G.I. JOE

• Title: G.I. JOE: Snake Eyes #8
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: Casey Maloney

Deep inside Rodrigo Vargas‘ Albanian compound, Snake Eyes just needs to keep Duke alive long enough for the scientists to find a cure for the Madness Bug. Of course the fact that they’re surrounded by two legions of Cobra Vipers and only back-up Snake Eyes has to rely on is Kwinn and a rapidly deteriorating Duke makes things a little more interesting.

The final issue of Madness Bug storyline leaves us with one less potential Cobra Commander candidate and one hell of a body count. Seriously folks, this one gets bloody. Snake Eyes, Duke, and Kwinn waste neither time nor ammunition in mowing down dozens of Cobra troops whose bodies litter the halls of the underground laboratory.

Eventually too far outnumbered the trio resort to a little trickery to make it out alive, and get Duke back home to recuperate once a cure has been discovered. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: Snake Eyes #7
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: Casey Maloney

Snake Eyes and the ailing Duke have kidnapped Rodrigo Vargas and taken him to his laboratory in Albania in hopes of finding a cure for the Madness Bug running rampant in Zimbabwe and slowly eating away at Duke as well.

There are a couple of nice moments between Snake Eyes and Duke as the ailing JOE asks his friend to abandon him if the madness makes it impossible to complete their mission. Although Snake Eyes has nothing to say (as usual), you get the feeling he’ll do everything possible to complete the mission except abandon a friend in need.

To help them infiltrate the lab Snake Eyes calls on Kwinn to cash in an old favor. Once in the laboratory, however, the JOEs learn the antidote doesn’t actually exist and there’s a full army of Cobra agents who don’t take kindly to a pair of JOEs hijacking one of their facilities.

There are some nice character moments, and even if more of the action suggested rather than on-panel this time around it looks like next issue should ramp things back up again. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: Snake Eyes #6
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: Casey Maloney

With the world on the edge of a unstoppable pandemic Snake Eyes and the infected Duke travel to Zimbabwe to track down Dr. Rodrigo Vargas, the Cobra scientist responsible for the Madness Bug, in hopes that he’s also created a cure.

Writer Chuck Dixon gives us another issue of Snake Eyes being a bad-ass (which Casey Maloney’s art shows off oh so well), and, really, what more do you want? We also see Duke’s out-of-the-box thinking to get Vargas to relinquish the location of his cure.

After a bit of a transition issue last month things start to pick up again with the hunt for Vargas and the cure (even if I do still miss Agent Helix and Snake’s team from the last story arc). Now we just have to wait and see if Snake Eyes can get his hands on the antidote before everyone infected, including Duke, succumbs to the madness. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: Snake Eyes #4
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: Robert Atkins

Snake Eyes and his team made it off the mountain alive, but a new threat has been unleashed upon the world by another agent of Cobra hoping to earn himself the title of Cobra Commander. Scientist Rodrigo Vargas has released a pandemic to spread fear and death across the world. The disease, it turns out, is the same strain that is slowly killing Duke.

As the rest of his team lick their wounds Snake Eyes and Duke (in a protection suit designed to slow the process of the disease and stop him from spreading it to others) prepare to set out to find Vargas and a cure before a world-wide spread of the virus.

Chuck Dixon gives us a solid issue that sets up a new story arc for Snake Eyes. It might not be as strong as my favorite JOE trapped in a mountains surrounded by Cobra agents trying to kill him, but I’ve got a feeling things should begin to pick back up next issue (especially once we learn how the disease can psychologically effect those infected). Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: G.I. JOE: Snake Eyes #1
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Chuck Dixon
• Artist: Robert Atkins

Cobra Commander is dead, and he’s not the only one. Six JOEs are dead as well. Each one was personally trained by Snake Eyes and the man responsible is holed-up at the top of a mountain. As COBRA scrambles to find a new leader, Snake Eyes will lead a team (including Agent Helix, Alpine, and Iceberg) up a mountain to find the secret Himalayan fortress of Rajah Vikrim Khallikhan.

There are some great action sequences on the side of the mountain as well as flashbacks to Snake Eyes’ earlier attempts to track down Khallikhan – a man going to great links not to be found.

Robert Atkins knows how to draw Snake Eyes in both his silent somber and total kick-ass moments so well that I don’t want to see anyone else’s take on him for a long time. It’s hard to get both right and Atkins seems to do it effortlessly here. He even looks cool in his semi-ridiculous Hoth gear. The story, from Chuck Dixon, ain’t too shabby either. Must-read.

[IDW, $3.99]