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G.I. JOE #5
"Out For Bludd"
Recommended (7/10)
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Image Comics
Writer/Layouts: Josh Blaylock
Pencils: Eric Wolfe Hanson
Inks: John Larter
Colors: Hi-Fi Color
Letters: Dreamer Design
Editor: Scott Wherle
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
After issues three and four of G.I. Joe became uncomfortably cramped and difficult to follow, I had almost decided to drop the title. However, I was interested in this issue, both because it featured a different artist (one who is credited for the amusing G.I. Joe screensaver currently adorning my computer) and because it featured a more focused story of Duke hunting Major Bludd before the team reformed. Though my nostalgia has worn off to some extent, this issue hooked me back onto G.I. Joe, at least for a little while. It's more True Lies than Commando, to
use the Schwarzenegger scale, but that shift to a smaller scale suits me just
fine, and Hanson's artwork is considerably clearer in storytelling than Kurth's
has been. It remains to be seen whether the creators at Devil's Due can keep my
attention, but they've definitely won me back for at least another issue.
One of the neater ideas that Blaylock came up with for the "lost years" between the end of Marvel's G.I. Joe series and the beginning of Image's G.I. Joe series was that Duke had been spending his
time doing some black ops. It's a natural setting for flashback tales, and
though I'm surprised they've gone to that well so soon, I'm glad they did.
Duke's hunt for Major Bludd is full of the best spy stuff, including a parachute
entry, nifty gadgets, gunfights, a chase across water and land and several
daring escapes.
As always, I appreciated Blaylock's incorporation of Marvel G.I. Joe
continuity into his stories, and he did it well this issue, explaining it for
new fans and not overloading the book with a reliance on past tales. Simply
knowing that Bludd was involved in the death of General Flagg (and who Flagg
was) is enough to get the basics behind Duke's very personal stake in the hunt,
and though I imagine it will resonate more for old-school fans, I think the
point is made effectively in the issue.
Eric Wolfe Hanson is a breath
of fresh air, artistically, for the series. While I enjoyed some of Kurth's more
outrageous designs for the characters, Hanson has a more basic and clear style
that works well for complicated action like gunfights in crowded offices,
helicopter extractions and chase scenes. The sense of movement comes through
very well in his artwork, particularly when it comes to the fast-paced boat and
car chases between Duke and Bludd. Hanson also does a really nice job with the
gadgets, not going overboard on the detail but conveying exactly what they're
meant to do.
Though the book still has several potential landmines in front of it, including a massive cast, tons of potentially bogged down continuity and an appeal mostly for nostalgic fans and action movie aficionados there's also still a great deal of fun to be derived from G.I. Joe. I hope that now that the series has
proven it's merits, sales-wise, Blaylock will slow down more as he did this
issue and give the plots and characters time to breathe.
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