G.I. Joe vol. 2: Bludd’s Revenge
It took me a while (and an Amazon sale) to get onboard with the “G.I. Joe” side of the Energon Universe. While “Void Rivals” and “Transformers” had made nods to it in the past, it was easy enough to put off actually reading the miniseries that preceded the ongoing title early on. When it became clear that I was missing out on key story details, however, I decided to catch up on what I had missed and found that it was… fine.
“Duke,” “Cobra Commander,” “Destro,” and “Scarlett” were all competently made comics that clearly respected their source material and did their best to tell stories spotlighting each of these characters. However, they were all devoid of genuine surprises (or had them spoiled months ago) in terms of their storytelling, and that was also true of the main series from writer Joshua Williamson. Now we’ve been graced with the second volume of that title and while it’s still the lesser part of this shared universe, what we get here is a definite step up.
It starts with a story from the “Energon Universe Special 2025” which picks up directly from the last page of vol. 1. You know, the one where it was revealed that Clutch’s jeep was actually the Autobot known as Hound. The fight they have feels a bit forced, but it also leads to the introduction of another Joe who has a connection to a different Hasbro property. That was neat, and the fighting which happens after that is better, leading to a more satisfying bond between man and machine. If nothing else, I’m glad this is reprinted here because I imagine anyone who skipped this was confused when Clutch and Hound showed up later in the series.
Up next is a spotlight for covert-ops specialist Beach Head as he’s been tasked with stealing an unknown weapon from an arms collector. While the security he planned for is no problem, it’s the security he didn’t that winds up causing him trouble when the Bluddhounds show up. We get some quality action and Beach Head’s crotchety before his time internal monologue is fun; though, the real entertainment comes when the character gets a surprise recruitment offer from a different set of Joes. General Hawk is hedging his bets in the battle against Cobra and he’s going to need some Joes who aren’t willing to play by Duke’s rules.
Speaking of those, the next four issues make good on the volume’s subtitle as we get to see how Anastasia “Baroness” Cisarovna is adapting to life with her new teammates. The answer is actually “pretty well” though she’s going a bit stir crazy being cooped up with them, so she pesters Duke to give her some time off. Which he does for 48 hours, with Cover Girl acting as her escort as the two head off to Paris. While Baroness is initially resentful of her minder, the two quickly bond over their personal histories. Just in time to deal with a revenge-minded Australian merc and his feathery friend.
Baroness working with the Joes has been one of the more satisfying developments in Williamson’s run so far as there’s some genuine tension to it. Part of that comes from seeing a former villain trying to work with the good guys, and part comes from wondering whether or not this is all a long con before she reveals she’s been working for Cobra all along. Personally, I’m hoping that Williamson will commit her to the former as she works well as the rogue element straining against the Joes and Duke’s. She also works well with Cover Girl here and both get plenty of good scenes to show off what they’re capable of.
It’s not all about the characters above in these issues. Clutch and Hound get more page time as the former tries to help out his new buddy by getting him some Energon, and attracting some unwanted attention in the process. Meanwhile, Cobra continues to grow in power in the darkness, though all is not well with them. Destro knows that Cobra Commander is hiding secrets from him and he’s determined to find out what they are. The two both know that they need each other if they want to remake the world, but the sooner one of them can be rid of the other the better. Then, in the final issue, Beach Head and his new comrades go to break out another mutual friend in Destro’s home country of Darklonia.
What I liked about “Bludd’s Revenge” was that there’s a lot more going on in this volume than in the previous one. While I understand the need to open with a big “fate of the world” storyline “The Cobra Strikes” felt like it was playing it safe and threw action at the reader rather than character. The fact that we also get multiple different stories here helped to keep my interest, and we even got some payoff from what’s been set up in the miniseries too. Williamson does a lot more with his growing cast here as he fleshes them out decently well here, leaving me hoping for more of Bludd’s amazingly terrible poetry in the future.
While a lot of stuff is done right here, not everything works as well as it should. Chief among that is the art, most of which is from “Cobra Commander” artist Andrea Milana. He’s a capable enough artist who is good with the characters and conveys the action quite well, but his stripped-down style feels lacking rather than minimalist. He lacks the easy style that original artist Tom Reilly brought to the first volume and the most distinctive visual from this volume – its cover. Marco Fodera’s work on the final issue is a bit better, but not enough to make me say that he should take over full time.
There’s also one bit that did bother me in a visual sense and it has to do with Bludd’s partner in this issue. While Williamson has done an admirable job of taking the characters of a sprawling toy line and treating them seriously, but not too seriously this new character bucks right up against that. I mean… he just looks silly to me. I know he’s got a gimmick and he’s committed to it, but he still felt at odds with the tone of this series. Even compared to the two guys in face masks doing bad guy stuff here. Hopefully this is just a one-time issue, or maybe another problem with the art, but given the large cast of characters from this franchise I have a feeling he may be the first of many.
Still, I liked what I read here and it’s the most enjoyable “G.I. Joe” volume of its Energon Universe tenure so far. There was a lot more going on here and most of it was interesting, setting up and paying off on plot points while fleshing out its cast. It could’ve looked better, but that won’t be a problem next time as Reilly returns as Duke and Cobra Commander try to survive the “Dreadnok War” together.