G.I. Joe: The Rise of COBRA Prequel #1 - Duke

I have a mixed feeling about movie prequels... when you're dealing with a Hollywood property, what kind of story can a comic writer really tell without having any major impact on the film itself or without potentially spoiling events that are destined to occur on the big screen? It's not like you can be worried about the outcome of a particular main character, or feel threatened for their safety...I mean, after all, they're going to show up in theatres this summer, right?

Well, in a way I was actually looking more forward to seeing The Rise of COBRA prequels...there is still so much unknown about the movie mythology, I was eager to see whatever details I could leading up to the film. Something about the characters... anything, really. And considering the members of the Joe team were all pulled from the military ranks, at least we were assured a decent military story, possibly something even more grounded in reality than the film itself promises to be.

You know what? I got what I was expecting...but I got a whole lot more. For someone who doesn't normally look forward to or hold especially high expectations for movie-related comics, Issue #1 was a very, very pleasent surprise.

Basic Plot

We start with a night based HALO drop, and already the military lingo is flying fast and furious. Duke and Ripcord are instantly identified as the premier characters in this first issue and immediately cement their place amongst this small squad of Army Rangers. Most of the initial stuff has been shown in the 5-Page Preview as this small team of Rangers drops into the thick jungle and starts making their way through.

But they quickly find out that they are not alone in this jungle and that there appear to be some hired guns slinking about. They follow them to a high-tech trailer in the jungle and uncover the reason for their mission...one of their spy satellites has been hacked and re-directed, and it's their job to undo the damage.

Duke reports that even though resistence is far heavier than anticipated, they still need to complete the mission, and need to find a way to get their small team to that station and reconfigure the spy satellite. The other troops are only too happy to proceed, though the danger of the mission gives Duke reason to pause, thinking back to the fate of a previous teammate and friend.

Using pyrotechnics, misdirection, and confusion, the small team of Rangers pulls the mercenaries away from the trailer in search of their attackers, which allows the Rangers to infiltrate the camp and make their way to the trailer fairly quickly. Once they reach it, though, they find some fierce resistence in the form of a rather large bad guy who is eager to take them down a couple of notches. Ripcord takes a shot, but Duke is unfased and moves into the trailer to meet their enemy face-to-face.

Duke makes short work of the enemy (in somewhat brutal fashion, it should be noted) and clears the trailer so the tech guru "Stew" can come in and do his thing. Meanwhile, the "skinnies" discover that the attack was a diversion and start redirecting their focus back onto the trailer.

As time quickly runs out, Stew finishes his tech work and successfully brings the satellite back under control. Under heavy cover fire from other Ranger squad mates, the small team quickly withdraws, and destroys the trailer while they're at it. With a few injured men in tow, the Rangers slog back through the jungle to the evac point and get a helicopter back to the local aircraft carrier. Duke gives his briefing, but gets an unexpected visitor in the form of a mysterious Military Officer who gives him an offer he can't refuse...

...only he refuses it. For now. Obviously he won't be turning it down for long.

OPINION

Wow. To say I'm surprised with how this issue progressed would be a massive understatement. This was a great, GREAT read. It was not complex, it was just a solid, well-written, nicely drawn book based on an upcoming movie, yet sacrificing none of the quality. This story could be a "standalone" issue of a regular Joe book, but yet it also meshes perfectly with the movie universe (one can only assume). I find myself not having any issues with the character change for Ripcord. There is obviously a mention to the now infamous "Rex", but we still don't really know any details about what went down or how it ends up affecting Duke or the team.

Dixon continues to roll along, beautifully integrating straight military dialogue with more normal conversation, and the squadmates really end up dealing with each other and talking to each other as you might expect a normal military unit to talk to each other. They are friends and brothers, but seem resigned to the fact that any one of them could go down at any moment. The story is not at all complicated, but it's short and sweet, with some nice fight choreography, and an almost seamless movement from scene to scene.

A lot of that is due to the writing and pacing, but there must be some credit given to the artist as well. S. L. Gallant does some great work here, not necessarily blowing me out of the water, but with really solid, quality work throughout. The action flows, the characters were easily indentifiable, and the military gear was accurate and well-drawn.

Perhaps it was more because of my low expectations, but whatever the reason, this book impressed me highly. Whether or not it's strictly tied to a specific G.I. Joe continuity, it's a well-paced, well-written and very nicely done story with good art to go along with it. Very, very happy with this issue and I find myself really looking forward to the rest of the issues.

THE RATING

Not perfect, but a pretty damn good read, to be sure. A fantastic introduction to the movie universe and has instantly brought me into that world. Really looking forward to seeing more to come!

GRADE: out of 5