In Review: G.I. Joe: Saturday Morning Adventures #1 (of 4)

Synopsis: G.I. Joe is the code name for America’s daring, highly trained, special mission force. Its purpose: to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world… well, you know the story! But now, Cobra might have found their most versatile weapon yet! Can even G.I. Joe stop the Aladdin Initiative?

The Story

In this first part of a new G.I. Joe story. The villainous Cobra has stolen a piece of valuable art, which turns out to be the fabled Aladdin’s lamp complete with the genie. Wanting to take full advantage of his ill-gotten gains. The Cobra Commander orders the Genie to create 5 giant robots, which he sends over to G.I. Joe Headquarters. However, Duke and his team are able to figure out how to stop these Robots, which forces Cobra Commander to rethink his plan as he looks to hold the world ransom for an epic 1 Billion Dollars.

The Artwork

Dan Schoening does a brilliant job of capturing the visual look and feel of the classic 1980s animated series on which this comic is based. His interpretation of the various different characters are bang on with how they looked in that series. I loved the sequence of panels in which we see the G.I. Joe’s take on the giant killer robots in their Jet planes. And I also loved Schoening’s interpretation of the Genie.

Overall

Erik Burnham does an excellent job of capturing the spirit and fun of the classic G.I. Joe animated show. I loved the premise of Cobra Commander and his minions getting a hold of Aladdin’s Lamp. It felt very much like the kind of ridiculously over-the-top plot that we would have seen in the 1980s. This is great because I love a bit of nostalgia and this story captured that feeling beautifully.

Overall. A brilliant book, which manages to evoke fond memories of Saturday Morning cartoons from the 1980s. I loved the little moral story tagged on at the end where a young kid is having trouble with his computer and gets a bit of advice from Mainframe who tells the kid that he should always think before taking any drastic actions. This sort of moral story at the end of a story was pretty common in 80s cartoons. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next issue. I loved this.