Gi Joe

[fin5]

how is this comic i heard image is going to publish from marvel and idw with 301

[SavageJudgeDredd]

GI Joe in general, or the upcoming stuff? Image is going to have a new rebooted GI Joe universe starting with a Duke and Cobra Commander comic etc, and also Larry Hama's classic run will continue with issue 301.

It's a fun franchise in general, plenty of entertaining comics. I'll let other fans chime in on Hama's classic run, I enjoyed some of it like the great silent issue, and have been meaning to get back into it. I also liked IDW's reboot from around 2009, especially the Cobra series written by Costa and co, "The Last Laugh" is an incredible neo-noir tale, with this guy Chuckles going undercover in Cobra. I recommend that to everyone.

Hopefully this new stuff is cool! Skybound seems like a fun place for it.

[K7P5V]

It's a fun franchise in general, plenty of entertaining comics. I'll let other fans chime in on Hama's classic run, I enjoyed some of it like the great silent issue, and have been meaning to get back into it.

Yeah! The Silent Issue is legendary!! Overall, the Hama/Marvel run is Highly Recommended (IMHO):

[fin5]

Marvel IDW and the Upcoming Image

[cranger]

I never read the original Marvel G.I. Joe A Real American Hero (ARAH) run but jumped on the IDW extension of it a few years ago and enjoyed it. It is almost like a creator owned (version of a) comic so everything that comes and goes is part of the writer's, Larry Hama, thought on where to take the story. Like anything else there are some arcs that are more exciting and some issues that fall flat but has sense of both progression and continuity that Marvel/DC comics have lost. The continuation of ARAH at Image is something I am looking forward to.

[fin5]

I want to start collecting GI Joe and im starting with the upcoming 301.How is the Marvel rum and the IDW run

[Destro777]

I want to start collecting GI Joe and im starting with the upcoming 301.How is the Marvel rum and the IDW run

My take:

GI Joe was best during the original Marvel run 1-155 and the Marvel GI Joe Special Missions 1-28.
Those are the real deal originals at their best.

The problem is, we have not seen any plans for any reprints of the original Marvel years. Its been years since those have seen collections - all well out of print. Im lucky to have completed the full run in issue format years ago before prices got insane.

There was also a mini series written years later by Hama called GI Joe Declassified 1-3 which takes place before the original Marvel issue #1. Its fantastic and can be considered part of the original Marvel run.
And Hama's Gi Joe Frontline 1-4 which was the first official post #155 material before he started up the series again with 156. Many Joe fans consider those 1-4 Frontline issues to be the "real" ending of the Marvel run.

Hama followed it up years later from 156-300 and im sorry, other than an issue here and there - its no where close to the original Marvel years. Issue 300 in particular was complete crap. Sometimes a writer just gets too old. It happens.
Issue 263 is a standout however - a memorial issue to all the fallen joes over the years. Moments of that kind of high quality were few and far between of the newest material tho.

There were plenty of runs from the Devil's Due + IDW era and almost all of them werent worth following.
There was one exception though:
Costa's Cobra run from the IDW era took the franchise into hyper serious - dark - realistic - territory. Really a nice evolution of the franchise.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

My take:

GI Joe was best during the original Marvel run 1-155 and the Marvel GI Joe Special Missions 1-28.
Those are the real deal originals at their best.

The problem is, we have not seen any plans for any reprints of the original Marvel years. Its been years since those have seen collections - all well out of print. Im lucky to have completed the full run in issue format years ago before prices got insane.

There was also a mini series written years later by Hama called GI Joe Declassified 1-3 which takes place before the original Marvel issue #1. Its fantastic and can be considered part of the original Marvel run.
And Hama's Gi Joe Frontline 1-4 which was the first official post #155 material before he started up the series again with 156. Many Joe fans consider those 1-4 Frontline issues to be the "real" ending of the Marvel run.

Hama followed it up years later from 156-300 and im sorry, other than an issue here and there - its no where close to the original Marvel years. Issue 300 in particular was complete crap. Sometimes a writer just gets too old. It happens.
Issue 263 is a standout however - a memorial issue to all the fallen joes over the years. Moments of that kind of high quality were few and far between of the newest material tho.

There were plenty of runs from the Devil's Due + IDW era and almost all of them werent worth following.
There was one exception though:
Costa's Cobra run from the IDW era took the franchise into hyper serious - dark - realistic - territory. Really a nice evolution of the franchise.

I think the biggest problem, is that he's not writing anything that is supposed to back a ongoing toy line.
99.999% the Joe toys on the shelf is nostalgia-related. It's nothing new. Hama and Hasbro are not in communication with promoting new vehicles or characters.
Half of the fun (for myself) was seeing the new toys at the store, scrambling home after school to see if any of the new characters would show up on the cartoon, and then picking up the comic to see what was going on between the Joes and Cobra and gripe about Snake-Eyes and Scarlett being an item instead of her and Duke, lol.
My personal sweet spot for the Marvel run is #1-110. The Saw-Viper storyline where a good chunk of characters, useless or otherwise, was just a bit over the top and it lost the charm of being a fun book. (And it wasn't too long after where the Joe logo was reduced in favor of "Snake-Eyes and Ninja Force".)

Fun story: I had a full run of Transformers and near-complete run of G.I. Joe in 1996. By then, their luster had worn off and I had zero interest in reading them anymore. I took both stacks of books to my favorite LCS and traded them in for store credit of $30.
I then proceeded to raid his 5 for a Dollar bin and get a huge swath of West Coast Avengers books, plus other items lost to memory.
So whenever I look at the the WCA books, they remind me of the pain it took from 2001 until today to recover those said collections.

[Hypestyle]

hope the new comics are fun.

Is the relative age of the characters ever addressed? The original comics started when most of the principals were old enough to have served in Vietnam.

[SavageJudgeDredd]

Good question. I think I had heard the revived Hama run picked up pretty much where the Marvel run left off, maybe not much time passes. Somebody probably knows.

I then proceeded to raid his 5 for a Dollar bin and get a huge swath of West Coast Avengers books, plus other items lost to memory.
So whenever I look at the the WCA books, they remind me of the pain it took from 2001 until today to recover those said collections.

I feel ya! *Comic book salute!*

[Destro777]

I think the biggest problem, is that he's not writing anything that is supposed to back a ongoing toy line.
99.999% the Joe toys on the shelf is nostalgia-related. It's nothing new. Hama and Hasbro are not in communication with promoting new vehicles or characters.
Half of the fun (for myself) was seeing the new toys at the store, scrambling home after school to see if any of the new characters would show up on the cartoon, and then picking up the comic to see what was going on between the Joes and Cobra and gripe about Snake-Eyes and Scarlett being an item instead of her and Duke, lol.
My personal sweet spot for the Marvel run is #1-110. The Saw-Viper storyline where a good chunk of characters, useless or otherwise, was just a bit over the top and it lost the charm of being a fun book. (And it wasn't too long after where the Joe logo was reduced in favor of "Snake-Eyes and Ninja Force".)

Fun story: I had a full run of Transformers and near-complete run of G.I. Joe in 1996. By then, their luster had worn off and I had zero interest in reading them anymore. I took both stacks of books to my favorite LCS and traded them in for store credit of $30.
I then proceeded to raid his 5 for a Dollar bin and get a huge swath of West Coast Avengers books, plus other items lost to memory.
So whenever I look at the the WCA books, they remind me of the pain it took from 2001 until today to recover those said collections.

I agree 100% about the 1-110 being the best part of the book. I actually had that in my original post but edited it out to omit confusion for a newer fan.

I get where you are coming from with the excitement over the toys transitioned to the book - but for me - the key element was how Hama took this 'toy' franchise ultra seriously and militant - and had a good story to back it up. The characters and filecards mostly all created by Hama himself. The realistic (as possible) miltary backdrop to all those characters being the key ingredient.
From 156 and on - its been just going thru the motions - the same passion and creativity is just not there.

Those Saw Viper issues with him gunning down joes were really shocking. Stuck with me - even all these years later.
Have to give love to the final Marvel issue 155 as well. An all time great comic book - not just GI Joe.

Thats a brutal story about selling off your Joe collection for so low a price. Just goes to show - most things you really like that you once collected - you will eventually want back at one point or another.
Its really a shame we havent seen more Marvel era GI Joe collected in a very very long time. Ill be dead before the collections release at this point heh.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

I agree 100% about the 1-110 being the best part of the book. I actually had that in my original post but edited it out to omit confusion for a newer fan.

I get where you are coming from with the excitement over the toys transitioned to the book - but for me - the key element was how Hama took this 'toy' franchise ultra seriously and militant - and had a good story to back it up. The characters and filecards mostly all created by Hama himself. The realistic (as possible) miltary backdrop to all those characters being the key ingredient.
From 156 and on - its been just going thru the motions - the same passion and creativity is just not there.

Those Saw Viper issues with him gunning down joes were really shocking. Stuck with me - even all these years later.
Have to give love to the final Marvel issue 155 as well. An all time great comic book - not just GI Joe.

Thats a brutal story about selling off your Joe collection for so low a price. Just goes to show - most things you really like that you once collected - you will eventually want back at one point or another.
Its really a shame we havent seen more Marvel era GI Joe collected in a very very long time. Ill be dead before the collections release at this point heh.

I remember seeing those issues and went "Is this the Joe version of the Transformers the Movie slaughter?"
Here's another; I was in my first semester at college when issue #155 came out. I was in-state, but a couple hours away from home and all I did was go to class, get good grades and hang out at my grandparents (paternal and maternal) for decent food.
I wanted a snack while trying to get a math assignment finished and drove to a neighborhood market. Fall weather in southern Idaho can be strange at times, and from the dorm to this store, it rained, then hailed, proceeded to change to sleet and finally snowed as I walked inside.
Bought my snacks and saw issue #155 on the spinner rack.
Bitch-slapped with a huge wave of nostalgia seeing the logo, remembering the toys and cartoon, and opened it up...and went "meh." I'll admit to being way out of the loop on the then-current Joe comics, as the last thing I had picked up was the G2 Transformers crossover and being less than impressed with Hama's version of Megatron speak.
The artwork...it was fine. I still wished for M.D. Bright or Rod Whigham would have made a comeback for a couple of pages...but I was hoping for a little bit more than a rehash of Snake-Eyes' origin.
I read Hama's closing comments in the letters page....AND PUT THE DAMN THING BACK!
I had no emotional attachment nor was I thinking of any monetary value. Causal flip and shrug.
I wouldn't call it a holy grail for me but goddamn I could pay some bills if I had picked it up and sell it today, lol!

[HeartofTheStoriesWeTell]

Larry Hamma got me hooked on comics, as far as I am concerned he IS GI Joe, but I do think he has long ago jumped the shark and the new/old snake eyes is a bit much... Serpentor return was too. (TBF Serpentor was on his own) I do think I will continue reading though

[twobit]

December 2023 Solicitations

DUKE #1 (OF 5)
40 PAGES FULL COLOR $4.99 US T TEEN (AGES 12+)
COVER A TOM REILLY
COVER B DAVID AJA
COVER C | 1:10 INCENTIVE
CONNECTING VARIANT TYLER BOSS
COVER D | 1:25 INCENTIVE STEVE EPTING
COVER E | 1:50 INCENTIVE ANDREA SORRENTINO
COVER F | 1:100 INCENTIVE JONBOY MEYERS
COVER G BLANK SKETCH COVER
STORY JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
ART TOM REILLY JORDIE BELLAIRE
CODENAME G.I. JOE STARTS HERE.
Conrad Hauser has made first contact
with an alien being and lived to tell
the tale. But no one, not even Colonel
Hawk, believes the story of the jet fighter converting into a
colossal alien robot that nearly killed the man known as Duke.
Now, one of the US Army's most decorated soldiers is on
the hunt for answers, drawn into a conflict that no amount
of training could ever prepare him for. A war that only a
real American hero has any chance of surviving…
Superstar writer JOSHUA WILLIAMSON (Superman, Batman)
and artist TOM REILLY (The Thing, Ant-Man) kick off the first
of four action-packed miniseries that will introduce the best
and worst humanity has to offer in the Energon Universe.
MINISERIES PREMIERE

G.I. JOE: A REAL
AMERICAN HERO #302
32 PAGES FULL COLOR $3.99 US T TEEN (AGES 12+)
STORY LARRY HAMA
ART CHRIS MOONEYHAM FRANCESCO SEGALA
COVER A ANDY KUBERT BRAD ANDERSON
COVER B ANDY KUBERT
COVER C | 1:10 INCENTIVE BRAD WALKER FRANCESCO SEGALA
FUNERAL FOR A JOE! As the Joes mourn their fallen brother, dangerous new forces are mounting against them. Cobra Commander returns to Springfield and the now mutant Serpentor Khan turns to a deadly new ally you won't see coming!

IMG_8115.jpg

[EmeraldGladiator]

Larry Hamma got me hooked on comics, as far as I am concerned he IS GI Joe, but I do think he has long ago jumped the shark and the new/old snake eyes is a bit much... Serpentor return was too. (TBF Serpentor was on his own) I do think I will continue reading though

Question, I am an old school fan, I loved all the old school Snake Eyes stuff. My favorite story was the three front war on Cobra Island, Joes vs Cobra Commander vs Serpentor. I had lapsed for a long time, I came back for the death of Snake Eyes, but had no interest in the female Snake Eyes stuff. Now I see both Snake Eyes on the cover solicits. Now I had no doubt Snake Eyes and Serpentor would come back the falling off off a waterfall, without bodies is easy enough to work around but how did both Snake Eyes and Serpentor return in canon in GIJARAH?