Comics: Cobra #7

While Cobra searches for their new Commander, the Joes look for a possible mole in the organization, and Black-Out plans on leaving something for his former teammates to remember him by. Mike Costa's and Antonio Fuso's Cobra #7 escalates the action and brings several long-running plots to a head.

STORY/WRITING
While perhaps not as strong as the former Gage-collaborated series was, Costa's current Cobra series still is the best written of the three IDW relaunches. Costa writes for a mature audience, by which I don't necessarily mean the dark themes and the violence, but rather Costa trusts his readers to infer from subtext and to draw their own conclusions. It makes the book more rewarding to read.

Costa brings several plots to the forefront in this issue, several of them, I admit, I wasn't crazy about when they were first introduced. The intersection of these plots at the end of the issue not only sets up a great cliffhanger, but restored my faith in Costa as a solo writer for this series. Like the best of comic writers, Costa plays the long game.

CHARACTERS
We got some interesting background on Firewall this issue: a character who, several months ago, I could not have cared less about. Costa won me over on her exactly the same way he won me over on Black-out…the backstory of each character starting with "I'll never be a G.I. Joe" on the splash page.
Lady Jaye gets a supporting role here in her second appearance. I love the portrayal of her: tough, sarcastic, and 120 percent Army.

ART
As always, Fuso's art fits well with the noir feel to the book, especially with the heavy use of shadowing. The first three-quarters of the book is narrative, and Fuso's style works well for human faces…simple, but expressive. But as much as I like Fuso's work in the past, I had problems with this book. The last quarter of the issue is a fight scene involving four characters, and I found it difficult to follow where people were in relation to each other, and what actions they were doing. It was a shame that the art was distracting from the climax of the story when for the rest of the book it supplemented it so very well.

INTANGIBLES
It's interesting that the three protagonists in this book were all female. I am not complaining: they were all strong, smart, and interesting. Here's hoping we see each of them again soon.

VERDICT
If you've been reading the series up to now (and you should be), this issue is your payoff issue. Highly recommended.