GI Joe Origins #2

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

GI Joe Origins #2
IDW Comics
Hama & Hawthorne

Origins takes this issue a little bit slower than the opening issue. Snake Eyes lays in bed while Duke and Scarlett talk to Hawk and try to figure out what their next step is. The issue really stays centered on Snake Eyes with a little bit of an introduction of Roadblock now called Heavy Duty. I think the issue is an okay issue but it certainly has room for improvement. I would think the long time Joe fans would like this but I’m not so sure about the newer readers.

Snake Eyes lays in bed and yet he is the focus of this issue. Scarlett seems to be falling for him, even if only with subtle smiles. How she can fall for him like this is beyond me. While Duke and Scarlett are away from the room some burglars come in and find the bandaged up Snake Eyes with his Silver Star sitting beside his bed. One of the burglars feels a connection to the man and tries to convince the other to leave him alone and rob someone else. Elsewhere, Stalker attends Snake Eyes funeral and finds his former commanding officer. He gives a little more background on the man along with his real nickname, The Snake Man. Oh, and we see his tattoo.

The story is fine but there are a couple of odd holes here. The doctor, who looks him over, mentions that his burns on his hands and face are older. Yet, when the flashback is shown of Cobra Commander blowing up the hospital, his face and hands are clearly smoldering. Wouldn’t this have been more recent than the other set of burns?

One other minor problem is that Snake Eyes seems to be a mystery to the likes of GI Joe, but shouldn’t they be able to get information on any soldier from any service? Especially when they are recruiting members?

The pieces moving around in this issue is Hawk testing Heavy Duty (Roadblock) and Cobra Commander begins to round up some lowlifes to form his criminal organization.

The issue is good but falls short of being great. There are too many things that are not lining up with the GI Joe proper series and this series is shaping up to feel like a Snake Eyes Origins series rather than a GI Joe Origins series.

In the main title the Joes are running around just learning about Cobra. In this series Cobra is forming. What was GI Joe formed for if the likes of Cobra didn’t exist and what have they been doing between this series and the main series if Cobra isn’t around or even known about? Just think about the obvious questions. Why was Hawk picked to run the team? How was Scarlett picked for the team? Where did they find Snake Eyes? What’s the team’s objective? These are origin like questions and this series doesn’t seem to be answering them. If anything we are seeing the rise of Cobra from the ground up and not GI Joe, which is fine, but I’d like to understand the purpose of the series.

The artwork is good. It has a cartoon feel to it, especially with some of the villains, but it captures what little action the issue has very nicely. The art uses symbolism well, especially with Snake Eyes’ reflective glasses to show the connection with Scarlett.

This issue is a good case study of Snake Eyes without having the man get out of bed. It shows some great scenes with Cobra Commander but doesn’t really get into the hows and whys about what the Joes are really doing. It’s a slow burn type of a series so perhaps the answers are coming around the corner. This issue may be for the die-hards especially.

3 out of 5 geek goggles