"The Rising"
Writer: Joe Casey
Artists: Josh Medors (pencils), Richard Zajac (inks), Jason Jensen (colors)
Publisher: Devil's Due
Plot: The new Phoenix Guard (comprised of General Rey, Mech, Halo, High-Tide, Friday and Snake-Eater) stop a Cobra attack on a nuclear power plant in Utah. Later, a Joe squad arrives at the same plant but find only the debris left by the Guard. The President and his advisor, Garrett, who is secretly Cobra Commander, tours Joe headquarters for some reassurance that the money spent on the Joes is worth it and comes away feeling just the opposite. Later, General Rey assembles his team and tells them their next mission is to infiltrate and subjugate G.I. Joe headquarters.
Commentary: Where to begin?
I honestly try to be positive about the comics I chose to buy, and for the most part, I've enjoyed both this issue and the previous one far more than I did the rather abhorrent storyline involving Snake-Eyes coming back from the dead and getting involved in some weird ninja cult where the bad guy used ninja tricks to switch his consciousness with the leader of said cult to take the cult over.
Yeah, I could have prettied that up a bit and been more specific in my description, but at the same time it was ninjas swapping bodies. There is an old saying involving something you can't polish and there very well may be some deep rooted quasi-mystical process that can do such a thing, but frankly I think the quasi-mystical and G.I. Joe just don't freaking mix.
I mean, that is something I would expect from an episode of the old animated series. And not even a good episode. I'm talking "Twenty Questions" bad.
What kept me coming back was the return of Cobra Commander, who went from being a character I could barely stand in the cartoon to a character I absolutely love in the comics. There was an air of excitement about the story, and I bought into the hype. Two issues into the storyline, and I'm not disappointed, but at the same time I'm not all that thrilled either.
Here's the problem: Joe Casey has once again taken a plot that would have been at home on the animated series and transposed it into comics. This isn't a bad thing. Actually the concept of Cobra Commander putting together his own anti-terrorist task force to replace G.I. Joe is interesting. It's a story worth telling and aside from some over-the-top dossiers, I've enjoyed watching how things unfold. This issue in particular was entertaining especially with the Joes arriving after the Phoenix Guard already took care of the Cobra plot, and there is also something amusing about watching Cobra Commander receiving a tour of G.I. Joe headquarters.
As fun as this story could be, the outcome is fairly predictable. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but if I had to hazard a guess the Joes and the Guard are going to fight, maybe for several issues, with the Guard possibly winning. Maybe the Joes will be decommissioned and have to uncover Cobra Commander's plan in secret. (I can even see the dramatic ending where the President declares that G.I. Joe is no more.) The Guard takes over, Cobra Commander starts the next phase of his plan, Duke comes back and tells them about Garrett, the Joes have to fight back in secret, the plot is uncovered, the Guard and the Joes team-up and in the end, it is decided that the Joes are effective in one area of fighting terrorism and the Guard will be a separate entity doing more dark, black bag operations.
Maybe they'll even get their own series. It has happened before.
Anyone remember when X-Force debuted?
In The End: As predictable as this story is, I'm hanging in there, for now at least. Even if I have an idea of the ending there is something intriguing (in a train wreck sort of way) of watching the how and why. I can do without the Storm Shadow sub-plot, but other than that, it could turn out to be a fun little romp. I've made several comparisons to the Sunbow animated series, mostly in a derogatory way, but that doesn't mean that they were all bad. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought the DVDs. It's not Larry Hama G.I. Joe, but it's not all that bad either.
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