G.I. JOE

• Title: G.I. JOE: The Cobra Files #8
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Mike Costa
• Artist: Werther Dell’Edera

Tomax is loose, the secret Las Vegas facility has been breached by Firefly and Night Adder, and thanks to Clockspring‘s unintentional cooperation every member of the team is now in jeopardy.

A drunk, drugged, and beaten Flint shows that he still has some fight left in him by throwing one of their unwelcome party guests out a very high window and saving the lives of both Billy and Ronin in the process.

Heading into next month’s final issue of the title it appears no matter who survives Tomax’s betrayal, Flint’s team is done. I don’t see IDW willing to kill any major characters such as Flint or Lady Jaye, but the setting for the finale leaves the fate of several of the team’s lesser members, possibly even Chameleon (who doesn’t quite fit in either of the other current JOE titles) a bit more uncertain. I’m been meaning to drop at least one of the G.I. JOE titles for awhile now, and it looks like IDW’s made the choice for me. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE #9
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Fred Van Lente
• Artist: Steve Kurth

As the separate JOE teams take on the three Cobra attacks which came from Duke‘s new source, Destro and the Baroness contact the JOE leader under the old proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and lead Duke to the lair of the Mad Monk. What Duke and Destro don’t realize, however, is the new head of Cobra’s operations in New York is two-steps ahead of them.

Destro receives an unexpected visit from the new Cobra Commander, and his elite strike force, who is none to pleased to discover Destro has sold out a member of Cobra to G.I. JOE. Meanwhile, Duke doesn’t realize every move he takes makes him look that much more guilty to his team who have already begun to suspect that Duke may be Cobra’s mole.

The issue ends with Scarlett and her team unable to deny the damning evidence and setting out after their leader and the Mad Monk captured by Duke who is shocked to learn the final card the villain has left to play concerning Duke’s wife. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: Special Missions #8
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: S.L. Gallant

This single issue tale has a little less action than you’re regular issue of G.I. JOE: Special Missions, but plenty of equipment and high-tech gadgetry, as the team’s nerdier members set out to stop a Cobra hacker from starting a war between two former Soviet Republics.

This is an issue where characters like Hard Drive, Spreadsheet, and Dial-Tone all get to strut their stuff and Mainframe (rather than someone like Duke or Scarlett) gets to perform the big heroic mission by destroying a Cobra drone at 60,000 feet before it can kill the one man capable of negotiating a settlement and stopping a full-out war.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to see the series continue without some of the JOEs bigger names getting into the action as well, but for a one-off tale G.I. JOE: Special Missions #8 works pretty well and reminds readers about the diversity of the ranks and skill sets of the organization. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: The Cobra Files #7
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Mike Costa
• Artist: Werther Dell’Edera

Flint breaks the news to his team that he’s decided to disband their group. While some of the team takes the news well, both Chameleon and Clockspring show their displeasure at Flint’s decision which puts both their futures in limbo.

While Chameleon apologizes for the recent romantic tinges of her relationship with Flint, Clockspring gets more wound up than usual thanks to Tomax who has absolutely no plans to let the JOEs throw him in the nearest gulag now that his usefulness as a consultant is at an end.

Escaping isn’t going to be easy for the former Cobra operative. Of course it helps that he’s gotten in tight with the team’s computer expert and invited a couple of friends (Firefly, Night Adder) to the desert and inside the JOEs’ secret base.

The tension which has been building in the mishmashed team since the first issue is finally boiling over. The only question is who will survive, and what side will some of them ultimately end up on? Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: Special Missions #7
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: William Rosado

The latest issue of G.I. JOE: Special Missions finds Zartan in on the run in the middle of the Australian Outback from both the JOEs and the Dreadnoks, who he abandons to pursue his mad dream of using the genetic information on the MARS device to populate the planet with an infinite number of Zartan clones.

With action both back at the Dreadnok base and in the various pursuits, as the JOES and Dreadnoks fight amongst themselves for who will get to Zartan first, G.I. JOE: Special Missions #7 is filled with a good amount of action and is available with a Torch variant cover (c’mon, you know you want one).

Zartan’s mad plans are (thankfully) short-lived and we won’t have to suffer through a battle of clones. But his abandonment of the Dreadnoks also suggests that might not be seeing them again going forward (and least not under his command). I’ve got to admit, this makes me a little sad. For fans.

[IDW, $3.99]