We’re different, but we’re often all the same. I firmly believe this. Especially when it comes to the pop culture world, where catch phrases and iconic images can burn themselves into our brains. For instance, say to someone in that 30-45 demo “now I know” and I guarantee you more people than not will respond “and knowing is half the battle”. That’s just the power of G.I. Joe.
On that note, you may have heard that Duke, Scarlett, Cobra Commander, Destro and others are making their way to the big screen for their first live action film this summer. At the same time, the rights to the G.I. Joe comic books have shifted to a new company, IDW, who have been releasing a plethora of series over the last few months. While I’m typically a hardcover collection or trade paperback purchaser, something about the new G.I. Joe endeavours had me intrigued. So I hit One Million Comics here in Toronto and scooped up a few single issues of G.I. Joe: Origins, G.I. Joe Movie Prequel: Duke, and G.I. Joe: Cobra to get the lay of the land. It was the latter that inspired me to write.
G.I. Joe: Cobra is the story of an undercover operative nicknamed Chuckles, a member of the G.I Joe team whose given an elite and delicate mission: infiltrate Cobra. It sounds like a simple concept, and it is, but as written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa, the first issue of the series moves quickly, and demonstrates a sense of humour missing (so far) from the other series out there at the moment (there’s a great Lost joke that our own Ian Rogers would appreciate). I can’t say I loved the artwork of Antonio Fuso, mind you. It feels a little too sparse for what I think should be a little more cartoony, but for that I can turn to G.I. Joe Origins (which is being written by longtime Joe scribe Larry Hama). There are cameos by the classic Joe crew, including Hawk and Duke, but the series is clearly going to be Chuckles’ story. The only problem is that Chuckles is so immediately compelling a character, I’ve been left eagerly anticipating the arrival of a new issue next month. Forget the trades – I’m going single issues on G.I. Joe:Cobra.
Check it out and you might feel the same way.
