Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

GI Joe #10GI Joe #10
IDW Comics
Dixon & Gallant

Snake Eyes battles Cobra, at long last the Joes and Cobra fight, while Destro receives his new orders and gets introduced to his newest colleague while the rest of the Joes continue to poke and prod at Destro's castle. The issue continues to slog through some of the plots as if crawling through mud while the issue finally delivers some deadly action. However, the action seems to come at the expense of the only character that has any sort of foothold on being interesting: Snake Eyes. The series is a slow burn, but you have to wonder about where this is all going as each issue seems to provide less and less in the way of plot. Unfortunately this issue also stumbles in the art department for the first time in the series. This all adds up to a very forgettable issue.


Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsSnake Eyes is a character that is a legend. He may not be the caliber of a Superman or a Spider-Man, but he is an undeniable force in the fictional world. He's a commando and a ninja master. He doesn't speak and yet captures his enemy's respect as well as the prettiest girl. In this issue he fights one, no-name Cobra operative for over thirty panels over six pages. It's embarrassing to look at.

Sure, there is a certain beauty to the fight as it moves from gunfire to knife fighting, all with no dialogue. However, this is Snake Eyes. For him to struggle with this boob is just flat out wrong. In one of the opening panels he fires directly at the Cobra guy from about five feet away and nothing happens. It's not clear how armored the guy is, which could be an issue with the art, but it's a problem that has always plagued GI Joe. There is way too much point blank gunfire with no direct hits. It's annoying.

The art failed during this fight to clearly illustrate what is happening. Not only the gunfire aspect, but also the apparent knife in the leg of the Cobra guy by Snake Eyes. It seems to have no affect on him and the knife is never shown again in any other panel. Nor is any blood. Then the ultimate gaff occurs on page fifteen as Snake Eyes disarms the guy's right hand, while every other panel has the knife in his left hand. I've looked at this long and hard and it appears to just be an error in the one panel. It makes me feel like this issue was just pushed out there without anyone reviewing it first. Snake Eyes in action should be the absolute highlight of this, or any, issue, but this fight was cringe worthy.

How many issues can the core Joe team hang around the Destro Castle sight? Well, in this issue they finally figure out that Destro made a particle transfer machine so I would guess they will be moving on. After all, the trial of Scarlett is way more pressing than chasing after terrorists.

Finally, Destro figures out that he is trapped in the employment of Cobra as well as his metal suit. This is the best part of the comic and of the series thus far. Destro and the Baroness' relationship has never been captured this well. Writing and growing characters is what Chuck Dixon is known for and he shows it with these two very well.

Destro meets Dr. Mindbender who appears to be from one of the countries in the Asia Minor area as he sports a nice curly mustache and some regional attire. They have some humorous, philosophical quibbling, which works well. Their interaction may also develop to be as interesting as the Destro-Baroness dynamic. It is definitely is worth watching.

There are other elements to the comic that are cool, like the use of the massive line of vehicles, both on the Joe and Cobra side. Also, Mainframe uncovers some interesting server related hardware which was a very creative idea. However, there just isn't enough of these things to make up for the dull elements.

Even small things like Destro complaining about the cold of his Artic laboratory while the Baroness shows off massive amounts of cleavage and Dr Mindbender appears to be wearing a silk kurta just further annoyed me.

As a whole this issue isn't that good. It could have been awesome. Instead it makes me question how long I can keep paying $4 an issue for a story that seems to be going nowhere I care about. I just want some action already.

2 out of 5 geek goggles