While similar in tone to the newer series, what we have here is a classic GI Joe story written by the man, Larry Hama, with a slimmed down sense of raw purpose. I guess this is a continuation of the classic Marvel series — although that is never fully explicated — where Cobra has GI Joe on the ropes somehow, through subterfuge and political maneuvering. Give Hama his core group of Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Hawk, Roadblock, etc, and the results are guaranteed to be cool. This new series is a great statement of how successful IDW has been with the brand.