Image Comics reviews 8-19-26 – GI Joe 25, Redcoat 19
GI Joe 25
There wasn’t much worry that GI Joe 25 was going to disappoint. Not with the tease of Duke’s GI Joe squad battling Flint’s Night Force unit.
Not only did GI Joe 25 deliver, it exceeded expectations for this confrontation years in the making. Writer Joshua Williamson set this conflict in motion when Baroness caught Zartan — masquerading as Col. Hawk — killing Crystal Ball.
It felt too soon to kill off Crystal Ball, who finally came off like a threat, but it was for the greater good of setting everything in motion for GI Joe 25. Zartan frames Baroness for the murder and orders Duke’s team to kill her. Williamson used those moments of having Baroness actually bonding with her teammates have real meaning as they don’t jump to follow Hawk’s orders and argue that there’s no way she’s a traitor.
Naturally that leads to Zartan calling Night Force onto the search. In the prelude of GI Joe 25, Night Force smoothly handles a training mission. Night Force has a cocky edge to them thanks to their training and Flint scoffs at the notion of the Joes being any competition for Night Force. That gets tested when the Joes and Night Force track Baroness down as she’s trying to law low.
Both main GI Joe artists, Tom Reilly and Andrea Milana, contribute on GI Joe 25, which was a nice touch as they both have been key to this brand relaunch’s success. They both get to knock out some key moments in this issue including the reveal of Cobra Commander’s newest operative, Major Madusa, and Night Force’s secret weapon, who might be a familiar face from the series’ first issue with a wild makeover that rocks.
Colorist Lee Loughridge balances the shifting moods and environments wonderfully. Letterer Rus Wooton works in plenty of dynamic sound effects throughout.
GI Joe 25 felt like a major milestone issue putting the two Joe teams into conflict and the reveal of two new characters. This issue is everything that’s made this series so great since the start with a promise that the best is clearly still yet to come.
Rating: 10 out of 10
After reading GI Joe 25, pre-order GI Joe Vol. 4: The Hunt for Energon on trade paperback at Amazon.
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