by generalsjoes | Jan 8, 2013 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, IDW
I can’t quite properly express the joy I have when the newest issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by IDW is released… and that day is right around the corner! Any issue that features old school Falcon, Leatherneck, and Spirit on the cover has got to be a good one. Check out the preview for the latest issue below.
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G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #186
Larry Hama (w) • Ron Wagner (a) • S L Gallant (c)
DARKLON has managed to get the best of DESTRO and is going forward on his sale of the stolen nuclear trigger device. But when COLONEL FAROUD, the potential buyer of the device, asks for proof that it works, Darklon is forced to make a drastic choice that may put everyone—G.I. JOE, COBRA and even Darklon himself—in mortal danger! The clock starts ticking in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #186!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
*Variant cover:
Variant Larry Hama sketch cover!
by generalsjoes | Jan 7, 2013 | 30th Anniversary, Comics and Cartoons, Dollar Store, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Sunbow
In a clear sign that these discount store G.I. Joe figure repaints are likely on the way to retail stores, eBay seller viperkingdom has posted them all up on eBay. This second wave is full of some great homages to the classic Joes…some obvious, some not so much:
Now most folks have identified some of the clear inspiration for these figures. Cobra Commander is based on his comic deco, while Storm Shadow uses T’Ginzu from Ninja Force as his base. Duke’s interesting uniform color pulls inspiration from the animated Sunbow Breaker.
Shipwreck looks like a great OG13 base, and Snake Eyes looks to be based on the unheralded and extremely underrated Toys “R” Us Heavy Assault Set 6-Pack version from the new sculpt era. But perhaps the most interesting here (and maybe the most overlooked) is the Cobra Trooper.
Many folks have identified the Cobra Trooper as having a comic inspiration, with the light blue and tan. But it goes beyond that, at least from my view. I’m sure folks remember those animated commercials way back in the day. Well, the Cobra Troopers in those animated commercials look exactly like these figures, all the way to the blue mask. It’s a very obscure and really neat homage for Joe fans who are interested in that type of thing.
I’ve mirrored the original gallery of images courtesy of Gyre-Viper from JoeDeClassified, and I’ve also included some low res images from those old school commercials. I think the inspiration is clear. Very cool stuff.
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And below some very low resolution screen shots of those animated Cobra Troopers…notice the blue masks, blue gloves, and yellow straps? Pretty cool.
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by generalsjoes | Jan 2, 2013 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Making of a Dio-Story
I’m not sure how many of you are even aware of the fanfic I wrote, entitled G.I. Joe: The Price of Peace…I wrote it a loong time ago, probably going on ten years. This was before Devils’ Due, way before IDW, and even before Hasbro announced that G.I. Joe would be coming back to retail full-force. This was written in a G.I. Joe fiction vacuum, with the assumptions that any continuation of the G.I. Joe universe had to be a product of one’s own imagination.
I kind of surprised myself when it was all said and done, and the story clocked in at over 300 pages, but it’s probably one of the things that I am most proud of in my online G.I. Joe history. The story (to me) felt organic, natural, and really kind of told itself as it trucked along, and yeah, to a point I think it holds up today.
Certain things happen within the confines of the story that may have influenced other media at the time, though I have no clear proof of that, of course. Perhaps it’s just something I like to believe to make myself feel better. 🙂
I’ve had the fanfic posted to my Fanfic page all along, but I know the html formatting is kind of a nightmare, the navigation isn’t great, and especially if you’re reading a 300+ page monster, I would think you’d like it as cohesive and readable as possible.
Enter: Smashwords.
I was introduced to Smashwords by fellow G.I. Joe nerd Don, who has already posted his great Tales From Castle Destro books there, and decided I wanted to get my stuff up there as well. It’s a terrific self-publishing source that allows you to essentially publish your own books. I’ve got mine listed for free, for obvious reasons, as making money off of the Hasbro brand is…well… sorta illegal. The great thing about Smashwords is that it auto-formats the book for web viewing, as a downloadable PDF, or even converted to formats friendly to e-readers! It will, hopefully, make the fanfic a lot more accessible to a lot more people. Not only did Don tell me about Smashwords, but he spent a lot of his own personal time assisting in the formatting of my story for Smashwords and really went out of his way to help get it posted. I owe him a huge debt of thanks for that.
Keep in mind this book was written a long time ago, so you probably want to go in the “way back machine” to what the G.I. Joe universe was like back then. It was also the genesis of my Dio-Story universe, so fans of that storyline can certainly brush up on the history there as well.
Check out G.I. Joe: The Price of Peace right here. I would imagine the (much shorter) follow up, The Cost of War will be up shortly as well.
by generalsjoes | Dec 28, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, Dollar Store, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: Renegades, G.I. Joe: The Movie
One would think this would be a pretty easy, straight-forward article, right? I mean, we barely had a wave of figures released, and the vehicles were by and large unremarkable, so what is the point of this discussion?
Well, I kind of thought so, too, but then I started looking into what we got this year, and it became evident, that even with G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s short-lived shelf life, there was still plenty of topics to dissect and plenty to talk about in regards to 2012’s slate of G.I. Joe toys.
Now, a pair of items kind of had me in a quandry. While technically the Slaughter’s Marauders and Dreadnoks 7-Packs were shipped in 2012, I still consider them 2011 product. They were announced and solicited in 2011, and I received my sets in 2011, even though many folks got them in 2012. For that reason I did not include them when considering this list.
Any thoughts from the peanut gallery on that?
Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below to see my thoughts.
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by generalsjoes | Dec 27, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Reviews, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Miscellaneous Reviews
I’ve talked about D & J Toys on the site before, mostly focusing on their very cool Rise of Cobra PIT companion set, which took all of the cardboard pieces and reconstructed them into actual styrene components.
Now, I had a chance to get my hands on their Falcon and Viper Glider reconstructions, and came away really impressed. These are very vintage in style, yet a lot more durable than you might be used to.
Check out the review in my Miscellaneous section, or just hit up the direct link below. Good stuff from another great fan-based project!
by generalsjoes | Dec 27, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, Comics and Cartoons, Dollar Store, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Special Ops, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe Video Game, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: Renegades, G.I. Joe: The Movie, Podcasts
Whatever you think about the state of G.I. Joe throughout 2012, I don’t think anyone can argue that it was a slow year for news. Quite the opposite! Going from nearly daily reports of movie updates, to the downward spiral of G.I. Joe: Retaliation confidence, and finally finding some middle ground with the great regional gatherings of Joe fans and the countless great independent projects.
It was quite the interesting year for G.I. Joe, and in celebration of 2012, I’m picking the top 12 news stories for the year. They may be good, they may be bad, but the end result is a collection of events throughout 2012 that paints a pretty cool picture when we look back on it. Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the run down.
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