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G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #318 review



Creators: Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciller), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colourist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatterer), Pat Brosseau (letterer)

Plot: At the Pit, Duke, Black Hat, Stalker and Mainframe monitor and support the various Joe teams.  In Springfield, Storm Shadow and Dawn sneak in through the tunnels and learn some important information about Cobra Commander.  At Cobra Island, Multo and Helix are able to disguise themselves to sneak into the casino to they can figure out who all of Revanche's sleeper agents will be while Muskrat and Wet-Suit spy on Dr. Mindbender meeting with Alpha-001.  In Scotland, Cobra Commander makes his escape, not realizing he's being spied upon. 

Writing:  Hama is doing a decent job of setting up all his players for the big set pieces but sometimes the issues lack a lot of action.  We get a little bit with Dawn and Storm Shadow finishing off a cyborg from the invasion of Springfield.  However, being free from having to constantly promote new upcoming Hasbro toys allows Hama more freedom to build up on-going stories that he wasn't always able to do back in the Marvel days and this is a good demonstration of that.

Art:  The art team is doing a good job here as well.  We get some good details here and there, like the close-up of the Techno-Viper's helmet.  Colors are muted a bit too, which work for it being a military comic instead of a super-hero comic, with bright costumes.  

Overall:  A good entry that continues to set up for Hama's eventual payoff issues.  Without having to worry about including news toys, Hama is really allowed time to build up characters and stories.

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