G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #310 - Image Comics

G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO No. 310, September 2024

Definitely living up to its pre-publication hype of depicting “the Battle for Springfield”, Larry Hama’s narrative for Issue Three Hundred and Ten of “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” attempts to cover every competing force present during the mass fight, whether the characters belong to the titular Joes, Cobra, Destro, the Dreadnoks or Revanche. In fact, this twenty-page-publication’s pulse-pounding plot arguably only misses out on a handful of the American media franchise’s most prominent personalities.

In addition, this comic’s scintillating speed is almost breathtakingly fast with the Harvey Awards Hall of Famer penning very few pauses in the firefights occurring across “the seemingly innocuous town". This pace genuinely should pick up anyone deciding to peruse this periodical in their local book store, and debatably won’t then put them back down until the silver-masked founder of M.A.R.S. Industries decides that he must travel to Cobra’s covert “foothold in the United States” in person; “Call up the Iron Grenadiers. Roll out the heavy air transports. We’re going to Springfield.”

Surprisingly though, the American author also somehow manages to cram in a couple of emotional sub-stories into his script, with the Baroness almost being felled by a double-tap to her chest by the Crimson Guardsman. This almost fatal injury actually causes the likes of Zartan to form a desperate truce with Storm Shadow in order to get Anastasia Cisarovna some much needed medical aid at the local hospital. However, even this genuinely enthralling event is probably superseded by Dawn Moreno’s morally right, yet almost unwise, decision to rescue one of the law enforcement officers who brought about her parents’ doom – a move which almost costs Snake Eyes III her life until the ever treacherous cop is blown apart by a pack of heavily-armed mutants.

Lastly, a big shout out must go to Paul Pelletier whose layouts do a superb job of capturing all the mayhem and last minute shoot-outs needed for this comic. Of particular note is probably the various feelings running across the face of the aforementioned policeman who at one point wrongly believes Moreno is going to just watch him burn alive in his patrol vehicle. Furthermore the illustrator is also very good at pencilling a seemingly endless mixture of bullets, bazookas and explosions, and impressively making them all continue to captivate the readers' attention despite the sheer amount of ordnance needed to be drawn.

The regular cover art of "G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO" #310 by Andy Kubert & Nathan Fairbairn