G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero – Spotlight (Issue #291-295)
by
Larry Hama (writer), SL Gallant (artist), Maria Keane (inks), J. Brown (colours), Neil Uyetake (letters)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #291
A banger of a start to the second-to-last chapter in the IDW run of this legendary series starts of with a flashback to the brutal warzone days of fan-favourite Snake Eyes from his P.O.V – only to jump ahead to the present where we see that it was all in the mind of Dawn Moreno, the brave young woman who had Snake Eyes’ mind inserted into hers and now not only has all the skills that made him a super-badass, but also carries the pain and suffering he went through over the years – this issue touches on this more than once and this is the kind of excellent character work that has allowed her to be liked so much (at least by me!).
The bulk of the issue thereafter takes place on board a speeding Trans-Carpathian train that has been partially taken hostage by a ultra-nationalist group of fascists called the True Blood Front (even the name is gross, good job Larry!) to try and force the release of their comrades in prison. This part of the story is all very action packed as the team of Dawn, Scarlett, Snake Eyes (Sean), Stalker and Mongoose fight their way in dangerously tight quarters from car to car and make their way to the front where the leaders of this hijacking are holding hostages.
MEANWHILE! We also get a tiny peek into Cobra-goings-on as we visit with Dr. Mindbender and his new favourite assistant, Laura-343, whom he thinks was able to survive an encounter with the original Snake Eyes (she didn’t, he saved her when she was going to die… waaay back…) and we learn of his plans to use all the gadgets he’s been gathering to recreate Snake Eyes in bulk as an army of unstoppable ninja commandoes!
The stakes are definitely rising!
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #292
After an explosive start, Hama and team are taking a beat in this issue I think, as we now work a little more on story progression.
We start by visiting again with Mindbender and Laura-343 as more details about his plans for an army of Snake Eyes’ unfolds and we also learn he has plans for Serpentor 2.0 – bigger, badder and maybe crazier? We also spend time with the Joe team from last issue as they are in the aftermath of their train-hijacking experience and Dawn and Scarlett talk about her struggles with the implanted memories of Snake Eyes. There are even some intense surprises as the group is making their way by chopper with the captured leader of the creepy fascists from last time. There is also some time set aside to visit with Wade Collins, former Cobra agent, who is also the father of current Snake-Eyes-in-secret, Sean Collins and I think it’s handled nicely and left a nice opening.
The art in this arc is way superior and I find myself liking Gallants style as a far better fit and with better vibes for this series so I’m glad to see him take on this whole are and the team as a whole does a great job with the layouts and nice balance of colours and shading, etc.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #293
The Cobra Casino is finally open! All the pieces are in place and finally the endgame is underway!
The Casino is open and Cobra is trying to get their new scheme rolling while G.I.Joe is trying to infiltrate them and both learn what they are up to and then try and stop them. Meanwhile, the machinations of Dr. Mindbender and his 2 part plan to both ressurect/create a new Serpentor as well as try and create an army of Snake Eyes’ are about to begin and one can only guess how that is going to play out! And even more meanwhile, the machinations behind the behind the scenes continue as the Revanche company is monitoring it all through the deadly next-gen robots they’ve supplied to Cobra who has no idea that Revanche retains control (as they did with the Oktober Guard) and has plans of their own.
After a solid start, the pace is picking up as all the teases of the past few story arcs and the breadcrumbs and threads of story and ideas that Larry Hama has been laying out finally get seen with a cleaner perspective and we can see what is about to unfold – of course, as always, we can only guess the outcome. But trust when I say that this issues takes the action in some interesting directions and ends with some explosively cliffhanger stuff and now with just 2 issues to go, my excitement is way up there!
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #294
The penultimate issue of the penultimate story arc of this amazing run under the IDW umbrella is balls to the wall action packed and it’s great fun!
The Joe team has infiltrated Cobras’ new island casino to figure out what new deceits they are working on; of course aside from stealing money and information, Cobra Commander seems to have no higher goal and right under his nose, Dr. Mindbender is sneakily and creepily working on creating an army of Snake Eyes’ and creating a whole new Serpentor! Meanwhile, Revanche has secretly infiltrated and been monitoring all these activities through their deadly robot servers that Cobra has installed all over the casino island without realising that Revanche retains backdoor surveillance and control over them all!
Dawn and Helix are in for the fight of their life in the bowels of the casino against a seemingly unstoppable opponent that they barely escaped on their last mission while Jinx is deep in hiding inside Mindbenders lab where his second attempt at creating a genetic superman to lead Cobra is nearly complete – all three women have proven their skills as infiltration masters, but now as things are heating up and every second is a fight to survive against an army of deadly robots, it is a tense issue as they fight on while their comrades try to find a way to get their forces marshaled and reach them in time; all the while, the Joe team has to remember that the casino is filled with all the above but also a whole building full of civilians who could get caught in the middle if they initiate a full on fire-fight.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #294
“High Stakes” reaches it’s finale!
The G.I.Joe infiltration team in the casino was successful, but now their cover is blown and they are fighting to stay alive as Revanche sends their robo-servers in force to speedily take out the Joes without letting Cobra know that the Joes are there – because of course they have their own agendas as the completely amoral 3rd player in the situation. Information is power and Revanche wants it.
It’s another action packed issue as the final fight begins in earnest. The Joes are in a battle of attrition with the Revanche bots while the Cobra forces are now aware and join the fray in the guts and backrooms of the casino – and it’s a bit hilarious that poor Cobra Commander has at one point no clue what is happening; I actually felt bad for him, dude seemed to be having such a nice time playing host on the casino floor!
It’s an issue that solidly wraps up the arc and leave us hanging as the thing in Mindbenders’ tank is now awake and it is the end of the beginning as we head into the next and final story-arc: All In!
One Happy Monk 
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