by generalsjoes | May 25, 2010 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Reviews, IDW
Tomorrow, IDW releases the first issue of their latest G.I. Joe series, Hearts and Minds. Written by nationally acclaimed author Max Brooks (best selling author of World War Z) and using Howard Chaykin (Major Bludd) and Antonio Fuso (Spirit) on the art duties, IDW promises a more introspective look at the characters deeply rooted in the G.I. Joe mythology.
Brooks eschews action for a more solemn, personal look at Major Bludd and Spirit, really digging into their personalities and character.
In all fairness, I can see some readers getting at least a bit irked at this premise. In the first issue, we get a lot of text, a lot of detail, and not a whole lot of action to speak of. But the great thing is, the dialog and plot are so seamless and fun to read the lack of action does not seem glaring at all.
Brooks draws some very interesting perspective on Spirit especially, likening his heightened senses to a genetic disorder (sensory integration dysfunction) which gives him extremely sensitive senses and makes him a perfect tracker. It’s amazing, with only about twelve pages to tell a story, Brooks weaves a fascinating history of G.I. Joe’s infamous Native American character.
With a few neat twists and turns, even in a non-action packed story, Max Brooks has told an in depth and amazing tale with a very small canvas to work with. It makes me very excited to see what else Mr. Brooks has planned for us.
by generalsjoes | May 25, 2010 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
On the eve of the next upcoming IDW G.I. Joe limited series, G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds, a couple of sites have posted various previews for pages of the upcoming book. iFanboy has posted a very in depth preview featuring many pages of the Major Bludd side of the story, while Newsarama has posted a very nice five-page preview featuring pages from the Spirit side of the story.
Check them out mirrored below. This great looking limited series will hit comic stores tomorrow.
iFanboy
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Newsarama
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G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds is written by best selling author Max Brooks and drawn by comics legend Howard Chaykin, and hits comic stores tomorrow! I’m looking forward to it.
by generalsjoes | May 23, 2010 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: Renegades
Wow, it’s apparently been an eventful weekend in the comments section of the page over here. Yikes. Moving on to other subjects… while folks are still oohing and aahing over G.I. Joe: The Pursuit of Cobra (myself absolutely included!) those who crave the mythos as well as the toys are already looking ahead to G.I. Joe: Renegades. Granted, Renegades as an animated series will debut long before the PoC toys transform into a slightly more animated aesthetic on retail pegs.
But I have read throughout the ‘net lots of kneejerk reaction saying “if it’s not Resolute, it sucks”, or “if it’s a kid show, it sucks” and I’m definitely not ready to write it off that quickly.
Granted, Hasbro and its various licensors have been totally unable to produce a decent G.I. Joe animated series for kids within the last two decades, but here’s hoping that’s changed this time around. One of the reasons why I’m maintaining a large level of confidence is because of Jeff Kline.
Jeff Kline was at JoeCon this past year in Providence, and said all of the right things during the Hasbro round table. I gathered all of the notes together in my Renegades Quick Hits already. Now, Jeff Kline probably isn’t a name most folks have heard of, but he’s worked on many features you’ve seen. One of the lead producers and writers behind the Jackie Chan Adventures, Men in Black (the series), Max Steel, and Extreme Ghostbusters he has an impressive resume. Max Steel is a series that I feel gets a serious bum rap and was one of the better animated adventures of the 90’s, in my mind.
But perhaps the biggest notch in Mr. Kline’s belt for me is Roughnecks: The Starship Trooper Chronicles. Yes, Mr. Kline was the lead producer behind that series, which was a fantastic look into the world of the Starship Troopers, and many would say represented that universe even better than the films did. It pulled no punches and presented a complex, intricate story woven throughout episodes.
Now, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are also getting behind him, as he apparently is one of the writers for Transformers: Prime, the series they are front-running for the Hub to air alongside Renegades. In this article on TFormers.com, they talk about Mr. Kline’s resume and how lucky they are to be working with a man of his talent and background.
Considering what he said about Renegades at the round table, that certainly leaves me with some level of optimism. Time will tell.
by generalsjoes | May 20, 2010 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Sometimes it’s good having geeks in the right places… Brian Truitt at USA Today is an unabashed toy, comic, and media geek, and as such, gets some great opportunities to interview folks connected to those properties and share them with us!
Over on USA Today, Mr. Truitt has posted a great interview with Max Brooks, who talks quite a bit about G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds the new limited series he’s writing for IDW. The interview is littered with great insight and information, and even discusses some characters from Hearts and Minds:
“Some choices have been controversial, he says. At first, Brooks couldn’t use Major Bludd (because he’s starring in a subplot in Chuck Dixon’s G.I. Joe book) or Spirit. “I think they were afraid of coming from a point of view of the standard stereotypical Indian,” Brook says. “That’s actually what piqued my interest, when they said Hasbro doesn’t want to offend people. It was barely passable in the ’80s, and is just not acceptable now.”
In subsequent issues, Brooks has a Blowtorch story that discusses whether using fire is a humane form of warfare, and a tale about explosives expert Tripwire, “who doesn’t have a death wish but is in a situation where he can’t lose — that’s how he looks at it,” Brooks says. “The character of Doc deals with an issue of medical malpractice, which hits very close to home. With Dr. Mindbender, instead of making him the traditional mad scientist, I wanted to deal with the issue of religion vs. science and ethics vs. science.”
The interview also reveals that Max Brooks was a Joe fan as a kid, and that he contributed a short story to a collection of G.I. Joe related prose that is possibly in the works. Check out the full interview right here, and be sure to add Brian Truitt’s Twitter Page to your favorites and follow him!
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by generalsjoes | May 19, 2010 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Wow… the G.I. Joe comic train chugs along with another mammoth month of releases in August. Various single issues, limited series installments, and trade paperbacks litter IDW’s solicitations list, and I’ve collected them all here for you.
Click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for all the details.
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by generalsjoes | May 19, 2010 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: Renegades
Yes, you read that right! GeneralsJoes can now be known as slightlylargerimagesofrenegadesduke.com…I’ve decided to devote all of the resources of the site to just finding images of Renegades Duke that are just a little bit bigger than the image I posted before. Fun, eh?
In all seriousness, I was able to dig up an actual full size image of Duke in the upcoming G.I. Joe: Renegades animated series. Imagine that? Click the picture below for a full size image.
Now, there are a lot of cool things I see about this image.
- Natural Proportions. Granted, there is a slightly animated style to the character, but all in all, he’s got realistic proportions and a very natural look.
- The colors. Often the fandom’s main complaints center around the character’s appearance in the film or series. Well, even though they’ve revamped the style a bit, Duke still has the tan shirt and green pants the fans have known him for.
- The gun. That’s one bad ass looking futuristic pistol.
As if you couldn’t tell, I’m getting excited for G.I. Joe: Renegades, and hoping things are heading on the right track. Time will tell, but at least now we’ve got a slightly better look at the first piece of concept art from the series.
Tomorrow, IDW releases the first issue of their latest G.I. Joe series, Hearts and Minds. Written by nationally acclaimed author Max Brooks (best selling author of World War Z) and using Howard Chaykin (Major Bludd) and Antonio Fuso (Spirit) on the art duties, IDW promises a more introspective look at the characters deeply rooted in the G.I. Joe mythology.
