“Sins of the Mother: Part Two”
Writer: Mark Powers
Artists: Mike Bear (p), Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colors)
Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing
Civil War has ended. Infinite Crisis has come and passed. The Initiative has begun. World War III is coming. Actually, two World War III’s are coming. And believe it or not, I’m not as excited about the DC World War III as I am about the other World War III. Granted, World War III has technically been seen in comics before, but with the state of the world today, it seems all too relevant. The World War III in which I am counting down the days and putting out theories of who lives and who dies is the World War III that is coming in the pages of G.I. Joe. The one thing about this version of World War III is that nothing is for certain. It's not yet clear who is siding with whom. Rumors are running rampant that Cobra will take over the world, but what is most definitely clear is that the current story arc starring the Baroness is the ultimate precursor to what is coming.
For those who don’t know but absolutely should know, the Baroness recently escaped incarceration from the G.I. Joe headquarters after a Cobra raid. While incarcerated, she gave birth to a son, a son that somehow ended up in the hands of Cobra Commander. The Baroness is now on the hunt for Cobra Commander and her child and is prepared to destroy anyone who gets in her way. Her first target is the very man who betrayed her: the Cobra stealth warrior known as Wraith. Check out my review of G.I. Joe: America’s Elite #21 to get an idea of what happened in the last issue. The Baroness has gone as far as torturing her former Cobra associate, Scalpel.
She believes that Wraith knows where Cobra Commander is located, but there is something else driving her to seek out Wraith, and this issue does a great job building up to its conclusion by fantastically opening with the actual betrayal of the Baroness at the hands of Wraith and the incident where she is turned over to U.S. custody. The story picks up with the Baroness using all of her back-door connections and using her history and indubitable threats to find whatever information she needs. This whole arc is turning into a great tale about a mother and the lengths she will go to protect her child.
The G.I. Joe team is obviously very worried as they discovered a tortured and disfigured Scalpel after the Baroness got her hands on him. They have learned for sure that Cobra Commander has her child. They know she is going after Wraith, and even with original G.I. Joe Sparks monitoring any suspicious traffic from any bank accounts associated with the Baroness or Destro’s M.A.R.S, the Baroness is as General Colton states “two steps ahead.” G.I. Joe tries to use the information to find the Baroness, but they are only led to Major Bludd’s empty estate where the Baroness and Bludd were at the end of the last issue. And where is Major Bludd? He is in Saudi Arabia with Colonel Sharif preparing an attack on an object of “America’s lust.” I’ll give you a hint: it’s black and slimy. One thing I love about G.I. Joe is the real world places and locales it features. This series, as well as G.I. Joe as a whole, has always felt like it could happen tomorrow. With Bludd and Sharif, writer Mark Powers (again, no relation) is planting the seeds for World War III. With no clear good vs. evil or traditional G.I. Joe vs. Cobra theme, it is very difficult to determine what lines will be drawn.
One of the things I absolutely love about this arc is the characterization of the Baroness. She’s still as ruthless as ever, but she has transcended from villain to anti-hero as it has become increasingly easier to sympathize with her. Who wouldn’t want to kill their betrayer, find their lost child and who wouldn’t go as far as killing a man in order to rescue one’s child, especially from the hands of a psychopath like Cobra Commander? It’s an interesting turn of events and this issue answers many questions about last issue and about things to come, but it also raises many more questions to maintain reader interest in this story.
While a great concept, Wraith has failed to maintain his popularity since creator Brandon Jerwa left G.I. Joe. However, he does indeed meet his demise in this issue at the hands of the Baroness. The reason I reveal this fact is because the ultimate question is raised,: who gets their hands on that wonderful stealth suit of his? The Baroness perhaps? For those who aren’t familiar with Wraith, his character’s gimmick was a stealth suit that could render him invisible, kind of like Nick Fury’s stealth capability in The Ultimates. This issue really raises the bar for G.I. Joe and proves that this title can both be individually character driven as well as a team book.
The art work is really on point. Mike Bear and Jean-Francois Beaulieu do an amazing job capturing this story. It’s not an 80s cartoon, nor is it really a distinct good vs. evil story. This issue is dark. Its intentions are dark, and the line between what is right and what is wrong is blurred and gray, and there is an insurmountable edge to the story. Bear’s pencils are great, anatomy is on point, character faces are all different and consistent, the environments are clear; mixed with Beaulieu dark colors, the story and the art mesh perfectly. Well done.
As I stated in the intro of my last G.I. Joe review, this book has the intensity, action and drama of an episode of 24 or The Unit. It’s a great time to be a G.I. Joe fan, and this is one of the best comic books you can find. The story arc and the coming implications are brilliant and next month Flint returns! Pick up this arc from the beginning, find the back issues and get ready for World War III. This is one of my Picks of the Week.
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