G.I. Joe Movie Adaptation #1 Review

G.I. Joe Movie Adaptation #1 Review

First off, I have not read any of the scripts for the movie, so I am not sure how accurate this adaptation is. All I have to go by are the trailers and images of the action figures. Bear in mind that some things could have changed during filming, that we won’t be privy to until the premiere on August 7th.

There are 2 covers, the regular one with a drawn collage, the other with a photo of Snake Eyes. The regular cover in my opinion, would have looked better if it was more asymmetrical, and didn’t have Snake Eyes smack dab in the middle with his katana visually dividing the page in half.

The issue starts off with the trial of Sir James McCullen IX, the ancestor of Destro. At the end of the trial. He becomes a man with an iron mask, as punishment for his war profiteering, in which he played both sides.

After this flashback, we see his modern day descendant, Destro trying to sell potential buyers on his nanomite technology, perfected by MARS Industries. MARS has manipulated the nanomites so that innocent casualties can be avoided.

The nanomite technology sounds too good to be true. It sounds over the top, and brings in a sci-fi element to the story that readers may or may not like.

After the first few pages I noticed that the characters are all drawn in a more cartoon-like style. The characters are recognizable but for a movie comic, I was expecting something more realistic. I’m not sure if IDW was able to secure the rights to use likenesses of the cast, so this might explain the style used for the characters.

General Hawk and Cover Girl are shown. They talk with Destro and a man who is able to mimic others. Hawk and Cover Girl show an immediate distrust of Destro and his associate and are obviously suspicious.

Afterwards, we are given a hint at the humor between Ripcord and Duke. They are supposed to escort the shipment of nanomites. Ripcord’s humor is something a lot of people are worried about. Yes Ripcord jokes around, but thankfully, some his jokes are actually funny. Yet their conversation actually reveals quite a bit about their aspirations. We find that Duke wants to stay in the Army but Ripcord wants to fly.

One thing that stuck out, is that Duke and Ripcord are not in the desert camo fatigues shown in the trailer(and I think they are supposed to be). Before they set off to protect the convoy with nanomites, Duke is seen with his desert scarf(and the uniform shown in the trailers). Yet during the operation, he and Ripcord are seen in black uniforms. I’m not sure why this was done(*EDIT: I found out that the black suits were from the references given to IDW*).

While the joking ensues, the convoy is ambushed by a black gunship, the Apache escort helicopters are destroyed, and the convoy is surrounded. The Baroness emerged with Neo-Vipers and proceed to steal the nanomites. The Baroness and Duke recognize each other, with Duke visibly shocked.

The G.I. Joe team shows up, Snake Eyes kills a few Neo-Vipers and Duke continues to go after The Baroness and briefcase full of nanomites. The connection between Duke and The Baroness hasn’t been explained, but he knows her real name.

This issue does a good job of introducing characters that play pivotal roles in the movie. It also does a good job of introducing the G.I. Joe team and showing them in action. I wasn’t expecting to see them in action this soon, but I’m glad I did. This is a good way to introduce new readers to G.I. Joe, or to give a fan an idea of what the movie might be like.

The artwork could have benefited ink. It seems like the penciled pages were just scanned in and darkened up, then colored over digitally(I later found out that this issue was not inked, and that it was colored directly from pencils. This was Andy Schmidt's call as he thought it looked different and more life-like with fewer harder edges). While this technique has been done to great effect before, in this issue it washes out a lot of the pencil detail. Ink would have definitely aided in separating the colors from foreground and background, and made details more distinct.

Overall, I recommend the issue. I hope the future issues improve just the movie prequel comics did over time.

The nanomits aren't out there at all. Similar things were done in DDP's first Joe mini-series, where nanomites could control minds (that's a little bit more over the top then what's shown here).

Thanks for the review.

The nanomits aren't out there at all. Similar things were done in DDP's first Joe mini-series, where nanomites could control minds (that's a little bit more over the top then what's shown here).

Well they would seem out there to some readers, like a casual reader or a kid whose first intro to G.I. Joe is through ROC or the movie adaptation books would be surprised. I was aware of nanomite use in the DDP books but I didn't read those issues.

If nanomites were fielded in the battlefield right now, making warriors numb to pain and all that, and in widespread use to the point of being common knowledge, then it wouldn't seem so over the top.

Ya know, it's kind of a catch-22 thing, you introduce 1 "out-there" concept and you need to introduce others to balance it out, so it's not so "out-there" and doesn't stand out as much.

Don't get too buggered down with the "out there" concepts like Nanomites.

It was used in the DDP series and the movie script writers probably ripped the idea out of there.

The film is based loosely in the future so they can fudge stuff like this. Movies do this all the time.

Take the new Transformers 2. They have a "Rail Gun" on a missile destroyer! That's out there but I look beyond it.

Use the little known "Suspension of Disbelief" to get you past these science fiction concepts guys!

Don't get mired with the picky details otherwise you really are going to not enjoy the flick.

Reminds me of days of yor when the ol "Brainwave Scanner" was introduced. All us neophyte comic readers had our socks blown off with the "Out there" idea!

Holy Gilly Wee Bollickers Batman! What are we gonna do!

I agree with you. It's not that big a deal.

Hell, look at the stuff that occurs in comics regularly anyways.

Joe's always had sci-fi concepts.

Are nanomites REALLY that much more out there than modular remote control battle robots, like the one that showed up in the third issue of the original comic series?

To say nothing of the outlandish elements of the cartoon which is the best remembered part of the franchise to the general public.

Just picked up a copy. It's pretty freakin' awesome. I can't say anything bad about it. I also read the rest in the movie adaptation series to get a feel of how the movie will look. I am more than pleased. I honestly think the story and the changes made are so much better than what there is now. I can't say anything bad about it. I'm more pumped than ever to see the film. I'm definitely buying as many figures as I can. I probably won't buy many vehicles due to lack of space. Plus on a positive note the Accelerator suits aren't used that much(at least not in the comic which follows the movie). The suits are only used in a training scene and in Paris (as seen in the trailer). I'm more than thrilled about all this new stuff.

I think the Snake Eyes fans will be pleased. The first panel showing him was a cool, quick introduction.

Ya know, it's kind of a catch-22 thing, you introduce 1 "out-there" concept and you need to introduce others to balance it out, so it's not so "out-there" and doesn't stand out as much.

To a casual reader, it might.

Just picked up a copy. It's pretty freakin' awesome. I can't say anything bad about it. I also read the rest in the movie adaptation series to get a feel of how the movie will look.

Did you read the adaptation as a book or in comic book/graphic novel format, and if so, where?