Comic Book Review – G.I. Joe #3

“CHOOSE YOUR PATH! You become DUKE, leader of the G.I. JOE team, as he begins his journey to become a Real American Hero! You make the life or death decisions! Or — is Duke just being tortured horrifically at the hands of the Baroness, and this is way of dealing with it-a never-ending branching series of ‘Might Have Beens?’ Or. . . is it both?“

Reading the synopsis for G.I. Joe #3, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Fred Van Lente was channeling Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson’s Fighting Fantasy book series with issue #3 of IDW’s flagship Joe title, allowing us to “become Duke” and “choose his path.” You’d also be wrong. Instead of affording the reader any influence on the story, G.I. Joe #3 takes us on a linear path through Duke’s memories (specifically, the ones that made him the Joe he is today) as the Baroness and Dr. Mindbender attempt to extract a pass code from the captured field commander.

If you haven’t been keeping up with this opening story arc, ‘Homefront’ has seen Duke’s now-public G.I. Joe team embarking on what the Pentagon believed would be their first PR victory, tackling a small Cobra cell in the town of Warrenton. Unfortunately the Joes quickly discovered that they’d walked right into a trap, as Warrenton is kind of like IDW’s version of Springfield, meaning its absolutely crawling with snakes and Cobra sympathisers. Ambushed upon arrival, the team were separated, with Duke falling into the clutches of the Baroness, who’s looking to get her hands on the mission accomplished code in order to inflict an embarrassing defeat on America’s elite fighting unit in the full glare of the media spotlight.

This quest for the counter-sign is the sole focus of the issue, with Dr. Mindbender using some kind of sci-fi technology to embark on an Inception-like journey through Duke’s formative years in an effort to persuade him to part with the information. And so we get to see Duke as a youngster, playing with his Adventure Team toys (think Action Man, if you’re from the UK), complete with Mindbender-controlled Eagle Eyes; Duke on his basic training, where he falls for his Arabic language instructor; Duke getting down and dirty with ‘Robin Sage’ in a sleazy motel; and Duke being recruited into G.I. Joe by General Hawk after single-handily taking out an entire platoon of insurgents. While he was injured.

There’s two ways of looking at G.I. Joe #3 – it’s either an opportunity for Van Lente to explore the back story of one of the titles’ main players for the first time in this ‘relaunched’ continuity, or it’s a mid-arc filler designed to stretch things out until the final showdown between the Joes and Cobra. If you’re a fan of Duke or you’re just getting into the series, then you’re probably going to see it as the former. If not, then at least there’s a few nice touches thrown in to tide us over till the fighting starts.

Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.