by generalsjoes | Jun 1, 2010 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Reviews, IDW
G.I. Joe: Origins #16
Chuck Dixon (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Tom Feister, Cal (c)
The Origin of Zartan, Part 1: Who is Zartan? You may think you know the murderous master of disguise but you don’t know the whole story! A hired killer under the command of the Baroness is dangerously compromised. He’s offered the protection of COBRA and sent on a risky mission that ends with a scene that will have Joe fans talking for years. This one is 100% guaranteed to shock!
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
To avoid revealing too many spoilers, I’ve posted the review after the jump. Click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below to check out the review, and be warned, there ARE spoilers within!
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by generalsjoes | Jun 1, 2010 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
The IDW G.I. Joe world has been a roller coaster, and thankfully things have been on the upward trend as of late. In that way, I’m glad it took them a little while to get to exploring the character of Zartan, because he is one of the coolest and most central characters of the G.I. Joe mythos, and I’d rather see him done right than done early.
So far we’ve got a short snippet of the G.I. Joe: Origins issue featuring his back story, and so far, so good. A pretty fast-paced, thrilling introduction so far.
G.I. Joe: Origins #16
Chuck Dixon (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Tom Feister, Cal (c)
The Origin of Zartan, Part 1: Who is Zartan? You may think you know the murderous master of disguise but you don’t know the whole story! A hired killer under the command of the Baroness is dangerously compromised. He’s offered the protection of COBRA and sent on a risky mission that ends with a scene that will have Joe fans talking for years. This one is 100% guaranteed to shock!
*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
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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 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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G.I. Joe: Origins #16