Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
GI Joe #3
IDW Comics
Dixon & Atkins
Action. This issue has lots and lots of action. The GI Joe headquarters has been infiltrated by robot bugs that stowed away on the confiscated material the Joes picked up in previous issues. This issue almost exclusively deals with this hostile threat. It’s a fun issue but some of the other strands from previous issues really weren’t revisited which was a disappointment. Also, I never really got the sense that the Joes were in trouble because they were fighting robots after all. This was a fun issue and the artwork made sure to keep your eyes wide-awake with some level of awe.
The first minor gripe is that the recap box at the front reveals that Snake Eyes was the one who messed up Stalker’s mission, on purpose, in the previous issue. This was not an obvious fact and it seemed strange to tell the audience that in a summary box. Add in that the Stalker thread isn’t revisited in this issue at all and that Snake Eyes doesn’t appear in the comic despite appearing on the cover and I was a little disappointed, if not confused.
The action starts up with Duke, Beachhead and Rock N Roll racing into action to try to stop the killer robot bugs. It’s impossible to talk about any aspect of this issue without talking about the artwork. Every page seems to have a cache of GI Joe vehicles in the background, blown up or being used as a shield or shelter. It’s incredible to see the huge array of Hasbro toys page after page. It’s very impressive.
As the Joes begin to understand the threat they start to join forces. Hawk and Brain figure out how to kill them while they sort of piece together the bug’s objective. They aren’t just running around trying to kill people. They have a plan, even though the two operating the robots back at Destro’s castle act like idiots.
Speaking of Destro, he’s trying to avoid being killed by Baroness. It’s not entirely clear from the dialogue if Destro knows who she is, but it seems he understand she is working for Cobra. This plot thread wasn’t dealt with nearly enough for my tastes but it provided my two favorite character artwork. I can’t remember an unmasked Destro looking so cool. And the Baroness looks outstanding. She’s sexy and dangerous and every bit as arrogant as you’d expect.
There’s a lot to like here. The fact that the Joes aren’t just mindlessly shooting at robots is huge. The Joes are using some actual analysis to figure out the targets and are anticipating the moves of the robots. The comic still uses a very small cast of Joes but the characters are becoming likeable. Obviously the art gets the gold star.
Another good issue is presented here. It’s not great but you get a comic with cover to cover action with interesting dialogue and plotting attached to it. This comic is showing this series can shift from espionage to straight gun fighting issue to issue. I think as this arc draws to a conclusion we will start to see the best this new series has to offer. This was a fun issue.
3.5 out of 5 geek goggles
