G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: Beach Head #1 // Review
There’s a single U.S. Army Ranger trapped behind enemy lines. He’s in a seriously bad way. What’s worse: he’s not just worried about himself. There are a whole lot of innocent people who just might be in danger in G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: Beach Head #1. Writer/artist Phil Hester is joined by inker Travis Hymel in an issue that slides quickly through page and panel entirely without text. Lee Loughridge conjures color to the page. Action and drama play-out on the page with remarkably vivid fluidity in a one-shot story that launches a weekly one-shot G.I. Joe event for the month of April.
His code name is Beach Head. He’s Sergeant Firs Class Wayne R. Sneeden from Auburn, Alabama. He’s just dropped out of a helicopter with a couple of agents of Cobra. They’re attacking him. He’s attacking them. Somewhere in the midst of it all, he’s going to end-up wounded. Thankfully, there are a couple of refugees who are there to look after him. Cobra’s still after him, though. The refugee kids are going to try to help him out, but they’re going to have a bit of difficulty if Cobra finds out where he is. Things are going to get dangerous for everyone involved.
Hester has a strikingly well-modulated story to tell. There’s a hell of a lot that can be brought across in visuals alone. Hester impressively modulates moods and action as the story moves its way from the opening sequence to the danger lurking around every corner for everyone involved. Though Hester DOES keep the story simple and easy to follow in absence of any text, there ARE moments of complexity here and there which manage to hit the page quite deftly. Above all, Hester keeps the story exactly as long as it needs to be to deliver the impact he’s looking for in a one-shot story.
Hester’s are moves around the action quite well. Hymel’s inking lays-in some pretty heavy shadow throughout the story that can feel positively oppressive in places, but Hester’s layout maintains a pretty tight balance with the negative space on the page. The location of the action is safely ambiguous while still being impressively atmospheric. The snow and cold of the location can be felt throughout the issue thanks to some very clever and nuanced coloring on the part of Lee Loughridge.
It’s a tribute to Larry Hama’s original silent issue of G.I. Joe for Marvel. It’s the first in a monthlong tribute to “Silent Running” (G.I. Joe #21.) Hama’s classic of the Copper Age of Comics was delivered to the comics rack out of necessity, but it ended up being hugely influential. This month, Skybound and Image present novel looks at the textless-format. It could be a really fun exercise with the Joes judging from the opening entry in the event. It’s not brilliantly deep or anything, but it’s a great deal of fun and a solid departure from the standard action inhabiting the comics rack.
