G.I. Joe Snake Eyes Agent of Cobra (trade)
IDW
Written By: Mike Costa
Art By: Paolo Villanelli
Colors By: Joana Lafuente
The usually standard world of G.I. Joe has been flipped on its head and impactful changes have occurred. Destro is captured and heading to a new lockup, when his transport is attacked by one man, Snake Eyes. Everyone’s favorite good-guy ninja is performing a rescue mission, by himself, to break out one of the leaders of Cobra!
The set up for this miniseries is simple but powerful. With Snake Eyes being one of the main focus points to the arc, some great script work is written by Mike Costa. With Cobra Commander out of the picture, the forces of Cobra are being run by Tomax, but all the big name villains are jockeying for position and leverage over each other. As described in a monologue by Destro, Snake Eyes has become a very useful tool/pawn/other metaphor for a cog to advance someone else’s interests.
This arc revolves around Snake Eyes and his mission for Cobra, which turns out to be another shocking game changer. The silent ninja is to retrieve an item, that the son of Cobra Commander has with him (more accurately…in him). The entire comic was a great chase and espionage tale mixed in with killer (literally) ninja clan turmoil. The story holds up very well on its own, which it needs to with a silent main character. Filling out the pages where no words are needed, (actions speak louder than words) Paolo Villanelli’s art work is crisp and strong as the Hard Master is.
This miniseries was really hard to put down once I started it. With two of the characters constantly on the run, this whole comic could be summed up by a piece of script “when you rob a bank, you stay local, lay low until the heat is off. But in espionage the heat is never off.” Panel to panel, the script kept me wanting to find out more and more. Page by page, the art and colors had me thrilled and wanting dive deep into this world. The inserted covers, extra pages and intermission splash pages were a real treat for any fan of Snake Eyes. A non stop thrill ride that offers a different take on the classic GI Joe character, Snake Eyes Agent of Cobra is must read for any fan of the Joe’s and if you’re not a fan you will have a damn good time anyway.