The GeneralsJoes July Review-A-Rama continues on strong thanks to Hasbro’s Public Relations team… A nice surprise package in the mail late last week provided me with the two San Diego ComicCon Exclusive Sgt. Slaughters that are hitting lucky collectors this weekend at ComicCon.
I’ve reviewed them both and for lack of a better place, linked the review on the Pursuit of Cobra page. You can, of course, also check it out here.
Another day, another review…but maybe this one’s cheating, I dunno.
I wrote up a review for the Canadian G.I. Joe Collectors’ Newsletter about a month ago on the JoeCustoms Convention Exclusive Lt. Stone figure. I’d always planned to get the review up on the site as well, just hadn’t gotten to it yet… until now.
Produced for JoeCon on a yearly basis, some enterprising folks from JoeCustoms.com have taken it upon themselves to do up some custom figures, but you have to be at the convention in person to pick them up. Of course, being the crazed Sigma 6 fan that I am, I was ecstatic to hear that Lt. Stone was getting the Real American Hero treatment this time around.
Check out the review in the Exclusives section, or just hit it up right here.
And if you want a chance to own one of these special figures in person, or just get to know the cool guys who make ’em, make JoeCustoms.com a regular hang out. Trust me, you’ll learn something new every day. Sometimes things you never even wanted to know.
Now we’re getting somewhere. As the G.I. Joe titles have somewhat plodded along over the past 18 months, fans were wondering just where we were headed. Chuck Dixon seemed to be having a tough time getting his feet under him and figuring out a concrete direction or what the end goal of this whole adventure is.
But over the past few months, things have kind of started falling into place. Over in the main book things really picked up steam as Cobra became a more focal part of the G.I. Joe universe. The whole conspiracy theory concept with Dataframe and Snake Eyes got the ball rolling, and now G.I. Joe is making an active push towards uncovering the Cobra mystery. Characters are starting to come into focus and the layers are at least starting to be pulled back somewhat.
Meanwhile, in the G.I. Joe: Origins book, we’re getting some neat looks into the past of various members of G.I. Joe and Cobra…and with Issues #16 – 18 I think IDW had their work cut out for them. Zartan is both an icon and a mystery when it comes to his backstory. Is he superhuman? Is it all technology? A genetic disorder, or a mixture of all of the above? Which angle would IDW take and how would they explore his abilities and talents?
The answer? They’ve woven an interesting, captivating, and awesome backstory for the Cobra Master of Disguise that I have already fallen in love with. In Issue #16, they gave us Zartan’s background as an emotionless mercenary who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. They tied Zartan into Cobra, and then, right as things were getting going, he was disintegrated. Or was he?
Issue #17 picks up right where last issue left off…and to avoid any spoilers, I’ll continue the review after the jump.
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I made my displeasure known that I was not able to get my hands on a PoC Alley-Viper during that short window that pre-orders were actually open at HasbroToyShop and BigBadToyStore, and my buddy Gyre-Viper was listening. Not a couple of weeks later, a crispy new packaged Alley-Viper was waiting in my mailbox. After having a somewhat crappy summer vacation, this was the perfect pick-me-up, and I figured it was a perfect way to kick off the GeneralsJoes July Review-A-Rama!
A big thanks as always to Gyre-Viper who helps support the Joe brand, and is an even better buddy than he is a Joe fan. Thanks, man.
Check out the slightly revamped Pursuit of Cobra Review Page, or just hit up the review itself right here.
Warning – There are Spoilers abound in this review! If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading.
As I sit down and read through this issue, it suddenly occurs to me. We are well over a year into G.I. Joe’s run through the IDW universe, and we haven’t even seen Storm Shadow yet. How is that possible? Or did I just miss it somewhere along the way?
I don’t have a clue why I suddenly thought of that as I was reading the issue…perhaps it was seeing Snake Eyes meditating in the darkness as Scarlett welcomed him back to The Pit in a sort of awkward non-conversation. I don’t know whether I should commend Chuck Dixon for holding off that long, or if I should ask “what the #@$ are you waiting for?” Granted, there really hasn’t been a place for Storm Shadow to fit in yet, but part of me does hope they don’t just reserve the “Origins” book to show all of the…you know… origins. I mean, something like that has to happen in the main title, right?
G.I. Joe’s flagship book continues to move at a decent pace, though I’ve grown a bit weary already of the “Destro in the gulag” storyline. It at least takes a step in the right direction this time around, and it was cool to see him have some direct (sort of) interaction with Cobra Commander. I find myself really digging Cobra Commander’s “look” in this universe, and part of me hopes maybe this is a new evolution of the character. As comfortable as we all are in his typical battle helmet or hood, this fanged faceplate is growing on me. It would be neat to see this look in Renegades as well.
We get a small taste of Destro’s ancestry in this issue, too, which follows pretty typical norms as his Scottish ancestor uses grenades to scatter a French invasion force just prior to the events of Waterloo. Gallant’s art continues to have a great flow and feel in this issue, and he draws landscape scenes and action with similar energy. I find myself consistently reminded of Mark Bagley, and I enjoy that style of art, so I have no issues with that whatsoever.
The issue wraps up with a possible cameo of Cobra Island, as the Joes look to pay a little visit to this mysterious piece of green forest in the middle of the ocean.
As I said, the pace continues pretty steadily this month, and things actually continue to happen. Action was mostly concentrated in the gulag, but it looks like that could potentially change next month as the Joes crawl into enemy territory. It does continue to surprise me that we have a glaring lack of certain core characters, but there’s always something to look forward to. One just hopes they don’t wait a little bit too long.
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G.I. Joe: Origins #16
Chuck Dixon (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Tom Feister, Cal (c)
The Origin of Zartan, Part 1: Who is Zartan? You may think you know the murderous master of disguise but you don’t know the whole story! A hired killer under the command of the Baroness is dangerously compromised. He’s offered the protection of COBRA and sent on a risky mission that ends with a scene that will have Joe fans talking for years. This one is 100% guaranteed to shock!
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
To avoid revealing too many spoilers, I’ve posted the review after the jump. Click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below to check out the review, and be warned, there ARE spoilers within!
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