Into the Pit: G.I. Joe's 'Special Missions' #3 and 'Real American Hero' #190 Reviewed

Tyler Mager has written for CollegeMovieReview.com and the Scorecard Review and is a filmmaker based out of Austin, TX. He also happens to be an enthusiastic G.I. Joe fan and covers IDW's Joe comics right here in his regular feature "Into the Pit."

G.I. Joe: Special Missions #3 Review

After a ridiculously distracting previous issue, Chuck Dixon's Special Missions title is on the hot seat.  The continued focus on the underwater adventures of Scarlett and Mainframe is an odd choice considering the relatively interesting power struggle happening on the surface.  A three way battle is brewing between Baroness' mercenary force, the Joes and a scheming Serpentor representing Cobra.  So far, much of the story has been a slow build toward this huge moment that could potentially serve as a multi-issue spanning sea battle.  If Dixon can pull it off, maybe some of this unnecessary wheel-spinning will have been worth it, plot-wise.

Variant cover to G.I. Joe Special Missions #3. Hasbro/IDW.​

It's sort of amazing how little the Joes have had to do so far in this title.  Sharks have been the biggest obstacle and that threat is smartly taken care of rather quickly in order to get Scarlett and Mainframe back up to the surface.  But wait, now they have to take time to decompress because they were too deep for too long.  Instead of seeing the Joes prepare for the coming action we get to see Scarlett giving orders through a headset while Mainframe chugs a soda. Why are the Joes so boring?  Dixon is typically good for at least a few solid action set pieces each issue but he really appears to be dropping the ball here.

While there isn't much in the way of action, there's lots of movement on the bad guy front with Baroness further asserting her control of the situation by quelling a potential mutiny from her mercs.  Watch out for this in the coming issues, I have a feeling instead of a triple-threat match for the dough, we might end up seeing a fatal four-way.  Speaking of threats, Serpentor finally figures out the Baroness' location through some scheming of his own and sends a team of his best soldiers to intercept the salvage ship.  I'm still not quite sure what Cobra's true play is in this besides just salvage recovery.  Before, Serpentor appeared to have some sort of score to settle with the Baroness, but now with the brief appearance of the Cobra Commander everything seems to be about the money.

Since the beginning, I haven't been a fan of Gulacy's art on Special Missions.  It's wildly inconsistent with the bigger scenes and action being fairly well put together but it's his faces that take me out of the story every single time.  They feel rushed and lazy with very little detail and an unfortunate reliance on shadows that make some of the dialogue scenes rougher than they need to be. If Dixon can deliver on the big action that's being hinted here, the tide could turn on whether this is a Joe title worth getting month to month.  It's hard to recommend Special Missions right now, considering the new Cobra Files title is great and Van Lente's main title gets better with each issue. 

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #190 Review

The locale-jumping of A Real American Hero continues with a new issue focusing on a different set of Joes in what looks to be the jungles of Southeast Asia.  Team leader Chuckles is joined by Jinx, Lady Jaye, and Lowlight in an effort to stop Major Bludd along with a local warlord named Generalissimo Tep from killing innocent village dwelling civilians.  It's the same plot from countless action movies and even features the damsel in distress, in this case Lady Jaye.  I'll give it to writer Larry Hama, he certainly is sticking to his old school schtick right down to the clichéd plot and dialogue.  Unfortunately it doesn't make for an interesting story with each beat even more predictable than the last.

​Cover to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #190. Hasbro/IDW.

With the previous issues, Hama has been able to coast on well-executed action scenes that move everything forward at a good pace.  Here it feels like chore going from panel-to-panel seeing boring characters spout hammy dialogue without much investment in anything that's going on.  We're sort of just thrown into the conflict without much context so when the Generalissimo starts going over the top with the razing of the village, you can't help but laugh and wonder just why in the hell any of this is happening.  Why is Lady Jaye so attached to this village that she'd be willing to risk her life to save it?  What's the bigger picture for the Generalissimo and why is Major Bludd so interested in helping him? Why is Chuckles wearing a ridiculous Hawaiian shirt? These are important questions!

Look, I'm all for a cheesy, old school action romp in the jungle fighting over the top warlords while saying hilariously campy lines like “To hell with the Pentagon, Generalissimo Tep just wrote his own firing order.” but you have to at least give us something interesting to have fun with.  Everything feels like it's on autopilot and Hama let a computer program to write the story.  Throw in a curveball, give us a great action scene, or focus on one character and their relationship to the events taking place.  Stereotypical jungle villagers, lame action and the promise of a better follow up issue just isn't enough.

Hopefully Hama can get back the spark that made the last few issues entertaining despite the problems.  The mini-arcs are doing their job of providing a fast paced, fun ride for readers that allow timely jumping on points to happen every few issues but please give the loyal readers a little more to grab ahold of.  For now I'll have to be content with the two titles that I actually give a damn about and hope better material is on the way.

Both Special Missions and A Real American Hero continue to be the weak links in the G.I. Joe chain of titles.  Veteran writers Chuck Dixon and Larry Hama have to step up their game and deliver something of interest in the coming weeks.  The level of quality here has been disappointing month to month considering the talents of all involved.  It's time to step up fellas and start producing the material that Joe fans deserve.

Into the Pit: 'G.I. Joe Special Missions' #2 Disappoints with Undersea Romance

Tyler Mager has written for CollegeMovieReview.com and the Scorecard Review and is a filmmaker based out of Austin, TX. He also happens to be an enthusiastic G.I. Joe fan and covers IDW's Joe comics right here in his regular feature "Into the Pit."

Chuck Dixon's new G.I. Joe Special Missions series started strong with a first issue showing a scheming Baroness hellbent on retrieving sunken COBRA treasure and a covert team lead by Scarlett eager to get there first. Throw in some Serpentor-meddling and you've got an intriguing story ripe with promise as both a stand-alone series and a sister series to the main G.I. Joe series. The second issue slams on the brakes, effectively ruining any sort of momentum the first issue had by focusing on an out-of-nowhere romance between Mainframe and Scarlett. Dixon's knack for writing believable banter between the Joes is still solid, and Gulacy's art appears to be a little more complete this time around but the complete disregard for interesting plot development in favor of unrelated, silly situations makes issue #2 a wasted opportunity.

Apparently Special Missions isn't quite the fresh start I had hoped for, since the romance between Mainframe and Scarlett isn't even hinted at by the time Mainframe puts on the moves, deep underwater in a flooded container. Some sort of recap or reminder would have been nice, as is it feels completely out of place and random to new readers. The two of them going on the dive mission to investigate the wreckage doesn't make a whole lot of sense to begin with seeing as water-based Joes Torpedo and Deep Six are available. With Scarlett worried about being found out, Mainframe reveals himself as a horndog only interested in getting laid, despite the precarious situation. It all builds to a laughable cliffhanger where the couple is surrounded by Baroness's crew and a group of hungry sharks. Really? Sharks? It's a odd choice that basically zaps any excitement created in the first issue.

Serpentor's search for the Baroness continues with the first of what seems to be a series of sabotages putting him one step closer to finding her. Baroness has secured oceanic resources by kidnapping the children of a wealthy ship owner, Serpentor offers to rescue the children in exchange for information on the devious Baroness. The rescue mission is really the only bit of exhilarating action in the issue. It's well-drawn and somewhat surprising, with a series of quick twists that shows that most plans don't go off without a hitch.

Overall, the title still feels rushed with Gulacy's art being wildly inconsistent from beginning to end. His art is better than the first issue but still a long ways off from where it should be. The plot needs to kick back into high gear and abandon the romance under the sea subplot. The set up of an impending collision between the Joes, Baroness' mercenaries, and Serpentor is a neat idea that could provide some incredible entertainment and action, but Dixon shouldn't get distracted by silly subplots with no bearing on the main narrative. G.I. Joe: Special Missions #2 is a disappointing continuation of a promising title, hurt by distracting subplots and seemingly rushed art. It's much too early to give up on Special Missions entirely but this is one issue you shouldn't worry about missing.