by generalsjoes | Jan 7, 2014 | G.I. Joe
A little while ago I mentioned the amazingly awesome WordBurglar who is a rap artist as well as being a huge G.I. Joe fan. Such a big fan, in fact, that his latest album is entitled “Welcome to Cobra Island”.
You can “Name your Price” this album right here, and please do the man a favor and throw some cash his way so he can continue making this awesome music.
Now as cool as the album is, WordBurglar has taken it a monumental step forward, producing a fantastic music video for the title track from “Welcome to Cobra Island”. It’s posted up on YouTube…and man, you’ll just have to trust me and watch it for yourself. Check it out embedded below.
Amazing. Just amazing.
by generalsjoes | Jan 6, 2014 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
First of all, a belated congratulations to YoJoe member gijoecollector1 for being the winner of the IDW Limited Complete Collection Volume 1 edition late last year. But where there’s Volume 1, there must be Volume 2!
YoJoe has launched the second “CobraThon Contest” for an absolutely free copy of the IDW Limited “Complete Collection” Red Label Volume 2. The details are below:
This Red Label edition of G.I. JOE: The Complete Collection Vol.2 is signed by Russ Heath and Larry Hama and hand-numbered to 250. This collection of classic G.I. Joe
tales has been packaged and presented in beautiful hand-assembled casing and re-imagined covers.
• Limited to 250 copies
• Limited-edition, custom-designed slipcase
• Mounted signature page signed by Larry Hama & Russ Heath
• Exclusive canvas cover only available through this IDW Limited release
• Vellum title-page overlay
• New end pages
• Collects 12 issues of the original Real American Hero series
• Stamped with the IDW Limited Red Foil Imprint
• Red satin ribbon bookmark
This is G.I. JOE like you’ve never seen it before. Presenting the full run of the original Real American Hero, Special Missions, and Yearbook tales, placed in proper reading order and collected in handsome hardcover volumes. Presiding over this project is legendary pop-culture aficionado Mark W. Bellomo.
Check out the latest Contest on the YoJoe Contest Page and good luck!

by generalsjoes | Jan 3, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 3, G.I. Joe: The Movie
It’s still very early in the G.I. Joe 3 production schedule, but we’re already getting some traffic from Jon Chu’s camp, mostly as a result of interviews he’s doing for the latest Justin Bieber film.
This time around, he spoke with Flickering Myth about G.I. Joe 3, and reiterated that it looks like shooting will begin this coming year and that the script is still getting nailed down. He didn’t promise it would be “bigger” than G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but he admitted that he’s got a better handle on the whole G.I. Joe “world” that he is building.
The quote I liked the most was this one:
“I don’t feel like I’ve fulfilled the promise I gave, to bring everything I love about Joe to the script. I feel like we did a lot of foundational stuff. We cleared the way. We brought the movie back to life, but at the same time, there’s so much more to do, to make it even better. I learned a lot on the last one, and I want to put that into practice and make this one even better, and make it have life for many, many movies in the future, whether I’m doing them or not.”
I think it speaks to his feelings about Retaliation (which mirror some others out there) in which he spent so much time kind of explaining and cleaning up the first film that there wasn’t necessarily enough film left over for the next leap forward. Sounds like perhaps we can expect that leap this time around.
Chu also elaborates on what happened with the proposed Masters of the Universe film and why he ended up bowing out.
Check out the full interview right here. It’s a decent read, even if there’s not a whole lot of new info.

by generalsjoes | Jan 2, 2014 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Reviews, G.I. Joe Toys
And just like that, GeneralsJoes has caught up on the backlog of reviews! Some free time during the holidays allowed me to go back through the last three Figure Subscription Service shipments and get all caught up on hold over reviews for the first half of FSS 2.0.
Wow…it’s half over already?
Crazy. The amazing thing is, we’ve gotten some nice figures in the first three shipments, but I haven’t even gotten my hands on a few of the figures I’ve been most looking forward to, like Dragonsky, Keel Haul, Big Bear, and of course Cesspool! That means the next three shipments are going to be full of winners. I’m really looking forward to it.
Until then, check out my G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page, or hit the links directly below.
- Tollbooth
- Desert Scorpion

by generalsjoes | Jan 2, 2014 | Comics and Cartoons, Film, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe 3, G.I. Joe Battleground, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Kre-O, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: The Movie, IDW
The dichotomy between 2013 and this upcoming new year couldn’t have been more stark than it was when I was researching the Top 10 biggest news stories for the past year. We went from anticipating a new film, lots of new Hasbro release toys, the emergence of Kre-O, and many other potential new G.I. Joe events from the upcoming year to a year of total uncertainty.
Today marks the beginning of the 50th Anniversary of the G.I. Joe brand, a brand steeped in history and cultural relevance, and it seems to be a real shame that such an event would go mostly ignored by Hasbro, who wouldn’t exist as an entity today without G.I. Joe’s presence throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. A damn shame that nearly four full decades of success relegates a once remarkable brand to the potential dustbins of history and pop culture insignificance. G.I. Joe as a brand helped build you, Hasbro. It would be nice if you would at least spend some efforts trying to return the favor.
Rant over. 🙂
Click the “Continue Reading” link below to see my list of the Top 10 biggest G.I. Joe news stories of 2013, let’s all cross our fingers that there are enough reasons to be writing up a similar list this time next year!
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by generalsjoes | Jan 1, 2014 | G.I. Joe
It was an exciting year to say the least for the G.I. Joe brand in 2013, featuring many ups and downs, some of which will be shared on this very page sometime in the next day or two. As we leave 2013, the future of G.I. Joe remains up in the air, just a few short months after a successful film launch and on the precipice of G.I. Joe’s 50th Anniversary. The environment seems ripe for a G.I. Joe comeback, but from all indications, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
But now is not necessarily the time to debate and dispute the past and future of plastic army men. Now is the time to put the past year behind you and look forward to an exciting 2014, filled with promise and potential.
I’d like to wish all of my readers a very happy and healthy new year, and I look forward to continuing to talk about our favorite hobby, even if there isn’t much corresponding mass market presence surrounding it.
Happy New Year, everyone!

by generalsjoes | Dec 31, 2013 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Reviews, IDW
Today marks the first issue of Paul Allor’s four issue run on G.I. Joe, and he goes in a little bit of a different direction than we saw Fred Van Lente throughout the first eleven issues.
While much of Van Lente’s run focused on the mainstream G.I. Joe team with lots of all out action, Allor’s first issue is decidedly Cobra themed, with more than its fair share of exposition. A very interesting dichotomy from the first eleven issues.
Ultimately, how successful is it? The full review is below.
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by generalsjoes | Dec 31, 2013 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Toys
As we march towards 2014, it’s “catch up” time with reviews that have fallen slightly behind. GeneralsJoes covered Shipwreck and Airtight yesterday, and today we’re tackling Wide Scope and Skullbuster. Certainly an eclectic series of choices for the first four figures, but it’s making me pretty excited as we move forward, as there are still a lot of highly desirable figures left to come.
Check out the GeneralsJoes G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page, or just click the links directly below:

by generalsjoes | Dec 31, 2013 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
As mentioned yesterday, the latest issue of IDW Publishing’s flagship G.I. Joe title should be hitting comic shops today with the holiday tomorrow, and it’s the first issue of the latest season without Fred VanLente at the helm. Taking over for him is Paul Allor, who is doing a four issue arc, starting that arc off with a look at past iterations of Cobra Commander.
Check out the preview below!
G.I. Joe #12
Paul Allor (w) • Alex Cal, S L Gallant, Atilio Rojo, Nicole Virella (p) • Steve Kurth (c)
The Secret History of COBRA! In the aftermath of COBRA’s New York attack, BARONESS leads a new up-and-coming officer called SIREN around the world—and into the past! SIREN uncovers the secrets of the previous COBRA COMMANDERs—and comes face-to-face with the ruthless current one!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- An all-star line-up of G.I. JOE artists reveal the origins of previous COBRA COMMANDERS!
- Writer Paul Allor (TMNT Micro-series: Shredder) reveals ancient COBRA secrets!
- Variant Cover by Freddie Williams III!
by generalsjoes | Dec 30, 2013 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
With the holiday week this week, we’re getting new comic day a day early, and tomorrow marks the first issue of “Season 3” of the IDW G.I. Joe title without Fred VanLente at the helm.
Taking over for a quartet of issues is Paul Allor, and he speaks with good friend of GeneralsJoes Brian Truitt from USA Today about the catalyst for his first issue.
Who else but Cobra Commander would serve as a good jumping off point for the G.I. Joe writer over the next four issues? Allor explores the various iterations of Cobra Commander throughout history, and has some pretty interesting insight.
Check out the full interview on USA Today, along with the preview of G.I. Joe #12. Then come back to GeneralsJoes tomorrow for a review of the issue!
