G.I. Joe Cobra II #4
Writer: Mike Costa and Christos N. Gage
Artist: Antonio Fuso
Color: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Chris Mowry
IDW Publishing
Price: $3.99
Release date: April 28, 2010

It’s finally happened. It only took us more than a year, but Cobra Commander has finally shown up officially in an issue of IDW’s G.I. Joe series, and I’m really surprised his first appearance was in an issue of G.I. Joe Cobra, but here we are. Really though, he’s not the focus of this issue. The focus as always is on Chuckles, the undercover agent for the Joes, and on his mission, and we reach a big point in that mission in this issue, as Chuckles, and his teammate Chameleon are able to get out a valuable Cobra asset, but not without casualties.

G.I. Joe Cobra continues to be the standout series since IDW took over the property. The action continues to be exciting, and Chuckles continues to be an interesting character, with a dilemma not seen executed so well since Ed Brubaker’s Sleeper. Each issue makes you feel worse for him, and each issue sees him dig himself deeper into a hole. This issue is no different. If you like some espionage mixed in with your G.I. Joe, this is a series you will enjoy. It’s definitely not a “traditional” G.I. Joe series, but they have the main series if that’s what you’re looking for. This has characters you may know, but it’s told in a more realistic kind of way. Writers Mike Costa and Christos Gage have created a series that has me coming back for more with each issue.

Art for this issue is by Antonio Fuso, and it’s sad to see that he is moving off the title for a while, and I can only hope that the new artist is as able to convey the mood of the story as well as Fuso has in past issues. Unfortunately, this is not his strongest effort. Fuso usually has a minimalist style, but this one is minimalist to the point of looking like it was rushed. The characters lack a lot of detail, and there are hardly any backgrounds. The story is still well told, and I was never confused by what was going on, but there was something lacking in the pages, and it was a disappointment for me. He has done much better in the past.

I still enjoy this series, and I’m glad that they have made it an ongoing series, because there is plenty of story yet to be explored. The ending of this issue was a big surprise for me, and I really want to see where it goes from here. The art was a bit of a let down though, so I’m going to give this one a 3 out of 5, and we’ll see if it can improve when Fuso returns.