G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero – Spotlight (Issue #286-290)
by
Larry Hama (writer), Andrew Lee Griffith (artist), Billy Penn (artist), Kewber Baal (artist), Casey Maloney (artist), Maria Keane (inks), J. Brown (colours), Neil Uyetake (letters)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #286
Coming off from the previous spy-hunt/thriller arc, the action takes a beat in between with this issue that is essentially “Spotlight: Storm Shadow“.
Larry Hama and Andrew Griffith delve into the backstory of fan-favourite Arashikage badass, Storm Shadow – a.k.a, Tommy, a.k.a., Fresno. This issue specifically we focus on young Tommy as a soldier and how he came to be part of the Long Range Recon Patrol team in which he met Snake Eyes, fellow soldier and warrior with whom his life would be intertwined for years to come. It’s a flashback tale told by Stakbut one that very much focuses on the life of a soldier in such a unit in a war-zone and the camaraderie and challenges of the people involved.
The art is solid and for the most part I appreciate that this felt not like a glorification but like an honest war story that was about the people in it and their experiences.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #287
Continuing the Spotlight theme, this issue is all about the newest members of the Joe Squad, i.e, Black Hat, Sherlock and Multo. But unlike the preceding issue, this is not all flashbacks. It acts as a soft start for the final arcs of the series which ends at #300, before the franchise moved to it’s current new home at Skybound starting with #301.
We get to see what early days as part of the team are through the new members as they are part of the reconnaissance small team sent to a tiny island somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico where Cobra is… setting up a casino. Yes, you heard that right, a casino. Apparently Cobra Commander has changed his goals for the organisation and how he wants to achieve them – except that as oft happens, not all under his command are on the same page, in this case it’s the ever-creepy Dr. Mindbender who has moved the infamous Brainwave Scanner and other equally mad-science machines into the basement of the building with agendas all his own.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #288
This time the spotlight is on the Joe teams resident Green Beret, Lt. Falcon. The character was never big on the fan lists, having been debuted in the very iffy animated movie but Hama and team did eventually work him into the comics and he got a way better deal and character.
This issue sees him at full green-beret/commando badass as we see a young him before he enlisted and then is secretly sent as a one-man rescue operation and even meets up with some familiar faces – all this before he joined the Joe team.
A short, sharp and very fast-moving action issue.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #289
This issue clarified the pattern here for me with the Spotlight issues – they are focussed on team members but the leap-frogging is between pure-flashbacks and present-day adventures. This time we’re focussed on Helix and Dawn Moreno as they try and investigate possible Cobra+Revanche dealings on the outskirts of New Orleans.
The two martial artist badasses get to nicely display their badassery as the infiltrate a secret meeting between Dr. Mindbender and his new assistant and the Revanche representative at their facility – a meeting that drops a bit more detail about the new Cobra Island Casino we saw 2 issues ago and introduces a new danger to the Joes in their missions to come against these two adversaries.
Nothing extraordinary but a solid in-between issue and a nice moment for these two characters who often get over-shadowed by their more popular ninja-brethren in the franchise.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #290
The last issue of the Spotlight set before we dive into the next big arc in the ongoing story, this one is also a more solidly flashback issue and focuses on the frenemy rivals of the Joe team from Russia, the Oktober Guard.
The issue is a fairly grim one as it addresses the near obliteration of the team many issues ago, during an operation in Sierra Gordo – one that led to them being “rebuilt” and repaired using less than normal means by their superiors, with Horrorshow now having become pretty much a full cyborg. But now the parts are failing and they have no means to replace or repair, so their only hope is to locate, infiltrate and extract the tech they need from a Revanche site. The problem is that Revanche always has eyes, ears and moves that no one necessarily sees coming and the Guard seem to be walking into a trap.
Hama and team take a fan favourite team from within the franchise on a pretty harrowing journey and it’s a solid issue in every sense – my only complaint is that this is a storyline that could have actually been expanded into a mini-series or an in between story arc all its own at some point. Good way to cap of this set of issues.
NEXT UP! The Joe team finally comes face to face with the plans of Cobra Commander and Dr. Mindbender and their Casino in “High Stakes!“
One Happy Monk 
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