The latest iteration of the Joe team finds a much more interesting focus – the ruthless, terrorist organization that’s trying to FIX the world!
G.I. Joe 4
Written by Paul Allor
Art by Niko Walter
I picked up some of the old Marvel G.I. Joe collections on Comixology between Thanksgiving and Christmas, since it was a slow time for new comics and this site was on a bit of a hiatus. I’ve always been a big fan of the old Marvel Joe series, because the character work from Larry Hama was second-to-none and the stories were always a little crazy, especially the inner workings of Cobra and all the political intrigue that went on behind the scenes of the terrorist organization.
With this new reimagining of the concept, it seems as though writer Paul Allor is trying to bring back that same kind of craziness to Cobra Command, and I am very much into it.
The fourth issue of the new G.I. JOE series doesn’t even feature any of the titular characters! The rag-tag bunch of resistance fighters who’ve taken up the name of G.I. Joe are instead pushed aside for a look at Cobra’s inner-workings, with Major Bludd our eyes and ears. Originally an Australian soldier, Bludd turned to mercenary work before signing on with Cobra when he felt assured that its leader, Cobra Commander, wasn’t actually an idealist.
Here, though, the man who killed codename Duke in the series’ first issue wants to know more about what Cobra is doing and who the Commander is working with. When he discovers that Cobra is working with Destro’s M.A.R.S. Industries, he assumes they’re building a cache of weapons. But Cobra no longer needs weapons, because they’ve already conquered the world. Now all that’s left is to fix things the way Cobra Commander sees fit.
Bludd finds that horrifying.
I’ve read this issue twice since its release on Wednesday, and Allor’s writing gets better with each re-read. I was a big fan of his work on IDW’s first CLUE miniseries in 2017, and everything I’ve seen from him on G.I. Joe promises an interesting tale. In fact, this may be the best iteration of America’s daring highly-trained mission force since Larry Hama’s Marvel work!