G.I. Joe #26
"Night Force" Part 2
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Publisher: Image Comics
When I was a kid, the 3.5-inch G.I. Joe toys were all the rage. I had a ton of them. But, there were way more Joes than there were Cobras. And you try convincing your parents to buy you multiple Vipers or B.A.T.S. when you already have one…
This meant that, when I got bored of fighting the same handful of baddies, I would have some of the Joes switch sides and then they'd fight each other.
This "Night Force" story arc is just like that.
Round One...
Not a lot to recap this time around, folks. Night Force has caught up to the Baroness on her boat, and Duke's G.I. Joe team is there to help. Clutch and Baroness take off in Hound, with Flint, Lady Jaye, and Shooter in pursuit via helicopter. Everyone else pairs off and the battle is joined!
Meanwhile, Hawk (Zartan) is trying to figure out how to quickly get more Energon to maintain his facade. He asks the newly-returned Scarlett where the Arashikage's Energon sword is…
The answer? In Cobra Commander's hands, as he tests the abilities of the newly-christened Major Medusa. In their training, a spying Destro learns that there is something that the Commander fears…
Fight!
This is very much a "smash the toys together," all-action kind of issue.
I don't say that like it's a bad thing.
I don't know about you, but I don't read G.I. Joe for deep ruminations on the state of mankind or the direction of our world. The old catchphrase is "Knowing is half the battle." The other half? Lasers and explosions—of which there are plenty here.
My inner child (who gets let out to play maybe a little too often) whooped with joy when Clutch told Hound to "Roll out!" The fact that this book has added Hound a member of the Joe team who's featured each month, when in the old days you had to pray for a single-page cameo, is just awesome to me.
Most of the match-ups here made perfect sense. Even though they didn't directly face off, we got to see the differences in leadership style between Duke and Flint. Flint calls the play to his team with nothing left to chance, where Duke trusts his soldiers and tells them to just do what they do best. Then Duke takes on the B.A.T. because, well, he hates robots. Stalker and Beachhead have history and mutual respect. Risk and Roadblock is an odd one, but I guess you have to be nuts to take 'Block on single-handedly, which Risk definitely is.
I'm very interested to see how Scarlett gets reintegrated into things, and just whose side she'll be on (since she was meeting with "Hawk," it's hard to say where she'll end up).
On the Cobra side, it's so nice that the Commander met someone... but seriously, Major Medusa is going to be a major issue for the Joes. I'm still bummed that Crystal Ball got killed off so fast, but at least his tech survived. And thanks to Medusa's powers (and some well-timed snooping), Destro now knows that there is something Cobra Commander fears: Golobulus. I had almostforgotten that Cobra-La was a thing too.
It's hard to find much else to say about an issue that was basically wall-to-wall action, other than "it was really good, the action all served a purpose, and the story still moved forward." Sometimes, that's plenty.
Multi-Hit Combo
Joshua Williamson is starting to knock over all the pieces he's set up during the course of this series, and it's so nice to see. Even things like the Baroness & Cover Girl story arc from early on are bringing elements back into play now. It feels like this is a living world, with history, memory, and consequences. Williamson keeps the pace nice and brisk, cutting away to non-combat areas every time we need a breather from the nonstop "other half of the battle."
Tom Reilly is back on art this issue, and it was the perfect time. His style works so well for the heavy action bits, which this issue has in spades. Everyone has a unique look, and everybody gets a cool moment or two. And when the B.A.T. goes nuts and starts brutalizing Duke... you can feel the pain the Joes' leader must be going through there.
Lee Loughridge's colors work well overall, although I'm afraid they might be a bit too dark here. I get that the story is taking place at night, in the rain, but I feel like the blacks are a bit too heavy. They almost detract from Reilly's pencils at times. Don't get me wrong, there are parts that look awesome, like Beachhead and Stalker's faceoff (which was just missing a tumbleweed blowing past). But there are others, like Duke's fight with the B.A.T., that are just too dark and end up missing something.
Continue?
G.I. Joe #26 is an all-action issue that works very well, as Joe battles Joe while Cobra grows in strength. There are plenty of smart matchups here, and the kinetic artwork makes it all look good—but the colors are a little too dark at times and end up blacking out some of the finer details. Things are really hitting the fan in this series now, and it's got me chomping at the bit for the next issue.