The Battle for Springfield is raging. Serpentor Khan’s enhanced mutant cyborg army is sweeping the field. The standard Cobra troops are disengaging and in disarray. So maybe things aren’t that bad. Maybe they’re worse. They’re certainly a hell of a lot more complicated in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #311. Writer/creator Larry Hama continues his epic run with the franchise in another issue brought to page and panel by artist Chris Mooneyham and colorist Francesco Segala. The collision between three major forced continues in a deeply conflicted tale of war on the ragged, bloody frontlines of suburban America. 

Cobra Commander is being prompted to give the command to leave the field of battle before a loss turns into a total disaster. The Commander refuses They need to assure that the tactical withdrawal succeeds in drawing Serpentor’s cyborg army into the ambush at the high school. They need to make the ambush truly unexpected. In order to do so, they’re going to have to put up a fight as the cyborgs are lured into the trap. Offer no resistance and they’ll know to expect a serious threat once they get into position and the element of surprise is totally annihilated.

Hama brings a very real sense of tactical combat to the book as a complex and nuanced battle continues. The deeper matters of precisely might feel a bit blunted in favor of the actual mechanics of the combat. The drama of what’s being presented on the page might feel a bit less than precise, but the interaction of the action is sharp and well-executed throughout the issue. There isn’t as much of a close-up on individual characters as there could have been. The movement of the action seems swift enough, but the drama that might be at the heart of the combat seems relatively distant in a largely entertaining issue.

With Hama’s script focussing on the larger picture of th Battle of Springfield, Mooneyham and Sagala are given the challenge of delivering a battle to the page in only the broadest strokes. They’re clearly up to the task as the heavily armed conflict hammers its way into the page with great regularity. It all feels perfectly well executed on a variety of different levels. There’s a kind of grace that rushes through everything with grim determination as wide shots of warriors assert themselves across the page while aerial combat continues in the skies above Springfield. 

It’s not easy to execute this kind of actio non a way that’s going to be terribly engaging, but Hama seems to know that he’s working with an art team that can pull-off the larger elements of modern urban warfare in a way that feels compelling. Given thaw things have been going, it seems likely that the Battle of Springfield might well come to an end in the next few issues. It’s nice to see Hama allowing the conflict to sprawl out over the course of a whole bunch of issues. There’s going to be a kind of a satisfaction I nesting it all come to an end in a couple of months or so.

Grade: B