I’m the last person to complain about a lack of ninja conflict within the G.I. Joe universe, but IDW has really been dragging out the whole Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow dynamic.  Apparently they’re moving closer to a resolution here as Snake Eyes wades neck deep into Red Ninja territory.

Click the “Read the Rest of this Entry” link below for the full review!

Snake Eyes #10

Writer – Chuck Dixon
Artist – Alex Cal

Still far behind enemy lines in Nanzhao, Snake Eyes, Helix, and Alpine investigate an apparent silent assault on UN troops on a bridge…and when Snake Eyes investigates one of the arrows left behind, he immediately senses what’s going on.

We also get a little more detail behind Cobra’s plans for Nanzhao, hoping to raize the country and destroy the drug trade to inflate their own drug trade in South America.  The details of Cobra’s contracts with India and China are also revealed, demonstrating how the organization could built itself up financially with their current direction.  As Cobra wipes out the poppy fields of Nanzhao, they’re sharing credit for the act, while still getting blame for the slaughter of UN Peacekeepers, generally causing global conflict all around them.

Meanwhile, Snake Eyes orders transport to a remote jungle area with Helix hot on his heels and they both go face-to-face with a cadre of Red Ninjas.

Like the Cobra Command issues before this one, they are fast paced, enjoyable and written remarkably well.  Snake Eyes’ gestures and acts are all translated quite nicely to paper, and I’m growing to enjoy this whole master/apprentice relationship with Helix.  Snake Eyes shows a remarkably dark side of himself when he lures Helix into the jungle behind him, then uses her as bait to flush out the Red Ninjas, even if he does end up saving her life.  As they get closer to Storm Shadow, you feel a distinct sense of gravitas for the upcoming events.  We also start seeing a trace of a rivalry between Storm Shadow and Zartan, over the death of his Oyabun.

As we’ve come to expect throughout the Cobra Command story, Alex Cal’s art is remarkable.  His sense of action and story flow throughout the initial Red Ninja attack was nearly flawless, and there were several sequences towards the end of the issue with Snake Eyes, Helix, and other Red Ninjas that were the same way.  He has an exceptional sense of movement and the way one panel flows to another.  I continue to enjoy his artistic license that he takes in certain places with Helix’s camouflage uniform, and am extremely impressed with his work drawing Cobra Commander especially.

As an aside, Robert Atkins does one of the alternate covers of this issue, and it is stunning.  One awesome looking Storm Shadow.

Yes, like the issues before it, this is another great installment of Cobra Command, and I look forward to seeing it come to its certain to be exciting finish.  Check out the 5-page preview below for an example of the writing and art.

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Snake Eyes Ongoing #10

Chuck Dixon (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Dave Wilkins, Robert Atkins (c)

COBRA COMMAND CONTINUES! The new Cobra Commander’s war of conquest turns to a war of destruction. COBRA troops are forcing an entire populace to become refugees while eliminating any who dare stay behind. Snake Eyes is now in the killing fields, playing his own game of predator and prey with Stormshadow and the red ninjas of the Arashikage clan!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Vertically inter-connected variant Tom Whalen cover!

Bullet points:

• PART 5 of the G.I. JOE crossover, “COBRA COMMAND”!
• A rolling nine-issue crossover between all three ongoing G.I. JOE titles, all with the same art team!
• Ask your retailer about the special vertically inter-connected Tom Whalen variant covers on all three titles!

Now, the sequel to Infestation, instead of dealing with zombies, goes even more into the horror/supernatural elements by tackling Lovecraft and the Lovecraftian monsters that seem to have such a following.  Now how in the heck could this possibly tie into the G.I. Joe universe?

Comic Book Resources spoke with Infestation 2 writer Mike Raicht to get some details, and you can check out the interview right here.

It’s a very thorough and illuminating discussion and I found myself actually interested in seeing how this all ties together.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that Raicht throws some cameos to Cobra characters Cesspool and Razorclaw (!!) in the preview pages in the interview.

Definitely curious to see how this ends up.  Click here to read the full interview, and thanks to The Terror Drome for the intel.

As mentioned in the Real American Hero #175 review, toy and Super Bowl news overshadowed my focus on the comics universe, but I’m trying to change that this week, especially because the Cobra Command storyline is hitting it on all cylinders.

Click the Read the Rest of this Entry link below for the full review!

G.I. Joe #10

Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Alex Cal

Cobra is fully public and has firmly planted themselves in Nanzhao, planning their nefarious schemes.  As the citizens of the country desperately try to escape, Cobra has moved in and is accelerating their plans to wipe the country off the map.  Cobra begins really making their move, dropping Buzz Boars (!!!!) into the heart of the country alongside more traditional HISS Tanks.

Flint’s team is buried inside the country and the Joes start making their counter moves, using the awesome ROCC and Mean Dog to fight back against the enemy snakes.  We get a lot of Cobra characters making guest appearances like Destro, The Baroness, and Tomax as the action really heats up.  As bullets start flying, the UN Coalition troops end up in the middle with an absolute blood bath resulting.

That’s an immediate cool point about the issue to me, as you can instantly see the absolute dominance of Cobra.  Their upper echelon technology and highly trained troops essentially roll over the UN troops, using them as barely a speed bump as they crush their way into the deeper parts of the country.  Using the ROCC and Mean Dog, the Joes are able to hold their own, even as the UN scatters and falls, and you can really see where the power lies.  The issue also features Scarlett and Mainframe trying to resolve their emotional attachment and finishes off with a fantastic scene of Storm Shadow gathering together the Arashikage Red Ninjas, preparing to meet Snake Eyes in battle for the first time in this two and a half year old series.

The writing continues to be a massive step up from what we’ve gotten in the past, and I can’t reiterate enough how cool the pacing and the consistent art style is from issue to issue.  Alex Cal does a fantastic job of blending all pieces together and producing a cohesive series.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s a great artist as well.  He alternates seamlessly between absolute toy accuracy with the Mean Dog, the ROCC, the Rattlers, Buzz Boars, and HISS Tanks, and then spirals into modern real-world military gear sported by Roadblock and Flint.  I kind of like seeing some of the Rise of Cobra aesthetic seeping into these issues, too.  Hawk wears a beret, Scarlett has the familiar gray and blue camouflage uniform, and that kind of keeps things in the modern day style.  Action pacing is nearly flawless, too, with emotion straining the faces of the Joes, even as they gun down enemy Cobra troopers.

The art is fantastic, the writing remains crisp and fast-paced, and the Cobra Command storyline continues to entertain.  Check out the 5-Page preview below for a sample of the story and art.

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Click the “Read the Rest of this Entry” link below to check out the full review.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #175

Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: SL Gallant

I’ve been praising this title for several months now, and the praise will continue on this month, though there is a storyline going on here which is kind of rubbing me the wrong way.

A chunk of issue #175 focuses on the Iron Grenadiers, and that’s probably my favorite aspect of this issue.  Seeing The Baroness and Destro interact with the rest of the Iron Grenadier teams in Castle Destro, using a Cobra Hurricane for transport.  There seems to be an interesting dynamic going on here, too, as The Baroness sneaks out with some weapons, and seemingly intent on exacting some revenge for Billy’s death, in spite of her insistence against that fact to Destro.

The bulk of this issue focuses around Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes tracking down a robotics lab tied to the Blue Ninjas, and that’s where I’m a little iffy on the whole direction this story is going in.  Certainly, with Battle Android Troopers we’ve seen our share of advanced robotics mixed into G.I. Joe, but these Blue Ninja’s and their cybernetic enhancements almost take it too far.  We saw a Blue Ninja with cognitive thought and free will made entirely of robotic parts earlier in this story, and here, we see the two ninjas go against another fully robotic guard, which moves fast, seems to be smarter, faster, and much more capable than the more traditional B.A.T.’s.

Cobra gets in on the act as well, as Cobra Commander shows some disturbing brutality with one of the cybernetic ninja leaders and moves in to take his pound of flesh.

I’ve been on record for a while saying I’m not a big fan of the B.A.T.s and would much prefer the more human elements of the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra mythology.  I don’t mind the use of cybernetics in places throughout the line (hell, Lt. Stone is one of my favorite characters for that reason) but this fully robotic soldier that has advanced intelligence just is rubbing me a bi the wrong way.

In spite of my minor issues with the story direction, I continue to have no problems with the art.  Gallant’s classic art style is fully intact here with nice, clean lines, great action storyboarding, and an emphasis on character throughout.  His use of nice classic vehicles (like the Cobra Hurricane and the Cobra Transport helicopter) is fantastic, and only serves to further inject this new story into the vintage Marvel Universe.  I love it.

Things do appear to be heating up with Cobra, the ninjas, and The Baroness all possibly heading on a collision course, and I’ll be there the whole way, but I am looking forward to seeing this robotic enemy resolved and see things move on to a more human enemy.  But maybe that’s just me.  Check out the 5-Page preview for a sample of story and art below.

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