Advance Review: G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero #301

G.I.Joe A Real American Hero #301 brings back the most effective long form comic serial in history. Having G.I Joe ARAH back is like having a good friend return. The style, the action, the mad science antics and the characters we love are back. Most importantly this remains the brainchild of Larry Hama.

Larry Hama once said that the G.I. Joe comic universe exists in his head and his head-canon is every changing. We now have the AI threat of Revanche alongside multiple arms of Cobra. Cobra in the Hama universe consists of three arms, Cobra Commander as the more traditional villain, Destro who is an arms dealer with his MARS organization and Serpentor Khan who is insane.

This issue centers around the countdown to Serpentor’s zombie monster bomb which will turn himself, Mindbender and an entire casino full of patrons into thinking cannibal zombies. The Joes rush to vacate Cobra Island as the countdown continues. The issue fails to give us enough time with our newly returned hero Snake Eyes. Having just returned from the dead himself, we have no idea what his current mindset is and just need more time with him and his former teammates reuniting. We have gone way too long without our hero and need to see him in action. The funeral of Wade Collins next issue might provide some of the needed character moments but it would have been nice to see something here. It is confusing to basically have three versions of Snake Eyes at this point between Sean, Dawn and Snake Eyes. It might be time to just ignore their back stories and differentiate the characters more.

The art in this issue is excellent. Chris Mooneyham is a great edition to the Joe world and his characters and vehicles are perfectly rendered. He has a bit more of a sketch style which has not always been favored by fans in the past. But he seems to get it right. Mooneyham creates a massive scope here along with incredibly expressive character moments and a real haunted villainy with Serpentor. The colors here could issue a bit more variety and there are a few too many panels with just a single shade or color. This book would also benefit from a bit more of the old school nuance critical of the military industrial complex, it’s hierarchy and the profiteering reasoning behind many wars.

It is a massive treat having this book back in full swing with a steady storytelling hand and not missing a single story telling beat between the last issue and this one. Larry Hama continues to show just why he is the greatest military comic writer of all time.

Writing: 4.5 of 5 stars
Art: 4 of 5 stars
Colors: 3.5 of 5 stars

Overall:
4.0 of 5 stars

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #301
Writer: Larry Hama
Art: Chris Mooneyham
Colors: Francesco Segala
Letters: Pat Brosseau

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.