome twist. It has been long established that Joe Colton was part of the G.I. Joe verse, so slipping this guy in was a no-brainer.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

 

Mighty Tiny: The Mouse Marines (Graphic Novel) (War)

by Sean Sullivan  

Published by Antarctic Press (1992)

Softcover, 66 pages

 

Before mouse guard was Mighty Tiny: The Mouse Marines.

Another of my dumpster dives into the scrounging bins in the ass-end of comic books shops has yielded me the very independent black and white comic- Mighty Tiny: The Mouse Marines. I’m sure most of you haven’t heard of it, but there was a small movement around this comic’s publisher, Antarctic Press, in the late 80s - mid 90s. In the growing interest for manga style art in the United States, Antarctic Press produced numerous original titles done in the manga style. Perhaps its most successful title was Ninja High School- the collected edition of which is available for purchase. It’s written and drawn by Pat Duke, but based on characters by legendary manga writer Ben Dunn who's drawn and written the aforementioned Ninja High School, and Warrior Nun Areala.

This particular issue is rather expensive and Antarctic Press has put out a collection edition of the Mighty Tiny stories, the link to which I have included above. However I haven’t read all it, so I cannot vouch for its quality. My commentary will strictly be on the 66 pages initial story.

 

Mankind has destroyed itself, his civilization gone. Mice and rats are its successor and the two races, who once lived in peace, have broken out into a devastating race war which has all but ruined their civilization. It’s isn’t told exactly what killed off the humans, but it is suggested that they died due to neutron bomb attacks, as the human cities are still standing, but there are no humans left to dwell in them.

Mighty Tiny runs a rag-tag marine group that fights against the rats and discovers that the hated enemy may be on their way to discovering the use of radiation (thought this is never stated) and ultimately the creation of an atomic device. Tiny and his crew have to deal with traitors in their own ranks, while defeating this overarching threat.

 

The art is decent black and white manga. Straight-forward well detailed combat and equipment, solidly drawn with fluid action. While not as detailed as Akira, it is a solid military manga. The only problems I had with it are that, it was occasionally difficult to tell one character from another (though this was often countered by having character’s names embossed on their helmets). A minor point also nagged at me. The mice and rats are supposed to be their normal size, only now they’re bipedal, but the vegetation drawn is the equivalent as it would be on a human. A quibble, but the plants should be much larger, especially in the wild areas.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Children of Yesterday: The 24th Infantry Division in the Philippines (War) (Autobiography)

by Jean Valtin  

Publisher: Battery Press (March 30, 2014)

Softcover, 354 pages

“During an island raid in the Sibuyan Sea I saw a Japanese prisoner tied to a tree and tortured to death by guerillas. The censors refused to pass this not uncommon truth about the war in the tropics. They also stopped an account of Mindanao guerilla groups fighting on the enemy’s side, and a story about an American officer who “built morale” among Moro volunteers by having them mix fresh Japanese blood with hot G I coffee; or an account of the Tacloban brothels where soldiers stood in queues two blocks long in the hot sun with military police allotting no more than five minutes to each man. The censors were sensitive, too, about the unprotested practice of robbing Jap corpses of money, watches, and fountain pens; of the occasional killing of Jap wounded to save labor of nursing and feeding them; about the mere mention of the effects of tropical diseases on our troops; about casualty figures; about the fact- long known to everyone-m that enemy cadavers, if ever buried, were dumped into shallow trenches dug out by bulldozers, or about an Army chaplain who during the burial of an American soldiers was forced by snipers to jump into the grave atop the dead man and fight back. However in a story of an infantry division’s deeds, these are minor details, significant only in their accentuation of the two-sidedness of the misery and the graceless brutality of war.”

This is the follow up biography to Jan Valtin’s Out of the Night where the author described his indoctrination into the Communist party in 1920s Germany, his disillusionment with the authoritarian Leftist policies and their rank hypocrisy, his capture by the Gestapo and being forced to work as an informer for the organization, and his eventual escape to the United States. The previous book was also the first one reviewed on this blog.

Author Jean Valtin aka Julius Krebs

Jan Valtin, as has been since discovered after his demise, was the pseudonym for Richard Julius Herman Krebs. After he resettled in the United States, he published the first book, a best seller, which was later on cast into doubt in certain claims he made in the book. The New York Mirror called it, “A huge literary hoax”. Others defended it. Whatever the case, Children of Yesterday is cut from an entirely different cloth.

Being drafted in 1943, Valtin was deployed to the 24th Infantry in the Philippines to defeat invading Japanese forces. Perhaps mindful of the claims against his last book, which lambasted the lack of official documents to back up his statements, Valtin writes his accounts hand-in-hand with excerpts from the Division Record of the Infantry’s movements. He adds more flavor and color to each action, he was involved with by personal accounts from the men involved in the fighting.

24 Infantry Division

In fact, this barely is an autobiography and is more of a military journal, accentuated by official records and the anecdotes of his fellow fighting men. After the first chapter, he barely mentions himself at all. The results is an excellent, blow-by-blow of the divisions’ actions in the Philippines, the bloody tool it took, and personal snapshots of the men who died to defeat the enemy, from October 1944, until the Japanese surrender.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero vol 21: Special Missions (War) (Graphic Novel)

by Larry Hama (writer), John Royale, Jagdish Kumar, et. al. (Illustrators)

Publisher: IDW Publishing (December 11, 2018).

Paperback, 128 pages.


 

To anyone who has an old school knowledge of GI Joe the title of this volume should be familiar. It is the name of the second GI Joe comic put out by Marvel back in the day. Single issue adventures dealing with the Joe's missions not related to Cobra- or at least that was how it started.

The five issues here are of a similar format, though they focus on a single character from both sides of the fence, rather than a specific mission. These little one shots offer a good insight into the character and Larry Hama is the undisputed master of the war story- the only rival maybe being Joe Kubert. You cannot help but feel for these characters who are walking the knife’s edge with dignity in an effort to fight off evil.

The first issue centers on Stalker and his Nam flashbacks. As time goes on his night terrors increase causing him to doubt his own effectiveness to the team. A hostage situation allows him to learn the truth.

 

Second is a rare look into the backstory of the Baroness. We know she came from a world of privilege and due to her distant parents, liberal colleges, and the death of her older brother (a charity organizer, murdered by communist activists in Vietnam) became radicalized into a terrorist. Her meeting Destro in college seems too coincidental, but it's always been stated they had a past. We have just never been privy to some of the details.

Next story focuses on Duke and Roadblock and their last mission before they were recruited into G.I. Joe. People forget these two mainstays were not originally part of the team. They showed up in issue 22 at the funeral of General Flag and machine gun down a Cobra helicopter about to blow the funeral to hell. By the way the previous issue, 21, was one of the best GI Joe issues from the original series ever. The only problem I have with this action packed story is that the two soon to be Joe's refer to each other by their code names before they could have been issued them.

The fourth story deals with Destro and his sales pitch to a Middle Eastern dictator. As Destro is the head of MARS weaponry, this story has a bit more gun talk and security system development than most GI Joe stories. But there is still plenty of action.

Last are two stories revolving around the deceased Snake Eyes. One has Scarlet retelling old stories of Snake Eyes to his replacement. Most of them are rehashes of old issues, so it becomes rather redundant. The only thing new is where Snake Eyes acquired his latex masks that he would wear outside. The second story is very short and deals with Dawn's training into the GI Joe team. She is the one who gained all of his memories in the old Cobra Brainwave Scanner.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

G. I Joe Vol. 20: Dawn of the Arashikage (War) (Graphic Novel)

by Larry Hama (Writer) & Netho Diaz

Publisher: IDW Publishing (June 26, 2018)

Softcover, 128 pages


       As some people know, I veer more towards the independent or off-beaten path in my reading (especially comic readings), but I still have my fanboy moments. And the greatest of them all is G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero (At least the one where Larry Hama is writing- everyone else can go suck it). I’ve been reading it since I got my first paper route, so I could buy comics, and have collected every single issue. Hell, I quit comics shortly after G.I. Joe’s series was canceled at issue #155 during its initial run. 
       Or I should say that I quit mainstream comics around this time. They had also just kicked Chris Claremont off of X-Men and that to me signaled the death-nell for the second golden age of comics (at least for Marvel). So, I focused on other literature. However, when IDW announced they were picked the original series backup with the writer who had made the series great, I jumped all over it. And here I am greedily wolfing down every stinking morsel pumped out. 

        Or I should say that I quit mainstream comics around this time. They had also just kicked Chris Claremont off of X-Men and that to me signaled the death-nell for the second golden age of comics (at least for Marvel). So, I focused on other literature. However, when IDW announced they were picked the original series backup with the writer who had made the series great, I jumped all over it. And here I am greedily wolfing down every stinking morsel pumped out. 
         This issue clears up a lot of background details and problems I had with the ninja factions and the Arashikage clan in the universe of G. I. Joe. Namely that the one clan seems to be the only one in existence. Even their “rivals” the Red Ninjas were outcasts from the Arashikage. The explanations given here were satisfactory. A brief history of the ninja clans and the Arashikage clan is given. And it seems all the surviving ones into the 19th Century, except the Arashikage, was absorbed into the Japanese Secret Service to act as spies, saboteurs, and assassins. 

A lot of old history is brought up here from the ninja storylines- the assassination of the Hard master, the death of the Soft Master, Zartan being the killer, and a final confrontation with Snake Eyes in Dawn’s body against the leader of the Red Ninjas - The Faceless Master- aka Firefly. An equilibrium is reached and, going forward, there are now two Snake Eyes.  

Snake Eyes is dead. Long live Snake Eyes.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.