G.I. JOE

• Title: G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #268
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Larry Hama
• Artist: Robert Atkins

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #267 is heavy on action as the Joes scramble to recover the kidnapped Throwdown (who Cobra Commander erroneously believes is the original Snake Eyes).

In the air battle to retrieve their former comrade we see several of the franchise’s best known fighters including the Skystriker, the Cobra Rattler, and the Night Raven. In the confusion, Throwdown is able to break his bonds offering a more close-quarters view of the escape attempt. Despite all the action, the Joes fail to retake their friend who remains on course to Cobra Commander and Dr. Mindbender.

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• Title: G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #267
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Larry Hama
• Artist: Robert Atkins

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #267 offers the pay-off to the last issue’s tease of sleeper cell Cobra units waiting to strike just outside of Staten Island, New York. Although the initial ruse of sneaking in a team using tanker trucks doesn’t go off without a hitch, leading to far more casualties than Cobra expected, in the end Cobra makes it down to the bunker and makes it out with their prize – Snake Eyes.

Given what was teased in the last issue and here, I expected the young papergirl to have a larger role in unraveling Cobra’s plans. Instead she turns into just another bystander of the sneak attack that involves an absurd amount of troops and troops and H.I.S.S. tanks in order to claim the source of Cobra Commander‘s latest obsession.

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• Title: G.I. JOE #1
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Paul Allor
• Artist: Chris Evenhuis

In the new volume of G.I. JOE the Joes have lost the battle with Cobra. Now working covertly, those that remain at large work as saboteurs and spies hoping to deal a blow to the enemy that has already taken the country.

There isn’t much here for me, and I doubt I’ll be spending much time in this timeline (IDW still has the less bleak current G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero continuing where I’ll gladly go to get my fill of the brand). Not only is Cobra victorious in this reality, but a core Joe is killed in the opening pages (as nothing more than to make a statement about just how bad things have become).

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• Title: G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #266
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Larry Hama
• Artist: Robert Atkins

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #266 begins a new arc with Cobra Commander giving in to his obsession about Snake Eyes and enlisting Dr. Mindbender and his new MX-005 drone to do a little snooping in the Joe’s home base. Although he misses the small detail that the current Snake Eyes is actual Throwdown (and not the original), the drone does pick up quite a bit of action as Snake Eyes is able to hold his own against Helix, Scarlett, Bombstrike, and Jinx.

Whether or not replacing Snake Eyes is a good idea for the comic (worthy of a much deeper discussion), the issue certainly sells the new version’s prowess (both to the Joes and to Cobra) highlighted by Robert Atkins’s art featuring the impressive new Snake Eyes in action.

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