GI Joe #18 *SPOILERS*

[Ghost X]

So I guess the reboot is continuing after all?

Loving the desert appropriate uniforms while also maintaining some distinction between characters!

Hating the teleportation!

[HELLSTROM]

Next page can be seen here...

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... joe186.htm

Another new codenamed "Joe". Any bets on who takes a bullet this issue?

[Ghost X]

This issue had me for about the first sixteen pages. Great set-up! Great Dialogue! Great Art! I was even able to ignore the teleportation for once. In the back of my mine, I kept hoping Dixon had a reason for centering the story around a pretty tank driver, a clumsy bomb disposer, & a mortar touting math wiz. No such luck. Random character choices. Little plot progression. Upping the level of sci fi again!

As I felt about the last issue of Origins, IDW has got some great comic book skills with little understanding of how to capture what made the original GI Joe so endearing.

[Antarctica]

This type of Joe story is the best for two reasons.

It highlights the Joe fighting abilities

And it is somewhat of a self contained story that actually propels the over all big scale story that is being told. (Which is Cobra discovering more about GI Joe as well as the vice versa that is happening)

Plus, I really like that a very "C" level character like Downtown is getting page time and like many of the low level characters that have risen from their low levels (I am thinking about Chuckles) they are turning out to be very cool. I love the mix of his lawyer field weakness yet he is still a very good soldier even though field work isn't his speciality. Tripwire another low level character that Dixon is truly making cool and now very tough.

And even though most of us dislike the MASS Device it effects are used well in this issue.

I would put this issue in the top 5 of this series.

[Ghost X]

Ant, I have to respectfully disagree with you. All I saw was a squad of no names having a hard time taking out two Cobra soldiers and needing to resort to threats of a suicide attack to defeat them.

Using low tier characters would be cool if DIxon had actually developed the core team at this point and if he actually used the low tier characters. Creating his own characters and sticking an old code name on them doesn't do it.

[Antarctica]

I see your point about the main characters being established but here is a thought since this is a new continuity who is to say that Downtown isn't one of the main characters, he has been in three issues so far with this one being lots of page time and the same goes for Tripwire this is now a second issue where he has been the main character of the story. Leatherneck & Recondo as Stalker's team have gotten a lot more page time then ever did in in the Marvel run (ok, Recondo did have more page time then Leatherneck, a lot)

So think of it that way.


And don't forget the Joes had a hard time fighting the Cobra soldiers because this time around everyone of them is tough, smart and almost an equal to the Joes. Stalker's line at the beginning of the book being any proof. And I like that the cannon founder this time around are Joe characters like Hammerhead, Bankshot, Six Gun, even Grand Slam and Jinx dye quickly. The whole is that Cobra is a SERIOUS threat not like the cartoon version or some of the weaker version that have appeared between the late Marvel run & DDP. (oh, yeah I forogt it was paintballs vs bullets, like a very smart story idea)

It will be interesting to see how Joe and Cobra stack up in a battle of vehicles.

[stephbarton]

I picked this issue up since it looked like it would be good, and I am of two minds with this issue.

1. I think this is what Dixon needed to do more of in this series. He advanced what was going on with Cobra but he used action and the Joes to do it. The Joes get in a situation, have to cleverly get out of it, and try to figure out what Cobra is up to. I've read both trades and the first one was enjoyable but not great, and the second one was kind of a chore to get through. So this issue seemed like a great set-up and idea.

However

2. This wasn't a very good issue to me. It was a real quick read and, gosh darn it, the Joes did act like "weekend warriors" and I mean that in they hardly seemed like they were the "elite of the elite". Cover Girl having to school Downtown in survival information, the Joes getting cut down like they did. Cover Girl and Downtown splitting off from the main group because CG knew more (how come Hammerdown didn't know better, and how come there wasn't a command structure to begin with). They looked real unprofessional out there (and don't get me started about the lack of trigger discipline on all these elite U.S. soldiers *and maybe a marine or two*). I can't think of a time in the Marvel run when the Joes looked that bad, even in issues where they were dealing with trainees (because those guys or gals were all elite on some level before they got slated for the Joe program).

So in the end I feel like I should have left this issue on the rack and saved $4. Looked good when I flipped through it, looked like it was exactly what this series needed (and honestly I didn't mind the MASS device in this since it did have such a background role) but in the end the characters were made to look stupid to serve the plot, instead of looking like America's elite fighting force they looked like a bunch of people 'playing' soldier to me.

[caboose]

I'd give this one a B or so... not horrible by any means, but a decent placekeeper.

I hated Stalker saying that one viper gave *even* Snake-Eyes a tough time. I'm going on the record to say that my one-time favorite commando has been overplayed, and I really want a break from him. I'm half expecting them to say, in all seriousness, "Snakes may not know where you live, but he sure as hell knows where you're going to die." "The saddest and most wonderful thing in the world is that Snake Eyes' tears cure cancer... unfortuneately, he has never and will never cry." "GEICO saved 20% by switching to Snake Eyes." Anyway...

I thought the story of a capture the flag type exercise was realistic, and I liked what Dixon was trying to do in many cases, but the execution didn't quite work for me. I really balked when Cover Girl went off the reservation; I think it'd be pretty standard to follow the senior ranking person, or at least give us a little more conflict before she broke ranks.

I'm torn on the exposition. I like when the books shows tactics and tricks, but having CG take him by the hand, obviously just so Dixon could demonstrate this stuff to us, didn't quite work for me.

I've been a little negative so far. What did work? Well, I did like that story had STAKES. It's been mentioned, but the Joes had paintball guns, so yeah, they should have done very well against a couple of vipers. I felt like there was some real danger that people wouldn't be coming back--even Cover Girl, Tripwire, or Grandslam. I also liked the art a lot, and even though I found myself thinking "man, those COBRA troopers must be hot", I think there's probably many on here who've been sweating buckets in the desert before. I also thought the troopers really just looked bad-a$$.

I thought the teleportation was handled well, up until the very end when "every molecule" was called back, and we got the exposition from Dr. Nakajima (or whoever it was). That sort of element sort of pushed my suspension of disbelief.

o/a though, I think things could be a lot worse, and I'll keep reading what Chuck Dixon's writing.

[che]

Liked it! I've been wary of the MASS device but damn if it isn't cool to see Cobra's just pop in and start wrecking $#!+! Also, liked seeing the Joes training. Sure, the majority of them went out like rookies but that's what green shirts are for. Love the scene where they pepper the Cobra with paint balls and he takes a moment to look at the paint and go "WTH". Oh and I love that the average Cobra is still schooling the Joes.

Also, major props to Mr. Gallant. Really liked the artwork.

[Brandon]

Yeah, I have to say that I was cool with the MASS Device this issue. I guess I've come to accept it, and even enjoy when it is used like this.

[scryptic]

I thought it wasn't bad. I think the issue is a coma between two TPB.

I don't quite understand the criticism that GI Joe looked like amateurs. On one hand, you have fans demanding that Cobra be a credible threat, on the other, fans get upset when Cobra whups some Joe behind.

In this respect, I thought this issue had a good balance: Cobra agents surprised and killed some Joes, but CG, TW and DT managed to take over. Keep in mind they were initially armed with paintballs -- PAINTBALLS! I thought it was not far-fetched for Hammerdown to get caught: the guy thinks it's a drill and the area is supposed to be under surveillance. Plus he was a paper strategist, not a field guy.

Dixon is throwing some military jargon at us, which is appreciated. Seemed like it was a set-up issue. Now Cobra has confirmation that the Joes are in the area and the Joes know Cobra is close. War is coming.

It was one of the rare issues with a single plot line. No Snake-Eyes or Baroness/Destro. Probably the end of a trade paper back.

[stephbarton]

The Joes looked like amatures when they first got into the field. I don't mind the fact that the Cobra agents took the Joes down since the Joes were armed only with paintballs, but I dislike the idea that Joes are just going off and doing their own thing when they are on a training mission with very clear objectives. plus CG's schooling of Downtown should not be necessary for a Joe to hear, he would already know it.

If this was a National Guard or Reserve unit on a training exercise who get caught with their pants down and the Joes have to come in I would buy it, because they certainly didn't act like America's Elite when they got to the field.

To me it was just Dixon making the characters serve the plot rather than make the plot make sense with the characters. Dixon could have easily told the same story without making the Joes look so stupid, but he didn't and that just really bugged me.

Again, even when the Joes got beat, and caught in surprise, and completely did what the bad guys expected (which happened A LOT in the original series) they still always looked like an elite and competent unit, but they didn't in this issue. Instead three Joes looked squared away (and only one of them was really an amazing soldier, one was just really tough and the other a good bluffer) but the rest looked like kids playing soldiers.

Again, once the Cobras made contact I wasn't expecting Joes to magically be ok and take them out easily (paintball v actual bullets) but they looked really badly up to the point. That's when they looked bad, not when the action was actually going down.

[scryptic]

Hm. Good point. I was wondering about the lack of hierarchic structure. What was CG thinking? She would take the Pit alone with Downtown?

[The Doomworm]

With one single issue all of my heckling about Cobra soldiers getting easier to kill gets thrown back at me.

I guess Chuckles can kick Snake-Eyes' tail. I for one welcome this new status quo.

Loving it, and frankly one of the best issues in a series which has had several good ups in between it's couple of random downs.