G.I. Joe (comics)
Encyclopedia
G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro
, comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year (1977–1981, 1997–2000). As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
has been covered by three separate publishers and four main-title series, all of which have been based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name.
The first series was produced by Marvel Comics
between 1982 and 1994, running for 155 issues, and spawning several spin-off titles throughout the course of its run; the second and third series, published by Devil's Due Productions from 2001 to 2008, totaled 80 issues and included several spin-off titles as well. The fourth series has been published by IDW Publishing
since October 2008, and various spin-off titles have also been launched.
After World War II, Dave Breger continued his comic strip now titled Mister Breger up into the 1960s, chronicling the civil life of his humorous character.
From 1942 to 1945, the G.I. Joe comic strip Yank, the Army Weekly
reprinted the adventures of Private Breger from King Features Syndicate
.
Volume 1 started in 1950 and lasted 5 issues, numbered 10 through 14. Volume 2 continuing from the previous volume was published from 1951, and lasted 46 issues numbered 6 through 51.
(#53 and 54) titled G.I. Joe, which took place during World War II
.
In 1969, issues of a larger format comic with more elaborate stories were released with toys as The Adventures of G.I. Joe. From 1970 to 1976, Hasbro continued to reprint and publish new comics in-house as The G.I. Joe Adventure Team (see the Hasbro section).
, which was supported by a Marvel Comics series of the same name. It was unique at the time in that it was a comic book series that was promoted on television commercials
which also supported the toy line. This 155-issue series is considered to be one of the longest-running comic book
tie-ins to a toy line. Much of its success is to be credited to Larry Hama
, who wrote the entire series save for a few issues with guest writers. Rather than treating the stories as a mere promotion for the toys, Hama wrote the series with seriousness and infused it with doses of realism, humor, and drama. Other than Transformers, no other series was able to duplicate its success. Notable artists include Herb Trimpe
, Ron Wagner
, Rod Whigham, and Marshall Rogers
.
A number of differences existed between the comic book and the animated TV series. Certain characters who were very prominent in the comic book, such as Stalker
, were featured very little in the cartoon, while characters who were less prominent in the comic book, such as Shipwreck, were very prominent in the cartoon series. Another difference was that in the comic book featured a romance between Scarlett
and Snake-Eyes, whereas in the cartoon, a romance between Scarlett and Duke
was hinted at instead (most likely due to the differences between writing for a comic book audience and writing for an animated series). The most notable difference between the comic and the cartoon, however, is in its handling of combat. While the cartoon had the characters use semi-futuristic laser rifles and pistols (due to an edict for "no bullets" from the studio), the comic book did not shy away from using real-world pistols, rifles, SMGs and ammunition; The cartoon characters would almost comically wade through waves of enemy fire untouched, while the comic book would routinely have characters suffer injuries from bullets or shrapnel; the cartoon showed that nearly every soldier in every battle survived (for example, many shots of aircraft being shot down were shown to have its pilot escape in a parachute), while the comic did not shy away from character deaths; for example, issue #109 included the deaths of a large number of Joes, including fan-favorites like Doc, Breaker, and Quick-Kick, while other storylines included the deaths of Serpentor and Dr. Mindbender.
G.I. Joe: Order of Battle was a 4-issue mini series which ran from December 1986 - March 1987. Written by Larry Hama, with art by Herb Trimpe, the first issue spotlighted G.I. Joe characters with code names from A-K. Subsequent issues spotlighted G.I. Joe characters from M-Z, Cobra characters, and vehicles respectively. The second issue erroneously listed Sylvester Stallone
's Rocky Balboa character as a member of G.I. Joe. While negotiations had taken place to license the character, the deal had fallen through. The third and fourth issues contained a retraction stating that Rocky Balboa was not and had never been a member of G.I. Joe. A trade-paperback
including material from all four issues, was published in 1987, and removed mention of the Rocky character entirely.
providing pencils on several issues. Spinning out of issue #50 of a story in the main title, the series featured more intense violence and a more ambiguous morality than the main title, while the enemies were conventional terrorists as well as Cobra itself. The first four issues, as well as the backup story from issue #50 of the main title, were later republished as a trade paperback.
titled G.I. Joe Comic Magazine.
Tales of G.I. Joe reprinted the first fifteen issues of G.I. Joe on a higher quality paper stock than that used for the main comic.
Shortly after the final issue, a G.I. Joe Special #1 was released, with alternate art for issue #61 by Todd McFarlane
. The cover features Snake Eyes in a crouched-down position, in a homage to the Spider-Man
title that McFarlane illustrated during his tenure at Marvel.
In 2001, with the success of Devil's Due Comics run of G.I. Joe, Marvel Comics collected the first 50 issues in five trade paperbacks, with ten issues in each book. All covers for the trade paperbacks were drawn by J. Scott Campbell. Marvel will not publish the rest of the series, because Hasbro has purchased the rights to the comics. Hasbro has since released reprints of some issues with some of their action figures.
In 2009, IDW Publishing
began to publish the series again. It is called Classic G.I. Joe and, like Marvel did before, collects ten issues in each volume. To date, 12 volumes have been published. Classic G.I. Joe Volume 13 is slated to be released on November 15, 2011.
, Spanish
, Portuguese
, Polish
, French
, French (Canada)
, Swedish
, Norwegian
, Finnish
, Danish
, Japanese
, Arabic
, Indonesian
, and other languages.
, it was set outside the continuity of both series, although the final issue did introduce the Transformers character Goldbug
, who later appeared in the main The Transformers
comic book series. A trade paperback later collected all four issues.
Action Force
was the British
counterpart to the 3 3/4-inch G.I. Joe toy line. The Action Force comic was launched by Marvel UK
in 1987, tying into the previous Battle Action Force, and publishing original strips as well as modified reprints of the U.S. comic, with the team renamed "Action Force". The title lasted fifty issues before merging with Marvel UK's The Transformers in early 1988.
Later in 1988, a second series, Action Force Monthly, was launched due to Marvel UK
's decision to produce comics in the American monthly format, and ran for fifteen issues before it was cancelled. The Action Force Monthly title was published in the U.S. as G.I. Joe: European Missions, which kept all of the dialogue from the UK version without attempting to incorporate the reprinted stories into the continuity of the U.S. G.I. Joe comic. The comic also included a tie-in story for the UK release of G.I. Joe: The Movie
.
After the cancellation of Action Force Monthly, the U.S. G.I. Joe comic continued to be reprinted in Marvel UK's The Transformers comic as a back-up feature, with the dialogue kept intact, until it was dropped in 1991.
Blackthorne also published three issues of How to Draw G.I. Joe.
series. Dark Horse Comics
acquired the rights to publish comics based on the G.I. Joe Extreme property. The first series was a four-issue limited series written by Mike W. Barr
and drawn by Tatsuya Ishida, which introduced the main characters. The ongoing G.I. Joe Extreme series that was launched afterward dropped the word "Extreme" from the title. The ongoing series lasted four issues before being canceled, although Dark Horse referred to the title as being on hiatus.
, written by Josh Blaylock with John Larter and Steve Kurth as the artists. The title quickly became known to the fans as A Real American Hero (vol. 2) (following from Marvel's original series), or G.I. Joe Reinstated (the title of the first four-issue arc). A comics convention special was released before the first issue. Strong sales on the limited series led to it being upgraded to an ongoing series, with the publication of a fifth issue and a monthly schedule.
The new series picked up seven years after the end of the Marvel Comics
series, and also used elements from the animated TV series. Several older characters were featured in the title alongside several new recruits. The new series also spun off several other series and was responsible for bringing back attention to other 1980s properties such as Transformers
, Masters of the Universe
and Voltron
. Devil's Due later broke with Image Comics and took over the publishing of the book. The series ended with issue #43, and the introduction of a new enemy. Most G.I. Joe titles published by Devil's Due Publishing are available in both comic and trade paperback formats.
G.I. Joe: Battle Files gave profiles of the G.I. Joe and Cobra teams, as well as information on their vehicles. Battle Files was published between April and September 2002. A Sourcebook trade paperback was published in February 2003, which collected issues one through three with additional profiles added.
G.I. Joe: Frontline lasted eighteen issues, and featured a rotating creative team for every story. The stories explored what happened to G.I. Joe and Cobra concurrently with the main title's continuity, with the exception of the first arc. Larry Hama wrote Frontline's initial offering, "The Mission That Never Was," a four-part series set one month after the events of the Marvel series' issue #155.
A single digest titled Arashikage Showdown featured Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow
, Jinx, Scarlett, Kamakura, T'Jbang, Nunchuk and Budo. The martial arts experts try to recover the secret scrolls of the Arashikage
Ninja Clan, to which several of them belong. This book has been considered to be non-canon by fans, as it incorporates magical and fantasy elements not present in the main series.
There were two four-issue limited series titled G.I. Joe: Master and Apprentice, written by Brandon Jerwa. The first series was about how Snake Eyes
met and trained his apprentice Kamakura, while the second series focused on Storm Shadow and his apprentice/lover Junko Akita.
" story arc ran from issue #25 to #36. The series concluded in July 2008 with issue #36, after Devil's Due lost the G.I. Joe license.
An original one-shot titled Data Desk Handbook published files for G.I. Joe: America's Elite main characters at the launch of the series. The files are presented as computer entries written by General Joseph Colton. Several other files were later published in individual issues of America's Elite, Special Missions and several trade paperback volumes. An updated version in two issues (A-M and N-Z) was released in October and November 2007.
The one-shot issue The Hunt for Cobra Commander was set in the year between the Devil's Due A Real American Hero series and America's Elite series, and featured G.I. Joe team member Spirit.
, lasted seven issues and focused on former Cobra and G.I. Joe team member Storm Shadow. The series began in May 2007, and, while not bearing the "America's Elite" subtitle, the events occurred in the same time frame as the main series.
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers was a series of cross-productions with Dreamwave Productions
, who, at the time of publication, held the license to create Transformers comics. Each studio released their own six-issue mini-series, which featured their own take on a crossover between the two franchises. Unlike previous efforts to bring the two properties together, the Devil's Due story takes place in an alternate present day, where Cobra, just rising to prominence, has uncovered the Ark. Cobra steals the Transformers found inside, such as Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet, and adapt them into Cobra assault vehicles such as Cobra H.I.S.S. tanks. G.I. Joe is formed to stop Cobra, and receive unexpected help from Wheeljack
and Bumblebee
, who managed to avoid being taken by Cobra.
The second mini-series was a sequel to the first story. Cybertronian technology has augmented both G.I. Joe and Cobra's forces, who are still fighting each other. During a battle, an accident causes several Joes and members of Cobra to be accidentally transported to Cybertron. The backlash of the accident also pulls several Transformers to Earth, as well as scattering them through time. The Joes and Cobra must travel into the past and future, to retrieve the missing Autobots and Decepticons before the Earth is destroyed. This is complicated by the fact that most of Cybertron is under the control of the Decepticon Shockwave
.
The third mini-series, entitled The Art of War, followed on from the second mini-series, using elements of the first. The new story focused on a re-imagined version of Serpentor
, in this continuity a cyborg created from the DNA of great war leaders, and the mechanical components of Megatron. Inadvertently freed by a Cobra raid, Serpentor journeyed to Cybertron. Now Hawk, Grimlock
and the other Autobots and Joes must stop him before he takes the Autobot Matrix of Leadership for himself.
A fourth mini-series consisting of two double-sized issues, entitled Black Horizon, was released in early 2007. After Hawk resigned from G.I. Joe in the wake of the events of "The Art of War", he formed a loose alliance with the Autobots to stop the spread of Cybertronian technology. However, a much bigger threat looms: the serpent cult Cobra-La
and the dark god of the Transformers Unicron
. Hawk, Flint, and Optimus Prime go the Himalayas to confront Cobra-La, and find a long lost hero: Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe.
In this universe, Snake-Eyes is Storm Shadow's half-brother and a former Cobra agent. The African-American woman Carla "Doc" Greer, (an alternative version of the character Carl "Doc" Greer
from the main continuity), is G.I. Joe's field medic, and Duke is an undercover Cobra agent who betrays the group. The series had no connection to the main comic series and was canceled after fourteen issues due to low sales.
was a six-issue mini-series written for a younger audience, based on the toyline and animated TV series of the same name. While the series was out of continuity with the main comic universe, the characters are largely the same: Hawk is the commanding officer, Duke is the field leader, and there is a connection between the ninjas Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow.
, which was officially announced on May 29, 2008. IDW's G.I. Joe series is a complete reboot of the property, ignoring the continuity from the Marvel and Devil's Due incarnations of the comic.
, and drawn by Robert Atkins
, which started in January 2009. After issue #27, the series was rebooted in April 2011 with a new #0.
G.I. Joe: Origins was an ongoing series that started in February 2009, and ended with issue #23 in January 2011. The first five issues, written by Larry Hama
with art by Tom Feister
and Mike Hawthorne
, focus on the formation of the G.I. Joe team several years before the events of the main series. After this story arc, rotating creative teams - featuring creators such as JT Krul, Joe Benitez
, Marc Andreyko
and Ben Templesmith
- took over the title to focus on origin and background tales of individual Joe and Cobra operatives.
G.I. Joe: Cobra
, co-written by Christos Gage
and Mike Costa and drawn by Antonio Fuso, was a four-issue mini-series that started in March 2009 and focused on the inner working of the Cobra Organization as viewed through the eyes of undercover G.I. Joe agent Chuckles
. By the end of the series, Chuckles is forced to kill his handler, Jinx
, and loses contact with his Joe superiors. A G.I. Joe Cobra II mini-series began in January 2010, picking up with General Hawk
recruiting a new—also female and Japanese—soldier to recover Chuckles. It was later upgraded to an ongoing series that ended in February 2011 with issue #13. A new #1 is scheduled for May 2011.
G.I. Joe: Special is a series of one-shot issues focusing on different characters. So far, only a Helix Special was published in August 2009.
G.I. Joe: Cobra: Special is a series of one-shot issues focusing on different Cobra characters. So far, two issues were published: #1 was published in September 2009 focusing on the Crimson Twins and #2 focused on Chameleon.
G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds is a five-issue limited series written by Max Brooks
. Each issue includes two short stories, one on a member of G.I. Joe, one on a member of Cobra.
, and followed by #156 onwards in July 2010. The series directly picks up from the end of the Marvel Comics series and so far has not directly acknowledged the Devil's Due series and continuity.
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
, comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year (1977–1981, 1997–2000). As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
has been covered by three separate publishers and four main-title series, all of which have been based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name.
The first series was produced by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
between 1982 and 1994, running for 155 issues, and spawning several spin-off titles throughout the course of its run; the second and third series, published by Devil's Due Productions from 2001 to 2008, totaled 80 issues and included several spin-off titles as well. The fourth series has been published by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
since October 2008, and various spin-off titles have also been launched.
King Features Syndicate
From 1941 to 1945, Sgt Dave Breger wrote a comic strip titled Private Breger, featuring the comical adventures of recruit Private Breger.After World War II, Dave Breger continued his comic strip now titled Mister Breger up into the 1960s, chronicling the civil life of his humorous character.
From 1942 to 1945, the G.I. Joe comic strip Yank, the Army Weekly
Yank, the Army Weekly
Yank, the Army Weekly was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on Stars and Stripes during World War I. He proposed the idea to the Army in early 1942, and accepted a commission as Lieutenant...
reprinted the adventures of Private Breger from King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
.
Ziff-Davis
Ziff-Davis's G.I. Joe was set during the Korean War. Ziff-Davis was in the habit of numbering their first issues "10". When the series became popular, they reset the numbering system, so there are two issues for each number from 10 to 14, and no issues numbered 1 through 5.Volume 1 started in 1950 and lasted 5 issues, numbered 10 through 14. Volume 2 continuing from the previous volume was published from 1951, and lasted 46 issues numbered 6 through 51.
DC Comics
In 1964-1965, DC Comics released two issues of ShowcaseShowcase (comics)
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...
(#53 and 54) titled G.I. Joe, which took place during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Custom Comics
In 1967, Hasbro released a single small comic book titled America's Movable Fighting Man, with its action figures produced by Custom Comics, Inc.In 1969, issues of a larger format comic with more elaborate stories were released with toys as The Adventures of G.I. Joe. From 1970 to 1976, Hasbro continued to reprint and publish new comics in-house as The G.I. Joe Adventure Team (see the Hasbro section).
A Real American Hero (Main series)
Hasbro relaunched their G.I. Joe franchise with G.I. Joe: A Real American HeroG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
, which was supported by a Marvel Comics series of the same name. It was unique at the time in that it was a comic book series that was promoted on television commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
which also supported the toy line. This 155-issue series is considered to be one of the longest-running comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
tie-ins to a toy line. Much of its success is to be credited to Larry Hama
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
, who wrote the entire series save for a few issues with guest writers. Rather than treating the stories as a mere promotion for the toys, Hama wrote the series with seriousness and infused it with doses of realism, humor, and drama. Other than Transformers, no other series was able to duplicate its success. Notable artists include Herb Trimpe
Herb Trimpe
Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939, is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout...
, Ron Wagner
Ron Wagner
Ron J. Wagner is primarily known as an American comics artist who has drawn for titles such as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Punisher, Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja, and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. He is also an animation storyboard artist, games designer, and portrait artist...
, Rod Whigham, and Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers was an American comic-book artist best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics in the 1970s, particularly as one of the illustrators of Batman and Silver Surfer...
.
A number of differences existed between the comic book and the animated TV series. Certain characters who were very prominent in the comic book, such as Stalker
Stalker (G.I. Joe)
Stalker is the code name of Army Sergeant Lonzo R. Wilkinson, a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. He is one of very few characters from the first line of the toys to have a distinct appearance from the other action figures, as he is African-American. Stalker was a major...
, were featured very little in the cartoon, while characters who were less prominent in the comic book, such as Shipwreck, were very prominent in the cartoon series. Another difference was that in the comic book featured a romance between Scarlett
Scarlett (G.I. Joe)
Scarlett is a fictional character from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a line of military-themed toys created by Hasbro. The character is one of the original members of the fictional team and toy line. She is a major character of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book series and the...
and Snake-Eyes, whereas in the cartoon, a romance between Scarlett and Duke
Duke (G.I. Joe)
Duke is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines of military-themed toys. The character is featured in both the animated series and comic books. Duke is portrayed by actor Channing Tatum in the 2009 live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of...
was hinted at instead (most likely due to the differences between writing for a comic book audience and writing for an animated series). The most notable difference between the comic and the cartoon, however, is in its handling of combat. While the cartoon had the characters use semi-futuristic laser rifles and pistols (due to an edict for "no bullets" from the studio), the comic book did not shy away from using real-world pistols, rifles, SMGs and ammunition; The cartoon characters would almost comically wade through waves of enemy fire untouched, while the comic book would routinely have characters suffer injuries from bullets or shrapnel; the cartoon showed that nearly every soldier in every battle survived (for example, many shots of aircraft being shot down were shown to have its pilot escape in a parachute), while the comic did not shy away from character deaths; for example, issue #109 included the deaths of a large number of Joes, including fan-favorites like Doc, Breaker, and Quick-Kick, while other storylines included the deaths of Serpentor and Dr. Mindbender.
G.I. Joe: Order of Battle was a 4-issue mini series which ran from December 1986 - March 1987. Written by Larry Hama, with art by Herb Trimpe, the first issue spotlighted G.I. Joe characters with code names from A-K. Subsequent issues spotlighted G.I. Joe characters from M-Z, Cobra characters, and vehicles respectively. The second issue erroneously listed Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
's Rocky Balboa character as a member of G.I. Joe. While negotiations had taken place to license the character, the deal had fallen through. The third and fourth issues contained a retraction stating that Rocky Balboa was not and had never been a member of G.I. Joe. A trade-paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
including material from all four issues, was published in 1987, and removed mention of the Rocky character entirely.
G.I. Joe: Special Missions
The success of the main title lead Marvel Comics to produce a secondary title, G.I. Joe: Special Missions which lasted 28 issues. Herb Trimpe was the artist for nearly the entire run, with Dave CockrumDave Cockrum
David Emmett Cockrum was an American comic book artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus...
providing pencils on several issues. Spinning out of issue #50 of a story in the main title, the series featured more intense violence and a more ambiguous morality than the main title, while the enemies were conventional terrorists as well as Cobra itself. The first four issues, as well as the backup story from issue #50 of the main title, were later republished as a trade paperback.
Reprints
The first 37 issues of the main series were released in thirteen digestsDigest size
Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
titled G.I. Joe Comic Magazine.
Tales of G.I. Joe reprinted the first fifteen issues of G.I. Joe on a higher quality paper stock than that used for the main comic.
Shortly after the final issue, a G.I. Joe Special #1 was released, with alternate art for issue #61 by Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
. The cover features Snake Eyes in a crouched-down position, in a homage to the Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics, both of which feature the character Spider-Man.-Volume One :...
title that McFarlane illustrated during his tenure at Marvel.
In 2001, with the success of Devil's Due Comics run of G.I. Joe, Marvel Comics collected the first 50 issues in five trade paperbacks, with ten issues in each book. All covers for the trade paperbacks were drawn by J. Scott Campbell. Marvel will not publish the rest of the series, because Hasbro has purchased the rights to the comics. Hasbro has since released reprints of some issues with some of their action figures.
In 2009, IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
began to publish the series again. It is called Classic G.I. Joe and, like Marvel did before, collects ten issues in each volume. To date, 12 volumes have been published. Classic G.I. Joe Volume 13 is slated to be released on November 15, 2011.
Foreign language versions
G.I. Joe was published in a number of languages, sometimes by local publishers. Issues were translated into GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, French (Canada)
Canadian French
Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
, and other languages.
Alternate universes
A four issue limited series titled G.I. Joe and the Transformers teamed-up the Joes with the other popular Hasbro property of the 1980s, Transformers. Written by Michael Higgins, and with art by Herb TrimpeHerb Trimpe
Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe Herbert W. "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939, is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout...
, it was set outside the continuity of both series, although the final issue did introduce the Transformers character Goldbug
Goldbug (Transformers)
Goldbug is a fictional character in the various Transformers series.-1980s comics and animated series:In the comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, Goldbug is a new identity taken on by Bumblebee after he is rebuilt in issue #28 following his destruction in G.I. Joe and...
, who later appeared in the main The Transformers
The Transformers (Marvel Comics)
The Transformers was an 80-issue American comic book series published by Marvel Comics telling the story of the Transformers. Originally scheduled as a four issue mini-series, it spawned a mythology that would inform other versions of the saga...
comic book series. A trade paperback later collected all four issues.
Action Force
Action Force
Action Force was a 1980s range of European action figures initially based on Action Man, and later used to introduce G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toys to European markets...
was the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
counterpart to the 3 3/4-inch G.I. Joe toy line. The Action Force comic was launched by Marvel UK
Marvel UK
Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market, though it later did produce original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon and Grant Morrison.Panini Comics obtained the...
in 1987, tying into the previous Battle Action Force, and publishing original strips as well as modified reprints of the U.S. comic, with the team renamed "Action Force". The title lasted fifty issues before merging with Marvel UK's The Transformers in early 1988.
Later in 1988, a second series, Action Force Monthly, was launched due to Marvel UK
Marvel UK
Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market, though it later did produce original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon and Grant Morrison.Panini Comics obtained the...
's decision to produce comics in the American monthly format, and ran for fifteen issues before it was cancelled. The Action Force Monthly title was published in the U.S. as G.I. Joe: European Missions, which kept all of the dialogue from the UK version without attempting to incorporate the reprinted stories into the continuity of the U.S. G.I. Joe comic. The comic also included a tie-in story for the UK release of G.I. Joe: The Movie
G.I. Joe: The Movie
G.I. Joe: The Movie is a 1987 animated film spun off from the animated series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, based on the original Hasbro toyline. It was produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions and was animated in Japan by Toei Animation.Created at the height of the G.I. Joe craze in...
.
After the cancellation of Action Force Monthly, the U.S. G.I. Joe comic continued to be reprinted in Marvel UK's The Transformers comic as a back-up feature, with the dialogue kept intact, until it was dropped in 1991.
Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing released six bi-monthly issues of G.I. Joe in 3-D and one annual. These issues were meant to be read with 3-D glasses. The stories didn't contradict the previous Marvel ongoing series, but wasn't considered canon.Blackthorne also published three issues of How to Draw G.I. Joe.
Dark Horse Comics
In 1996, the G.I. Joe toy line was relaunched with the G.I. Joe ExtremeG.I. Joe Extreme
G.I. Joe Extreme is the name of a short-lived line of military-themed toys by Hasbro, a two-season cartoon show by Sunbow Productions, and two 4-issue comic mini-series by Dark Horse Comics. It is a sequel of sorts to the previous G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero TV series, with a one-shot pack-in...
series. Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
acquired the rights to publish comics based on the G.I. Joe Extreme property. The first series was a four-issue limited series written by Mike W. Barr
Mike W. Barr
Mike W. Barr is an American writer of comic books, and mystery, and science fiction novels.-Biography:Barr's debut as a comics professional came in DC Comics' Detective Comics #444 , for which he wrote an 8-page back-up mystery feature starring the Elongated Man...
and drawn by Tatsuya Ishida, which introduced the main characters. The ongoing G.I. Joe Extreme series that was launched afterward dropped the word "Extreme" from the title. The ongoing series lasted four issues before being canceled, although Dark Horse referred to the title as being on hiatus.
Benchpress Comics
In the spring of 1999, Benchpress Comics announced the acquisition of the rights to produce new G.I. Joe and Transformers comics. The G.I. Joe project was to have included Larry Hama as writer. Benchpress's initial plan was to release two G.I. Joe titles; one would feature a core cast of characters (similar to the Marvel Comics series), while the other would have featured a rotating cast (similar in style to the Special Missions title). For unknown reasons, negotiations over hiring Larry Hama stalled, and Benchpress went bankrupt, losing the license in the process. Larry Hama's series proposal and the three sample pages of the comic that were produced are available online.G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Reinstated)
In July 2001, Devil's Due acquired the rights to G.I. Joe and released a four-issue limited series through Image ComicsImage Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, written by Josh Blaylock with John Larter and Steve Kurth as the artists. The title quickly became known to the fans as A Real American Hero (vol. 2) (following from Marvel's original series), or G.I. Joe Reinstated (the title of the first four-issue arc). A comics convention special was released before the first issue. Strong sales on the limited series led to it being upgraded to an ongoing series, with the publication of a fifth issue and a monthly schedule.
The new series picked up seven years after the end of the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
series, and also used elements from the animated TV series. Several older characters were featured in the title alongside several new recruits. The new series also spun off several other series and was responsible for bringing back attention to other 1980s properties such as Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
, Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel....
and Voltron
Voltron
Voltron is the titular super robot of an anime series that features a team of young pilots, known as the Voltron Force. The team’s individual vehicles join together to form the giant super robot, with which they defend the galaxy from evil...
. Devil's Due later broke with Image Comics and took over the publishing of the book. The series ended with issue #43, and the introduction of a new enemy. Most G.I. Joe titles published by Devil's Due Publishing are available in both comic and trade paperback formats.
G.I. Joe: Battle Files gave profiles of the G.I. Joe and Cobra teams, as well as information on their vehicles. Battle Files was published between April and September 2002. A Sourcebook trade paperback was published in February 2003, which collected issues one through three with additional profiles added.
G.I. Joe: Frontline lasted eighteen issues, and featured a rotating creative team for every story. The stories explored what happened to G.I. Joe and Cobra concurrently with the main title's continuity, with the exception of the first arc. Larry Hama wrote Frontline's initial offering, "The Mission That Never Was," a four-part series set one month after the events of the Marvel series' issue #155.
A single digest titled Arashikage Showdown featured Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow
Storm Shadow (G.I. Joe)
Storm Shadow is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book series and television shows. The character is best known for his history with fellow ninja Snake Eyes...
, Jinx, Scarlett, Kamakura, T'Jbang, Nunchuk and Budo. The martial arts experts try to recover the secret scrolls of the Arashikage
Arashikage
Arashikage is a fictional ninja clan from the military-themed G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of comics, television shows, and action figures. The name is derived from the Japanese words for storm and shadow...
Ninja Clan, to which several of them belong. This book has been considered to be non-canon by fans, as it incorporates magical and fantasy elements not present in the main series.
There were two four-issue limited series titled G.I. Joe: Master and Apprentice, written by Brandon Jerwa. The first series was about how Snake Eyes
Snake eyes
In gambling, snake eyes is the outcome of rolling the dice in a game and getting only one pip on each die. The pair of pips resembles a pair of eyes, which is appended to the term 'snake' because of the long-standing association of this word with treachery and betrayal...
met and trained his apprentice Kamakura, while the second series focused on Storm Shadow and his apprentice/lover Junko Akita.
G.I. Joe: America's Elite
G.I. Joe: America's Elite (officially entitled G.I. Joe Volume 2 on the inside cover), started with a "zero" issue, and picked up the story one year after the events of the last issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (vol. 2). The series featured a darker tone and a smaller group of Joes than in Reinstated. The series started off with the president asking General Joseph Colton, the original G.I. Joe, to be the team's C.O., replacing General Hawk, who was paralyzed in the previous series. Character profiles were provided in the Data Desk Handbook, as well as in individual issues. Joe Casey wrote the first eighteen issues before editor Mike O'Sullivan wrote issues #19 and 20. Mark Powers and Mike Bear became the current writer and penciller on the book with #21. The twelve issue "World War IIIWorld War III (G.I. Joe)
World War III is the title of a 12-issue comic book story that took place in issues #25-36 of the comic G.I. Joe: America's Elite, published by Devil's Due Publishing. The plot concerns Cobra Command's final attempt to take over the world. It was generally well-received by critics...
" story arc ran from issue #25 to #36. The series concluded in July 2008 with issue #36, after Devil's Due lost the G.I. Joe license.
An original one-shot titled Data Desk Handbook published files for G.I. Joe: America's Elite main characters at the launch of the series. The files are presented as computer entries written by General Joseph Colton. Several other files were later published in individual issues of America's Elite, Special Missions and several trade paperback volumes. An updated version in two issues (A-M and N-Z) was released in October and November 2007.
The one-shot issue The Hunt for Cobra Commander was set in the year between the Devil's Due A Real American Hero series and America's Elite series, and featured G.I. Joe team member Spirit.
Storm Shadow
This series, written by Larry HamaLarry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
, lasted seven issues and focused on former Cobra and G.I. Joe team member Storm Shadow. The series began in May 2007, and, while not bearing the "America's Elite" subtitle, the events occurred in the same time frame as the main series.
Special Missions
A series of one-shots featuring reservist Joes, and set in different parts of the world. The series bore the subtitle America's Elite.- Manhattan - This one-shot featured G.I. Joe reservists Beach Head, Cover Girl, MercerMercer (G.I. Joe)Mercer is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is a member of the G.I. Joe team as one of Sgt. Slaughter's Renegades and debuted in 1987.-Profile:...
, Low-Light and Tunnel Rat, on a special mission involving a bio-weapon threat in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. - Tokyo - This one-shot features the ninja Jinx and samurai Budo, with reservists Wild BillWild Bill (G.I. Joe)Wild Bill is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s.-Profile:According to Wild Bill's original file card, his real name is William S. Hardy, and his rank is that of army chief warrant officer CW-4...
, Gung HoGung-Ho (G.I. Joe)Gung-Ho is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original Marine and debuted in 1983.-Profile:...
, Clutch and Rock N' Roll, who try to prevent a coup in Japan. - Antarctica - This one-shot features Snake Eyes, Stalker, Duke and Scarlett, as well as reservists Snow JobSnow Job (G.I. Joe)Snow Job is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s. He is the G.I. Joe team's original arctic trooper and debuted in 1983.-Bio:...
, FrostbiteFrostbite (G.I. Joe)Frostbite is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's Snow Cat driver and debuted in 1985.-Profile:His real name is Farley S. Seward, and his rank is that of corporal E-4...
and IcebergIceberg (G.I. Joe)Iceberg is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's snow trooper and debuted in 1986.-Profile:His real name is Clifton L. Nash, and his rank is that of sergeant E-5...
. - Brazil - This one-shot features characters that came with the 1986 G.I. Joe Special Missions Brazil Toys R Us exclusive boxed set.
- The Enemy - This one-shot contrasts the motivations of original G.I. Joe infantryman Grunt with those of an unnamed Cobra "Blueshirt" trooper, with a backup tale about the mission where Cobra forces abduct the Baroness' child.
Declassified
The various Declassified series and one-shots explore the origins of the characters, and are set before #1 of Marvel's G.I. Joe series.- Snake Eyes: Declassified - A six-issue limited series written by Brandon JerwaBrandon JerwaBrandon Jerwa is an American comic book writer and musician currently residing in Seattle, Washington. Jerwa is best known for his work on comic tie-ins for several prominent licensed properties, including Battlestar Galactica, Highlander, G.I. Joe and Army of Darkness. Jerwa also collaborates...
and set before Marvel Comics' G.I. Joe #1, retelling and expanding the story of Snake Eyes. - Scarlett: Declassified - A double-sized one-shot issue telling the history of the character code-named Scarlett (Shana O'Hara), set between Snake-Eyes Declassified and G.I. Joe Declassified.
- G.I. Joe: Declassified - This series of three double-sized issues, written by Larry HamaLarry HamaLarry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
, was released bi-monthly beginning in the Summer of 2006. The story is set between Scarlett Declassified and issue #1 of the original Marvel Comics series, telling the first missions of the original thirteen members of the team. - Dreadnoks: Declassified - A limited series of three double-sized issues written by Josh Blaylock, telling the complete origin story of ZartanZartanZartan is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, by Hasbro. He is a mercenary who often worked directly for Cobra Commander, and is one of the main villains in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic and animated series. His character was voiced by Zack Hoffman in the 1985 TV...
, including how he gained his abilities.
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
- Also see Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I. Joe section in Transformers (comics).
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers was a series of cross-productions with Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 and is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series...
, who, at the time of publication, held the license to create Transformers comics. Each studio released their own six-issue mini-series, which featured their own take on a crossover between the two franchises. Unlike previous efforts to bring the two properties together, the Devil's Due story takes place in an alternate present day, where Cobra, just rising to prominence, has uncovered the Ark. Cobra steals the Transformers found inside, such as Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet, and adapt them into Cobra assault vehicles such as Cobra H.I.S.S. tanks. G.I. Joe is formed to stop Cobra, and receive unexpected help from Wheeljack
Wheeljack
Wheeljack is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Wheeljack is the mechanical engineer and scientist of the Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro. His...
and Bumblebee
Bumblebee (Transformers)
Bumblebee is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. In most incarnations, Bumblebee is a small, yellow Autobot with the altmode of a compact car.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
, who managed to avoid being taken by Cobra.
The second mini-series was a sequel to the first story. Cybertronian technology has augmented both G.I. Joe and Cobra's forces, who are still fighting each other. During a battle, an accident causes several Joes and members of Cobra to be accidentally transported to Cybertron. The backlash of the accident also pulls several Transformers to Earth, as well as scattering them through time. The Joes and Cobra must travel into the past and future, to retrieve the missing Autobots and Decepticons before the Earth is destroyed. This is complicated by the fact that most of Cybertron is under the control of the Decepticon Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye...
.
The third mini-series, entitled The Art of War, followed on from the second mini-series, using elements of the first. The new story focused on a re-imagined version of Serpentor
Serpentor
Serpentor is a fictional character from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a line of military-themed toys created by Hasbro. The character was introduced in 1986 as a toy with an air chariot and included in the animated series that same year.-Toys:...
, in this continuity a cyborg created from the DNA of great war leaders, and the mechanical components of Megatron. Inadvertently freed by a Cobra raid, Serpentor journeyed to Cybertron. Now Hawk, Grimlock
Grimlock
Grimlock is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a tough leader who turns into a mechanical dinosaur...
and the other Autobots and Joes must stop him before he takes the Autobot Matrix of Leadership for himself.
A fourth mini-series consisting of two double-sized issues, entitled Black Horizon, was released in early 2007. After Hawk resigned from G.I. Joe in the wake of the events of "The Art of War", he formed a loose alliance with the Autobots to stop the spread of Cybertronian technology. However, a much bigger threat looms: the serpent cult Cobra-La
Cobra-La
Cobra-La is a fictional civilization created by Hasbro for the military-themed toyline and TV series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Introduced to the public in G.I. Joe: The Movie and the 1987 series of action figures, Cobra-La was created as a reference to James Hilton's Lost Horizon, and the...
and the dark god of the Transformers Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
. Hawk, Flint, and Optimus Prime go the Himalayas to confront Cobra-La, and find a long lost hero: Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe.
G.I. Joe Reloaded
G.I. Joe Reloaded was a fourteen-issue ongoing series published by Devil's Due which was set in an alternate universe, and featured a more realistic take on the G.I. Joe franchise. The ongoing series was preceded by the Cobra Reborn and G.I. Joe Reborn one-shots, which introduced the main characters and showed the formation of G.I. Joe and the Cobra Organization.In this universe, Snake-Eyes is Storm Shadow's half-brother and a former Cobra agent. The African-American woman Carla "Doc" Greer, (an alternative version of the character Carl "Doc" Greer
Doc (G.I. Joe)
Doc is the code name of two fictional characters from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic book and cartoon series....
from the main continuity), is G.I. Joe's field medic, and Duke is an undercover Cobra agent who betrays the group. The series had no connection to the main comic series and was canceled after fourteen issues due to low sales.
G.I. Joe: Sigma 6
G.I. Joe: Sigma 6G.I. Joe: Sigma 6
G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 is a line of military-themed action figures and toys produced by Hasbro, re-imagining the characters of the 1980s toyline, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.The Sigma 6 toy line served several purposes for Hasbro...
was a six-issue mini-series written for a younger audience, based on the toyline and animated TV series of the same name. While the series was out of continuity with the main comic universe, the characters are largely the same: Hawk is the commanding officer, Duke is the field leader, and there is a connection between the ninjas Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow.
IDW Publishing
After Devil's Due lost the G.I. Joe comics license in January 2008, the license was given to IDW PublishingIDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
, which was officially announced on May 29, 2008. IDW's G.I. Joe series is a complete reboot of the property, ignoring the continuity from the Marvel and Devil's Due incarnations of the comic.
G.I. Joe
Issue #0 was released in October 2008, containing three stand-alone stories which acted as previews for the main G.I. Joe series, the G.I. Joe: Origins and G.I. Joe: Cobra spin-off mini-series. The #0 issue is followed by an ongoing monthly G.I. Joe series, written by Chuck DixonChuck Dixon
Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
, and drawn by Robert Atkins
Robert Atkins (comics)
Robert Q. Atkins is an American comics artist. He attended Illinois State University, earning an undergraduate degree in fine art, and then went on to the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he earned an MFA in Sequential Art....
, which started in January 2009. After issue #27, the series was rebooted in April 2011 with a new #0.
G.I. Joe: Origins was an ongoing series that started in February 2009, and ended with issue #23 in January 2011. The first five issues, written by Larry Hama
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
with art by Tom Feister
Tom Feister
Tom Feister is an American illustrator, animator and comic book artist.Feister is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design. He began his career as an editorial illustrator while still in college. He has since gone on to pursue a career in the varied and related fields of comic book...
and Mike Hawthorne
Mike Hawthorne
Mike Hawthorne is an American comic book artist.He is the creator of the comic book series Hysteria and has provided the artwork for various other comics, including The Un-men, Fear Agent, Umbra, G.I...
, focus on the formation of the G.I. Joe team several years before the events of the main series. After this story arc, rotating creative teams - featuring creators such as JT Krul, Joe Benitez
Joe Benitez
Joe Benitez is an American comic book artist. He is co-creator and penciller of Weapon Zero, published by Top Cow Productions.Other titles he has worked on include The Darkness, The Magdalena, as well as work for DC Comics....
, Marc Andreyko
Marc Andreyko
Marc Andreyko is a comic book and screenplay writer, known for writing the 2000s ongoing series Manhunter for DC Comics...
and Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, which is credited with pioneering a new format for commercial comics, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve...
- took over the title to focus on origin and background tales of individual Joe and Cobra operatives.
G.I. Joe: Cobra
G.I. Joe: Cobra
G.I. Joe: Cobra is a four-issue G.I. Joe comic book miniseries written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa, drawn by Antonio Fuso and published by IDW Publishing.-Publication history:...
, co-written by Christos Gage
Christos Gage
Christos N. "Chris" Gage is an American comic book writer and screenwriter.-Early life:Gage is the son of author and journalist Nicholas Gage. He was born in New York, and grew up in Athens, Greece, and then North Grafton, Massachusetts...
and Mike Costa and drawn by Antonio Fuso, was a four-issue mini-series that started in March 2009 and focused on the inner working of the Cobra Organization as viewed through the eyes of undercover G.I. Joe agent Chuckles
Chuckles (G.I. Joe)
Chuckles is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's undercover specialist and debuted in 1987.-Profile:...
. By the end of the series, Chuckles is forced to kill his handler, Jinx
Jinx (G.I. Joe)
Jinx is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. She debuted in 1987, and her code name has also been the identity of several other incarnations of the same female ninja character: one of Snake-Eyes' apprentices in Sigma 6, Chuckles'...
, and loses contact with his Joe superiors. A G.I. Joe Cobra II mini-series began in January 2010, picking up with General Hawk
Hawk (G.I. Joe)
Hawk is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys. He appears in the animated series, comic books, toyline, and movie.-Profile:...
recruiting a new—also female and Japanese—soldier to recover Chuckles. It was later upgraded to an ongoing series that ended in February 2011 with issue #13. A new #1 is scheduled for May 2011.
G.I. Joe: Special is a series of one-shot issues focusing on different characters. So far, only a Helix Special was published in August 2009.
G.I. Joe: Cobra: Special is a series of one-shot issues focusing on different Cobra characters. So far, two issues were published: #1 was published in September 2009 focusing on the Crimson Twins and #2 focused on Chameleon.
G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds is a five-issue limited series written by Max Brooks
Max Brooks
Maximillian Michael "Max" Brooks is an American author and screenwriter, with a particular interest in zombies. Brooks is also a television and voice-over actor.- Early life and education :...
. Each issue includes two short stories, one on a member of G.I. Joe, one on a member of Cobra.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
- G.I. Joe Movie Prequel – A four-part limited series acting as a prequel to the 2009 movie, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, published from March 2009 to June 2009, written by Chuck DixonChuck DixonCharles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
. - G.I. Joe Movie Adaptation – A four-part limited series published in July 2009 and written by Chuck DixonChuck DixonCharles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
, adapting the 2009 movie. - EA/Game Stop comic – A comic distributed through Game Stop retail stores that bridges the gap between the movie and the EA video game that followed.
- G.I. Joe Movie: Snake Eyes – A Snake-Eyes solo limited series co-written by Ray ParkRay ParkRaymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
(October 2009). - G.I. Joe: Operation HISS – A five-issue limited series that was published from February 2010 to June 2010. The first issue is a reprint of the EA/Game Stop comic.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
The G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series originally published by Marvel Comics in the 1980s and 1990s, was revived as an ongoing series in May 2010 with a special #155 ½ issue, released on Free Comic Book DayFree Comic Book Day
Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer...
, and followed by #156 onwards in July 2010. The series directly picks up from the end of the Marvel Comics series and so far has not directly acknowledged the Devil's Due series and continuity.
Reprints
IDW began printing trade paperback collections of the original Marvel Comics series starting in January 2009. The reprints, begun by Marvel Comics years earlier but abandoned with Volume 5, contain ten issues each retaining the originals in full color. The 5 Marvel volumes were also reprinted by IDW.Marvel/Devil's Due Universe
- Action Stars' Starduster mini-comics - Three out-of-continuity mini-comics packed in Action Stars cereals (1985) featuring original character Starduster.
- Super Trooper - A two-page comic strip relating an adventure with character Super Trooper was available with action figures sold in 1988. This character was never used in the Marvel incarnation, but the story didn't contradict the Marvel continuity.
- Battle Corps mini-comics - Four Larry HamaLarry HamaLarry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
-written mini-comics sold with Battle Corps figures in 1992. While the stories don't contradict the Marvel continuity, they were never referenced in the Marvel incarnation. - Full size comic 2-packs - Twelve Larry HamaLarry HamaLarry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
-written comics have been released in 2008. They loosely fit into the original Marvel-published continuity. These comics are sold packed with two figures each.
Reprints of Marvel and DDP stories
Hasbro has reprinted 24 Marvel-published comics, and one of Devil's Due's, (vol 1.) #16, packaged with either three-packs of figures (featuring the original comic covers) or, later, two-packs (featuring homage cover artwork). Marvel issues #1, #14, #21, #24, #25, #30, #64, #86, and #115 were reprinted with homage cover, while issues #1-9, #21, #24, #26, #44, #49, #74-76, & #101, and Devil's Due #16, were reprinted with their original covers. Issue one was also reprinted with a convention-special cover in a repackaging of the issue #1 three-pack.Resolute universe
Two issues have been released in 2009, based on the G.I. Joe Resolute cartoon and action figures. The first comic 2-packs contained Shockblast paired with Destro, and Tunnel Rat paired with Storm Shadow. Issue 3 Cold Comfort was never released. Issue 4 Who Owns the Night was available through Walmart.com upon order. Issue 5 Final Test was available as a download on Amazon.com upon order of the Resolute DVD. Issue 6 Splash-Bang was available as a mail-in on Amazon.com upon order. Note that issues 4 and 6 did not bare the Resolute subtitle on their covers. The entire series was written by Larry Hama.Alternate universes
The Spy Troops, Valor vs. Venom, Ninja Battles and Sigma 6 storylines are considered part of the same universe, though some contradictions exist between the first three and Sigma 6.- Spy-Troops and Valor vs Venom - Ten mini-comics written by Larry Hama, one mini-comic written by Devil's Due. Hama's issues #7 and 8 were reprinted as a full size comic entitle "Dawn of the V-troops".
- Ninja Battles - One full-size issue written by Devil's Due.
- Sigma 6 mini-comic - An abbreviated version of Devils' Due Sigma 6 issue #1 was sold along with the Ninja paratrooper Snake-Eyes toy.
- Kung Fu Grip - Two issues written by Andrew Dabb ("Heavy Metal" and "A Ghost Story"), are available online on Hasbro's G.I. Joe website. The stories fall under the Sigma 6 line.
Tokyopop
In 2003, Tokyopop adapted the Spy Troops direct-to-DVD movie with G.I. Joe: Spy Troops Cine-Manga, by using screen captures from the animation and adding word balloons.FP Comics
The G.I. Joe Collector's Club Comics released under the FP label are not set in any specific Joe universe.- Convention exclusives (main series) - In 2008, a G.I. Joe convention exclusive comic book was released. Written by Larry Hama, based on a story by David S. Lane, it featured the Joes' SWAT team against Gristle and the Headhunters. A second issue by Lane was released in 2009.
- Direct-to-Cobra - A series consisting of two issues.
Panini Comics
Panini Comics is scheduled to release a movie adaptation for the European market in 2009.See also
- G.I. JoeG.I. JoeG.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
- G.I. Joe TeamG.I. Joe TeamG.I. Joe is the code name of an elite covert special forces unit operating under the control of the United States Military in the fictional G.I. Joe universe....
- G.I. Joe (disambiguation)
- Cobra Command
- List of fictional places in G.I. Joe
- List of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero characters
- List of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero episodes
External links
- G.I. Joe at the Grand Comics Database
- G.I. Joe at the Comic Book DB
- JMM's G.I. Joe Comics Home Page
- G.I. Joe Comic Book Archive at YOJOE.com
- THE G.I. JOE COMIC FORUM at Joe Reloaded.com
- JoeBattlelines.com - G.I. Joe news, forums, interviews, multi-media, and reviews.