Writer: Larry Hama

Art: Alex Sanchez, J. Brown, Neil Uyetake

Price: $3.99

Release Date: April 14, 2021

In part four of “Untold Tales” G.I. Joe scribe extraordinaire Larry Hama tells a tale of a battle in the skies as the Terror Drome launches an attack on the aircraft carrier Flagg. Let’s hope our heroes can save the day and we all can enjoy a YOJO Cola afterward!!

If you’re interested in this comic or any of the others mentioned, simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon.

Story:

Our issue opens as the Flagg has already been damaged badly by the attack from the Terror Drome. Damage to the elevator has allowed only three aircraft to take off from the deck.

Larry Hama does a great job of using the art as well as words to help identify characters using colors in their uniforms and different identification marks on the jets. While roster pages work for some books, I like this method too!

Once the fighters are in the air, the real fun begins. We get a glimpse of the story from Cobra’s point of view. The status of the Dromes as well as the current working conditions, or lack thereof of their defenses.

Hama lays the groundwork in the above picture for what literally is a game of chess that happens to play out in the sky between the Joes and Cobra’s aircraft. Who has the best strategy? Who’s willing to take a gamble, or is it smarter to play it safe? How is luck involved? It all turns out to be a white-knuckle affair for sure! The writing is crisp and clean. Very detailed in the military jargon, complete with editor’s notes to help those that aren’t quite up to par on that sort of thing.

Long-time fans know how invested Larry Hama is into this series. You can tell by his writing how much at home he is writing it, and how much he cares about it. While his style has evolved a bit since the ’80s, it’s instantaneously recognizable as a Hama issue!

Art:

The art in this issue is top-notch and should feel very comfortable and familiar to Joe fans. Alex Sanchez brings the action in the air to life and the colors by J. Brown are a highlight for me because of how he distinguishes so well the differences of color between the water and sky!!

Variant covers are also something I really enjoy and these are some awesome ones this month! Here’s cover B by Fico Ossio

And one that is an homage to the Mike Zeck covers of the ’80s by John Royle and Jagdish Kumar.

Final Thoughts:

This “Untold Tale” of a battle fought almost entirely in the air is a fresh approach that works extremely well for the G.I. Joe franchise. Larry Hama is in top form throughout, and the art by Alex Sanchez provides the icing on the cake!