Welcome Back!

I hope you're enjoying the Christmas/New Year period - as I've said before I've been enjoying a few days off work, spending time with family and catching up with friends.

During this time I've not been on the computer for more than a few minutes and I felt a bit overwhelmed this morning when I logged into my Google Reader and discovered just how much news, reviews and previews I've got to catch up on. As I work through the backlog I'll link to the posts that particularly caught my eyes. At the time of writing, I've not received my books from Wednesday 23 December (relying as I do on mail order) and I'm trying to avoid the spoilers until after I've received and read them!

I've had a little time for reading: thanks to the generosity of friends and family I received a ton of comic books for Christmas and I'm looking forward to reviewing some of them here over the coming days and weeks.

As it's Wednesday today and you might just be on your way to your comic shop later today, I want to quickly review a title that arrived just before Christmas but I hadn't had time to read until yesterday ...

G.I. Joe vs Cobra: Crimson Reign

Having really enjoyed the G.I. Joe feature film earlier this year I've been slowly rediscovering the G.I. Joe Universe through the excellent new series of books from IDW Publishing as well as the existing older material that I've been able to pick up.

This particular book is published by Fun Publications and, despite the large '#2' on the front cover is very much a self-contained story.

In the Argentinean jungle, the Baroness and the Crimson Twins hatch a new plot. With the aid of the Crimson Strike Team, the plan for a quick lucrative money grab seems foolproof. But the Baroness will soon learn though that G.I.Joe isn't the only highly trained special missions force in the world!

With a $4.95 cover price - a little pricey for 28 pages (22 of story plus 6 character 'dossiers') - this was a really enjoyable read with a nicely paced story, some great dialogue, bold and attractive interior art and a superb cover (above) from Greg Horn.

G.I. Joe vs Cobra: Crimson Reign
Written by David S. Lane, Greg Sepelak, S. Trent Troop, Brian K. Mulholland
Pencils by Sheldon Goh, Dan Khanna
Published by Fun Publications, 16 December 2009