G.I. Joe: Castle Fall #1 // Review
The terrorist group Cobra has taken over. A small group of revolutionaries has been working on overthrowing Cobra in a new IDW series written by Paul Allor. The war with Cobra reaches a major turning point in the new one-shot G.I. Joe: Castle Fall. Allor's series' best artist Chris Evenhuis brings the major turning point to life on the page aided by colorist Brittany Peer. Originally scheduled to be released quite some time ago, the long-overdue one-shot does not disappoint. There are some very compelling characters in Allor's ensemble that glide percussively through a breezy action drama.
The rebels are attacked on the open highway by forces of Cobra. G.I. Joe is NOT going to slow-down for Cobra, but they might find some resistance when the sinister Major Bludd is handing-off a captive Lady Jaye to the Joes…offering them his services. It's up to Scarlett to decide whether or not to trust the man. However, matters of uncertainty and allegiances are the least of her concerns, as the Joes launch an assault on Cobra headquarters in Chicago. They need to break into what is likely one of the most heavily-fortified complexes in the midwest to face Cobra Commander himself. It's not going to be easy.
Allor has spun through a Hollywood action playbook in his run with G.I. Joe over the course of 2020. He's curated a sharp and flashy series of action sequences for the Castle Fall one-shot that serves the series well. There isn't a whole lot connecting the action sequences in the one-shot. They're all satisfying enough that they don't have to be all that connected to be satisfying. There hasn't been a universal perspective on G.I. Joe and Cobra's conflict in this particular universe, but there doesn't have to be. Even if there isn't a lot of dramatic foundation for the aggression, the action is fun.
Evenhuis' art fits the story perfectly. Allor's story wouldn't be nearly as appealing with just any other artist. The writer seems to know exactly what he's going to be able to get out of Evenhuis. The artist's clean lines and clear action tumble across the page in scenes periodically punctuated with moody drama. Evenhuis's use of multiple almost identical panels to drive home the flow of action reaches an impressive level of effectiveness this issue. Other artists might try to cram a whole lot of fluid motion or a complex exchange of dialogue into a single panel, but Evenhuis breaks it apart beautifully. Peer is allowed to work with some beautiful colors in a variety of different moods. Peer's work is gorgeous, from the Cobra command center bathed in the red light of alarm to a parking structure's shadowy darkness at night to the beautiful sunset of a highway action sequence.
Allor, Evenhuis, and Peer have done some very, very vivid work on this series. This IS a climactic issue, but it'd be really nice to see this particular creative team continue with the work it's doing here. And honestly…these three people could work together on just about an action comic, and it would be worth reading. They've got a remarkably excellent creative rapport that has served the franchise well over the course of 2020.
