IDW Publishing 2015
Written by Larry Hama
Penciled by SL Gallant
Inked by Brian Shearer
Coloured by J. Brown
Lettered by Shawn Lee
Quartered in Top-Secret armored underground bunkers—deep beneath a secret base in the Utah desert—is America’s elite Counter-Terrorist strike force! Code named: G.I. Joe—the most fearsome rapid deployment team of all stands ready to fight—anywhere—any time—any way!
I’m always a huge fan of when they do these huge arcs in Joe franchise. It keeps things realistic for me that Cobra would every now and then try to make a big move. It would be boring if he did the same thing over and over again without trying to shake things up, keep the Joe’s guessing and pull off a coup d’etat sometime. So this issue is a prelude to the upcoming Cobra World Order saga. It’s pretty darn good too and I gotta hand it to Larry here because it’s a pretty genius way to get readers old and new up to snuff about the world they live in.
Much like in the real world political leaders come and go and here we see Wendy Ling Torres who won the special election and now heads the Senate Oversight Committee that keeps tabs on the Joe’s. She’s at the Pit for a first hand inspection of the place and familiarize herself with the Joe’s in order to do her job more properly. It’s a great concept and it’s not out of the realm of reality where the government wants to know exactly what their resources are up to at all times. True motives however aren’t always revealed and sometimes visits like this are a smokescreen for what is really happening.
Well Duke and Lady Jaye are giving the Senator and her aide the nickel tour. Thankfully that also allows us to get in on the tour as well. This is an incredible opportunity to get a real good look at the Pit. Also it’s a more than effective way to demonstrate not only the technology the Joe’s have at their disposal but also how well trained they are and how good their instincts can be. This was a surprisingly well crafted story with hints of subterfuge throughout that ended up surprising me in the end.
Growing up I watched the Joe’s sporadically, I always felt it was too cheesy and a tad too unrealistic that no one ever got hurt by the laser guns they fired. So that i’m a huge fan of what Larry has been doing with this series took me a little by surprise but i’ve gotten over that and have since been a staunch supporter of what he’s doing. The characterization we get from him with these characters is amazingly well done. This is a show and tell issue at it’s core but because the Pit has visitors we also see their specialties at work. So Mainframe at his station doing what he does best for example.
Not everyone is here but we see them as we also learn there are various other bases in use for the Joe’s throughout the country. What it does is give you a broader look at what the Joe’s do when not in the field and training for combat.
I like this since the story is such a great setup for the coming sweeping epic. As you read it and begin to understand what’s happening it becomes all the more impressive. Though equally as impressive is the fact that as good as the Joe’s are Cobra is equally as impressive.
With some of the best Joe interiors i’ve seen by Gallant and company, each character is distinct and uniquely recognizable, and the not so futuristic tech, 3-D holographic imagery, they use so aptly demonstrated it’s no wonder they retain the charm and charisma of the Cartoon while keeping it modern.
New or longtime fans alike will love jumping on board here for what’s to come next!