Welcome back to G.I. JOEversity, a regular look at IDW’s G.I. Joe comics, and all the goings-on in the world of everybody’s favorite Real American Heroes! This time out, we’re looking at all three of IDWs titles, beginning with the finale to Joe-newcomer Fred Van Lente’s first arc, ‘Homefront’. And after a few months off, we’re anxious to catch up with both G.I. Joe: Special Missions and G.I. Joe: Cobra Files to see just how they fared following the reboot.
G.I. Joe #s 1 – 4 – ‘Homefront’
With the latest volume of G.I. Joe, Fred Van Lente and artist Steve Kurth were challenged with moving the Joes out of the shadows and into the limelight, following the team’s exposure to the public at the end of the previous series. A new mission, a new HQ, a new commanding officer (General Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe) and field team positioned “G.I. Joe” as the jumping-on point for new readers, while giving the franchise a nice shot in the arm for those still onboard from the last go round. It’s worth mentioning, I suppose that the rebranding of “G.I. Joe” — and the line as a whole — was timed to coincide with the debut of ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation.’ And while the movie obviously inspired some line-up decisions (Colton and Roadblock), that’s really about the extent of the film’s influence on all three books. Van Lente and Kurth, especially, avoided doing an ersatz, comics version of ‘Retaliation,’ and delivered a new take on G.I. Joe that offered up a nice counterpoint to the film’s ‘G.I. Joe: Renegades’-style depiction of the team.
In the five part ‘Homefront,’ Duke’s team of market-tested/market-approved Joes are deployed on American soil, specifically to Warrenton, Ohio, where the Baroness and a group of Cobra’s worst-offenders have turned the small town into a community of Cobra-sympathizers! “G.I. Joe” #1 brought the team together, before stranding them behind enemy lines in a hot bed of dissidence that now defined Warrenton. And while #2 featured an incredible opening sequence and illustrated how well the team works together — even injured and separated, as they were — it’s the series’ third issue that truly defined this first arc.
In “G.I. Joe” #3, an injured Duke undergoes an intrusive mind-probing by the Baroness and Dr. Mindbender as they attempt to extract the “all clear” code and prevent more Joes showing up. Through the lens of Mindbender’s brainwave scanner, we get Duke’s origin, beginning with him as a child playing with a 12” Eagle Eye G.I. Joe, all the way up to his G.I. Joe recruitment. Van Lente and Kurth fill the issue with some great Easter eggs, which I’m sure went a long way towards winning over some of the properties most skeptical fans. And while those were fun, it’s the issues structure and overall tone that really takes the prize. By its nature as a toy comic, G.I. Joe ends up serving a lot of masters – gotta move that product, son! But Van Lente’s approach to this particular issue was honest and inventive, and a brave exploration in storytelling for G.I. Joe.
Of course, legendary Joe scribe Larry Hama did similar stuff, notably “G.I. Joe” #21 – the silent issue – and his oft-overlooked, original farewell issue of “G.I. Joe (vol. 1)”, # 155 titled ‘A Letter from Snake-Eyes.’ In it, Snake-Eyes gets a letter from a friend’s son who’s decided to enlist following his 17th birthday. Snake-Eyes writes back to applaud the young man’s idealism, but also to present an honest and truly complicated picture of war and heroism. Hama chose to end the series with a story about hard truths and military legacy instead of 22 pages of blowing stuff up, and punching terrorism in the gut (which would’ve been pretty cool too, for sure),
and it stands out as one of the comics’ finest moments.
“Cobra” writer Mike Costa’s done some experimental storytelling too – “G.I. Joe: Cobra Special #1 — so Van Lente doing something that’s slightly outside the norm isn’t exactly a first for G.I. Joe, I know. But it’s always a pleasant surprise to see a creator taking chances, especially with a 30+ year old toy comic, and doubly so when it’s as compelling as what we get in “G.I. Joe” #3.
Continued below#4 took things back to center, with the team reconnecting after being separated for three issues, to launch an attack on Cobra’s stronghold in Warrenton. Highpoints of this issue included Hashtag — the Joes’ imbedded field journalist, and their newest and youngest member — dealing with her first kill, and an injured Doc guiding Quick Kick through an impromptu field operation to remove a piece of shrapnel from a dying Shipwreck.
That brings us to most recent, “G.I. Joe” #5, the ‘Homefront’ finale. With Tunnel Rat saving the city from blowing up, Duke and Cover Girl’s last minute save of Hashtag, and Roadblock fist-fighting five crocodiles in the sewers, this one had a lot to like. And while none of the subsequent issues quite achieved the same level of creativity seen in #3, it delivered an action packed ending to this latest volume’s very first outing.
We talked to Fred Van Lente about his first arc, and what comes next!
Multiversity Comics: Let’s talk Hashtag. You’ve been careful in our conversations not to give too much away about her chances of surviving ‘Homefront’, and I’ll admit, I’m glad she made it — no joke — but I’m still not quite sure why the Baroness didn’t kill her. Especially considering how bloodthirsty she was regarding Duke in the previous issues. What’s up — does she just enjoy playing with her food (she IS in a catsuit…)?
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, we’re in agreement at IDW that Baroness is a stone-cold sociopath, and definitely took sadistic glee out of torturing Hashtag a bit, someone who she recognized immediately was not a legitimate threat. If Duke hadn’t interrupted her, yeah, her next step would’ve been shooting Hashtag in the head.
With so many iterations of G.I. Joe, I’m really interested to find out how you research the characters and different vehicles, etc… like say, for instance, using Dragonhawks instead of Dragonflys. What kind of research to you do for G.I. Joe, and what are your typical go-to resources? What do you have bookmarked, Fred?
FVL: Great question. My absolute bible is THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GI JOE 1982-1994, which was recommended to me by no less an authority than Larry Hama. I got my copy from the author, Joe expert Mark Bellomo, at a signing he and Larry and I did together when #1 come out. If you are into GI Joe at all you should definitely have it on your bookshelf, I flip through it whenever I need inspiration for vehicles or obscure characters. On-line, both Joepedia and YoJoe.com are great, but unless you already know what you’re looking for it’s tough to just browse through them.
Okay, we now know who the “townie orphan” was that got Duke’s West Point commission, I guess (The Mad Monk call back to G.I. Joe #3, where Duke mentions getting turned down for Westpoint because they went with “another candidate named Monk or Monkey or something.”) For those who don’t know, who’s the Mad Monk — where’s he from and what’s his beef with G.I. Joe?
FVL: Michael Monk was created by David Lapham in the final story arc of IDW’s GI JOE ORIGINS series and was a character fans clamored for me to bring back since my tenure on the book was announced. Monk was an early recruit to Cobra by way of the US military and has a connection to Duke going well beyond the West Point Commission … but saying any more would be revealing too much! Stay tuned.
With ‘Homefront’ wrapped, how do you feel like your first arc turned out? And what are you most proud of about it?
FVL: Definitely the Duke origin in #3 is one of the most favorite things I’ve ever written and, well, Hashtag is lots of fun. I knew she would be controversial, but her storyline was one of my favorites in the arc and I really like how it turned out.
So did we, Fred! Thanks for stopping by!
Artist Steve Kurth’s work on these first five issues see-saws between being pitch-perfect to noticably off model and distracting, all within the same issue. Kurth’s got a fun style that, when it’s on, really augments the look and feel of the series, setting it apart from the often uber-realistic way IDW’s presented G.I. Joe in the past. But when it’s off, man… it’s noticeable. His take on G.I. Joe is less of a war comic, as visually, it shares a lot more with superhero books like “The Ultimates” than it does with “Sgt. Rock,” which calls back to Marvel putting guys like Andrew Wildman and Phil Gosier on the book after years of Herb Trimpe and Ron Wagner at the helm. But to his credit, it genuinely feels like he’s having the time of his life drawing the series, and that helps the artwork, even when his pencils
Continued below
aren’t as clean as you’d like them to be — check out the Maggott + HISS vs. Warrenton double page spread in #5. It’s impossible not to pick up on Kurth’s enthusiasm for this comics, and his work and contributions to the series so far have been mostly enjoyable. But stepping things up just a bit would only improve the look of things, and I’m genuinely excited to see where Kurth takes things in the next arc.
While the publically recognized team in “G.I. Joe” faced-off against Cobra in middle America, two other units were doing their parts to keep the rest of the world (and Las Vegas) safe from terror. Let’s take a look:
G.I. Joe: Special Missions #s 1 – 4 – ‘Crush Depth’
The first arc of “G.I. Joe: Special Missions”, entitled ‘Crush Depth’, saw writer Chuck Dixon and artist Paul Gulacy take the Joes’ covert unit — led by Scarlett and Mainframe — to the depths of the Atlantic, as they raced the Baroness (yeah, her again!) to recover billions in sunken Cobra funds. Depth picked up where Dixon’s previous work on “G.I. Joe” ended, pulling over his favorite characters without missing a beat. As anyone who’s been reading comics for a while knows, Dixon is and always has been a solid writer, and the IDW versions of most of these characters owe more to him than just about anybody who’s worked on the books. As a longtime reader, I’ll admit to enjoying Special Missions primarily because it felt like home. But that said, it would have certainly been nice to see him branch out just a little bit with ‘Special Missions’ and use the opportunity that comes with a new #1 to start fresh. Instead, he relies way too much on things he set-up before the reboot, and expectes the audience to just kind of know who Dial-Tone, Tripwire, and Beachhead are without spending any time on introductions. Without a doubt, Special Missions is the book for folks (like me) who’ve enjoyed Dixon’s work on G.I. Joe and the world building he’s done over the years, but if you’re new to Special Missions, I worry you might be a little lost.
Paul Gulacy’s work on Special Missions took some getting used to, but by the end of ‘Crush Depth’ I was really enjoying his take on G.I. Joe, Cobra, and surprisingly, the vehicles. It’s not quite Slash Maraud (look it up, kids) level awesome, but the story’s ocean setting really presented Gulacy with the opportunity to do some cool stuff with lighting and atmosphere that I hadn’t seen him do before. I know he’s off the book’s next arc with the always fun Will Rosado filling-in, but I hope he comes back, and he and Dixon take the special missions team to even more exciting, and colorful locations around the world.
G.I. Joe: Cobra Files #s 1 – 4 – ‘Snakes and Tigers’
My adoration for Mike Costa and Antonio Fuso on “Cobra” is well documented (and yes, mostly by me). SoO I won’t waste a lot of your time gushing, but… call me a hypocrite, but I realized recently that the very thing that annoyed me about Special Missions is precisely what I like about Mike Costa’s “Cobra Files.” Dixon and Costa are the two carry overs from the pre-boot G.I. Joe, and each is so dedicated to the story they were telling, that they refuse to let a little thing like getting relaunched stand in their way. But here’s the thing: Dixon is straight-up doing the same comic as before, just with a different title. Costa’s continuing his story from “Cobra”, but he’s changed the book’s POV character and in doing so, “Cobra Files” feels like a hybrid of the old and the new. See, in pre-boot “Cobra”, Flint and his team of Joes had just set up shop in a Las Vegas hotel and casino owned by Tomax Paoli (former Crimson Twin; current Crimson whatever-you-call-the-surviving-twin), and were striking at Cobra from the shadows. And while very little of that has changed on the surface, “Cobra Files” has cunningly moved the overall focus from the ensemble to the individual, as it casts Cobra-convert Chameleon as the book’s main character. There’s still plenty of Flint, Lady Jaye, Ronin, and the rest, but from the covers to the internal narraration, Chameleon takes the lead in just about every way, and it makes for one hell of a comic book.
Continued belowCosta and artist Antonio Fuso kick ‘Snakes and Tigers’ off with Flint’s team trying to redeem themselves after a messy mission in the former Soviet Union. Relying on intel fed to them by the previous Cobra Commander’s son, William Kesslar-Latta (a nice nod to Billy from the Marvel days, and actor Chris Latta, the voice of Cobra Commander in the animated series), the team discovers a group of Cobra ninjas posing as independent security loophole contracters who rob their clients after they’ve been paid to break in once before. These guys are Costa’s latest “real world” update of some old school Cobras, the Night Creepers, and they end up messing the Joes up something fierce. They truly come within arms reach of completely wrecking not just Flint’s team, but all of G.I. Joe, before the girls can step in and shut them down.
And I have to say, that’s one thing all three of current Joe titles have excelled at — giving the female Joes their due and some time to shine. None of them shy away from turning the spotlight on the ladies, and in fact, based on these first three arcs, if not for Cover Girl, Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Ronin, and of course, Chameleon, G.I. Joe would be pretty terrible at what they do.
The Debriefing
Over the course of 13 issues, the creative teams of “G.I. Joe,” “G.I. Joe: Special Missions,” and “G.I. Joe: Cobra Files” entertained the hell out of me, and maybe even redefined the way I think about IDWs contributions to the franchise. I was pretty skeptical of this latest rebranding effort to start with, but thankfully, I’ve discovered that, for the most part, I was worried for nothing.
Collected editions of ‘Homefront’, ‘Crush Depth’, and ‘Snakes and Tigers’ are currently available for preorder, and scheduled for wide release next month!
