I must admit i was pretty excited when i learned that IDW was going to reboot the Joe franchise from the previous owner Devil's Due and so far i have not been disappointed and to be honest i have not been a hardcore fan of there comics before but this time they have bought me hook line and sinker.
It's pretty ambitious because they have launched 3 ongoing titles and they have brought Chuck Dixon for the main book who also just recently and controversially left Dc comics and is a somewhat notorious conservative who also happens to love his military jargon almost as much as Warren Ellis loves his sci-fi techno jargon, so it's been a natural fit from day one.
The other books are G.i Joe Origins which features G.I Joe mainstay Larry Hama and G.I. Joe Cobra which is co-written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa.
The main book shows the current timeline where the other two are in the same continuity but in the past.
It's hard to pick which one is better right now they all seem to be in the same quality even tho the main book started off a bit slow right now it's kicking into high gear with Destro (pre metal mask) using arachnid like robots to infiltrate the Joe's underground desert base now i'm not sure if this plot has been done before cause it seems so simple it's almost a no brainer and Destro having his two henchpeople to use Xbox controllers to manuever the robots is a absolutely hilarious.
The art by Robert Atkins is really good and has the good sense where he doesn't get in the way of the strong storytelling by over complicating the pencils.
Also using a underground desert base is a real neat idea that i have not seen used a whole lot in any of the comics or the cartoons.
I'm not really sure why he Chuck Dixon feels the need to over emphasize the scottish accents in Destro's castle almost to a Chris Claremont parody but that's a small nitpick.
G.I Joe origins has been more character oriented which is showing how the Joe team came together and it's first mission.
i have to admit it's a bit confusing cause they are using this guy named Chimera who could or could not be the future Cobra Commander
i guess we will see cause honestly i think the Joe's could use another antagonist besides Cobra Commander and the various Cobra allies.
G.I. Joe Cobra features mainly the character of "Chuckles" (whom i don't really know much about)doing undercover work in Eastern Europe seems he is working for some rich dude as a bodyguard type and also having an affair with Jinx who is supposed to be his liason purists might think this book doesn't feel like a G.I. Joe comic but who cares? The thing i really like about this book is Chuckles does not feel like your typical action hero movie or comic book wise he is a slightly annoying smart ass who wears hawaiin shirts and bitches and complains a lot to Hawk which is kind of funny.
But it also feels very much like you are there witnessing this all go down it pulls you straight in and thats a rare thing to find in any comic even if it's one that is completely grounded like this one.
If you have never read a G.I. Joe comic or just wanting to get back in and need to get in on the ground floor this is probably the best oppurtunity yet.
