I’m a huge fan of Mike Costa thanks to his work on GI Joe: Cobra, arguably the best GI Joe related project over.
With IDW’s main Joe book being a consistent disappointment (and at $3.99, tough to not drop), it’s kind of enticing to think about a Joe knock-off team that exists in the DCnU.
The Blackhawks are pretty much a straight lift of the Joes, down to an insignia almost exactly like the Joe movie logo. Code names, cutely names secret base (The Eyrie – and how long till THAT blows up and slides down the hill?), the bold redhead, the giant African American guy, the handsome leader who screws with the suits, enormous hangars of oddly shaped aircraft.
The character designs are pretty disappointing (Really, a pony-tail guy? Is this 90’s Image?)
Some of the dialogue didn’t fit the captions (the part about the biting), and I’m terribly sad that they are leaning on the old nanomite crutch that drove both the horrible Joe movie and the DDP and IDW reboots.
In conclusion, because of Costa, I’ll stick around for an arc, but honestly, this felt like “G.I. Joe Extreme” all over again.