This "half" issue is a special promotional item that offers a look at G-Force in training, and offers a new "Alex Ross sketchbook" of drawings not seen before. Available only through Wizard magazine, this book comes with a special protective cover and certificate of authenticity for comics collectors.
The good: The front cover and the Alex Ross sketchbook.
The bad: I've heard this issue was made at about the same time as Issue #2, and it has the same problems with art, story and dialogue.
The art: The Ross cover is excellent--a nice portrait of Chief Anderson superimposed by the original character design sketches from the Tatsunoko Productions planning sheets. The quality of the interior art is the same as Issue #2--a mixed bag. Character faces are still a bit awkward, from the guest characters to our heroes, and sadly, Jason gets the worst of it. Again.
The story: General Tomak, seeking dirt on Chief Anderson, interviews Dr. Brendan Meara, a child psychologist who had been fired by Anderson under "hostile circumstances." The psychologist, who speaks more like a disgruntled teenager ("I'm two degrees from full-blown pissed off.") than an educated professional, describes each team member training under extremely harsh and hazardous conditions: Mark, tethered without oxygen to the bottom of a swimming pool, fighting divers with harpoons; Princess defusing a bomb while tied upside-down to a burning rope; Tiny running an obstacle course, destroying it, and being frightened by his own strength. And finally (Keyop is not featured, as he was still "under construction."), we have Jason, a twelve-year-old, slack-jawed psycho, grinning maniacally as he attacks the psychologist himself. The interview ends and the psychologist phones Anderson, informing him Tomak "Took the bait, hook, line and sinker." Although it's an interesting tactic to divert Tomak's attention from the team, this clever ruse has been played on the audience as well--this entire description of the team as kids in training has been a fabrication. Good thing I have the Ross sketches to console me.
The approach to the team's training is typical comic book fodder, performed repeatedly by members of other teams in danger rooms past. The characters are cardboard: You can almost see the halo above Mark's head. Princess simpers after he praises her for a job well done (c'mon, give Princess some credit for more steel than that). And Jason... Even at age twelve, he can be intimidating enough without wasting all that ammo on a cartoon gag that dates back to the thirties. The dialogue is painful in spots: "I'm your huckleberry" sounded cool when Val Kilmer said it in the testosterone western, Tombstone, but coming from Dr. Meara, it just sounds goofy.
The sketches: The rest of the book contains four pages of sketches and notes by Alex Ross and four pages of team profiles with art by the folks from Udon. Most of this art has not been published before: concept sketches for the comic cover, for the promotional covers and posters, and character concept designs--two very reminiscent of the Warner Brothers cartoon design--heh, BotP meets Batman Beyond. Which makes me wonder if any of these are in the works.
The bottom line: Buy it only if you have money to burn.
