G.I. Joe Origins #3
- G.I. Joe: Origins #3A
Larry Hama's re-imagaining of the formation of the G.I.Joe team continues in this week's
G.I. Joe: Origins #3. Everything that was great about the previous issues, continues to be great in this latest one.
Hama doesn't waste a page or a panel in telling this tightly plotted story. It takes on a haiku-like control of pace and rhythm. Rather than cutting Mike Hawthorne loose gratuitous action spreads and dramatic splash pages, Hame showcases Hawthorne's talent by reigning him in.
Yes, Hawthorne drawing crazy, wide-screen, action would look amazing, but in this way he shows his true mastery by showing control. Control both the image he is rendering and the overall story which it tells.
At this pace, and with how much information must be communicated, a single mis-step could throw the entire story off kilter. But thus far, neither artist nor writer have slipped up. What we are left with is a terse, tightly-plotted, story which highlights character over plot by showing those characters doing things.
A less confident writer might waste entire pages with the as-yet-un-named Joe team aboard their air transport comparing notes on their mysterious new commanding officer and the strange situation in which they find themselves. This would be an effective and useful way to deliver character information to the reader. The characters could express some of the confusion and curiosity that the readers are feeling and then say things like "That Hawk guy gives me the creeps, what's he planning?".
If the writer felt he needed the reader to get that, a scene like that would work. Instead, Hama trusts us to know these characters by what they do, not by what they say or by what is said about them.
So, when Hawk gives a still-wounded Snake-Eyes his first (kinda) orders and they amount to “Go get me a Coke”, the tension is almost maddening. In the short space of just these three issues, we already know enough about Hawk to know that he is up to something. SOMETHING. Like “test” missions with Duke, Scarlett and Heavy Duty, there simply must be more to this. But what? Could it be that, in this case, a soda is just a soda? Maybe in another Joe comic Hawk might just get thirsty. But in this title, Hama has shown us that neither he nor his characters waste any words. Everything means something.
Maybe this “show more by saying less” approach is why Snake Eyes is one of Hama's favorite characters to write. In this issue, he even manages to show us that Snake Eyes can be interesting even when he is not killing anyone at all.
This issue also sees the action pick up from cat & mouse, to full pursuit, to assault. Or as Hawk puts it “ ...FYI, this unit has just gone from 'provisional' to 'operational'”. Two new (classic) members have been brought in between this issue and the previous one. By now, we know how Hawk's recruitment process goes, so there is no need to see it again for these two. Sealing the deal on the teams green-lit status, we finally get to see the orders given, and the team gearing up and heading into action.
Hawk's opposite number, the mysterious Chimera, has also stepped up his game and become an even greater threat.
It is a real testament to the skillful pacing of this book that the good guys and bad STILL have not met face-to-face and yet the story never seems to slow down for even a minute.
IDW has given us yet another great G.I.Joe comic book.
- G.I. Joe: Origins #3B
