By Justin Bell and Terry Dizard

There is a wealth of characters throughout the G.I. Joe mythology, but not many of them are more iconic or more well-known than Storm Shadow. Originally a stark white COBRA assassin, Storm Shadow began his well-publicized and infamous path to the G.I. Joe team in 1988, though if you follow the comic history; it began much earlier than that.

Throughout various brainwashes, ninja trances, and other traumatic events, Storm Shadow has changed sides more often than some folks change their socks, which is unfortunate, since it has somewhat diminished the impact of his character. Still, his early figures are fairly iconic ones, and here he appears, as he did back in 1988.

Using the same sculpt for the 25 th Anniversary COBRA 5-pack Storm Shadow, this new version has the familiar gray camouflage, Arashikage clan tattoo and rope around the chest, which immediately adds the three most identifiable characteristics to the figure. His new head sculpt looks great as well, and with a few minor changes, the transition from COBRA to Joe is seamless and works extremely well. Equipped with almost exactly the same great ninja silent weapons that the 5-Pack Storm Shadow came with, this update ends up looking significantly different and nicely updated. Worthy of noting is that the black sash on the COBRA 5-pack Storm Shadow back pack has been replaced with the trademark ropes, technically making the back pack another new accessory. Also, the accessories feature brilliantly sculpted details such as the Arashikage ninja clan mark on Storm Shadow’s backpack as well as both swords and even the pack has the trademark red/burgundy color of the original 1988 Storm Shadow. These little details elevate Storm Shadow to a fantastic level of detail.

The packaging for Storm Shadow (shown left) features the same explosive, foil covered card art as COBRA Commander and all of the other single-card figures in this first assortment.

All of these facts aside, fan reaction to the re-use of tooling has been rather mixed, but this figure is a perfect example of just how a minor change with an existing figure can really change the figure totally and make something great. This version of Storm Shadow captures the essence of the familiar ’88 version perfectly.

This version of Storm Shadow truly captures the mystique of our favorite conflicted ninja master. -YoJoe!

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