Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
GI Joe #5
IDW Comics
Dixon & Atkins
The Joes stop the threat of the robot spiders, but they seem to be on the trail of something larger. While this goes on, Destro tries to restore faith with his customers who want him dead. This issue has a lot of character development and plot movement, but it is a break in the action we've seen the previous issues. It’s a good comic.
The comic opens with Duke quickly ending the robot spider's attack. Once this occurs, we find Destro deciding what to do with the information that the robots collected. He then begins to soften up his prisoner, Baroness, to avoid further assassination attempts.
The plot begins to take shape as the Joes begin to piece together the events of the previous issues. When they check in with Stalker they find Stalker is close to some key intel. However, he gets derailed by….Snake Eyes? This is probably the biggest departure from any incarnation of the character to date. It's an odd visual to watch Snake Eyes beat on Joes and is mostly intriguing at the same time.
The comic ends with more distrust between Duke and Scarlett and with Destro and the Baroness.
The story really focuses on these two sets of characters. Destro and Baroness have a level of tension between them that goes beyond broken customer-company trust. Is it a foregone conclusion that they become a couple? As far as Duke and Scarlett goes we know that they already had been a couple. Their tension seems to stem from Duke being jealous that Scarlett is with Snake Eyes and that he's gone rogue. Would he turn her in to break them apart? It's strange to see Scarlett play the role of such a diva, but on the other hand, Duke comes across as a whining ex-boyfriend. In some ways, neither of these characters is very appealing while Destro and the Baroness are extremely appealing because we just don't know what they will do to each other.
The artwork takes a leap forward in this issue. There is a broader range of characters in this issue and for the most part they are standing around. This has a tendency to create a boring comic, but the art here has a high level of detail and really gives a visual breakdown of how these characters are individuals. There are even some Joes lurking in the background that have their full getup on.
The comic is a good one because it makes some of the character's interactions more complex. The plot is starting to dovetail and we get some Snake Eyes in action with an element of ‘say what?’ when you see him act against the Joes. We may not have the huge Joe-Cobra battles of old, but this comic is at least laying out the foundation for something special.
3 out of 5 geek goggles
