Review: G.I. Joe #1

The formal G.I. Joe book is finally here and it fits perfectly within the impressive artistry of the Energon Universe. This book is part man against machine, part John Wick and all incredible fun. Artist Tom Reilly brings a visceral bombastic style. Every character is defined, every panel tells a story, Williamson and Reilly clearly love these characters and comics.

GI Joe #1 has the difficult challenge of following up some amazing work with the mini series building up towards this book. Those series were full of rich characters creating a varied tapestry. This book continues the organic feel of slowly building up the conflicts and characters in the Energon Universe. Skybound has always encouraged serial story telling with a focus on conflicts emerging from character interactions rather than simple plot devices. Writer Joshua Williamson has similar instincts here and it serves the book well.

The surprising inclusion of Baroness following the Duke series gives a very specific conflict to the Joe side. We are introduced to a squadron of classic Joes with Rock ‘N Roll, Stalker, Cover Girl and Clutch each having their moments. But the main focus of the book is on Duke’s efforts to inspire the squad and the complexity of include Baroness. Given the classic military feel of the Joe side, the Baroness saves this from feeling like bland jingoism. She questions the quality and approach of the team and in turn they question her loyalty and dependability.

Cobra meanwhile is bonkers fun in this book. Destro and Cobra Commander have used Energon to build up advanced weaponry and troopers. The arrival of the Transformers and cybertonian tech has created an arms race as Cobra works to capture and develop as much of the tech as possible. The artwork by Reilly and especially the colors by Jordie Bellaire create tonal shifts between the Joes and Cobra.

We get yet another shift for the introduction of Risk, an amazing new character who brings a very different style of combat much more akin to action films than the traditional Joe weapons of guns and swords. The scenes with Risk are meant to reflect a John Wick style fighter and the art and colors really do bring the feeling of fluid action from those films. The final climactic battle between the Joes and Cobra feels like a wild action movie.

The book build momentum through the issue and the hope is that the momentum keeps ramping up through this series. The artwork makes this book stand out but the hope is that we gain some more personal stakes between the heroes and the villains. This may come though the inevitable connection of Baroness with Destro but we need this conflict to feel personal for each and every character featured here. For now the classic setup and incredible art are enjoyable, but one hopes there are some major twists to come to give our heroes some emotional stakes.

Writing: 3.8 of 5 stars
Artwork: 4.8 of 5 stars
Colors: 5 of 5 stars

Overall:
4.5 of 5 stars

G.I. Joe #1
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artwork: Tom Reilly
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Publisher: Skybound/Image Comics

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.