by generalsjoes | May 6, 2016 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Maybe I’ve missed the discussion, because I’ll grant you I’m not in too many comic book circles, but this past Wednesday saw the release of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #228, and with that one, mostly incidental comic issue, Larry Hama took another trendsetting step that I hope more publishers take note of.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a mostly male dominated comic, but one thing that has always shone through with G.I. Joe is the strong female characters that permeate the universe, even though they’re somewhat smaller in number.
On Wednesday, those females took over. For 22 pages, Hama wrote a story told only using female characters within the G.I. Joe universe. It wasn’t gratuitous, it wasn’t shouted from the rooftops or proclaimed as some big “event”, it was just done. Baroness, Zarana, Dawn, Lady Jaye, Scarlett, Jinx, Cover Girl, Dr. Biggles-Jones, Cassandra Knox and several others drove the story as if it were just another issue of the comic. No story was sacrificed, no punches were pulled, it just happened, and it was pretty great.
As most of you are aware, back in the 80s Larry wrote a now legendary comic, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #21, and has freely admitted that back then it really didn’t get much notice. People saw it as a gimmick and nothing more, but in the decades since, it has been elevated to legendary status and replicated by all manner of other comic writers and publishers. He’s always managed to stay ahead of the curve.
I’m really impressed that this latest issue took this great step without making it a big deal. Girls are part of G.I. Joe, that’s just the way it is, and they can be a major part of the story (or the only part) without any sacrifice to plot or action. Not just that, but they’re such a normal part of the story, it’s not even a big deal when they take over the story. Just another day in the life of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
As a lifelong G.I. Joe fan with two daughters, I applaud Mr. Hama for doing this, and for doing it naturally. The issue was a great one, and the fact that it was driven by an all female cast only made it better. If you haven’t grabbed issue #228 yet, you might want to get on that. I suspect in ten years people may be looking back on it with similar inflection as the great issue #21.
by generalsjoes | May 4, 2016 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #228
Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: SL Gallant
Inker: Brian Shearer
Colors: J. Brown
Letters: Neal Uyetake
Editor: Carlos Guzman
It’s been an ashamedly long time since I devoted pages and words on this site to a review of the latest issue of the Real American Hero comic from IDW Publishing. I’m not sure why that is, I suspect real life just got in the way, but I’m going to at least try and reconcile that this month. Fair warning, spoilers will be found below.
(more…)
by generalsjoes | May 3, 2016 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Life has been busy over the past few months, and I realize I’ve let the comic previews slip…shame on me. COBRA Nation has hit Part 3, and issue #228 of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero lands at comic shops tomorrow. Check out the preview below.
My hope is to actually get a review of this one posted, too, because it’s a pretty fun issue which actually does something really interesting…
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #228: Cobra Nation, Part 3
Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a & c)
Things have been quiet on the Cobra front, as far as G.I. JOE can tell… but that may just be because there’s a snake in the grass on the homefront. Could there be a traitor within G.I. JOE’s ranks?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
by generalsjoes | Apr 21, 2016 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
The stories emerged a while ago that Hasbro was developing their own cinematic shared universe as a way to develop their in house brands and further their entertainment strategy. In fact, just before Toy Fair 2016, a shareholder presentation revealed this fact, and focused specifically on a potential cinematic universe featuring G.I. Joe, MASK, Visionaries, ROM, and Micronauts. How these diverse properties will all blend together remains a question, but is it possible that this question may be answered sooner than some of us thought?
If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you’ve likely noticed that IDW Publishing has been promoting something called “Revolution”. Nobody really seems to know what it’s about, but something is evidently in the works.
Now today, from all over social media, various comic creators, writers, etc… are Tweeting about a creative summit to discuss this “Revolution”. You can see a collection of these Tweets over at Bleeding Cool.
So, evidently, IDW is doing something interesting in advance of Free Comic Book Day and calling it “Revolution”. Pretty innocuous, right?
Well, let’s connect some dots. Not too long ago, IDW was rumored to be working on a MASK Comic Book. IDW is already working on Micronauts and just recently announced the debut of a new ongoing ROM title.
Do you see where this is going?
Several of the creators traveling to this Revolution creative summit are creators who have been involved in some of these Hasbro properties, or are rumored to be involved.
Along with this, you have the apparent debut of a new Action Man (a European extension of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe), and his appearance is apparently in a Free Comic Book day special featuring ROM (which is happening right around this supposed “Revolution”).
As if this isn’t enough, there have been a swath of exclusive covers revealed, showcasing ROM cavorting with all sorts of different Hasbro themed characters.
So with all of this coming together, it seems possible that this “Revolution” might just feature the seeds of this big Hasbro shared universe.
Now, would Hasbro really utilize the IDW comics to kick off this grand scheme? Honestly, I’m not convinced of that, but there are certainly a lot of coincidences here that lead me to believe we’ll be seeing some coalescence between brands, and that coalescence may begin with the comic pages before it graces the movie screen.
We’ll have to see what these events might mean for G.I. Joe, whether Real American Hero carries that torch, or if IDW might spin up another solo Joe book.
Or, who knows, I may just be full of complete crap. As long as I get a cool MASK and Visionaries series to go along with it, I’m okay either way.
by generalsjoes | Feb 17, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
IDW Publishing has released their list of upcoming comic solicitations for May, 2016, including the newest issues of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and Street Fighter X G.I. Joe. Check out all the details below.
Street Fighter X G.I. JOE #4 (of 6)
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Emilio Laiso (a) • Phil Jimenez (c)
The World Warrior Tournament enters the finals, and M. Bison will stop at nothing to be the last one standing! Can the Street Fighters and G.I. JOE stop the Shadaloo dictator before he takes the top spot?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Street Fighter X G.I. JOE #4 (of 6)—Subscription Variant
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Emilio Laiso (a) • Nelson Daniel (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- Your favorite Street Fighter characters face off against G.I. JOE for the first time ever!
- 8-bit Variant cover by Matthew Waite!
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #228: Cobra Nation, Part 3
Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a & c)
Things have been quiet on the Cobra front, as far as G.I. JOE can tell… but that may just be because there’s a snake in the grass on the homefront. Could there be a traitor within G.I. JOE’s ranks?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #228: Cobra Nation, Part 3—Subscription Variant
Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • Brian Shearer (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
G.I. JOE: The Complete Collection, Vol. 9
Larry Hama (w) • Herb Trimpe, Marshall Rogers, Rod Whigham, Ron Wagner, Don Hudson (a) • N/A (c)
Presenting the full run of original G.I. JOE comics in proper reading order. Includes an introduction and issue notes by Mark W. Bellomo. Collects issues #77–83 of A REAL AMERICAN HERO and issues #14–19 of SPECIAL MISSIONS.
HC • FC • $49.99 • 356 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-607-2
Bullet points:
- The in-depth look at Marvel’s classic G.I. JOE run continues!
by generalsjoes | Feb 9, 2016 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
COBRA World Order comes to its Earth shattering conclusion on Wednesday at your local comic shop! Check out the preview below and get ready for the rise of the COBRA Nation!
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #225: COBRA WORLD ORDER Part 7
Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a & c)
COBRA has unleashed the COBRA WORLD ORDER and now G.I. JOE must fight back before the world is pushed past the brink and COBRA reigns supreme! Larry Hama and S L Gallant bring fans the concluding chapter of the story, which will change the world of G.I. JOE forever!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- Part of IDW’s big Valentine’s Day promotion!
- COBRA WORLD ORDER ENDS HERE!
- The biggest G.I. JOE storyline comes to an epic conclusion in this special 24-page story!
