Gary Collinson reviews G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files #1….
“A SNAKE IN THEIR MIDST! Her name is CHAMELEON — and she used to be a COBRA agent. Now she’s made her way into the G.I. JOE team—the honest way. But even with the best of intentions, does she have what it takes to fight on the side of the angels? FLINT thinks she does, and he’s willing to gamble the lives of this teammates on her… Unfortunately, with the Crimson Twin called TOMAX pulling the strings, no bet is a sure thing.“
We’re already two issues in to both Fred Van Lente’s G.I. Joe and Chuck Dixon’s G.I. Joe: Special Missions, and now IDW completes its relaunch of the Joe line this week with the arrival of third and final new series, G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files. Much like Special Missions, The Cobra Files is less relaunch than continuation, picking up directly from the previous series G.I. Joe: Cobra, and even going so far as to retain the same creative team of writer Mike Costa and artist Antonio Fuso.
If you’ve read any of G.I. Joe: Cobra, then chances are you’re very excited for The Cobra Files, and with good reason too. For me, Cobra has been the highlight of IDW’s entire G.I Joe run, offering a much more mature, gritty and violent take on our heroes – and of course, given the title of the book, their enemies in Cobra. And this looks set to continue here, with Costa and Fuso delivering more of the same in G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files #1 – so much so that G.I. Joe: Cobra #22 would seem a more appropriate title, if it wasn’t for the fact that former Cobra agent-turned-Joe Erika la Tene – a.k.a. Chameleon – now takes centre stage as the series’ protagonist.
While Van Lente’s G.I. Joe centres on Duke’s public team and Dixon’s Special Missions revolves around Scarlett and her covert unit, The Cobra Files heads deep into black ops territory, taking place in a murky world filled with double agents, assassins and cold-blooded murderers… and that’s before we even get to the bad guys. Joining the aforementioned Chameleon in the roster of The Cobra Files is a small Joe team consisting of Flint and Lady Jaye (who just so happen to be two of my favourite characters), along with IDW originals Firewall, Clockspring and Ronin. Their mission, basically, is to use intelligence gathered from Chameleon – along with former snakes Tomax (the Crimson Twin having defected after Xamot was vapourised in a nuclear explosion) and Billy, son of the original Cobra Commander (who’s also dead in this continuity) – to hunt down Cobra agents around the globe and terminate them with extreme prejudice.
As I mentioned a moment ago, The Cobra Files is set to follow Chameleon, and the first issue does a good job of establishing her character. Traumatised by her experience with Cobra – and now with G.I. Joe – Chameleon finds herself struggling to make sense of this dangerous world around her. During her time at Cobra, she never killed anyone. On her first mission here, she locates a retired Cobra operative (I’ll not spoil the surprise) now on the straight and narrow and kills him cold blood. In front of his young son. Fortunately Flint is on hand to console the kid. “It’s all right, son,” he says to the boy, “We’re the good guys.” Good guys who create orphans by killing unarmed men.
If you’re looking for a gritty alternative to the Hollywood blockbuster-style heroics of the main G.I. Joe title or the hard military efforts of Chuck Dixon’s Special Missions, then The Cobra Files will be right up your street. Fuso’s sketchy, hard-edged minimalist art style may prove an acquired taste for some Joe fans, and anyone who’s new to IDW continuity may find themselves a little lost, as this isn’t really the ideal jumping in point for new readers. However, stick with it (or better yet, track down the previous Cobra volumes to get yourself up to speed), because if past form is anything to go by, The Cobra Files could be the highlight of this latest relaunch.
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.
Originally published April 9, 2013. Updated April 12, 2018.
