Tag Archives: gi joe

Codename: G.I. Joe Continues In Duke #2 From Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly. Get a first look!

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Skybound and Hasbro have revealed new interior pages and variant covers for Duke #2 from writer Joshua Williamson, artist Tom Reilly, and colorist Jordie Bellaire. The follow up issue to the Energon Universe’s buzzed about new limited series debut arrives in comic book shops on January 31, 2024.  

Codename: G.I. JOE continues! Conrad Hauser, AKA Duke, is on the run from the very government he trusted, investigating secrets that may be More Than Meets The Eye. Now, he’s about to meet the last person any G.I. Joe fan ever expected! Are they friend, foe, or in it for themselves? 

The full list of variant covers is below: 

  • Duke #2 Cover A by Tom Reilly (Lunar Code 1123IM272) 
  • Duke #2 Cover B by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz (Lunar Code 1123IM273) 
  • Duke #2 Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive) (Connecting) by Tyler Boss & Jason Wordie (Lunar Code 1123IM274) 
  • Duke #2 Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive) by Aco (Lunar Code 1123IM275) 
  • Duke #2 Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive) by Nick Dragotta (Lunar Code 1123IM276) 
Duke #2

Those Two Geeks Episode 223: Fighting the Crud

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Alex and Joe continue to battle the crud, and decide to talk about some old favourites. Toys and honestly, more toys.

You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.

Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay

Those Two Geeks Episode 222: Crowdfunding Toys

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Alex and Joe battle on coming crud, and decide to talk about some old favourites. Toys and honestly, more toys.

You can reach Alex and Joe can be found on Twitter respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4 if you feel the need to tell them they’re wrong individually, or by email at ItsThose2Geeks@gmail.com.

Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay

IDW salutes and celebrates Larry Hama with G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #300

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IDW Publishing will bid farewell to its long-running series of G.I. JOE comic books with the publication of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #300, written by indispensable visionary Larry Hama with art by SL Gallant, inks by Maria Keane, colors by J. Brown, and letters by Neil Uyetake. The final, overlength issue of the IDW comic will be published in November, and one of its sensational cover variants—illustrated by Jamie Sullivan—sets a new world record for the most characters featured on a comic book cover! 

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #300 marks the culmination of a culture-shifting 40-year franchise helmed throughout by industry legend Hama. Nearly every issue of the original 155-issue run was written by Hama until Marvel Comics ended publication in 1994, and when IDW acquired the license 15 years later, Hama was welcomed with open arms to continue the storyline right where he left off! Hama, was recently recognized for his lifetime of achievements as an inductee of the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

In the bombastic conclusion to IDW’s G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero, Cobra is on the verge of creating its deadliest army ever by resurrecting both dangerous villains and heroes. Will the warriors of G.I. JOE foil their archenemy’s evil machinations before it’s too late? Or will the devious Revanche robots have the last word over both the Joes and Cobra?

In honor of the final issue, A Real American Hero #300 will feature a record-shattering cover image by artist Jamie Sullivan that pays tribute to the scope and impact of the 40-year-old franchise. Sullivan’s cover sets a new world record, featuring a total of 313 unique, named G.I. JOE characters together in a single image.

G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #300, the final issue of IDW’s G.I. Joe series, will be available with six cover variants, including Covers A and B by Jamie Sullivan; Cover C by Netho Diaz; Cover D by Kieran McKeown; two retailer incentive covers by John Royle and Ron Joseph, respectively; and a special retailer incentive wraparound of Sullivan’s world record-setting cover without trade dress, so every single detail and character can be seen in its full glory.

Movie Review: Snake Eyes: G.I. JOE Origins

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Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

You know who the coolest GI Joe action figure always was? Snake Eyes. You know who was pretty cool in those otherwise terrible GI Joe movies from a decade ago? Snake Eyes. So it makes a lot of sense to reboot the franchise and include at the center the oh-so-hot-right-now Henry Golding as your black-clad ninja, right?

Yes, but then you need to deliver a better movie rather than one centered around the least interesting character in the entire film. You know who’s a badass in this movie? Storm Shadow. Scarlett. The Baroness. Multiple other members of the Arashikage clan. You know who wasn’t? Snake Eyes.

This movie could’ve been really cool. But ultimately it serves as a better origin story for Storm Shadow than it does for Snake Eyes, who is just sort of there. The film doesn’t give us a lot of reason to root for him and like the slowest fighter ever, it telegraphs its every move, making it a cliched “curse your inevitable but sudden betrayal!’ vibe. No lie: my 13 yr old son whispered to me 10 minutes into the movie “He’s going to be the bad guy, right?” When your target adolescent audience is that far ahead of the movie and its main characters, you’ve officially dumbed it down too far.

The story is pretty simple: Snake Eyes was orphaned at a young age and has spent his entire life fighting on the streets and seeking revenge against the man who killed his father. When a powerful member of the Japanese mafia hires him with promises to deliver his father’s murderer, Snake is ordered to befriend a young man named Tommy, heir to the leadership of the Arashikage, a legendary clan of ninja. They take in Snake Eyes and train him, ultimately leading to him having to make a choice to betray them to seek the path of vengeance or to choose the path of honor and his new clan and family. And also COBRA and GI Joe sort of show up and have interest in how all of this plays out, too.

All of this might be cool if done just a little more deftly. And here the problem lies with both the script and direction. Director Robert Schwentke, responsible for the R.I.P.D. film and a couple of the Divergent series sequels, faces the same problems he did in those films: the directing is competent but lackluster. Utterly devoid of voice or any personal statement or connection, it’s hard to emotionally connect with the film, even with such a slam dunk toyetic premise as “Action figure ninjas!” This may also be due to screenwriters Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse, and the no doubt 8-12 other members of the script by committee who demanded certain elements be included in the movie to satisfy the desires of Hasbro or other studio executives. Shrapnel and Waterhouse have collaborated on other good projects in the past, including the 1936 Olympics Jesse Owens story Race and the recent Seberg, and it’s hopeful that they’re being tapped to write an Untitled GI Joe sequel as it’s likely the good things in this movie (and there are many good things). But the dullness seems very familiar for Spiliotopoulos’s work, which mostly includes uninspired Disney straight to video sequels and the recent live-action Beauty and the Beast (talk about uninspiring).

All of this sounds very negative towards this film, and perhaps we shouldn’t be so hard on it. At the end of the day, it’s a serviceable action movie and has a few actually really cool moments. This isn’t surprising, since the supporting cast is full of martial arts veterans. I just wish they got to do more. And I wish I didn’t have to wait until 90 minutes into the film to really get to something that felt cool.

And to be very clear, this is the best GI Joe movie that has been made. That is an extremely low bar since the first two are ridiculous disasters. But here’s the weird thing: those movies at least left a huge impression on me. It was a bad impression, no doubt, but an impression nonetheless. I couldn’t tell you the villain’s name from this movie. But I do remember the bat$#!^ insane performances by Joey Gordon Leavitt and Christopher Eccleston as Cobra Commander and Destro. And I remember the second movie, where they had the audacity to literally kill off 90% of the characters from the first movie in the first 10 minutes so we could start fresh with The Rock and Channing Tatum. Bad movies. But I’m still thinking about them. In two weeks I will likely have forgotten Snake Eyes even came out.

Which is a shame. Snake Eyes as a character deserves better than this. Henry Golding deserves a better role written for him. Andrew Koji, who gives the breakout performance here as Tommy/Storm Shadow, deserves better. I only hope they do all of them justice in whatever sequel will come. Let’s hope it feels at least a little more personal and interesting than this did.

At least the toys are still cool.

2.5 out of 5 stars

You can watch the trailer for Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins here.

SDCC 2016: Hasbro’s Transformers Generations and G.I. Joe and the Transformers Exclusives

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Hasbro usually brings some amazing exclusives to San Diego Comic-Con and this year we’ve got a glimpse at just some of what they’ll be releasing. Fans of Transformers and G.I. Joe should be excited for these two.

Transformers fans will be excited as Fortress Maximum returns! Transformers Generations: Titans Return Titan Class Fortress Maximum. The figure features robot, battle station and Autobot city modes which allows the figure to unite with Titans Return Leader Class figures (sold separately) to form a Cybertron City. The Convention Edition figure features collectible packaging and comes with a special edition poster, three accessories and a mighty sword. He’ll retail for $179.99.

Fans of G.I. Joe will be excited as Hasbro will release a new G.I. Joe and the Transformers set too. The set will retail for $99.99 and feature Scarlett and Autobot Powerglide, as they fight Zartan and Soundwave, to re-enact the Transformers episode The Girl Who Loved Powerglide in an epic showdown. Zartan comes with three swappable faces, while Scarlett comes equipped with her XK-1 power crossbow.

Review: G.I. Joe #1

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While it’s struggled to maintain mainstream relevance anywhere close to what it had in the past, the G.I. Joe property still has a solid grip on a certain group of fans. While it hasn’t been making waves in the comics industry as well as, say, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has, G.I. Joe comics continue to come out and continued to be purchased and enjoyed. This week, IDW decided to relaunch its G.I. Joe series with a new #1 written by Karen Traviss with art by Steve Kurth, setting up a story promising “The Fall of G.I. Joe.” The sad news is that you’re probably better off rummaging through your closet to play with your old G.I. Joe action figures than you’d be reading this dull debut; decent art isn’t enough to elevate the boring, unsatisfying plot.

GIJ_S4_01-pr-11

The idea for this story is actually an intriguing one, sure to satisfy anyone even vaguely a fan of G.I. Joe; previously infamous organization Cobra has gained considerably positive international favor as a peace organization. With Cobra seemingly ending world conflict nonviolently, the United States deduces the G.I. Joe department is unnecessary. This first issue introduces us to how the Joes are taking this into their own hands. All of this sounds potentially cool, but its execution is free of any excitement, any fun, and any action, certainly not appealing for younger audiences and not even older readers.

Full of dialogue mulling over big political struggle, bringing up issues like bought-out politicians and dishonest, national motives, this issue presents a whole lot, but doesn’t manage to make any of it stick. It’s nice that the main protagonist is a female, but the book doesn’t allow for any characterization to make her enjoyable to follow. It’s clear that the Joes are taking a big risk, going against the US government and following their collective gut, but the book never delves deep enough into their motives. There isn’t anything besides talking, and even the comedy fails to affect.

The art is good, although nothing to write home about. It’s technically without significant flaw, offering convincing facial expression and movement. The layouts are relatively interesting, occasionally offering a page that sticks out. At the end of the day, an artist can only visualize talking heads so well, anyway.

There is a great story buried in G.I. Joe #1, making its poor quality especially disappointing. I loved playing with my G.I. Joe action figures when I was young and this issue definitely didn’t manage to bring any of that back up beyond the basic concept. Pulling readers in with a compelling concept is only half the battle, after all.

Story: Karen Travis Art: Steve Kurth
Story: 3.5 Art: 7.0 Overall: 3.75 Recommendation: Pass

To check out Matt’s about.me, click here. 

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review