G.I. Joe America's Elite #23
Sins of the Mother, Part 3

Writer: Mark Powers
Pencils: Mike Bear
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letters: Brian Crowley
Commanding Officer: Mike O'Sullivan
Cover: Mike Bear, Clayton Brown, and Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Military Consultant: Phil Kost

Cover Six Page Preview (from Comic Continuum)

Sins of the Mother continues at a blistering pace with issue #23, covering different corners of the globe, different conflicts, and different action, but it all continues to come together and flow like a fast-paced military espionage thriller. I can't give enough credit to the Devils' Due team for what they've done with this title.

ISSUE SUMMARY

Because I've gotten an early review sample, I am holding off on a summary of the issue until it hits shelves in May.

PLOT

I don't need to rehash the summary of the issue to tell you that Mark Powers is still in high form with this issue. He manages to cover several different ongoing storylines with flair and ties all of the characters back very well. All of your most familiar characters speak and act as they should, carry around familiar weapons and very clearly are interacting in a very "real world" environment. Somehow Mr. Powers is able to blend this all together in a way that many folks have not been able to, and this most recent issue works on many different levels.

As you can tell by the cover, Flint makes his return appearence in this issue, and while Flint was one of my main problems with this series early on, the writer writes him very well, and is able to link him back to Lady Jaye without putting him over the top. He's obviously still an obsessed individual, but it's written in a sensible way here, rather than in a way that makes you cringe every time he talks.

If I had any complaints I might say the issue jumps around a bit too much in some places. A lot of the main action sequences take place in a foreign land, and you don't really get a grasp of how the team got there between issues #22 and #23. It's not an obvious gap in action, but enough that the reader has to think back (or at least I did) and try to make certain I didn't miss anything. There is another incident of this later in the issue where the Baroness and Flint are concerned, but this particular gap is something that I'm certain Mr. Powers will touch on next issue.

All in all, the plot continues to move along vibrantly, and manages to use all characters well. There's even a cameo by a familiar piece of G.I. Joe equipment (and it's "driver") that made me smile wide when I first saw it...keep your eyes open! While you're at it, look out for some infamous enemies from G.I. Joe's past to make an appearence here as well. How will this play into World War III? We'll all find out soon...

ART

Mike Bear continues his great artwork in this issue as well. Working with the colorist, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, they keep the artistic "paint" style that they started last issue, but it seems to work a LOT better here than it did there. One of the most important aspects of his art is simply the realistic nature of how he draws the human form, and especially how he draws military combat. A lot of gunfight action takes place in this issue, and even the most minor touches like how Duke holds his machine gun and how the different sparks and ricochets look as bullets pound against different surfaces. These may seem like such minor, insignificant things, but I think they're very critical to a successful somewhat "real world" book, and these are things that Mike Bear does terrifically.

I'm not sure if it's artistic input that gives us some twists and turns to the familiar uniforms as well, but they end up looking pretty darn nice there, too. I really like this shift to the sweater-look. It manages to look very "special forces" but also keeps each character looking unique. The action is drawn very well with a nice "flow" and great impact. Great art, start to finish.

FINAL WORDS

One issue closer to the "Big One" and I personally cannot wait until we're hipdeep in World War III. Devils' Due has managed to make me very excited about a Joe book again, and even more excited about the long upcoming story arc, so every issue that we get under our "belt" is a generous step in the right direction.

Everyone involved continues to do fantastic work. Once this issue hits shelves, don't hesitate to pick it up, it really continues the impeccable storytelling that Sins of the Mother has been all about from the start.

RATING (OUT OF 5)