G.I. Joe: Origins #13Written by Scott Beatty
Art by S. L. Gallant
Covers by Gallant and Tom Feister
On sale March 10th, 2010.
The latest issue of
G.I.Joe: Origins focuses on Ripcord.
Back in the day, the most interesting thing about Ripcord was his romance with Bongo the Balloon Bear. In the past year or so, though, he has been the center of one of the Joe community’s few controversies. He used to be white, but then he showed up portrayed by Marlon Wayans .
As controversies go, that one is not really a big deal. Joe fans are used to dealing with “versions” of their favorite characters. There has always been the toy version, the cartoon version, the comic version, and of course the version you imagine. As the IDW comic continuity comes together, fans have been wondering “what will THIS version of Ripcord be like?”
This comic book answers that question, with style, on the very first page. The splash page shows us a man in the classic Ripcord’s very familiar green camo, helmet, mask, and H.A.L.O. gear...dead. He is hanging upside-down, limbs twisted, and riddled with bullet holes. The guy standing in front of him is black. The narrative caption on the page says “ This is about survival.” And the title of this two issue story arc is R.I.P.cord. So that’s it. Done. No question.
Ripcord is dead, long live Ripcord.
He makes jokes throughout the issue, but he is no Marlon Wayans. He is simply the new comic version of the character. Just like all of the other characters in the new comics are the new comics versions of themselves. So, beyond answering the question that all of fandom was...eh...kind of burning to answer, how is this issue? Pretty good.
Scott Beatty and S.L. Gallant turn out a pretty exciting Joe comic. The story is fairly straight forward, though it is told out of order. This allows the writer to use the very effective tension building technique of showing us a situation, and then telling us how that came to be. We can’t help but wonder “why doesn’t he have shoes?” and the only answer is “keep reading”. Thankfully, it is a fun and easy read, despite having death, bug eating, and at least one panel where the screams of a tortured man are drowned out by the machinery digging a mass grave.
The Ripcord of this comic is a wise-ass, but he also seems to be a bad-ass. But, that is his personality before he goes through what he goes through in this issue. And, before he gets noticed by the Joe team. This series seems to be very much about death and re-birth. And this issue repeats that theme even more dramatically than the splash page I mentioned above. The Ripcord who emerges from this ordeal next issue might not have the same sense of humor as the kid who began it.
This is a very solid start to Ripcord’s two-part origin story.
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a 5-page preview of G.I. Joe: Origins #13 here »
