G.I. Joe: America's Elite: Disavowed #3

COBRA has taken control of the White House and formed a new special forces team to replace GI Joe. The GI Joes have become enemies of the state and the White House under COBRA’s command has sent forces to storm the GI Joe base of operations at the Rock. You’d be forgiven if you thought this was going to be a review for GI Joe Retaliation, no I’m reviewing the much better-written story of GI Joe America’s Elite: In Sheep’s Clothing collected in GI Joe America’s Elite Disavowed: In Sheep’s Clothing. This story arc unquestionably inspired the film GI Joe Retaliation especially given that the tease at the end of Rise of COBRA mirrors the end of the last Disavowed book that collected GI Joe America’s Elite: The Ties That Bind. While Retaliation adapts many of the same story beat of the “In Sheep’s Clothing” arc, the film failed to capture the dramatic irony of the comic and the clever writing and vision Joe Casey and Josh Medors brought to the comic story. With the Phoenix Guard being added player to the GI Joe vs COBRA war in the story. Let’s dive in and explore this story from the Devil’s Due era from plot to characters and artwork and see how it holds up and what Retaliation missed.

Story

GI Joe America’s Elite Disavowed: In Sheep’s Clothing opens where The Ties That Bind leaves off with the revelation that White House Chief-Of-Staff Garrett Freedlowe was the Cobra Commander the whole time and that Cobra Commander was directing US policy. Then we see Cobra Commander use Zartan disguise equipment to create a mask of the real Garrett Freedlowe to complete the illusion that he was the actual White House Chief-Of-Staff instead of an imposter. Now completing his Garrett Freedlowe disguise the Cobra Commander seeks to convince President Bush to disband the GI Joe Team because they cannot be trusted and when that fails he forms the Phoenix Guard a phony elite counterterrorism unit to replace the GI Joe Team made up of COBRA operatives in disguise. After learning from a meeting between President George W. Bush and General Joseph “GI Joe” Colton that the Baroness was being held at the Rock, Cobra Commander appoints US General & former Joe Team leader Philip Rey to strike the GI Joe Team’s base of operations, the Rock. The Joe Team has to protect its base from the Phoenix Guard’s attacks. Meanwhile, Duke has to find his way back to base after escaping captivity from the Crimson Guard.

Now what is great about the story is that it demonstrates how strategic-minded Cobra Commander is by having him constantly planning the destruction of GI Joe. The story shows the Cobra Commander planning his next move with every new piece of information he discovers which is peak Cobra Commander. Another significant aspect of the story is showing how problematic conflict within the Joe Team is. A large part of the reason the Phoenix Guard was able to successfully take the Rock was that the Joes were too busy bickering amongst each other. Particularly Stalker and Scarlett are furious that Colton hid the fact that the Baroness was held captive in the Rock from the other Joes. It created a situation where the Phoenix Guard could strike while the Joes weren’t paying attention. Ultimately emphasizing why it is important for the team to be unified which is great. The Phoenix Guard in many ways falls apart because divisions within the team start appearing and Rey’s discovery that they were Cobras the whole time further sets the demise of the Phoenix Guard in motion. Which creates a great contrast between the two teams as the story progresses. Ultimately the story was great.

Characters

In Sheep’s Clothing is primarily a Cobra Commander story and boy does it do the Commander justice. He is depicted as being both calculated and irrational at different points of the story. The story opens with Cobra Commander murdering advisors to the President because they discovered he was Garrett Freedlowe in an act of frantic cover. Then later he is also depicted as being several steps ahead of everyone. He first creates the Phoenix Guard as a replacement then uses the Phoenix Guard to dispatch a COBRA base in Utah before the Joes arrive so the Joe Team will look incompetent. Then he has the President meet with Colton at the Rock so he can convince the President firsthand of the incompetence of the Joe Team and get Colton to reveal that the Joes had been keeping the Baroness prisoner in the Rock and use that fact to call into question the ethics of the Joes. In many ways, this parallels when Red Skull was Mr. Smith had John Walker become Captain America to discredit Captain America's image. This leads the President to give full oversight of the Phoenix Guard to Cobra Commander and he uses that authority to strike the Rock. While the Joes are under attack he learns that the Baroness had a child and plans to use it as leverage against the Baroness & Destro. He also sets a trap for Spirit Iron Knife when he learns that Spirit was spying on him. This is a great way to write Cobra Commander. It is amazing that Cobra Commander wasn’t transparent about his takeover of Washington DC and used the Phoenix Guard as a covert front for COBRA’s operations. Which left the Joes in the dark about their attackers and what was happening. This helps to create good dramatic irony in the story. Much better than how Retaliation had COBRA openly take over the White House which killed any kind of dramatic irony the film could have had.

In addition to Cobra Commander, the characterization of GI Joe himself was great too. In Sheep’s Clothing goes all in with the parallels between General Joe Colton and Colonel Nick Fury by having Colton do things that are morally questionable but done for what he considers to be a noble cause. The entire point of having the Baroness prisoner and keeping her a secret was done in the interest of national security by Colton and Duke. Colton in the climax decides to reign in the Joes and change how they conduct themselves because he sees the importance of a unified team for national security. He is also seen to have a plan for everything that comes for the Joes. Colton has secret safe places and hideouts within the Rock to retreat to in case the Rock comes under siege. It shows that Colton takes his job and duty seriously and wants to do the best job possible, there’s a reason he is GI Joe. Duke’s characterization was well done too, he spends most of the arc trying to get back to base and inform the other Joes that Cobra Commander is in Washington DC. Duke is shown to be determined to complete his mission which is a great way to characterize Duke. This is shown in Duke’s interactions with Dr. Elizabeth Parker who treated Duke while he was in South America. Dr. Parker who is written to be a caring nurse tries to get Duke to hold off on going back into the field which makes her a neat minor character here. Duke on the other hand wants to return to the Rock to inform the Joes of his discovery and his sense of urgency is only increased when he discovers that the Rock was attacked. He puts his well-being on the line for a more significant cause by swooping into the Rock and saving the Joes before his wounds fully healed against Elizabeth’s advice. In many ways, Duke exhibits traits similar to Captain America in this story in the same way Joe Colton does Nick Fury.

Additionally, Stalker has taken a leadership role in this story with Flint taking a leave of absence and Duke missing. He saves Spirit with Roadblock & Kamakura and confronts Colton about the Baroness being held captive because he sees it as unethical. Scarlett also takes issue with Colton holding the Baroness prisoner because she sees it as unethical and does not like feeling like she can not trust who is in charge of the team. It makes for a great character growth moment when Stalker & Scarlett come to understand Colton and work together to fight off the Phoenix Guard attack. Snake Eyes was great as well, Joe Casey manages to remove the ninja action from the story while keeping Snake Eyes as a central player. Casey achieved this by having Snake Eyes utilize his military skills to solve problems instead of martial arts because the Red Shadows previously used his ninja skills for harm so Snake Eyes went full Alpha Commando here. He gets to be a total badass too; he saves General Rey from Scrap Iron using a combination of stealth & assault tactics. General Hawk also got time to shine because he was sending Joes like Spirit & Duke on solo missions to find the Cobra Commander’s whereabouts. It shows that he still has a bone to pick with Cobra Commander after being paralyzed by him and will not rest until he is found. In Sheep's Clothing catches readers up to speed on Spirit Iron Knife by opening with the Hunt For Cobra Commander one shot and establishes that Spirit was captured after discovering Cobra Commander. Storm Shadow takes a leave of absence to clear his mind which adds depth to his character showing his humanity. Roadblock, Kamakura, and Shipwreck have minor parts, but they are a treat when they do get time to shine.

The remaining characters to discuss are the Phoenix Guard and some extra characters like the President. The Phoenix Guard is led by former Joe General Phillip Rey who is depicted to be in a bit of a dilemma from the outset. He is told that the Joe Team has become ineffective and untrustworthy by Garrett Freedlowe and that he is placed in charge of the Phoenix Guard as their replacement team. When he is ordered to strike the Rock, General Rey is initially pained by the order because he believed the Joe Team was still a group of good people. However, he goes along with it because he was convinced he was doing the right thing. He also has a role similar to Captain Atom in Superman/Batman Public Enemies where he wants to avoid killing Joes and would prefer Joes’ peaceful surrender. The rest of the Pheonix Guard is like Major Force who just wants to kill the Joes despite General Rey’s objections. When Rey learns that the Phoenix Guard is composed of COBRA operatives he tries to atone for his actions and help the Joes fend off the attack. His state of regret carries over to the next arc Emperor's New Clothes. The rest of the Phoenix Guard are fun and there a neat little clues as to who they are. These hints are found in the characters’ specialties and personalities. For example, High Tide and Halo’s specialties are naval combat and airborne infantry which give away clues that these are Copperhead and Wild Weasel. Additionally, their personalities also indicate who the Phoenix Guardsmen are. Snake Eater and Mech are eager to blow things up and sabotage the Rock which indicates that they are Firefly and Scrap Iron. Friday and High Tide are depicted as being greedy and selfish at a time which gives away that they are Zarana and Copperhead. It is also fun to see Zarana almost call Scrap Iron by his COBRA code name and have him correct her with his Phoenix Guard code name. Firefly is also shown to be able to hold his own against the Ninjas like Snake Eyes and Kamakura in combat making him probably the most formidable member of the Phoenix Guard. In addition to the Phoenix Guard, characters like President Bush and the Baroness were given great character moments too. Baroness is introduced giving General Colton, President Bush, and Chief-of-Staff Freedlowe (Cobra Commander) the silent treatment, then later escapes in the confusion of the Phoenix Guard assault after deducing that Zarana was Friday and beating her up. President Bush is shown to be incompetent. In typical Bush fashion, he gives Cobra Commander full control of the Phoenix Guard based on faulty information which ends up disastrous. Very reminiscent of the real George W. Bush. While never referred to as President Bush, does exhibit traits of Bush indicating that the President in GI Joe America's Elite is supposed to be Bush. The character writing in GI Joe America's Elite In Sheep's Clothing is amazing.

Art

The artwork in GI Joe America's Elite In Sheep's Clothing is amazing and it tells the story very well. The art is provided by Josh Medors who illustrated the epilogue of issue #12 of the run which is the last chapter of the previous trade paperback/graphic novel, The Ties That Bind, which reveals that Cobra Commander is Garret Freedlowe. Medors draws an amazing Cobra Commander in both hooded and helmeted form. Honestly, a hooded Cobra Commander wearing a suit & tie is probably the best a hooded Cobra Commander looks. Also, Garrett Freedlowe is well drawn too even if he has a more generic politician look than is expected, he still looks good visually. The generic appearance works to the benefit of the story because it furthers the point that Cobra Commander as Garrett Freedlowe is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Also whenever Medors has a transparent version of the Cobra Commander hood over Freedlowe's face it always looked good and helped play into the dramatic irony of the story. Not to mention how great the real Garrett Freedlowe's rotting corpse looked when it was revealed that Cobra Commander was pulling the President's strings the whole time. Additionally, Medors draws a great Alpha Commando Snake Eyes which provides a nice change of pace for Snake Eyes in the Disavowed continuity which only had Ninja Snake Eyes up until this point. Scarlett, Stalker, Spirit, Roadblock, Kamakura, General Hawk, and General Colton look great. It's particularly neat to see Colton & Hawk wearing matching suits showing their medals. In Colton's case, it's particularly great because he is the original GI Joe. Medors' design for Duke is a good look given the circumstances he arrived at the Rock in. It's civilian clothes that could easily pass as a GI Joe uniform.

The real standouts in the art field were the Phoenix Guard and their designs were so great. General Rey's design is an all-black version of his GI Joe uniform with a Phoenix Guard badge on it. It is a good design even if it is not the most creative of the designs. The rest of the team has more creative designs largely because they are trying to conceal their COBRA identities. The one that sticks out the most is Wild Weasel's costume as Halo which looks like an advanced HALO much to what is the norm of GI Joe character designs. Honestly, it would be cool if Wild Weasel's Phoenix Guard uniform was changed to a Crimson Guard uniform and became his main look. Also, Firefly as Snake Eater looked great. It is a very similar design to the Joe Shockwave but instead of a SWAT cap, Firefly has a SWAT helmet on his head complete with goggles. It makes him look like a legitimate counter-terrorist instead of a saboteur. Scrap Iron as Mech had a great design with a Prometheus-like helmet on his head that served as a tactical helmet. The body of his outfit is the same as Firefly's outfit. Good design for a demolition expert. Zarana and Copperhead as Friday and High Tide wore the same outfit for their respective genders with a white tank top on with black tactical pants. As Friday, Zarana also wore a sleeveless vest and wig to disguise her pick hair yet the Baroness still recognized her. Meanwhile, with Copperhead as High Tide, he wore black suspenders and only had a black fishing cap on his head. Honestly, given the cool designs, the Phoenix Guard had they should've become toys by now. Hasbro if you read this make GI Joe Classified figures of the Phoenix Guard. The Baroness looked good in the story particularly when she beats up Zarana. The President doesn't have George W. Bush's likeness in the same the Vice President through America's Elite run had Dick Cheney's likeness. He has the same hair color as Bush did as Governor of Texas aside from that he has a more generic politician with no real defining features of President Bush. Maybe that was done intentionally by Medors so it could be ambiguous as to who the President is. Given that Nelson Blake II used Cheney's likeness for the Vice President previously in Issue #9 of the line and the similar hair color to the real President Bush the president is supposed to be George Bush. Not to mention he has a Bush-like personality. So the artwork was great.

In conclusion, GI Joe America’s Elite Disavowed: In Sheep’s Clothing is a great GI Joe story with great storytelling and character writing from Joe Casey accompanied by great artwork from Josh Medors. The graphic novel has an interesting story where the GI Joes are forced to fight the US Government's new special forces/counter-terrorism unit the Phoenix Guard which was a COBRA unit the whole time. This storyline is the best in America's Elite line and one of the best of the entire Devil's Due era. It tells the story of GI Joe Retaliation better than the film did. This is a great read for both people who liked and disliked the film GI Joe Retaliation as well as GI Joe fans in general. It's also a great read for fans of Superman/Batman Public Enemies & Marvel's The Dark Reign. In fact, as Joe Slepsky, host of the Joe on Joe Podcast, would like to say any time a GI Joe plot mirrors a story told later is that GI Joe was ahead of the curb on Dark Reign because the Phoenix Guard predated the Dark Avengers & HAMMER. However, GI Joe was late to the party on Cobra Commander running the government because this was after President Lex Luthor and Red Skull posing as Secretary of Defense Dell Rusk both came before Cobra Commander was Chief-of-Staff Garrett Freedlowe. In general, it is a great story and something worth reading if you like GI Joe or any of the comparable stories in the Marvel & DC Universes.