Broken Frontier

Duke and Scarlett are trying out for the newly formed G.I. Joe squad. If they don’t pass the test they won’t live to tell about it.

IDW has done something very smart with rebooting the G.I. Joe franchise. By wiping the slate clean they offer the chance for new readers to get in on the ground floor. Even better, veteran Joe scribe Larry Hama has been brought on board to pen a series that touches on a subject that has surprisingly never really been dealt with before – the roots of the G.I. Joe team. Here is where it all begins, here is where we get to see how the venerable team came together… and what it cost them to do so.

Duke and Scarlett are given their first assignment to see if they have what it takes to be G.I. Joes. They are thrown into the deep end (almost literally) with only a couple of cryptic code words and told to figure out what their mission is and then accomplish it. In this case, though, there are no safeties, this "test" is the real thing and that means that the dangers are real too. They find new allies and a new enemy who once was a man but has become a monster in all but outward appearance. If they wash out of this test they may just wash out of this world as well.

Larry Hama is one of the "grand old men" of G.I. Joe history. His run on the Marvel comic series in the 1980’s is still considered seminal by many. The good news is that he hasn’t lost a single step in the intervening years. Despite the changes in the world and the military between his early run and now, Hama has kept pace and as a result this comic reads fresh and modern instead of corny and dated. Admittedly, we don’t learn too much about the actual characters of Duke and Scarlett here, as the bulk of the plot sets up their mysterious mission and how they intend to go about figuring it out. Perhaps the biggest focus is in the mysterious villain who is built up into an immediate and frightening threat.

The art provided by Mike Hawthorne and Tom Feister is overall slick and polished. There is a slight but noticeable stylistic change about half-way through the comic but it is not jarring and certainly does not detract from the rest of the story. The action is handled well and there is no real "military equipment" at play here so the artists are not required to provide much that could be "real-world accurate".

G.I. Joe: Origins is a good opening salvo from a well-respected writer. If the characters are a little thin so far, Hama can be trusted to flesh them out. Most importantly, he provides this first issue with plenty of slam-bang action, intrigue, and just enough touchstones to the past to make old fans feel right at home without alienating new ones. If you want an action-adventure comic with a little military edge then this is the comic for you. Also, to anyone who has ever been curious about the G.I. Joe franchise, this is the time and this is the place to jump on. There are no years of backstory, the characters are freshly re-imagined, and a whole new history for G.I. Joe is being crafted before our eyes. Instead of the rallying cry "Yo Joe!" maybe the cry should go up "Yo Hama!"