Creators: Kelly Thompson (Writer), Marco Ferrari (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colourist), Rus Wooton (Letterer)
Story: In Monaco, Scarlett/Shana M. O'Hara infiltrate a mansion that is having some sort of auction and sees Jinx/Kimi Arashikage there as well. Despite orders not to, Scarlett engages and frees hostages that were going to be sold to bad people (and it seems Jinx freed one as well). Scarlett is let go from her special contract for breaking orders but discovers Stalker/Lonzo R. Wilkinson has broken into her house and has a job for her. We find out that Scarlett and Jinx were roommates (and in special forces too) and developed their own set of code signals which Jinx had used. We also discover that Jinx has been missing for 2 years and has infiltrated the Arashikage Clan in Japan. Scarlett's job is to go and do the same. She gets dropped off by Snow Job/Harlan W. Moore and fights some of the clan's ninjas before presenting herself to the Hard Master (whom Jinx is standing next to). Scarlett is then knocked out by Storm Shadow/Thomas S. Arashikage.
Writing: Reading the first couple pages, I first thought this might be a better story for Cover Girl/Courtney A. Krieger (going undercover and all) but when Jinx shows up and we start connecting it to the Arashikage Clan, it fits Scarlett a lot more. I like this route they are taking - Jinx and Scarlett know each other and that's how Scarlett ends up involved with the Arashikage (compared to getting involved via Snake-Eyes in other iterations of G.I. Joe). The biggest downside, except for Stalker, there isn't a lot to connect it (yet) to the larger Energon Universe Skybound Entertainment is creating. This is the third G.I. Joe series (following Duke and Cobra Commander) so you would hope for a few more connections. At the same time, we're adding more classic characters to the mix - Jinx, Snow Job, the Hard Master and, of course, Storm Shadow. And the story leaves off on a nice cliffhanger.
Art: Marco Ferrari does a really good job with the art here. We get a lot of nice close-ups of faces and some really nice action scenes as well. We really get a sense Scarlett is well trained and can take on dangerous fights (and gets to use a XK-1 Power Crossbow as well!). All the flashback scenes are done in a sepia tone, which helps establish right away that it is a flashback. That is always appreciated too. The other colours really pop too, especially when Scarlett is fighting in the white snow and her red hair just stands out against the white snow.
Overall: A great first entry with Scarlett into the new G.I. Joe/Transformers shared universe. We instantly get that Scarlett is a badass all on her own. Art is great as well. My biggest complaint would be a lack of a larger connection to the bigger shared universe that is being developed. It could have been easy to do as well, having the buyers (from the beginning) also trying to buy alien tech or something. As is though, I'm intrigued about what the next issue will bring and if our favourite mute ninja will make an appearance.
