Over on his Twitter page, artist for the upcoming IDW Publishing G.I. Joe series Chris Evenhuis has posted a first look at the cover, featuring who I can only guess is Major Bludd!
It’s a great early glimpse at the fan favorite character and I continue to really enjoy the updated looks.
Check it out and make sure you’re following both Chris and writer Paul Allor as they continually release new info along the way.
It’s Wednesday, which means new comic day! Today marks the release of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #265… snag it at your local comic shops and take a peek at the five page preview below.
Yes, I’m a little late to the table on this one, what with new G.I. Joe writer Paul Allor sharing plenty of #GIJonday images on his Twitter account, but for anyone who isn’t already aware, IDW Publishing is launching a brand new G.I. Joe title this September!
Looking at things from the perspective of COBRA ruling the world, this new series sees the G.I. Joe team taking to the streets, fighting back against the power of COBRA Commander and the ruling class. So far, the designs look like a lot of fun, taking some obvious cues from the vintage looks, but adding a nice little twist to things.
The ashcan has also been released, which has revealed the first few pages of the comic. It’s available for Pre-Order now through Diamond and your favorite comic stores, so show some support for G.I. Joe… by the sounds of things, they’re up against a wall!
Check out some of the images below, and follow Paul Allor on Twitter for some of the latest reveals.
Five-Page Preview (Courtesy of Westfield Comics)
Images shared via #GIJonday
IDW Publishing has released their preview for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #253, which is a “special missions” style issue focusing on Duke. Check out the solicitation info and the preview below.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #253—Cover A: Brian Shearer
Larry Hama (w) • Brian Shearer (a & c)
“Special Missions,” Part 3 (of 5). G.I. Joe. Cobra. Two opposing forces. Two powerful war machines, each made more lethal by the undeniable strength of their individual parts. But who and what are those parts? Living legend Larry Hama shares some of their amazing stories in “Special Missions”—one-shot stories featuring a variety of characters and different artists to draw them! This issue, longtime G.I. Joe alum Brian Shearer joins forces with Larry to present G.I. Joe’s intrepid first sergeant without equal: DUKE!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #253—Cover B: John Royle
Larry Hama (w) • Brian Shearer (a) • John Royle (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
A guest post by Skinny
Milestone.
It is a word that you don’t hear used a lot any more. That is because they just don’t happen too much any more. Our lives today are fast, We don’t follow Ferris Bueller’s advice to stop and look around. We also don’t put our hair in a mohawk in the shower. What I mean is, life is even faster and we can only take things in chunks. Anything long lasting is intimidating. G.I.Joe from day one continues to be something that was built to last. An exception.
It all began in 1982 when Hasbro visited the Marvel Offices and sought out a creator to bring their re-envisioned version of G.I.Joe to life. Chosen by elimination, Larry Hama took what could have been a side project and infused it with real storytelling.
The late Herb Trimpe, a veteran at Marvel comics, brought his art to the table. Jim Shooter, Todd McFarlane, Rod Whigham, Ron Wagner, Andrew Wildman, Michael Goldman, Mike Zeck, Mike Vosburg and most recently S.L. Gallant, Brian Shearer, J. Brown and Netho Diaz among countless others all contributed to the success and look of G.I.Joe.
250 issues. It has run from 1982 to 1994 and then again in 2010 picking up exactly where they left off in 1994. There were a few half issues in there expanding the stories from the sidelines, but the official 250th issue comes out today.
We have seen new characters, beloved comic only characters, the deaths of characters, the rebirths of characters, minds reprogrammed, cat fights, towns taken over, civil war, alien robots, disguises, close calls, patriotism, imposters, flashbacks, characters seeing the light, ninjas, detailed locales based on reality, a little bit of advice, military jargon, comical moments, and even one issue used as the basis for a movie about a giant asteroid hurtling toward Earth. It is the golden boy and Mom’s apple pie vs Orson Welles in a hood. It is the many faces of diversity both physical and of character.
The characters as Larry has admitted in several interviews are based on the people he knows so he can keep track of them. This provides a wonderful consistency and is the main reason no one can ever really nail down the character’s essences like he can. It would be like you trying to write about someone else’s uncle. You could get some things right but there would be something missing. I would love to meet the practical joker Airtight is based on he/she must be a wild one.
G.I.Joe is centered around the life of a stand out main character, who cannot talk. Imagine creating this tragic tale of a man who expresses himself in other ways besides speech. It is indeed a tragic tale. G.I. Joe, says Hama, is Junior woodchucks with guns. G.I. Joe takes us all around the world and back in time. G.I.Joe is different things to different people. Hama himself says it best however.
“They don’t understand the intrinsic fantasy. G.I.Joe isn’t a military fantasy, it’s not a war book, it’s a fantasy about loyalty and camaraderie. Which to a ten year old kid is an extremely powerful fantasy because every ten year old kid has been betrayed. Obviously. The idea of best friends that never let you down and will stand up for you; if you are in trouble they will come and get you. That’s a powerful fantasy and its also a fantasy of doing the right thing and having integrity without looking for the reward and about duty, and old fashioned things like that… that to a kid represents order and it’s very comforting.” (Larry Hama YoutubeInterview by Roy Turner 2018)
To center a comic around that theme, and not just make it a toy comic, pushed it into the pantheon of comics that last into the hundreds of issues. Iconic comics.
Milestones.
So I realize as I prepare to write this that I’ve been taking something for granted. Month in and month out, the greatness of Larry Hama and SL Gallant effortlessly weaving their way through the G.I. Joe mythology, incorporating new things, adding some great vintage homages and generally having fun with it all. I’ve been buying it every month, reading it every month, and enjoying it every month. But it became a routine and I just kind of expected to have it there, month in and month out.
When IDW announced that SL Gallant would no longer be the primary artist on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, I have to admit, I was pretty upset. His work with Hama had become evocative of the legendary Hama/Whigham work from back in the day, a team that became so inexorably tied with the brand that it’s difficult to think of that era of G.I. Joe without picturing those particular versions of those characters in your head. The same had become true of Gallant’s time on the title, and now that I don’t have that routine anymore, it feels like a piece of that history is gone.
It’s odd because I’m typically not a fan of brands leaning on vintage nostalgia like a crutch, and I’d much prefer to see different ways that brands can evolve and stay relevant with these days rather than becoming overly reliant on trying to revisit the past…yet Hama/Gallant had just enough taste of the past to feel natural without feeling forced.
That being said, Netho Diaz has certainly made a splash and a very good impression with his work here. Keep reading for a full review.