Joe comics have been released from 1967 to today (except between 19, and between 19), but it was not anything of note before the launch of G.I. For now, there’s already a lot of reading to do, especially if you go back to the beginning at Marvel. However, I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: /geekmid or PayPal.Īny donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles.At the time I’m writing this article, it was recently announced that IDW will stop publishing GI Joe Comics. It’s interesting to see the beginnings of these characters, but it clearly takes a little while before the series hits a consistent tone, both from a content and visual perspective.Įnjoyed what you’ve read? Want to support my blog? There’s no pressure of course, but every penny helps to keep this site running, as I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages). Though entertaining enough, these stories do feel very of their time and somewhat antiquated. The art is superb, if dated in terms of colour and the lack of detail in some backgrounds – the side on views of underground bases are stylistic touches we really don’t see much of any more, but they’re excellent.

In fact, there’s a much more grounded and almost real-world military feel to these stories than I expected – even Snake Eyes has an unusually muted (no pun intended for that silent character) appearance that makes him look more like a soldier than the more familiar, high tech ninja look he was soon sporting. The Cold War was in full swing back when these issues were first written and released, so there’s an element of USA vs Russia here – including one story where they must form an uneasy alliance – despite the non-geographic COBRA being the major antagonists for the most part. He shows great attention to detail, using real military slang wherever appropriate, despite the often daft acronyms and code names for vehicles and characters – a necessary evil considering the toy line and animated series that the comics draw from. One thing that’s apparent is military veteran Larry Hama’s real life experience in the armed forces – having served in the US Army during the Vietnam War. Each volume contained ten issues of the original series – and revisiting them in the present day is a fascinating look back at just how different things were in the 80s not just for comics in general, but in a geopolitical sense too. Having had the GI Joe license since 2008 – and creating their own, successful continuity with the characters – IDW began reprinting the 80s Marvel issues that were largely written by Larry Hama.

Larry hama gi joe