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IDW Comic News recap from New York ComicCon

Now that NYCC has wrapped up, we’re starting to finally get some good, nicely detailed reports about all of the panels and events that went on in the Big Apple this past weekend.  Among those reports was one from Comic Book Resources which focused on IDW and Hasbro’s joint panel and what to expect from their licensed titles over the next several months.  I will try and outline the various news items below.

  • G.I. Joe: Origins #23 is the final issue.  Editor Andy Schmidt revealed that G.I. Joe: Origins would end with the 23rd issue.  I’m not sure if this is sales related or that they simply had no more stories to tell, but regardless, after just wrapping issue #19, we’ve got about 4 more issues to go.
  • Christos Gage is leaving G.I. Joe: Cobra after issue #13.  I reported this during NYCC, but IDW confirmed it, also reporting that Mike Costa would handle the writing duties solo from then on.
  • G.I. Joe #27 will wrap up “Season One” of the main Joe title.  In April of 2011, G.I. Joe will begin “Season Two”, starting over from issue #0 and kicking off with a Cobra Civil War.  Schmidt also says that in April, the only Joe title taking place in IDW continuity that month released would be G.I. Joe #0.  Dixon will still be writing the title, but Javier Saltares will be tackling the art chores.

Schmidt also talked a bit about Infestation and how it ties into the G.I. Joe realm, and remarked that Joe fans did not seem very “chill” to the idea…at least not to the level of Transformers fans.
Some interesting news, to be sure.  I could have sworn that at one point I read that this latest issue of G.I. Joe was going to be the end of “Season One” but apparently that’s being pushed off a bit.  Chuck Dixon has been hit or miss for me throughout his G.I. Joe run, and honestly I’m not sure what I think of Saltares on the title.  Loved his stuff with Moon Knight, and his Ghost Rider work was pretty cool as well, but those are both very supernatural, dark, and gritty worlds.  I think G.I. Joe can be gritty (just see the Cobra title) but I’m not sure Saltares’ exaggerated style works real well in a pseudo-realistic military setting.  I’ll certainly give it a shot, though.
You can read the entire article right here, and thanks to The Terror Drome for the heads up!

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon returns to television!

So yes, I realize I’ve paid a lot of attention to G.I. Joe: Renegades, and even if that series is not airing within the next month or so, there is still something for Joe fans to celebrate.  Beginning tonight at 12:30 midnight (Eastern Time), G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, the Sunbow series that put the name on the map, will begin airing on The Hub.  It will be proceeded at 12:00 by the original Transformers.  While the time of the airing precludes a new generation of Joe fans from watching (without the services of a DVR, anyway) I think it’s awesome that this series will once again be appearing on television.
To celebrate this great occasion, I wanted to reprint an article I wrote a long time ago…since The Mass Device 5-Parter begins tonight, let me (re) present the Top Five Memorable Moments from the MASS Device mini-series.  Check ’em out after the jump, and tune into The Hub tonight to relive your youth!  Be sure to check out the Hub’s Television Schedule to see when other great nostalgia-rich shows are airing.
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More info and episodic greatness from Avengers cartoon series

With G.I. Joe: Renegades not hitting until Thanksgiving (allegedly) I’m focusing all of my animated attention on Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which most of you know by now.  Reason?  I think it’s awesome and I want to talk about it.  So, 788, go ahead and click away now.  😉
The New York ComicCon just wrapped up, and revealed some more details about the series… apparently those awesome Micro-Episodes running on DisneyXD right now are in actuality the first five episodes of the animated series, broken down into smaller chunks.  That does explain a lot…I thought it was kind of weird that those microsodes were so high quality and would be in addition to normal content, especially since they’re actually revealing the origins of some of the key players.
Also revealed at New York ComicCon was that the “pilot” for Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would pick up where the Microsodes left off and show a veritable Super Villain rebellion, with widespread escapes from the various super villain prisons around the country.  Certainly a story that’s been done before, but if the quality of the series even comes close to matching what we’ve gotten for the microsodes, we are in for a damn treat.
I’ve already professed my love for Hawkeye, and I’ll also admit that I’m a huge Captain America fan as well.  Granted I haven’t read the book in a number of years, but the 90’s era Captain America stories were among my favorite comic stories ever written.  Steve Rogers’ leaving his post, becoming The Captain while John Walker became the new Captain America…that whole storyline and how it tied into Ultimatum and the Red Skull.  Diamondback, Crossbones…all of this made for some fantastic Marvel Comics memories.  So while much of the nuances of The Avengers may be lost on me, I can certainly appreciate it when they focus on some of the more key characters.
One question I had was how would they handle Captain America’s origin?  The answer?  Pretty damn well.  I’ve embedded a series of three microsodes below the jump, which feature the origin of Captain America…and also some very cool familiar faces.
We see Fury and his Howling Commandos, including one very familiar commando who is only called “Logan”.  Not only that, but in one of the latest microsodes, Nick Fury also references the Mutant Response Division, and even calls them “Marties” a terrific reference to the unfortunately canceled Wolverine and the X-Men series, indicating that this series ties in with that one.  A very cool, rich Marvel animated universe is starting to form, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.  Click the “read the rest of this entry” link below to check out Captain America’s animated origin!
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G.I. Joe: Renegades to begin airing around Thanksgiving?

So far there has been no real concrete information about an air date for the first episode of G.I. Joe: Renegades.  However, HissTank member “Clem” (who is Renegades concept artist Clement Sauvant) is reporting that the series is slated to start around Thanksgiving.  The actual text of the post is below:

“Renegades premieres on Thanksgiving, not sure if it’s the week of Thanksgiving or literally the day of thanksgiving though.”

Hopefully more information will be forthcoming, and hopefully we’ll start seeing some trailers and promotional material hitting soon.

Snake Eyes: Zombie Hunter?!

I gotta be honest here.  I truly do not understand the whole zombie phenomenon.  I really don’t.
I mean, I’ve read World War Z.  I’ve seen 28 Days Later, and even 28 Weeks Later, and I enjoyed the hell out of Zombieland.  Hell, the upcoming Walking Dead TV series looks pretty bad ass, too.  But I haven’t read any of the Marvel Zombie books, I’m really not a fan of George Romero, and I really do not comprehend this whole zombie subculture.
At this point, though, the popularity of zombies simply cannot be denied, and I see it going strong in G.I. Joe circles.  Every week I see other zombie customs, or other fanfiction written from the standpoint of the zombie apocolypse, and while it’s not my cup of tea, they certainly have their place in popular culture…so I guess it only makes sense that IDW capitalize on this with a huge crossover event, bridging several of their licensed titles across one “Infestation” banner.
It was revealed at NYCC this weekend, that IDW: Infestation will be a zombie-related storyline that crosses between G.I. Joe, Transformers, Star Trek, and Ghostbusters, and you can find some more details at i09.com as well as Comic Book Resources.
The full press release and a trio of images can be read after the break.
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