G.I. Joe: Retaliation #2
Official Movie Prequel
Written by John Barber
Art by Salvador Navarro and Atilio Rojo
Colors by Esther Sanz
Letters by Chris Mowry
Covers by Salvador Navarro
IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 29, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

With just four months to go until this summer’s biggest blockbuster (sorry, Avengers), it’s time to start getting EXCITED!!! And G.I. Joe: Retaliation #2 will get you excited. Although, I’m afraid that for the spoiler-free, this might come with a bit of a caution sign.

Writer John Barber does a fantastic job of giving you, largely, Roadblock’s origin. And an extra kudos for throwing in some great classic Roadblock traits and HEY! in this issue, you can LITERALLY smell what The Rock is cookin’!

My biggest problem with this issue is that I think it gives away some spoiler stuff from the actual movie, and if you’re like me and try to stay spoiler free, that’s a bit of a bummer. But, I guess we won’t know for sure until the movie actually comes out, so take that with a grain of salt and do NOT let it steer you away from this comic. What I especially liked about this issue is that, there’s a TON of Joes in it. Hawk, Scarlett, and some from the new movie. It’s got a real G.I. Joe flavor to it, and that’s what I was looking for.

The art by Salvador Navarro and Atilio Rojo is a bit of a weak spot. Although they’re both fine in their own right, when you mix them together in this book, it’s a little unsettling. One handles the “current” story while the other does the flashback pages, and while I know they’re supposed to be different, they’re just TOO different. I was also not a big fan of the actor likenesses. While you could tell who everyone was, I think a little more time could’ve been spent on making them look like the actors.

All in all, another reason to be excited for G.I. Joe: Retaliation! This issue’s got plenty of action, some great story and it’s a really fun read. And, hey, I know that some G.I. Joe fans weren’t a fan of the movie, but give this a try, if your expecting a continuation of that film here, your sorely mistaken.