Duke Issue 1 (of 5) Review
Summary: While I can’t call myself an expert, I’m extremely knowledgeable on the topic and am SUPER excited for this journey to being. This book looks fantastic and is a quick fun read. I can’t wait to see where this goes.
5
YO Joe!
Background – A real American Hero starts his road to being reborn.
Writing – This is a Duke we rarely get to see. The cartoon Duke was the clean cut hero who would stop at nothing to fight for Truth, Justice, and The American way. This Duke is suffering from some PTSD and a government who is clearly lying to him. General Hawk wants him back in the service, but only if Duke drops the story that he saw a jet turn into a robot (STARSCREAM!). Duke declines and walks out. 6 months later he goes to an aliens support group and runs into Dr. Adele Burkhart.
Dr. Burkhart assures him that what he saw was very real, but she thinks that it is actually part of a weapons race, which is currently being headed by M.A.R.S. Industry. Duke breaks in but is caught and brought to a statue of our head villain Destro! While the troops just want to kill Duke or call the cops, Destro instead frames him for the murder of the support group and Dr. Burkhart. In the end, Duke goes on the run as General Hawk activates two more Real American Heroes to bring him in, Sgt. Stalker and Rock N’ Roll!
Artwork – This book is kinetic. The fight scene is energetic and easy to follow and every hit that is landed is felt. I appreciate the little in jokes that are strewn throughout the art, whether it being a book in Duke’s car entitled “Mindbender” or the S.W.A.T. team having suspiciously familiar helmets rather than normal police gear. Obviously, Tom Reilly has a love of the brand.
Final Thoughts – So here’s the thing. I never watched G.I. Joe when it first came out. I was born in 1987, which means I caught part of the DiC series and reruns of the Sunbow series. It was cool and of course I picked up some of the later toys, but by that point the series had pretty much abandoned the military trappings and had run straight into sci-fi warfare. Plus, Batman debuted in 1989 and changed my world forever.
It wasn’t until 2019 that I really became fascinated with G.I. Joe again when the Classified toy line came out. I went back and studied everything I possibly could about G.I Joe and while I can’t call myself an expert, I’m extremely knowledgeable on the topic and am SUPER excited for this journey to being. This book looks fantastic and is a quick fun read. I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Final score: 5 out of 5 stars
PS: I know that there is a small Cobra Commander preview at the end of the book, but since this book recapped the preview of Duke we saw previously, I’ll wait for that book to come out before I cover it.
Publisher: Image
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Genre: Superhero
Format: Monthly
Release Date: 12/27/2023
About the Author
Matt Fischer Lover of all things nerdy. Reader of Comics for over 25 years. DC encyclopedia. X-Men historian. Spider-Man and Marvel lover. Indie side guy.
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