G.I. Joe Vol. 4: Alliances
May 25, 2004 | Trades
G.I. Joe Vol. 4: Alliances
Josh Blaylock, Brandon Badeaux, Mike Zeck
Devil’s Due Publishing
$14.95 US (Paperback)
*** (out of five)
A high-ranking member of each of G.I. Joe and Cobra is missing — and now their organizations will have to work together to get them back alive.
The good-guys-working-with-the-bad-guys premise is a classic and this fourth volume of the new adventures of G.I. Joe, America’s special missions force, works it well.
Writer Josh Blaylock, who displays a definite knack for how to write a fast-paced military action story, plays all the tensions, the unease and the suspicions properly. Blaylock also keeps many of the characters as the classics that fans of the 1980s animated show will remember, but gives them a fresh face for readers who may just be coming on board.
Artist Brandon Badeaux shows a lot of flare and a real talent for both sequential action and terrific facial expressions. Comic veteran Mike Zeck provides this collection’s final chapter, a silent issue, which is an homage to the all-time classic Issue 21 of the original Marvel Comics’ G.I. Joe series. The new silent issue does seem a tad misplaced to conclude a short storyline and probably would have been better saved for a stand-alone tale.
Only two things could have added to this solid collection: first, a plot synopsis to help new readers with a little background on some of the situations and relationships; and second, a brief character key, for those who may not know who every player is in a somewhat-cluttered G.I. Joe universe.
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