by generalsjoes | Oct 24, 2012 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Reviews, IDW
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.
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by generalsjoes | Jul 30, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, Pursuit of COBRA
I gotta be honest… I was stunned at the turn out for Round One of the Concept Case Survey. I’ve always suspected that the online G.I. Joe community was fairly small, and while we’re obviously vocal and enthusiastic, I had my doubts about how many folks would be motivated to sit through a 10 minute survey.
Turns out over 1100 of you were, and I’m very thankful for that. Truth is, the more folks that vote, the more impact the votes have, and if Hasbro sees the fandom taking the time to let their voices be heard, the more likely they are to take our input into consideration.
So, you all voted… you all saw the results of Round One…and now we’re off to Round Two! All of the selections from the various sections have been narrowed down to a single list of 20. It’s now up to the fans to take that list of 20 and tell Hasbro WHAT YOU WANT. Go for it!
by generalsjoes | Jul 17, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, IDW
Along with the previews this morning, IDW also made available their solicitations for October, 2012, including a full compliment of G.I. Joe titles. We see the fourth (and final) issue of the Danger Girl/G.I. Joe crossover as well as new issues of Cobra, G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and of course G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The whole Target: Snake Eyes initiative kicks off this month as well, which actually excites me, especially if it can approach the levels of coolness we got with Cobra Command.
Of course, these releases are hitting in “Oktober” as well… a theme you will quickly recognize in the titles below.
Good stuff all around. Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the full list.
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by generalsjoes | Apr 13, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Since yesterday the G.I. Joe fandom has been buzzing about the rumor that IDW is “streamlining” their G.I. Joe comic releases, and one Twitter use ComixAce even mentioned the fact that they would be trimming down to a single title.
Obviously lots of concern was immediately voiced, specifically about G.I. Joe: Cobra, which many fans consider the best of the current running comics, to say nothing about its ties to G.I. Joe. Cobra writer Mike Costa has evidently heard the concern, and voiced some reassurances via his Twitter page:
“Everyone’s concern has really been a huge compliment to me, but I want to assuage your fears: I am not leaving the Joe franchise”
What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Seems pretty unlikely that the Cobra title would remain the only G.I. Joe themed comic that IDW does, so my first guess is that this issue has been somewhat overblown.
While there is no doubt that some streamlining is likely taking place, my guess is that it’s not as serious as some folks are making it out to be. Time will tell, and hopefully we’ll get some sort of formal announcement at C2E2.
UPDATE – Thanks to Troynos from the ComixVerse who reached out to John Barber and got even better clarification about IDW’s statements. Check them out here, and also quoted below.
“I think Dirk (Wood, IDW’s VP Of Marketing) was actually talking in vaguer terms than any concrete plan; the basic gist is that we’re aware that (in general terms) there are a lot of groups of titles from a lot of publishers where there are a LOT of titles (like Avengers or X-Men or whatever). We’re aware of overburdening the market with a lot of anything–Joe, Turtles, X-Men, anything, no matter how popular–can have an overall negative effect on sales. Plus, I’ve got to admit that the GI JOE trade paperback numbering and the several-times renumbering of series like Cobra over the years is pretty confusing… and we’re trying to not be confusing going forward. What exactly that means, we’re not sure (other than I don’t want to have a GI JOE: COBRA: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 and a GI JOE: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 book and have them be different books…). But it’s not really any paring back on anything. It was more about assuring retailers we’re not going to flood the market with confusing material. We had a month or two with the movie-tie-in series plus some specials where there was a TON of Joe comics out the same month; we’ll try to spread the wealth more over a longer period of time.
So there’s still going to be plenty of GI Joe; D&D has never had more than one ongoing and a limited series; Magic’s never been more than one series at a time.”
Big props to Troy for reaching out and getting clarification. Glad to hear this was misinterpreted.
by generalsjoes | Apr 12, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Reviews, IDW
I was continuously impressed throughout the run of Cobra Command that Mike Costa was able to not only retain his own unique flavor of story telling throughout parts of this long-running story, but that he was also able to still mesh with what Chuck Dixon was doing in his titles as well. The result was a very seamless 9-part storyline that told a great tale and flowed effortlessly from one part to another…yet all at once, Costa also retained that slight edge that makes the Cobra title so great.
Well now that Cobra Command proper is in the rear view mirror, Mike Costa jumps right back into the Cobra title with both feet, and instantly thrusts us back into the aesthetic that we’ve grown to love with the title, and he absolutely nails it, delivering one of the best issues of a comic that I’ve read so far this year. Any fans of the Cobra series in its infancy will love this issue, and I think G.I. Joe fans in general should dig it as well.
Read the rest of the interview after the jump.
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