Review — ‘G.I. Joe Sssilent Missions: Crimson Guard’ #1 Pulls Off A Twice Tough Challenge

Crafting an all silent issue – a comic without any dialogue bubbles or captions – is challenging enough on its own. But with the laboriously-titled G.I. Joe A Real American Hero Sssilent Missions Crimson Guard #1, creators Gabriel Hardman and Matt Hollingsworth are faced with an even more daunting task; telling a silent story when the main character is a brand new character with a mask and uniform identical to dozens of others, a “troop builder” protagonist with no known unique characteristics.

Also, that character is a villain, on the side readers are trained to root against. Yet Hardman and Hollingsworth rise to the challenge with aplomb.

The premise of Crimson Guard #1 (let’s just stick with that for the sake of brevity) is fairly straightforward. When the Joes launch an attack on Cobra’s base in the midst of his induction into the ranks of the elite Crimson Guard, the anonymous trooper must get Cobra Commander off the base safely. To make it work, the creators need to create some sense of character in the nameless, faceless protagonist, some reason for us to root for him, and some way to visually identify him – particularly once Cobra Commander dons an identical Crimson Guard uniform.

The latter is accomplished simply enough by having the visor of our protagonist’s helmet damaged in the initial salvo, such that one eye becomes visible. Not only does this make him easier to spot, it humanizes him ever so slightly. We don’t know what motivated this individual to join Cobra, but past experience with the Crimson Guard tells us he must be skilled and dedicated, and the ceremony which opens the issue is filled with enough visual pomp to suggest this a big deal for the protagonist.

But Hardman and Hollingsworth smartly complicate matters by making the protagonist witness Cobra Commander execute his fellow inductee in cold blood in order to steal his uniform and ease his escape. This immediately makes us sympathetic to the protagonist, establishing that whatever motivates his devotion to Cobra and its commander, in this moment, his life depends on him continuing to serve Cobra in a battle in which both sides are more than willing to kill him.

What follows is, genuinely, a pretty exciting bit of action storytelling in which “CG One-Eye” and the disguised Cobra Commander fight their way out of the base, evading numerous recognizable, fan-favorite Joes, including Scarlett, Stalker, Shipwreck and other Joes whose names don’t start with “S.” Hardman & Hollingsworth play the hits, working FANGS and CLAWS and Rattlers and alligator-filled swamps into the mix, the linework bringing a gritty realism to the action that balances the bright colors of the uniforms and explosions and the more over-the-top, sci-fi designs of the gear and settings.

Ultimately, the ending – which is both definitive in terms of what happens but nebulous in terms of how the protagonist feels about it – also strikes the right balance for a story in which so much of the main character is inscrutable, a clever way of having the form of the story impact the function as well. All in all, Crimson Guard #1 successfully rises to the double challenge inherent in its premise, and stands as a worthy entry into the canon of G.I. Joe silent stories.