REVIEW: G.I. Joe: Castle Fall

Rating if the Book Were a Movie: PG

Writer: Paul Allor
Artist: Chris Evenhuis
Colors: Brittany Peer
Letters: Neil Uyetake
Cover: Chris Evenhuis
Editor: Bobby Curnow
Publisher: IDW Publishing

I stumbled across this one when I was picking up my pulls at my local comic book store this week. Having been a fan of all things G.I. Joe for the better part of three decades I was thrilled to get my hands on a new story. I was less enthusiastic about the $7.99 cover price that came with this one. 

In this particular universe, Cobra has taken over the world. The members of the G.I. Joe team are wanted for being terrorists. Much of this story is told from the perspective of longtime Cobra baddie, Major Bludd. He has turned double agent and wants to do everything he can to bring down Cobra Commander.

Artwork: .75 Stars

The artwork meshes nicely with the story in this one-shot. It’s not as detailed as some of the other G.I. Joe titles that are out. It doesn’t have to be. Sometimes less is more. They proved it here.

Story: .75 Stars

I enjoyed the concept of this story that has gone with this particular volume of G.I. Joe. Resetting the universe so Cobra actually won was a stroke of genius. We have gotten a series where instead of being “Real American Heroes” the G.I. Joe team members have been real American Revolutionaries.
I love Major Bludd in this story. The way he is depicted gives old and new fans alike a new way to look at a face we’ve seen for quite a long time. He’s not whiny like he was in the cartoon, and he’s much more organized and menacing than he was in the original comic line.

Dialogue: .75 Stars

There is quite a bit of dialogue in this issue. In some places it borders on being excessive. It moves the story along at a steady pace and gives the reader plenty of information to deliberate over. 

Editing: .75 Stars

The lettering in this book is spot on. I didn’t see anything that makes me think canon (in this universe) was broken. This category would have received full marks if not for a page with three panels that for the life of me I can’t figure out the order they are meant to be read in.

Mechanics: .75 Stars

With this storyline “G.I. Joe: Castle Fall” was fairly easy to fall into. It has a lot of action and as we delve deeper into the adventure we get quite a few plot twists which make the story entertaining… to a point. After a while, the double-crossing started getting a bit over the top.

At the end of the day, I’m still hung up on that $7.99 cover price. You may be getting a few more pages, but not a full extra book. As a geek on a budget that’s at least two regular-sized books. If I’m raiding buck boxes that’s 8 books. “G.I. Joe: Castle Fall” is a good story. If the reader is being charged double it needs to be a great story.