G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #156

July 30, 2010

Writer: Larry Hama
Art: Agustin Padilla
Colorist: J. Brown
Letterer: Robbie Robbins
Cover: Agustin Padilla & J. Brown
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Publisher: IDW Publishing

Creator Larry Hama wrote G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero for Marvel Comics for over 10 years. He created most of the characters that became staples of the 80s toy line and cartoon series, most of the characters that were recently bastardized in the live-action film, and while several writers have done fine work with the characters in the years since, Hama is the man that people seem to keep coming back to. Now he’s back, and while it would have been very easy to give him a new #1 to start his new story, IDW Publishing has decided to pick up right where he left off with issue #156 of the series that made G.I. Joe what it is today.

Although we’re picking up the numbering, that doesn’t mean some time hasn’t passed. In the years since we last saw the Joes (in this continuity, at least) the Joe team has been disbanded and discredited, and worst of all, Cobra has managed to mask itself as an independent contractor, hiring itself out to the government to help maintain order during a period of martial law.

Launching this series this way is pretty gutsy on IDW’s part. For one thing, they’re kind of going into competition with themselves. This will be the third G.I. Joe continuity the publisher is running at once (including their own continuity and that of the – shudder – movie), and while I don’t think the die-hard fans will have any trouble keeping them separate from one another, I do think that many will feel inclined to choose one or the other rather than reading all of them. Making it a bit harder is the fact that this return to the original continuity also comes with a return to form for Larry Hama. He’s cast the Joes in a situation they’ve never been in before, on the run from a “legal,” government-sanctioned enemy, which really throws things into a loop. It’s a great direction, and a chance to do something with G.I. Joe that hasn’t been done before, and that’s a very good thing.

As impressed as I was with the writing, the artwork by Agustin Padilla was a little less so. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as sharp or clean as some of the work we’ve seen on the other G.I. Joe titles (although, it should be mentioned, it is better than some of the other titles).

I do like this book, and I’m very glad that it exists. But at $3.99, like all of IDW’s books, I think there’s a very good chance that we’re going to see one or the other G.I. Joe continuities begin to suffer as a result of there being too many.

Rating: 7/10