I have to say, I think the scene where Cobra Commander is grieving his deceased son Billy was infinitely preferable to the now-Disavowed Devil's Due sequence where he was the one who killed him.

Nice to see some Russians again, even if they're no longer the Oktober Guard, by their own admission.

Was that a DTC HISS tank front-and-center in that approaching column in the last panel? Nice to see THAT, too! That was always my favorite HISS!

Cyborg ninjas? Okaaayyy, bit of a stretch, but I'll be interested to see how it plays out. (What the heck, if Mortal Kombat can do it...)

Your a issue behind....:p lol

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*Spoiler Tags*

Some people like to wait until the trades come out to find out what happens.

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I don't mean to sound like a smart alek here, but really? The name of the topic is "A Few Thoughts on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #173"! That's pretty much a spoiler tag in the subject line. If you haven't read issue 173, don't click if you don't want spoilers.

I get my comics through Westfield Comics, at a discount, delivered right to my door. It's worth the wait...

...QFT.

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Well in Joeczar's defense he is a moderator so he MIGHT HAVE to read the threads to make sure they are on topic and such....

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Just you wait for #174...seriously, this feels like Hama is back in his groove. Characterizations, personalities, motives, plot progression all feel solid and smooth. But the book does have a different tone and feel to it. You can definitely tell it isn't the early 90s anymore and it feels odd to have the 80s/90s versions of these characters almost jump 15+ years forward.

I started reading with 172. Redclaw nailed it. Hama has a feel for the characters like no one else and the art keeps up with the action and makes the characters look distiguishable.

What I'm really looking forward ti is where they go with it. They made a permanent change, what does it do?

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I need to catch up, I haven't read it since 170. I have the issues in hand I just need to sit down and read them. ARAH is the best Joe book being published right now, and I really hope to see it continue for the long haul.

EDIT** I just read through them last night and am all caught up! A couple of things I was wondering though is:

Why did they send just three Joe's on the mission to retrieve Darklon? I know it'd be six if you include Lift Ticket, Wild Bill and Recondo, but only three to infiltrate the castle. It seems like a job that would have been better suited for a five man squad.

And . When I read that part of the comic, it was difficult to make out exactly what was going on. I had to read it through a second time.

I like the cyborg blue ninjas so far, and wonder if they are some offshoot of the Night Creepers, since they also seemed to utilize high tech gadgetry.

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