G.I. JOE: COBRA #10: Confession time: this is my favorite of the G.I. JOE books. When I was a kid, I was kind of partial to Chuckles, and this is essentially his book (aside from a short story arc). This also happens to be the darkest of the books. Early in the series, Chuckles (still in deep cover) is forced to kill his lover and point of contact, Jinx, and though he feels guilty about it later, he fuckin’ did it, man! Then there was the story arc involving the journalist who falls under the sway of the Coil only to have everything taken away from him. He’s dehumanized to the point where he willingly gives himself over to ritual sacrifice. You don’t get darker than that, friends. And now, Chuckles finds himself Cobra’s captive as they try to break him down and make him want to join their side. They might have made his life just miserable enough to succeed . . . .
PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES #4: Harlan Ellison’s mini-series comes to an end with this issue. Devon lives in an Amish-type society until one day he discovers that their 50-mile stretch of existence is actually a miniature world among many others on a starship escaping from a ruined Earth, except the crew is dead and disaster is en route to them. Devon then does something stupid: he goes back to his world to warn everyone. Ellison has a lot to say about how close-minded we human beings can be when it comes to the things we believe versus what we could know. Buy all four issues. Some of it moves slowly, but it’s worth it in the end.
SUPERIOR #2: This is probably my least favorite of Mark Millar’s creator-owned work, mostly because it is so dependant upon a childlike sense of wonder. If not for the curse words, this book would be kid’s stuff, and I’m not big on superheroes in the first place. I mention it here in Cool Shit because this one made me laugh. A lot. Simon is a kid who has MS, and a talking space monkey has granted him time transformed into his hero, Superior. Once he convinces his friend of who he really is, they decide to test Simon’s newfound powers, from flying to x-ray vision to super strength. My second favorite test: when Chris holds up a newspaper and starts asking him to read, for example: “Can you look through the paper and tell me the headline on page 22?” But my absolute favorite is when Simon tries to fly and just can’t control it. He ascends, but he can’t stop it, so he’s grabbing for anything that will hold him to the ground, all to no avail. I recommend this book. It’s not Millar’s finest, but it’s still pretty damned good.
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