G.I. Joe: Cobra - The Last Laugh

G.I. Joe: Cobra #1-2,4

by Mike Costa

The critically acclaimed COBRA series gets an oversized edition to tell the story that changed all of G.I. JOE and COBRA forever. His name is Chuckles. He is G.I. JOE's top undercover agent and he's just infiltrated a top secret, highly organized terrorist organization, but deep cover takes its toll. An action packed thriller from beginning to end this book contains the whole Chuckles saga. Originally published as G.I. JOE #0, G.I. JOE: COBRA Issues #1–4, G.I. JOE: COBRA SPECIAL #1–2, G.I. JOE: COBRA II Issues #1–4 and #10–13, and COBRA #12.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Espionage

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 11, 2012

About the author

Mike Costa is an American comic book and television writer.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read. Requires very little pre-knowledge of the franchise (though fans will probably catch a few extra details). A couple of pretty powerful moments make this memorable. Highly recommended.

[Ta0paipai · Rating 4 out of 5]

More realistic and dramatic than I usually want my GI Joe titles. But it’s so well done that doesn’t matter. It’s refreshing to see a character like Chuckles developed so deeply and used so well. In that sense it was good medicine for my Snake Eyes (and too-many-ninja) headache.

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

People really seem to love this series and I went into it with high hopes - but left feeling underwhelmed and left wondering what the fuss was about. There is a lot of fuss because this series is on a lot of people's top ten lists. I was a BIG G.I. Joe comic book fan back in the 80's. I loved the way the comics were even better than the TV series and managed to take a semi-silly concept and make it feel real. These were elite soldiers fighting against Cobra the evil army without a nation.

This series lost me because they made it even MORE realistic. It made GI Joe just a CIA branch (for all intents and purposes), they have the same silly names but they lost all their fun. We are in a world where Cobra is an evil economic terror and GI Joe command send its Joes on pointless missions where they are easily outflanked by Cobra. The leader of the Joes, Hawk, is an a-hole who - by the story end seems just as evil as the bad guys and seems like he has no clue what he is doing. The only reason the Joes get a little success is when the Joe code-named Chuckles (the main focal point of the story) goes off grid and takes Cobra down for himself.
I wouldn't mind a tale of espionage but all the heroes are idiots "I am going to blow up the Cobra compound - they have no idea I am here" (meanwhile - Cobra knows he is there). "I am going to infiltrate Cobra but sleep with one of their commanders so she can figure out I am a spy" And when the heroes are tired of being stupid - Cobra Commander takes over "Instead of killing this Joe - I will promote him in Cobra - I like his moxy".
Yeah - a lot of stupid decisions, all around and in the end I wasn't cheering for the good guys or bad guys.
I look for comics for a little escape and the incompetence shown by everyone was a little too realistic and not enough escapism for me.

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Even though I was a big fan of the G.I. Joe tv show and the action figures as I kid, this was my first time reading any of the comics. Military comics have never been my thing but, for whatever reason, I decided to give this a try. So glad I did. This isn’t the G.I. Joe from when I was young. It’s very mature and dark. I was sucked in mainly by the character development and great dialogue. I’m definitely eager to continue with the series.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly grown-up take on the G.I. Joe universe. Full of intrigue, double-crosses, and brutality with a dash of corny dialog. Fun start to finish.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super good, way better than I expected. I love it when writers figure out how to do something relatively realistic with silly kid properties. Good art, good writing, great story.

[Ianzam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the best comics ever published. A gripping and clever neo-noir story, an undercover agent (Chuckles) infiltrating Cobra. You don't need to know GI Joe to read this, it was one of the launch titles for the IDW label's reboot of it anyway. And it stands on it's own, such a tremendously good story.

We're lucky that there are a lot of noir comics these days, but none to me are better than this one. Alarmingly good. Seek this out.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good reintroduction to the GI Joe universe. Compelling and realistic. Very impressive for a concept created as a toy line back in the '80s.