G.I Joe: A Real American Hero #201 Review

After a big 200th issue special, G.I Joe: A Real American Hero #201 comes off the back up a string of good, intense issues. That said, the action was wrapped up last issue, so where does that leave us?

The official description from IDW:

After last month’s landmark issue, G.I. JOE is ready to make a change! With COBRA on the run and the Pit in shambles, DUKE leads the team into a brave new era, as new teams are formed and G.I. JOE finds another base of operations.

This is one of those issues where everything, yet nothing, happens. Don’t expect any action here, but G.I Joe: A Real American Hero #201 offers enough developments to keep long term fans interested. In a way its designed to segue into new arcs, while also wrapping up a few older ones.

That said, I do find the first half of this issue to be very self-congratulatory. Larry Hama is a good writer, but this half just explains the new base and, at one point, more or less does a tour of various characters currently involved. It feels very much like showing off. Rather than introducing key elements when they become important, A Real American Hero #201 throws out all the info and expects the reader to make notes. I don’t like homework.

Visually, this issue looks like any other. S L Gallant, alongside Marc Deeing’s inks, give this issue the aesthetical style we’ve come to expect, but there simply isn’t anything new here. This is mostly due to the setting being the same and a lack of new characters. Heck, even the new areas of the base are boring – if you’ve seen one dark corridor, you’ve seen them all.

Overall, I think the focus away from action is a good direction, taking time to breath while making the 200th issue look even better, but it’s not what people pick up G.I Joe for.