This was not the new direction I was hoping for — Fred Van Lente takes over this book from Chuck Dixon, and he doesn’t seen like a good fit. Van Lente is a solid comic book writer, but this feels like a rote story without any particular inspiration. In fact, it actually reads like some of the late-period original stories, as the Marvel run was winding down — and that’s not a compliment. Also not aiding the cause is the line art by Steve Kurth, which looks much more amateurish than the Joe line’s usual crew of pencilers, i.e. Cal, Rosado, Fuso, etc.