CWR WEEKEND BLOG EXTRA

It’s that time again, so I’m back with a couple of extra new reviews for your reading pleasure. This weekend, two newbies from Chicago’s own Devil’s Due Press.

G.I. JOE #21-22 are written by Mark Powers and drawn by Mike Bear. The long-running military soap gets a huge burst of energy with these two issues; the creative team changes over, the direction shifts a bit, and the book delivers on all fronts. These two issues make up the first half of “Sins Of The Mother” which does something that no incarnation of the JOE book has ever done very well, previously: made the Baroness a genuine, scary threat. She spent a year imprisoned by the Joes and was separated from her newborn baby during the process. In the meantime, Cobra Commander has located the child’s orphanage home and “liberated” it. Now, the Baroness, an accomplished terrorist, is on the warpath against both organizations, and you can actually kinda see her point. Still, her violent, bloody swath of pain and suffering is rather excessive. Powers reminds you of some of Brandon Jerwa’s better work, and the art is terrific. Good time to jump on this book.

Josh Blaylock writes, and Joe Dodd and Corey Zayatz draw, DREADNOKS DECLASSIFIED #2, the middle chapter of this miniseries diving into the origins of one of the Joe team’s more offbeat opponents. I was fascinated by issue one, as we met the man whom it seems will eventually become Zartan (by replacing the real one) when he was still a child and followed him “up the ranks”, if you will, as he learned how to be a world-class arsehole. Issue two continues to develop that plot, as well as get deeper into screen time with the man our protagonist will eventually replace. But there are some jumps along the way that slow down the proceedings; the story bumps around a bit, incorporates some other bits of JOE backstory, and never quite gets on track the way issue one did. The use of four different inkers also weighs down the art, giving the book an inconsistent feel and tone. Still, the confusion and intrigue about there being a previous Zartan, and the kids who eventually become Zander and Zarana’s search for their missing brother assure I’ll stick around for the end.

That’s all for this weekend. I’ll be back throughout the week for site updates, and hopefully back next weekend for another Blog Extra. Peace!

/Mason