G.I. Joe Cobra #1 ships to comic book stores today, and we here at HISS Tank.com present to you, the review for this issue!
Written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa, with art provided by Antonio Fuso with Chris Chuckry, this title stars Chuckles, with a guest appearance by a new female member of the G.I. Joe team.
With everything that could possibly go wrong, going wrong, and increasing danger, how will Chuckles cope with his own morality, all the while doing what is right in the eyes of General Hawk? Or is it all right?…
Find out more by hitting that discuss button below!
Shin Densetsu says
G.I. Joe: Cobra #1 Review
This title is written by Christos Gage with Mike Costa, with art by Antonio Fuso. Hyped as being G.I. Joe with a touch of noir’, this title revolves around Chuckles.
When I first caught a glimpse of this title in G.I. Joe #0, I had my doubts about the artwork. There seemed to be something missing at first glance.
Now that I’ve read this issue, the artwork suits the writing quite well. It is consistent all throughout, with the textures applied subtly by colorist Chris Chuckry. It’s easy to overdo the textures and overpower the inks, however this does not occur here, and the result is pleasant to the eyes.
The artwork suits the mood of this issue, a dark tone as we see just how far Chuckles is willing to go to accomplish his mission. As the we progress through this issue we get the feeling that something is on the verge of going wrong after each page, and the noir’ aspect of the artwork complements this well. Villainous characters cast in shadows, would-be allies disguised in the darkness, with Chuckles all caught in the middle of it.
The issue starts off with Chuckles in a bar, with a rather shifty looking individual trying to proposition him for his organization. By Chuckles inner thoughts, we can tell that he is willing to go the distance for his mission, ready to kill that man if he gets in the way.
Chuckles tries hard not to blow his cover at every turn, and this is something he constantly worries about. How far does he go to protect his identity? Well a team of familiar faces shows up, and with no hesitation he fires at them, even clocking one in the face.
After killing other threats, Chuckles ends up chased into the streets, where he parts ways with the shifty man from earlier. Later, Chuckles finally manages to rest, only to awake to kidnappers in his room, realizing that they know he is a G.I. Joe.
Cobra has shown itself to be a highly intelligent organization that proves to be deadly and menacing. Those of you who have followed the other IDW G.I. Joe titles so far already know that the Joe team is as secretive as can be. Yet Cobra already knows about them and is already onto Chuckles. I wonder how they caught on so quick.
As a bag is put over Chuckles head by force, we see the view from his eyes as the panel blacks out. Clever choice by Fuso on this.
We are then treated to a flashback, of how Chuckles got into this mess to begin with, starting with his recruitment by Hawk for the mission. Chuckry color holds this entire sequence, making it consistent all throughout the flashback, and making good contrast between the rest of the pages which take place in present time.
We see General Hawk and as with the other current Joe titles, he comes off as a very stern character; a douche’ bag even. He reminds me a lot of another Hasbro character that IDW has handled as well, Ultra Magnus from Transformers: Animated. I don’t know if this is intentional as they both hold very similar command positions, or if it is coincidental.
Through the flashback we are introduced to another familiar character, Jinx. In this continuity she is Chinese-American and as of yet, there has been no connection revealed between her or Storm Shadow, of if they are even connected in some way at all.
Jinx is Chuckle’s contact when on his covert infiltration ops, and can hold her own. She accompanies him when he commits atrocities helping rather sketchy individuals. This is a Chuckles who commits terrible acts, for the sake of infiltration and gaining the trust of evil organizations. This isn’t a man who turns away from doing the dirty work, this is a man who does the dirty work ultimately for the right thing in Hawk’s eyes.
The question comes to mind, how will Hawk take account for all of this in the future? We had hint that Hawk was a man who was stern and committed, yet commanding Chuckles to commit these acts was something that I never expected. Seems like having to do the dirty work, or rather getting someone else to do it, is right so long as it gives them the information they need to destroy Cobra later on.
Jinx becomes more than just a contact for Chuckles, definitely someone for him to rely on. Towards the end of the flashback, the familiar faces that appeared in the bar are explained.
At the end of the issue, Chuckles is introduced to Cobra. We see soldiers clad in red, my first thought was “is that Wild Weasel?”, until I saw another similarly clad soldier in the distance. Perhaps these are the same soldiers on the cover? If so, I wonder if they are Crimson Guardsmen.
This issue was an exciting read, full of twists and turns, and surprises that I didn’t expect. General Hawk is no softy, and this title so far is enjoyable for older audiences. We are left wondering why General Hawk is so brutal, and if Chuckles will turn for the worst. What Chuckles did in this issue surprised me, he is a G.I. Joe his actions surprised me more than Hawk. Can he do any worse? We’ll see in future issues.
The art team assembled for this book did a great job, the preview in G.I. Joe #0 should not be used to gage how well this team would perform, as the artwork in this issue is impressive and handled well. The artwork was consistent all throughout, and pleasant on the eyes, nothing distracting. Coupled with the writing team of Gage and Costa, I think we have a suspenseful and entertaining ride ahead of us with G.I. Joe: Cobra.
Troynos says
I liked the art in #0. Can't wait to read this. I like how IDW is giving Joe a darker/harder edge to it.
Hawk's actions make sense. He's in charge of getting rid of threats that have no morals and won't back down from committing atrocities. How do you fight that on completely moral ground? You can't. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire and it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that, enter Chuckles.
A Commander has to take a longview, and has to realize that sometimes the ends do justify the means. I don't think Hawk sleeps too well at night, but that comes with the territory.
Being the one that orders men to their deaths is a hard thing.
Shin Densetsu says
Troynos says
I'm thinking that the Joes we see now aren't the first Joes. I think that Hawk had another unit that got wiped out and that's why he's so grim and sees the Joes as more "expandable" pieces.
He realized that the original way he did it, wasn't going to cut it, so now he's more secretive and willing to do what is necessary.
I definately like this Hawk. I loved the #0 part with Duke and where it seemed Hawk was willing to kill him if Duke didn't say he was in.
Shin Densetsu says
vadersquest says
This is a surprise. I will have to wait till next week but this is a must get plus I have the variant already in my pull. Good review Shin; I will be adding this comic tittle to the archive tonight.
ninja6fett says
Just got it and read it. I really liked it. And I can't wait to see where it goes next.
ShockVal says
Picked mine up too. Really dig it. I've never really been into comics so this is kinda my first time to get into a story. I drives me crazy how short it is and how each one just generates more questions for me.
Monkeywrench says
good review. Sounds like a good story
Lifeline_MD says
I must say, all three titles have been great.
However, I feel that the stories are best left to Trades as they are well developed long games.
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