GI Joe 21

[knight_moves]

It's that time.





I think this was meant as a breather/epilogue after the sturm und drang of Issue 19, which is a little ruined by Issue 20 being business as usual. Still, this is a stunning accomplishment. The 'silent issue' is commonplace nowadays, but back then, at the height of Claremontism, it must've seemed like a signal from outer space.

The premise is easy enough to explain.







Something lost in imitation (such as GI Joe: Retaliation) is that there's a lot more going on here than a big action sequence. Scarlet is rescuing herself, the entire rescue and battle couple conceit is deepening her relationship with Snake Eyes, we're getting insight into how Destro sees the world...



And then there's the action.



Geez, you can just fucking FEEL that one.

Of note is that even though Storm Shadow has just now been introduced, Snake Eyes still isn't himself a ninja. (In the movie, of course, it's one big ninja fight.) He uses throwing knives over shuriken and instead of a katana--



Legit FUCK YOU energy. Even Daniel Clowes would punch the air reading that one.

Comments

[mazway_75]

There was an urban legend for years this was somehow an accident (letters not written in,Hama running late) but he confirmed it was intentional and surprised Marvel let him do it.

[zylly]

I vaguely recall reading that Hama said Marvel only wanted to pay him as artist and not writer and artist for this, since there was no narration/dialog/etc.

[scelestus]

I was around 11 years old when this came out, and it absolutely blew my mind!!!

[zylly]

I’m not usually a fan of silent issues. Most writers just don’t have the chops to pull them off, even with the best artists. And I just like overwrought narration or thought balloons.

But this? This was gold.