This month saw the release of “G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files” #1, the final title in IDW Publishing’s latest relaunch of their G.I. Joe comics (preceeded by “G.I. Joe” and “G.I. Joe: Special Missions”). Like the titles before it, Cobra Files adds a distinctive and impressive voice to the reborn Joe comics universe, but does so by turning its attention on the darker side of things and diving into a cruel and covert world inhabited by the best of the bad, and the baddest of the best.
Written by Mike Costa
Illustrated by Antonio FusoA SNAKE IN THEIR MIDST! Her name is CHAMELEON—and she used to be a COBRA agent. Now she’s made her way into the G.I. JOE team—the honest way. But even with the best of intentions, does she have what it takes to fight on the side of the angels? FLINT thinks she does, and he’s willing to gamble the lives of this teammates on her… Unfortunately, with the Crimson Twin called TOMAX pulling the strings, no bet is a sure thing.
With “G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files” #1, writer Mike Costa and artist Antonio Fuso are back at the helm, making this the only relaunched G.I. Joe comic to see its regular creative team carry over from the previous series. And I bring that up because, in discussing Cobra Files, it’s probably worth looking back at the title and its creative team’s history for just a minute.
“G.I. Joe: Cobra” launched in 2009, the third title in IDW’s successful take on G.I. Joe. With a 150 issue run at Marvel, a short stint at Dark Horse, and several ongoings and mini-series at Image and Devils Due, G.I. Joe is arguably the most successful toy comic of all time, but it might surprise you to find out that Cobra — the Joes’ opposite number, and basically, the reason they exist — had never received the kind of attention it would get in “G.I. Joe: Cobra.” While Larry Hama and Chuck Dixon were updating the G.I. Joes all of us knew and loved, co-writers Christos Gage and Mike Costa were turning the franchise on its ear, and showing a side of G.I. Joe that we had never seen — one less concerned with selling toys and more interested in compelling, and downright gut-wrenching stories about those trapped in the spy game. Cobra didn’t just break, but it destroyed new ground and proved G.I. Joe could appeal to the grown up in you as well, and at the end of the first series, fans were left with a comic experience on par with anything by Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis or Greg Rucka.
Cobra’s success led to several sequels, each more intense than its predecessor, and over the course of the next several years, the events depicted therein rocked the G.I. Joe universe from the bottom up. The series was so crucial to IDW’s Joe, that it spawned the first linewide relaunch, which saw Cobra receive its own official ongoing series, and the two ensuing mega story arcs — ‘Cobra Civil War’ and ‘Cobra Command’ — leaned heavily on the now solo-writer Costa’s corner of the Joe-verse, cementing the title’s place in the greater narrative of G.I. Joe.
While several new characters were created specifically for the series, Costa showed a penchant early on for updating some of the more reviled agents of Cobra, and usually turned them into something kind of awesome. For instance, Croc Master — a joke character among most Joe fans — become one of the more frightening and formidible players of the entire series. In fact, seeing who Costa would update next became one of the book’s biggest draws, and even though characters retained names like Big Boa and Serpentor, he never disappointed. With the end of ‘Cobra Command,’ the title’s focus shifted from Cobra to a Las Vegas-based G.I. Joe operation led by Flint and a small, handpicked unit of Joes. With Tomax and Major Bludd providing intel, Flint’s team chased the most vicious snakes around the world before the series come to an end.
But their mission wasn’t over… which brings us back to “G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files” #1, and its place in the current mix of G.I. Joe comics.
Continued belowFred Van Lente and Steve Kurth’s “G.I. Joe” — the current flagship title — follows the very public adventures of the G.I. Joe team, as fan favorite Joe commander, “Duke” Hauser leads a team of market-tested, market-approved specialists on missions you’re likely to see covered on CNN. It’s a funny, high energy, all-reader friendly take on G.I. Joe, and in just two issues, its unique voice has given the property a much needed shot in the arm. But as good as it is, it’s so tonally different from what was going on in G.I. Joe before that it doesn’t feel 100% natural — as I’ve said before, it’s a Marvel NOW! approach to G.I. Joe. And as that’s kind of the goal of the series, it works beautifully, no lie. If you’re a G.I. Joe virgin (“G.I. Joe: Virgin” — c’mon, IDW, lemme write that!) you’ll love it. But if you’ve been following the Joes’ ongoing adventures for a while, it’s got some jar to it.
And then there’s “G.I. Joe: Special Missions” by Chuck Dixon and Paul Gulacy. Clearly the yin to “G.I. Joe”‘s yang, Special Missions is almost too dedicated to the previous readership, using its first story arc to tie-up the loose ends of Dixon’s two previous series. It’s by no means a bad read, especially if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool military purist, but it’s definitely not too concerned with new readers.
“G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files”, however, is the perfect balance. This first issue is an inspiring example of how to relaunch a title, and maybe it’s because Cobra — of all IDW’s Joe comics — is the one that’s restarted and been tweaked the most. Maybe Costa and Co. are so used to it by now that they make it look easy. Whatever the reason, Cobra Files is a masterclass in how it’s done, spending this opener not spinning wheels or shaking things up too much, but by a) recasting the lead character, b) showing us what’s come before, c) illustrating the mission with a simple, yet high stakes operation, and d) drawing us in with strong characters and a surprise that nobody saw coming.
Oh, and there’s an updated version of another old school Cobra baddie. Perfect!
I’m really proud of IDW for not replacing longtime series artist Antonio Fuso. One of the main reasons the series works so well is because it looks and feels significantly different from the other books. Fuso provides a sort of perfect, anything goes atmosphere for the series. It’d be easy to compare him to moody artists like Alex Maleev and Sean Phillips, but Fuso’s versatility is his greatest strength. In this one issue, he runs the gamut, shifting from kinetic combat scenes, to glitzy casino drama, to closed-room military briefings, to, finally, late night conversations inside a car. With Cobra Files, action’s only one piece of the puzzle, and thankfully, Fuso’s a master of putting it all together into one, brilliant looking comic book… that never forgets it’s also based on a toyline that gave us this guy:
“G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files” #1 is hugely impressive comics. Post relaunch, it remains the most unconventional of the Joe books, both in story and art, offering a wonderfully weird and exciting alternative view of the G.I. Joe franchise. It speaks volumes, I think, that as a longtime reader and someone who’s already been through several iterations of this series, that I still can’t wait to see where Costa and Fuso take things this time around. This book’s one of my favorite reads, and thankfully, it doesn’t look like renumbering is going to change that. If you’re at all intrigued by G.I. Joe — whether it be nostalgia, post-movie curiosity, or just looking for something new — you could do a lot worse than “G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files.” Quite frankly, you’d be hard pressed to do much better.
Final verdict: 9.0 – Buy!
