Comments on: G.I. Joe #21 and a New Generation

By: sidewinder

sidewinder — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:35:36 +0000

Marvel didn’t release trades back when the comic was originally being published.

In 2002, however, Marvel started releasing trades of the Marvel series. There were 5 trades, each covering 10 issues. These were discontinued supposedly because of lack of interest. I’m not exactly sure that is true, though. Some of these books were really hard to find (especially vol 4). I think that they just had really short print runs and people couldn’t find them.

In 2009, IDW started re-releasing the old Marvel trades. Same exact format as before, including covers. IDW has said that they plan on reprinting all of the Marvel series, but vol 6 has not been released yet.

IDW is also printing a bunch of “Best Of” hardcovers. I’ve not checked these out, so I can’t comment too much on them. They have a theme like “SnakeEyes” or “Larry Hama” and have Marvel stories related to them.

By: Brainlock

Brainlock — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:51:08 +0000

Did Marvel ever release GI Joe in trade form? Mine are all gone, now, but I picked up the book around #8 or #9 until the end, even had the digest trades of the first few issues.
.
btw, Amazon apparently has 12 issue subscriptions, now, with Free Shipping.
Not sure what all titles are involved, but at least a few DC titles. Not sure if IDW has any Amazon deal like that, esp at that preposterous price.

By: Sidewinder

Sidewinder — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:11:47 +0000

Awesome! Glad that you liked it.

By: CantinaDan

CantinaDan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:31:13 +0000

Thanks very much for the link! I just listened to your issue 21 episode and really enjoyed it. I happened to have my issue here and was able to follow along as you did the page by page recap. It was like I was reading the issue again for the first time. Enjoyed the Hama interview as well.

By: Sidewinder

Sidewinder — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:51:16 +0000

Great blog post.

I host a podcast called the G.I. Joe review. http://gijoereview.libsyn.com We mostly review the Marvel G.I. Joe comics starting with Issue 1. We also have a sprinkling of related Joe news as well.

If anyone is interested – we covered Issue 21 in our episode #009. That same episode features an interview with Larry Hama.

http://gijoereview.libsyn.com/index.php?post_year=2007&post_month=11

By: Parkdaledude

Parkdaledude — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:34:24 +0000

As someone who is about to become a father I hope I get to have a similar interaction with my kid as you had with your little brother, also I Totally agree with you about the Rise Of Cobra/Resolute thing being for the 2 different generations but I still didn’t mind Rise Of Cobra.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:30:03 +0000

My first issue was #19, but #21 cemented me as a fan. I stayed with the series all the way to the last issue (#155 or so). Storm Shadow was my first GI Joe figure. I loved him and the whole Snake-eyes/Storm Shadow opera. Perhaps the best GI Joe issue EVER>

By: UncleMarsellus

UncleMarsellus — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:12:19 +0000

Fantastic blog. I’m with you. I never had #21 but I remember the cover distinctly as it was used on one of the digests of reprints I had. Remember those? You often found them in convenience stores. I don’t remember if 21 was actually reprinted inside though.

But, yeah, though I liked the movie for what it was, I’m mostly happy that I see kids buying GI Joes again. Talking about Snake Eyes and how cool it all is. At least the movie toys are great!

By: Newton Gimmick

Newton Gimmick — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:53:53 +0000

I found Resolute to be a lot of crap, but it was entertaining. The movie was good. Glad to hear kids love it.

By: CantinaDan

CantinaDan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:31:36 +0000

Yes, thanks for the link, Jon. Enjoyed that. I appreciate yours (and Hama’s) thoughts regarding “Rise of Cobra” vs. Resolute. I suffer too much from fuzzy memory and too strong of a visual bias.

I love his line regarding inventing the Baroness: “Lets add this hot babe in leather.”

And after all these years and all he’s done in the G.I. Joeverse he says at the end of the interview that #21 is his favorite issue. Nice.

By: Lt. Clutch

Lt. Clutch — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:36:56 +0000

I had been reading the series for a about a year and remember loving the artwork. Larry Hama and Steve Leialoha made a great team and this issue left me wanting more. I had yet to learn at the time that Hama was an artist as well as a writer. The ending was very well done, but I’ve never been a fan of Storm Shadow or all the ninja stuff which followed his debut, so that’s the only part of the issue that doesn’t hold up too well.

By: Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:04:51 +0000

One of my all-time favorite single comic book issues ever! All artists should aspire to that level of storytelling(where you can ‘read’ the story without the added benefit of word balloons).

Plus, it was damned cool!

By: Darren

Darren — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:15:07 +0000

Issue 21 was legendary, and still one of my most memorable! I think my copy is equally AFA fail and well loved.

By: xrmc20

xrmc20 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:00:08 +0000

Thanks for that link CC. Great great stuff in there about Hama’s creative processes and how things grow.

By: xrmc20

xrmc20 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:45:38 +0000

I know I read that when I was a kid, but I don’t have it anymore. Now I’m gonna look for it at my LCS.

By: Emerald

Emerald — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:39:04 +0000

I had a similar experience. I thought #21 was the coolest comic I’d ever “read” as a kid….made me want to buy the Storm Shadow figure as soon as possible. Incidentally so did every other kid because he was a hard figure to find in those days for me.
I have a feeling a GI Joe movie reboot will happen years from now. Rise of Cobra is nice for new fans, but this comic is a good example of what us old soldiers we’re hoping for — a more serious, non-cartoon approach to the franchise. I thought Resolute was styled nicely, but written terribly. With the obvious money in it now, someone will undoubtedly come along with Hama-like inspiration again and show GI Joe’s full potential.

By: Caped Crusader

Caped Crusader — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:20:53 +0000

Love it. Personally, I thought The Rise Of Cobra was much better than Resolute, and a lot more true to the characters. Other than that, nearly everything in your post could have come straight from my own keyboard. I guess you’re a few years older than me, because I was five when I started reading G.I. JOE. Larry Hama’s stories had a tremendous impact on me, and they’re a big part of why I took reading and writing seriously as a student. If you haven’t already, you should give this interview a listen (he talks specifically about #21): http://handsomegeniusclub.blogspot.com/2009/08/hgc-radio-episode-48-real-american.html

By: chad

chad — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:17:52 +0000

cool story for gijoe is one of of those generation things glad to see a new generation falling in love with gi joe.also thought gi joe twenty one was the most mind blowing issue to me for mostly had to contiue the series to find out why storm shadow and snake eyes had the same markings