G.I.Joe Origins #16 is a 2-part story that begins to reveal the past history of Zartan, Cobra’s master of disguise. The story takes place just before IDW’s relaunched G.I.Joe regular series and is written by Chuck Dixon who also writes the regular series. Overall things seem to be tying in nicely with the events currently taking place in the regular series and the take on this version of Zartan is looking to be fairly interesting, though very different than what you have come to expect from previous incarnations of the character. One thing I am a little unclear on about the story. Towards the end of the issue, Zartan has to wear what appears to be some type of special suit, a suit that seems to look very similar to that of the Wraith character’s suit which has invisibility abilities. There is no explanation as to why he is wearing this suit or if in fact it is the Wraith suit, I don’t know if there will be more explanation on this next issue or not, but right now it has me a little confused.

As for the art, Alex Cal does a magnificent job with the visuals. Like when you see Zartan jumping out of the Cobra Helicopter at the beginning. His art really helps bring this story to life and helps keep you enthralled in the story to see what is going to happen next.

If you have been following the events of the regular G.I.Joe series from IDW or just a big fan of Zartan then you will not want to miss this new issue of Origins.


Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Alex Cal
Publisher: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99
On sale: 06/03/10