G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #276 kicks off the first part of “Untold Tales”. Scarlett, Snake-Eyes, and the gang drop down in Abysmia to locate a tech dabbling in poison gas and nuclear material. They meet up with their Abysmia contacts, one who is incredibly versatile with a knife, who more or less clears a path for the Joes to get to their target, only to have her own personal vendetta stand in the way of justice.
I can say I don’t know everything about G.I. Joe and I’m not sure how many stories don’t feature COBRA as the antagonists but there was no hint of that organization within the story. Writer Larry Hama, who has written this series for so long, gives them a break and instead it gives the story a bit more realism, I think. This issue felt very wordy. Even more so when you think that issue 275 was a silent issue. My only bone to pick with this issue was the ending felt very rushed but other than that, the pacing is great for such a story.
Netho Diaz is still doing art on G.I. Joe and with this issue, I thought I saw a few times where his art looked better than normal. He’s got a good hand for detail and in my opinion, is one of the best artists working on a licensed book. I’m glad IDW has an artist of this caliber working on the Joes. There are times when I feel like his art draws a bit of inspiration from the likes of Neal Adams, especially in the facial details. Jagdish Kumar’s coloring is used in a variety of different locations throughout the issue and he helps sell what’s going on within the pages.
I don’t know if “Untold Tales” is going to be a bunch of single-issue stories or if this issue will build onto something much bigger but as far as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #276 goes, it works well as a solo issue story comprised of a good team of Joe favorites. One chapter in, “Untold Tales” is shaping up to be another quality story.
Story: Larry Hama Arti: Netho Diaz
Inks: Jagdish Kumar Color: J. Brown Letterer: Neil Uyetake
Story: 8.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.5
IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Kindle
