Reviewer: Jesse Baker
Story Title: The Family
Written by: Josh Blaylock
Penciled by: Tim Seeley
Inked by: Corey Hamscher
Colored by: Hi-Fi Color Design
Lettered by: Dreamer Design
Editor: N/A
Publisher: Devil’s Due/Image Comics
Quick Synopsis: The issue seems to be laying what appears to be the groundwork for the return of Serpentor as Spirit, Flint, Snake Eyes, and the returning Cover Girl hunt for a pair of identical orphans by the names of Hannibal and Julius who have been kidnapped by a teenage version of themselves called Alexander, who reports back by the end of the issue to the sinister Dr. Mindbender. Meanwhile we have some major inclining that the US Government is involved in the creation of these kids and know more than the Joes do.
The Good: The return of Serpentor, if this is the direction that they are going with this issue, will be a great storyline if they don’t screw it up. Serpentor was always an underrated villain who has tons of potential if properly written. Hopefully Josh Blaylock will do a good job with the character’s return and not write him as a one-dimensional madman who exists only to give Cobra Commander high blood pressure.
The Bad: My only problem with this issue is the sequence where Josh has Snake Eyes out of his Gimp Suit and with the other Joes when they talk to the local police about the kidnapping of one of the kids. The sight of Snake Eyes like this is pretty jarring given the fact that Snake Eyes has always been portrayed as being someone who lives, breathes, eats, sleeps, and goes to the bathroom in his leather slave-boy outfit.
The Ugly: Cover Girl doesn’t get much of a spotlight cast onto her, though we do get some good interaction between her and Spirit (who thankfully still has his “Black Ops†costume and not his Native American stereotype look from the 1980s).
