Majority of complaints I hear or read on this title have been about its lack of action and it being too realistic. Majority of complaints I hear or read about Larry Hama's "A Real American Hero" title is its cheesiness and it being too unrealistic. Same with the two movies.
I am an adult who grew up with the 80s GI JOE. I collected the comic books & watched the cartoons. I enjoyed Larry Hama's run. There were plenty of explosions, colorful soldiers & villains & vehicles, etc. I still have my comic collection today, but I hardly read any of it. If I want to read an old (or not so old) GI JOE comic book, I pick up IDDP's America's Elite or IDW's GI JOE: Cobra.
IDW's GI JOE Volume 4 is more realistic than GI JOE: Cobra, and I don't mind at all. It's nice to see the characters in their civvies most of the time. Karen Traviss says in one of her tweets to me: "If you're waiting for big battles, it's not that kind of story. It's espionage/ black ops - assassinations, bombs, etc."
I was hoping she would say that. Alas, the book's artist gets more praise than Traviss. Personally, IDW can hire just about any artist for this title and I wouldn't care less as long as Traviss is writing it.
Anyway, there's action on issue #5, but only a couple of pages (no complain here). And the Baroness shoots a civilian. The story is getting more complex. I really love this book.
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By: Karen Traviss, Steve Kurth
Released: Feb 4, 2015
FALL OF G.I. JOE! Tensions escalate as new dangers emerge. What can the G.I. JOE team do to combat a COBRA the world views as heroes? As SCARLETT leads the team, former G.I. JOE agent DUKE searches for answers.