IDW Publishing 2019
Written by Paul Allor
Illustrated by Chris Evenhuis
Coloured by Brittany Peer
Lettered by Neil Uyetake
Cobra is in command, and the world is one minute closer to midnight. To fight back, GI Joe is recruiting civilians and training them as spies, assassins and saboteurs. But these are dark times for GI Joe. Duke, their beloved head trainer, is dead, shot down in the street by Major Bludd. Tiger, their most recent recruit, is a brash and unpolished addition to the team, who destroyed a mission and alienated himself from his fellow Joes. Roadblock, a field team member, just killed a man for the first time, and is still reeling from it. And General Hawk, their leader, has delivered terrible news: the United States has surrendered to Cobra, leaving GI Joe with no support and an uncertain future.
I am such a fan of the G.J. Team and it's all come about in the last 18 years, which is really odd to say out loud. So having watched them change companies, change directions and to see the shift in power has been a real joy to witness. At this point in time Cobra is in charge of the United States and General Hawk isn't about to admit defeat and surrender. So the Joe's have gone underground, recruiting those they meet who possess the talent, skill and bravery to stand up to the current regime. Last issue we met Tiger as well as saw the death of Duke but life must go on and there's no time to take for grieving. What Paul is starting here is really quite awe inspiring and it gives us hope for what he has in store.
The way that this story is being told and how we get the information leaked to us as events unfold is extremely well done. I mean General Hawk's long-winded speech that runs throughout the book and culminates in one hell of a cliffhanger ending is balanced between Scarlett, Tiger and the rest of his team's ongoing struggles. The character development that accompanies this is fabulous as we see the emotional strain and impact on the characters. The personalities and their struggles come through crystal clear and it quite easy to see those we like, those we don't and who among we can relate to the most. With the pacing of the story we see these twists, turns and revelations come at us fast and furious kind of like being in the with Canelo Alvarez. All of this in turn creates this ebb & flow to the story that makes it feel amazing to read.
I will admit that Chris might not have been my first choice, however, he is doing some of the best work I have ever seen from him here. It is a little animated adventures for me but at the same time the linework and how he's able to utilised the varying weights to show this superb attention to detail is fabulous! I am kind of in love with the faces and facial expressions here and I could stare at them for hours. That we see backgrounds utilised as we do showing us this sense of size and scope of where they are and how they enhance the moments is so well done. The composition inside the panels where we see the angles, perspective and depth perception show such a talented eye for storytelling as he manages to utilise these page layouts so effectively. The colour work that we see as it is utilised to define musculature through the clothing is nice to see. The hues and tones that we see within a colour to show that shading and shadows is very well rendered.
The only time we see Cobra forces at work is with Duke on the table. Mindbender and Bludd are both incredibly scary individuals and that they both feel that way about each other shows some mad respect. While he may be gone it would be something to see Mindbender be able to reanimate his brain, not zombie style, but bring him back through his crazy experiments in the vain hope that he can garner information on what the Joe's are doing and where they are.
This book is amazing. From start to finish, how we see the characters, good, bad or indifferent and what roles they are to play here is so well constructed. With the franchise growing, changing and evolving as it does it remains at the top of my reading list.