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!
2). Clever writing. – Van Lente really impressed me in this issue. As I mentioned above, he isn’t dripping in military trivia. And, that’s a really nice change. Chuck Dixon’s GI Joe sometimes read like a how-to manual of military tactics and that is SOOOOOO not the point of a comic book. I just want to see some heroic American soldiers with cool gadgets and funky call-signs fighting Cobra (and beating them). America = Good. Cobra = Bad. USA! USA! USA!!
I really enjoy the direction Van Lente takes the story in this issue. The Joe’s have been a secret organization for the first few years of IDW’s run, but now they are out in the open–and the military wants to take advantage of their high profile by really playing up their call-signs and distinctive dress so they take nice pictures. There’s even plans for a line of toys based on the characters. LOL! Of course, this means that Cover Girl not only gets to be HOT, but she is expected to be HOT. Now I don’t have to worry why Cover Girl has great hair and an extra button undone while on a mission….she’s doing it to help the image of the Joes. Very clever.
From a strict writing standpoint, Van Lente is one of the best in the business. His dialog just moves at a faster and more natural pace than most writers. He makes a comic feel very bouncy.
And the structure of the first mission is very good. The Joes get teamed up, they introduce the cast of characters and their skills and off they go. There’s even a great villain reveal on the final page.
3). Acceptable art. – Ugh. This is where the issue stumbled a little bit. If the comic maintains THIS level of quality, I can support it and just accept that it won’t be a great looking book, but I’m long past the days of spending $3.99 on a comic just because I enjoy the story; the art needs to be top-notch too. The basic sequential storytelling is okay, but there are way too many odd looking faces and bodies in this issue. And the book commits the cardinal sin of not nailing the villainess on the final splash page. Screwing up the basic female anatomy is like missing the big note in a song. As I said, if the art stays at this level, I’m in. But if we have to step down another notch for a fill-in artist in a few months, that might be a bridge too far.
Conclusion: Snappy story that takes the Joes in a fresh direction, but this art is extremely borderline for a $3.99 book. How can the same company that publishes this line of “artist editions” that are homages to the best the comic industry has ever seen continue to be cheap on the art in a flagship book like GI Joe?
Grade: B-
– Dean Stell
Grade
Conclusion