Hey everyone, Gary here with a rare post. Which I am sure will be a hot topic of discussion for today and into the short term future (most Joe fans have short attention spans), dozens and dozens of the online Joe fandom who camped out HTS found that Slaughter is a hot commodity – the HARD way. At approximately 11:30a EST, the good sarge popped up on HTS and went from IN STOCK to OUT OF STOCK about as quick as it took you to read this sentence. While other Hasbro SDCC items flux between the two states, Sarge’s status has remained unchanged since. Yes, there are no Sarges today… (more…)
So, for Joefans, SDCC is already mostly done. Renegades info flooded in on Thursday, we got IDW stuff yesterday. Sideshow is doing their thing tomorrow, but by and large, we’re ready to move on.
However, the rest of the comic world is still trucking right along, and while I don’t read a whole lot of comics these days, I still really love the concept of super heroes and I try to catch as much of that stuff as possible in other media. And holy crap does DC Comics have that covered with two awesome looking events coming up.
First of all, the new animated series Young Justice. Not being a comic fan, I don’t know who the hell Young Justice is, other than apparently the Teen Titans, only no longer called the Teen Titans. Didn’t we have a Teen Titans cartoon a few years ago? Now they want another one? Well, once I saw this video feature, I want another one, too. This looks like a whole lot of fun, and I love how connected the Justice League is! Check the video out below.
But of course the really “holy shit” moment so far of SDCC to me, is the cinematic teaser for the DC Universe Online MMORPG (or however the hell that acronym goes). Now, not only am I not really a DC fan, but I pretty much can’t stand MMORPG’s so there’s no way in hell I’ll ever play this, but this cinematic teaser makes me regret not having 20 spare hours a week to devote to a video game. It is… stunning. Absolutely stunning.
Okay, in all the combing through the internet, I found a few sources of information for stuff that was discussed at the Hasbro IDW panel, but unfortunately none of it ended up really being of any consequence.
The first intel came from YoJoe, who had a representative in the panel, and the recap can be found right here, though honestly not much was revealed.
Essentially most of the panel seemed to focus on Cobra and how they got in the position they’re in now, which is pretty fascinating to consider. Cobra’s whole history back in the day was pretty odd, considering how much force and technology they amassed without it really being discussed just how they did it, where the money came from (beyond a “pyramid scheme”) or how they built their empire. The IDW universe is playing into that a LOT more, and it’s pretty neat.
One of the more interesting notes was the fact that an upcoming issue of G.I. Joe, the first appearance of Storm Shadow proclaims itself as the end of “Season 1” of G.I. Joe. I’m not entirely sure how they break up the “seasons” or if they simply mean the book is moving in another direction from that point on.
The most comprehensive coverage of the IDW panel was posted on The Terror Drome (with some props as well to iFanboy) and their run down is as follows:
After 3-part Zartan story in Origins, Croc Master “origins” story in issue #18.
Hama returns to Origins for one more story with G.I. Joe: Origins #19 which will be another “silent issue” featuring Snake Eyes.
Then G.I. Joe: Origins 20-23 will focus on Cobra organization.
G.I. Joe: Cobra Special #2, available last week of September, featuring the trial of Erika le Tene.
Chuckles story concludes in G.I. Joe: Cobra #10-13
In the main ongoing G.I. Joe title, critical mass device #23-27, Storm Shadow first appearance in IDW verse.
G.I. Joe: RAH will pick up from Marvel’s run with Cobra presenting itself as a “Blackwater” type organization.
Both G.I. Joe: Renegades and Transformers Prime will have books debuting in October”
So, in all honesty, not a whole lot of juicy new intel was released…but we’ll take what we can get. Thanks to everyone for chipping in links and coverage so we could get this all together. Big thanks to Wild Weasel of The Terror Drome as well, for finally getting some comprehensive details of the panel.
Now that we know just a little bit more about G.I. Joe: Renegades, we know that in this new series, Cobra starts off as a legitimate (or supposedly legitimate) pharmaceutical corporation called Cobra Industries.
Well, on the West Coast, apparently recruiting has started! HissTank reports that Cobra Industries propaganda has started appearing throughout Comic-con and has some great images hosted on their site, which I have mirrored below. I love this sort of stuff…here’s hoping we get more of it leading up to the animated series this fall.
Thanks to the glorious wonders of YouTube and sneaky convention attendees. Woop!
From what we can see, pretty neat stuff. Sure, mostly gun fire and Snake Eyes beating crap up, but the animation is fluid…the action is crisp and well choreographed. Looking forward to seeing more!
Well, not holy crap because of his name, because it’s pretty likely you’ve never heard of him before. I know I hadn’t. But if you’re a self-respecting geek, you’ve no doubt seen some of his work. His name is Henry Gilroy, and the guys at the Terror Drome confirmed at SDCC that he is one of the lead writers for G.I. Joe: Renegades.
So why is this important? Why is it a “Holy Crap” moment? Check out his resume:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animated Series (Writer)
The Secret Saturdays
Transformers: Animated (The Sound and the Fury)
Bionicle
The Tick
The Adventures of Batman and Robin
Batman: The Animated Series
Uhhh yeah. I think Renegades is in pretty good hands. As I’ve already covered in this post, we’ve got some very experienced veterans involved here, and experienced veterans with a great background. Some of the folks who worked on some of the greatest animated series in the past 15 years now have their hands in G.I. Joe, and I think that can only be a good thing. I can understand how some of the art and character designs might be a turn off to the adult Joe fan, but I still think we need to give the actual content a try before we prepare to write it off.
