The news broke a few weeks ago at NYCC that in 2013 a new writer would be taking over the reigns of the main G.I. Joe title, and that new writer is Fred Van Lente. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Mr. Van Lente revealed some details about the upcoming title, including a new look for the team, a new philosophy, and an updated roster. While the story will continue the IDW G.I. Joe universe, the Joe team is undergoing some fundamental changes.
As usual, this news was greeted with some… “enthusiastic” reactions from different portions of the G.I. Joe community, so I reached out to Mr. Van Lente, hoping to clarify some details and get some more information about this upcoming book. He was very kind enough to get back to be very quickly, and I wanted to thank him for taking some time out of his most assuredly busy schedule to humor my fanboy oriented requests.
For folks who want to hear even more about the new G.I. Joe title from Mr. Van Lente, make sure you’re also keeping your eyes (and ears) open for What’s on Joe Mind Episode 69 as we’ll be featuring a great round table discussion with the new G.I. Joe writer as well as Marvel Director of Communications Arune Singh.
Until then, click the read the rest of the story link below to check out my interview with Fred Van Lente! And a huge thanks once again to Fred for his quick responses to my questions.
A project that has been listed on Amazon for a while, but with a release date that sort of kept jumping around has been volume 1 of the G.I. Joe: The Complete Collection hardcover series by IDW. The goal of the series is to reprint every page of every comic from the Marvel era of G.I. Joe…and yes, this includes (for the first time in trade paperback form) the fantastic “Hot Potato” backup story from issue #1 as well as all of the pin ups and dossiers from those issues, too!
Volume 1 contains issues #1 – 12 which collect the absolute essential foundation of the Marvel G.I. Joe universe as we know it. Dr. Venom, Snake Eyes, Kwinn, the Brainwave Scanner, Billy…it all started right here.
Amazon has this initial volume in stock now at a very reasonable price…and you can rest assured, with these titles being assembled by none other than G.I. Joe uber-fan Mark Bellomo, there is great care and consideration going into them. Hit up the banner below to buy this title and start your “complete collection” of the Marvel G.I. Joe universe!
Perhaps someone with keener eyes can tell me if this is truly a “new” trailer or not. There are some bits I do not remember (specifically the words in between some scenes, and Firefly’s dialogue about hunting)… but it’s been a while.
Regardless, this trailer was posted just yesterday on YouTube and claims to be a new 2013 trailer. There are not any major new sequences, but hey… G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer! GOOO!
First and foremost, a huge thanks to Josh for letting me borrow this figure in order to do this review. I’m extremely flattered that he offered this up so I could get the review done for the review page, hopefully I did him proud.
This figure is slated for release in first quarter 2013 as part of the Wave 2 G.I. Joe: Retaliation 3-Packs. The “Cobra Invasion” 3-Pack is also slated to come with Storm Shadow and the Cobra Invasion ParaTrooper. Check out the full review in my G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review page, or hit the direct link below.
That’s right folks, its our birthday. On November 1st, Nerd Rage Toys
celebrates the completion of our first year of business, and we want to
invite you to the party!
As a thank you to all of our faithful customers, and social network
friends, we are giving away $100 in gift certificates to a few lucky
winners.
On Saturday, November 10th, we will randomly select 5 winners to receive
the following prizes:
1st Place – $50 Gift Certificate (one winner)
2nd Place – $25 Gift Certificate (one winner)
3rd Place – $10 Gift Certificate (two winners)
Runner Up – $5 Gift Certificate (one winner)
We would like to thank each and every one of you that have made this year
possible, and we hope to work with you for many years to come.
We have received the shipping notification for our order of Star War VTC
Wave 7 figures. We expect to have them in hand Thursday, November 1st,
and will begin processing orders as soon as possible.
There is still a nice selection of figures available for pre-order, so get
them while you can. Don’t miss out on this awesome wave of figures!
Its the scariest month of the year (besides tax month) and Nerd Rage Toys
wants to add a little spooky to your collection!
Through the entire month of October, all Ghostbusters items are 10% off!
Cash in on some huge discounts on vehicles, figures, roll play items, and
more!
Woah! How is that for a nice Monday surprise! Sideshow Collectibles has their fantastic looking 12″ Major Bludd up for pre-order RIGHT NOW. Check out the links below to pre-order this bad boy.
As we inch ever closer to 2013, I keep on waiting to get thrown back into the onslaught of marketing for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but the well continues to be relatively dry where information and news goes.
However, the same cannot be said of Jon Chu himself, who has his irons in several different fires at the moment. He’s been officially announced as the Masters of the Universe film director, he’s deeply involved in Justin Bieber’s Believe tour, is currently working with LXD (the League of Extraordinary Dancers) and his YouTube channel DS2DIO. Along with all of this, his first commercial recently aired for Microsoft’s Surface tablet. You can check that out right here.
With all of these projects, MTV Geek sat down with the director, and of course the subject of G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s controversial delay came up. They touch on the subject somewhat, though there isn’t much detail. Chu confirms that his work with dance helped prepare him for some complicated action sequences, and actually convinced producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura to give him the director job.
He also speaks about 3D and how even though G.I. Joe: Retaliation is technically being converted to 3D post-production, many of the scenes within the film were shot with 3D in mind and the end result will be much more effective than you might see in other post-production films. He’s also still working hard to possibly shoot some new scenes with 3D from the ground up to even better take advantage of this delay.
You can read the entire interview right here. It’s a really interesting look at the director, which touches on a lot of subjects aside from G.I. Joe. I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s really cool to see how his experience with dance choreography has enabled him to view action films in a different light and bring his 3D skills to the table for G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Especially with as little news about the film as we’re seeing right now, it’s worth checking out.
I think it’s fair to say that IDW shocked the G.I. Joe world at NYCC with the revelation that their series of G.I. Joe books would “relaunch” in 2013 with brand new #1 issues and some new creative teams mixed in there, particularly on the flagship G.I. Joe title.
Taking over for Chuck Dixon on G.I. Joe is Fred Van Lente with Steve Kurth doing the pencils, and Mr. Van Lente spoke with Comic Book Resources about this new direction for G.I. Joe. It’s an interesting one to be sure. You can read the full interview right here.
Reading this interview brought a few different thoughts to mind, and I’ve got to work them over in my head a bit over the next couple of months before the book debuts. First and foremost, immediately evident from the first look at the new G.I. Joe team, this book is certainly making some changes. Perhaps making some changes worthy of the “relaunch”. No longer a covert operatives team, G.I. Joe is now out in the spotlight in more ways than one, and looking at this first image… wow. I see a lot of super hero elements here. Form-fitting uniforms, armor plating, a distinct lack of helmets, backpacks or flak vests. Granted, this is a single image, but I could see some G.I. Joe fans being taken aback by this new look.
Perhaps one of the most alarming details is the distinct and conspicuous lack of Snake Eyes… I would imagine they’re holding something back where he is concerned, either to maintain some suspense for his current title or to keep his return as a potential “event” to lead up to in this new book.
For me personally, I don’t mind the super hero elements infiltrating G.I. Joe somewhat, but I do want to see at least some indication that these are military operatives. I suspect they will look more military within the confines of the book itself, but this initial image has me a bit…well… concerned isn’t the right word. I guess I’m surprised. In my opinion, no matter how much they integrate into a super-hero like universe, the core look of the G.I. Joe team should have military elements…and just carrying guns around doesn’t count.
As anyone who reads my site knows, I will remain optimistic, and as I’ve researched the new writer Fred Van Lente, I’ve found myself thoroughly enjoying his work. I suspect if anyone can make this new look and feel work it’s him. But let’s just say I’ll be watching this closely, mostly to gauge the reaction of other Joe fans. While I’ve always thoroughly loved an injection of super hero mythology into my G.I. Joe universe, there is a pretty large subset of G.I. Joe fans who are into the hard core military stuff, and upon first glance, these uniforms don’t scream “hard core military”. Of course, many folks would argue (myself included) that “hard core military” never involved dudes in football jerseys or not wearing any shoes, too, so really a lot of folks who clamor for the real world military stuff, but also want things vintage accurate are sort of talking out of both sides of their mouths.
In fairness, I think Duke’s uniform design specifically is extremely cool looking. I like the shoulder pads, I like the layered look of the pants and vest. The throwback to his classic colors. Those are all very cool elements that I think bridge the comic book and military world very, very well. Shipwreck also looks extremely nice, with some call backs to his Devils’ Due appearance and just the right additions if flair to the uniform. That only makes sense with Steve Kurth as the artist on this book (he was the first artist when Devils’ Due launched the title way back when as well) and I can certainly see some of his style showing through.
Thinking about the plot ideas, I do think this has the potential to be very interesting. Embedded journalists/bloggers is a very modernized take, and using the G.I. Joe team as a living, breathing recruitment poster is a pretty intriguing concept. It truly is a new direction, and I am really looking forward to seeing where this goes. As I said, I suspect within the pages of the book there will be many more military-themed images, concepts, and uniforms, but I just had to voice my concerns over the first release image of this new team.
Again, check out the interview right here, and the first image has been posted as well. I won’t mirror it out of respect for CBR, but you can see it in the interview.
The teasers about the debut of the Oktober Guard have been handled really well, making it sound like a pretty major G.I. Joe universe event, which is cool in my eyes. In the Marvel Universe, Larry treated the Oktober Guard pretty seriously, making them very impactful members of the G.I. Joe continuity, but they haven’t really gotten that much love in the toy world. Sure we got the excellent comic packs in 2004, and of course the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club just blew us away with the Operation: Bear Trap Convention set, but beyond that, to folks who only know G.I. Joe through the cartoons and retail shelves, the Oktober Guard is relatively invisible.
Mike Costa and Antonio Fuso jump right into the world of these Russian Special Forces troops and take them in pretty different directions. But what was the end result?
Click the read the rest of the story link below for the full review.
Okay, we’re down within the final 24 hours of the Marauder “Gun Runners” Kickstarter campaign and the good news is, Marauder has MET THE KICKSTARTER GOAL! Woo hoo! As of 7:45 this morning, contributions have been met to make this project happen.
Keep in mind, Marauder has plenty of stretch goals as well, and the more money that comes in, the more stuff that will be available to everyone.
As an added thank you, Marauder has also beefed up the rewards for folks contributing at the Pirate Horde or Double Horde levels. This may provide an added incentive to bolster your contribution. The Marauder “Gun Runners” Kickstarter page is right here, and read the details of the latest update below.
Hey Folks!
Since we might not hit some of the “stretch” goals and we really want to add “more” stuff to the packages….we are ADDING a Complete Series #6 set in “Realistic” paint scheme to the Pirate Hoard level (and 2 to the Double Hoard level) as a “thank you” for those contributing to our project (at NO addtional costs to those who have participated at those levels or will participate at those levels). Also, will be glad to “swap” out the below painted Series #6 set for the “Realistic” painted new items (Picaroon level) or the “Desert Tan” painted new items (again, can make your selection in the after event “survey”).
Here are some painted samples (final designs may vary slightly from items shown):
Here are ALL the items NOW in the $100 Pirate Hoard level:
The news broke a few weeks ago at NYCC that in 2013 a new writer would be taking over the reigns of the main G.I. Joe title, and that new writer is Fred Van Lente. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Mr. Van Lente revealed some details about the upcoming title, including a new look for the team, a new philosophy, and an updated roster. While the story will continue the IDW G.I. Joe universe, the Joe team is undergoing some fundamental changes.
