As it builds up to its 200th issue, G.I Joe: A Real American Hero #199 looks to continue the high quality seen lately. Does this issue manage to keep up the successful trend?

The official description from IDW:

THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN! G.I. JOE has escaped the situation in Sierra Gordo intact… but COBRA has taken over their headquarters! That means only one thing: it’s time for a head-to-head confrontation between America’s best and the villainous COBRA COMMANDER’s forces. Join the battle in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #199 and prepare for everything to change in next month’s landmark issue #200!

Overall, this issue is a satisfying read. Its split between two different sections, both of which are well thought through and executed. The jungle scenes tend to wrap themselves up in this issue, while the underground fight between G.I Joe and Cobra continues – here, the issue comes into its own much more effectively. The drama is tense and suits the G.I Joe‘s style perfectly.

Part of this is down to the writing – Larry Hama seems to thrive when dealing with tight environments with a restriction on characters. The creativity in getting out of such situations makes the read worthwhile, distinguishing this conflict from any other ‘Joes against Cobra’ fire fight we’ve all seen a hundred times before.

Visually, there’s nothing new here. S L Gallant’s pencils offer a decent aesthetic and J Brown’s colors offer nothing new. However, the two settings do contrast nicely between each other, with colorful green jungles offering a distinct difference from the dark underground scenes. It makes the transition from one to the other even smoother and makes the whole piece flow much more easily.

In short, this is far from a bad issue. It reads well and looks as good as A Real American Hero tends to do. Whether or not it leads into anything worthwhile will depend on next month’s G.I Joe: A Real American Hero #200.

3.5/5