Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: S L Gallant

I’ve always been a fan of the G.I. Joe franchise, being an avid ‘Action Force’ (the UK version) collector and watcher during my formative years, but the comicbook franchise was something I’ve never really had access to… until now. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to take a look at the latest issue of the long-running ‘Real American Heroes’ IDW series. Sadly however, it didn’t quite live up to my lofty expectations.

The “previously on Real American Heroes” blurb was more than enough to get me up to speed, and I found myself picking up the storyline relatively quickly. However, my main problem with this issue was that there was just too much going on. Too many characters, too many different situations, too much endlessly name-checking every single Joe at the expense of actually advancing the story. And while this may very well be a slight blip in an otherwise solid arc, as a single comic, it just didn’t work for me.

That said, Gallant’s artwork is fantastic in places, and while he is clearly burdened by the seemingly endless waves of similar-looking Joes, he still does an admirable job of bringing this comic to life.

I sound like I’m being unduly harsh here, and it’s fair to say that all the pieces are in place for what should be a gripping story, it’s just that the majority of the Joes don’t really do anything, and just seem to be an army of interchangeable names with no real characters behind them. Tellingly, the most significant character moment of the entire comic is reserved for the wife of a former Joe.

This may be worth a look for long-time fans who already know the characters in detail beforehand, but for a new reader, there’s really not much to get excited about here.

Rating: 5/10.

---

Related articles

• IDW Publishing reviews – 9th October 2013 (bigcomicpage.com)

---

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says