Writer: Larry Hama
Art: Andrew Griffith
Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 12th, 2021
We start a new arc of with a bang, as it were! A new villain, AND a new character! Let’s see what Living Legend Larry Hama has in store for us as we head to the “Contested States”!
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Story:
We waste absolutely no time in making sure our new character, Sherlock, stands out in a crowd of military-clad people. The military police vest that Andrew Griffith pencils on her makes lets the art tell the story. I wish more writers did that…
Sherlock comes in with quite a reputation already. She’s an integral part of a convoy, that is on the lookout for an International Terrorist Organization that “may” be lying in wait to ambush the aforementioned convoy! The convoy is transporting a “top-secret experimental ordnance”. And of course, there wouldn’t be much of a story without the ambush, so that’s what we get and where the real fun begins!
While a battle in a G.I. Joe comic is surely nothing new, this one has a definite feel of “newness”. Our new character’s code name “Sherlock” was certainly given with reason, as there is most certainly a mystery of sorts afoot! It’s new, it’s different, it’s fresh, and it works!!!
Our new baddie is not to be messed with. He has zero regard for the Joes and even his own Cobra cohorts. That is very violently shown in a scene with my all time favorite Cobra vehicle, the FANG!!
Things tie up decently enough with just the right amount of setup being done to leave plenty of room for a nice arc. This one could even go for 5/6 issues possibly. I don’t look at solicits, so we’ll see.
Art:
The art continues to be solid. My favorite part is the coloring by J. Brown. His differences in the coloring of skies vs mountains enhance the air battles. The gunfire and explosions are also very well drawn and colored!
And as usual, we get some very well done variants!
Final Thoughts:
I feel right at home reading anything that Larry Hama writes. Whether it’s the nostalgia, or that he’s just a great writer or a bit of both. Comic fans looking for something other than superhero comics or comics from the “big two” should do themselves a favor and check this series out.