IDW reviews 5-11-22 – G.I. Joe A Real American Hero review #292

May 11, 2022 Jeffrey Lyles G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, GI Joe, IDW Publishing, Larry Hama

At times it feels weird criticizing Larry Hama’s decisions with GI Joe. He’s the architect of the comic franchise and he’s earned carte blanche to take the title however he sees fit.

That said, it’s felt like Hama regretted killing off Snake Eyes not long after taking out the series’ most popular character.

Having Throwdown stand in for Snake Eyes right down to the facial distortion while Dawn has his memories has made for convoluted stories that would have been better served by just not killing Snake Eyes in the first place.

Now with Dr. Mindbender revisiting his plan to use Snake Eyes’ memories as the basis for a new killer squad of Cobras, Hama still has the book revolving around Snake Eyes even in death.

But with Mindbender also plotting the return of Serpentor, Hama possibly has created a loophole to bring back the original Snake Eyes in a cloned body. Stranger things have happened in this title.

Hama also continues to keep the cyborg faction Revanche in the middle of the action. Revanche is not nearly as interesting however and somehow feels out of place even in G.I. Joe.

SL Gallant is back to handle the art. Gallant is the longest tenured Joe artist and seeing his smooth pencils return definitely provides some needed visual consistency with the book. Maria Keane and J. Brown’s colors are significant assets as well in setting the tone and mood for this story.

Hama just might have figured out a way to address his biggest “regret” in setting the stage for the potential returns of two major players in the Joe and Cobra conflict.

So far, the High Stakes arc has been a compelling read and I’m very eager to see where Hama, Gallant and company take the story next.