G.I Joe: Special Missions #14 Review


G.I Joe Special Missions 14 alternativeWell, this is a curve ball. I’m not sure if anyone can truly enjoy G.I Joe: Special Missions #14 as, by its very nature, it can only seemto disappoint fans.

The official description from IDW:

G.I. JOE—AMBUSHED! When the SPECIAL MISSIONS convoy faces a surprise attack from COBRA troopers and a dangerous sniper, it’s up to LOW LIGHT—G.I. JOE’s own long-range specialist—to turn the tables and get the team out in one piece!
Join the SPECIAL MISSIONS team for one last covert mission!

Yup, that’s right – this is the end of Special Missions. If that wasn’t bad enough the series doesn’t do anything special to celebrate. While this issue has its merits, its nonetheless a quick one-shot that ends the series with a whimper, not a bang. Combine this with the lack luster ending for Cobra Files and, well, I think someone at IDW is destroying G.I Joe from the inside out. It started out so well.

As an individual comic, Special Missions #14 is certainly well written. While I don’t understand the choice to focus on Low Light, Chuck Dixon does write the character well and the action is tense, although this is contrasted with some generic action-hero sequences with Roadblock. However, fan’s will read more into the long running effects, such as not solving the consequences of the last arc or simply leaving the series on an unexplained note. This ending is abrupt, and it shows in Dixon’s inability to drive into it.

Visually, the art looks more like A Real American Hero than Special Missions, with Will Rosado on pencils and Romulo Fajardo JR on colors. In terms of color, this issue looks very much like an old school G.I Joe title – there are a large amount of orange and blue contrasts thrown in with softer, more subtle greens – seriously, this franchise spends a lot of time in jungles. The style is good, suits the tense tone of the issue and gets the point across – it just doesn’t follow the previous art styles of the title.

All in all, nearly everyone would/should be disappointed by this – fans should be sad its ending while others should be upset over the poorly executed finale.

 

OUR RATING
4
  • + Chuck Dixon brings the stealth-action!
  • - The end of Special Missions...
  • - That was it????
  • - Ending doesn't add anything new or satisfying

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