by Alan Rapp on December 17, 2020
in Comics

Part 1 of “Untold Tales” kicks off a new arc for G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero with the original Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Stalker, Torpedo, Wild Bill, Lift-Ticket, Roadblock, and Scoop sent into Northern Trucial Abysmia to capture weapons tech Alpheus Hunzucker responsible for the region’s poison gas program which has wiped out entire villages of ethnic minorities. Assisting the strike force are a pair of locals, one of whom is nearly as lethal with a blade as Snake Eyes himself.
After the lengthy “Snake Hunt” arc, this single-issue tale is a nice change of pace for the comic, and it appears to be just the first as the next several issues will be short tales featuring fan favorite characters in untold JOE adventures. The running gag of Scoop being prevented from filming the action (his one job) gets a little tiresome, but otherwise the issue works well enough.
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by Alan Rapp on November 30, 2020
in Comics

Larry Hama’s massive ten-part series including appearances from an insane number of G.I. JOE characters comes to a close with a dialogue-free silent issue as the combined forces of the Joes, Destro, Zartan, and the Arashikage succeed in freeing Throwdown (who Cobra still mistakenly believe is the original Snake Eyes) from the clutches of Cobra. IDW’s arc was sold under the idea of it “featuring EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF G.I. JOE,” and there were appearances aplenty over the past ten issues.
Setting up all the necessary ingredients to return the original Snake Eyes’ memories to the new one’s body, given access to Dr. Mindbender‘s machine and the arrival of Dawn, I was surprised that this idea wasn’t pursued (perhaps at a later date)?
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by Alan Rapp on October 15, 2020
in Comics

Rob Liefeld’s bizarre mini-series continues as Snake Eyes and Scarlett meet some more odd characters in the woods first in another large warrior who Snake Eyes faces off and then in a woman who claims to be his mentor and also works for the god Kirigun. Snake Eyes is apparently a warrior trained to offer sport to Kirigun during the “Deadgame.” Um… yeah.
So two issues in the story doesn’t make much more sense, if any. There is plenty of action here with Snake Eyes in action against both the warrior and his former mentor. Liefeld also provides some narration from Scarlett about her relationship with our title character.
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by Alan Rapp on September 7, 2020
in Comics

The penultimate issue of “Snake Hunt” is here and the action if fast and furious as the Joes and their unlikely allies battle Cobra on all fronts hoping to liberate Throwdown (who Cobra still mistakenly believe is the original Snake Eyes) from Cobra’s clutches and Dr. Mindbender‘s evil experiments hoping to turn the Joe into an agent of Cobra.
While the groups within the compound make slow progress, fighting above the bunker turns in Cobra’s favor as reinforcements arrive and an irate Cobra Commander orders the death of every Joe. Not surprisingly, it’s the Arashikage contingent that find Throwdown first. However, their escape appears to have been cut-off as things appear to be setting up for an explosive finale.
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