I have a fondness for comics based on toys. This is based on my having grown up in the Seventies, where I fell in love with Marvel's toy based comics. Memorable titles from my youth were Doug Moench's run on the giant robot comic Shogun Warriors and the superb first 12 issues of Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden's Micronauts. The latter in particular was especially important to me, since it was one of the rare comics--toy based or otherwise--where things actually changed and didn't revert back.
This has led me to give almost any comic based on a toy or video game a shot. And that brings us to IDW's G.I. Joe.
I never watched the cartoon when it was around, so my only real experience with the Joes have been the abysmal movies and the comics. So while many readers would approach this book with memory glasses firmly in place, I came just hoping for a good read.
And it was. This collection sets up the initial conflicts between the Joes and the mysterious evil organization of Cobra. Destro--he of the silver face mask--also plays a vital role, with all three major character groups either learning of one another and/or exchanging panels of gunfire.
The script is by longtime comic writer Chuck Dixon, with an unsurprisingly airport thriller approach to the military. Everyone in the Joes--male and female--are clearly not to be fucked with, with the only soft side to their personalities being their code names. The strongest characters with the most focus are Scarlett for the Joes and the cold and calculating Baroness for Cobra. (Scarlett is in this so much that there is a meta joke that she should maybe change her code name to 'Multi-Task'.)
Robert Atkins' art is crisp, with some great use of colour. The book has a competent flow to the pages, even when Atkins has to present battle scenes with various POVs. There is no photocopying or use of block colouring to fill in panels, so you know this book was made with care.
It was a fun read. Once again, toys and comics make a great mix, at least for me.
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