I watched the cartoon. I played with the action figures. I understand that knowing is half the battle. I have shouted ‘Yo Joe!’ and I have been reading G.I. Joe comics off and on since issue #10 during their original Marvel run starting in 1982.
Unfortunately, time, age, and strange looks when I yelled ‘Yo Joe’ bursting in to coffee houses has reduced my indulgence of all things Joe to catching the first movie on USA late one night (I barely made it through 2 commercial breaks). So being able to catch back up with a Real American Hero was something I was excited to do.
I read G.I. Joe #192 from IDW Publishing. It is the story of the characters based on Hasbro’s toy line from the early 1980’s that I grew up with. IDW started this series with issue 155 ½ on free comic book day in 2009 (picking up where the Marvel series ended). The story is penned by the quintessential G.I. Joe writer, Larry Hama. When no one else in Marvel wanted to write G.I. Joe, Hama volunteered and in the proceeding 155 issues, wrote all but 8 of them. He has written the file cards on the back of the action figures and is so engrained in G.I. Joe lore, his likeness was used for an action figure in 1987 (Tunnel Rat).
Larry Hama has always injected an air of realism in to the stories of masked muted ninjas and chrome plated weapons dealers, and America’s most elite fighting force and issue #192 was no different. On pencils is Sergio Cariello (Azreal: Agent of the Bat, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight) whose lines and detail kept your eyes on the page especially because of the range of drawings he undertook for the issue. He had covert attack scenes, attacking timber wolves, battle tanks, H.I.S.S tanks, large crowds, roller coasters, and a cavalcade of Joe’s to draw. All of which he did well.
The book, 31 pages long (22 of those devoted to the story), begins with a prelude that announces, “After the events of the past few months, Scarlett and Snake Eyes take a much-deserved vacation…” but the story is much more than those two daring highly trained special mission operatives in love. The story has Cobra Commander, in full towel mask, addressing his Cobra forces, Destro preparing his base for attack, Jinx in Japan, the Joe’s moving around a Mauler, but the focus always goes back to Scarlett and Snake Eyes who are a vacation (climbing up a sheer cliff) and reuniting with Timber.
For those following along with the exploits of the Joes, this is an issue that teases things to come in the near future with G.I. Joe. It is an issue that will surely entice regular readers with what is around the corner. For those unfamiliar with the cavalcade of characters and their motivations, issue #192 may not be the best starting point to begin from. However, with what I had known already from years of G.I. Joe mythology, the book had recognizable characters and was a story I was able to understand for the most part (admittedly, there were story lines I had no clue about). If you are yearning to jump back in to America’s Elite fighting force, G.I. Joe #192, with its story and its art, might be the issue that becomes the catalyst to get you yelling ‘Yo Joe!’ once again.
*Thank you Wikipedia for the Larry Hama info and the Tunnel Rat pic
*G.I. Joe #10 cover from www.comiccovers.com/issue #192 cover from www.hisstank.com