Comic: Mike O’Sullivan, Andrew Dabb & Tim Seeley: G.I. Joe: Special Missions: Antarctica (Devil’s Due, 2006)
I’m afraid objectivity just flew out of the window. G.I. Joe, or Action Force as they were known in Finland, were easily my favorite toys and comics when I was a kid, trumping even Legos and the X-Men. A retro fashion for toy-related Eighties comics such as G.I. Joe and Transformers has led to the publication of new G.I. Joe comics, this one among them.
I read this stuff through rose-colored lenses. It features all kinds of cool stuff, from the improbably well designed Snow Vipers to Scarlett’s new look which incorporates a duster coat. The Snow Vipers dress in white furs, WW1 era helmets and red commando masks, and their weapon of choice is the sai. Nevertheless, they look good, or maybe that’s just because I really loved the Snow Viper action figure when I was ten.
This is good, clean fun, and even manages a plot twist. There’s a surprisingly good grasp of Antarctica, even if the feasibility of Antarctic oil drilling is rather exaggerated. They even have those character profiles I remember from the old comics, and from the packaging of the toys. Wheeee!