I feel very sad and disappointed that I didn’t get this review done more quickly, as this was an amazing issue of A Real American Hero.  This was pure Hama greatness, almost as if pulled from the 80′s, with some great hints of Special Missions tossed in for good measure.  This isn’t a “feel good” story of G.I. Joe, it’s wrought with many of the same government tensions and political frustrations as you may have witnessed with the old Special Missions series, yet it’s not obvious, it’s just a part of the story.

Every day that a new Real American Hero issue is released is a day that I’m one happy G.I. Joe fan.  Check out the full review after the jump.

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Yeah, I’m running a little behind here, as the Collectors Club revealed this a few days ago, but better late than never.  They have posted another “Did You Know”? segment, this time featuring the Oktober Guard flamethrower specialist Dragonsky!

Along with outlining some facts about the character, they also revealed a snippet of his card art, which you can see below:

The news broke only a couple of days ago that DeNA and Hasbro had reached a partnership on a new mobile game for Android and IOS, entitled G.I. Joe: Battleground.  Many folks hypothosized (myself included) that this would be a trading card format game, and it certainly seems to be a fact.

In my excitement, I was able to speak with former IDW G.I. Joe artist Robert Atkins, and he informs me that he is actually providing some artwork for this exciting mobile game!  That makes me extremely happy, being a huge fan of Robert Atkins’ work and knowing what a diehard G.I. Joe fan he is, I’m absolutely thrilled that he’ll be doing some artwork for this game.

Hopefully he’ll be allowed to reveal some of his work either here on GeneralsJoes or over on his excellent blog, RobertAtkinsArt.

Speaking of Atkins, he actually posted a fantastic blog outlining a commission piece he did for my friend and fellow podcast host Gary Godsoe.  Check that out right here, and just imagine a trading card themed mobile game with artwork like that.  Awesome.

I’ve been pretty clear that my favorite ongoing G.I. Joe title at the moment is Larry Hama’s Real American Hero title, mostly because it manages to capture the nearly perfect combination of goofy fantasy and military action from the great 80′s series.

It is for this reason that I continue to be astounded at how much I love Mike Costa’s Cobra (and now the Cobra Files) series.  It’s pretty much the polar opposite of a traditional G.I. Joe book, diving deep into the murky under belly of the current military machine, yet every month I find myself totally captivated by the stories told here.  Even more amazing to me is the fact that Costa uses characters that there are no toys for (Ronin, the IDW Firewall, and to a point, Chameleon) and yet I still love it.  Normally no toys for the characters in the book I’m reading is usually a knock against it.  Not this time, though.

Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for my full review.

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I love it when I get surprises like this in my mailbox!

DeNA is a mobile game developer that has been working with Hasbro already on a really fun mobile game Transformers: Legends (that I’ve been playing pretty steadily for the past month or so) and has now announced that they are extending their agreement to include Dungeons and Dragons as well as G.I. Joe!  The game will  be called G.I. JOE: BATTLEGROUND players will assemble a team of G.I. Joe or Cobra units to battle against each other.

Transformers: Legends is actually a mobile card-based battle game, and it certainly looks as if that’s the framework G.I. Joe will take as well.  I’m sure initial reaction to a card battle game might be mixed, but speaking as someone who has become nearly obsessed with Transformers: Legends, I think Joe fans will love this.  Check out some excellent images passed along by DeNA Public Relations, and please click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link below to see the full press release.  Also announced is that if you pre-register at their site GIJoeBattleGround.com you will get a free in-game “Storm Shadow” character.  DO IT.

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Continuing the trend, yesterday, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club busted out Did You Know entries with card art and head sculpts for Big Bear and Keel Haul.  Well, technically they had already shown Keel Haul’s head sculpt, but now we get some artwork as well.

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And yet another astoundingly cool head sculpt, this time for Big Bear.

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Make sure to keep watching GIJoeClub.com for the latest and greatest Figure Subscription Service 2.0 information!  The deadline for placing your order is TONIGHT and midnight Central.  STOP DELAYING AND DO IT.

It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen any more details about other Hot Toys G.I. Joe: Retaliation items, but Hot Toys satisfies our craving for more today, and I think it was worth the wait.  I got the news off of Toy News International, who posted out the images and details this morning.  These details can also be seen at the Hot Toys Facebook page.  Check out the details and awesome images below.

MOVIE MASTERPIECE SERIES

The 1/6th scale Roadblock Collectible Figure specially features:

- Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock in his military uniform and armor in the G.I. Joe Retaliation movie
- Approximately 30 cm tall
- Muscular body with over 30 points of articulations
- Three (3) pairs of interchangeable gloved palms including:
- One (1) pair of fists
- One (1) pair of palms for holding gun
- One (1) pair of relaxed palms

Costume:
- One (1) military camouflage uniform with tactical armor vest
- One (1) black t-shirt
- Two (2) holsters

Weapons:
- One (1) machine gun
- One (1) pair of brass knuckles
- One (1) pair of daggers attachable to the brass knuckles
- One (1) knife attachable to the brass knuckles
- One (1) baton attachable to the brass knuckles
- Two (2) pistols attachable to the brass knuckles
- One (1) pistol with silencer

Accessories:
- One (1) wrist watch
- One (1) electronic device
- Figure stand with Roadblock nameplate and the movie logo

Artists:
- Head Sculpted by Kim Kyung Ah
- Head Painted by JC. Hong
- Head Art Directed by Kojun

**Prototype shown, final product may be slightly different
**Product details could be subjected to change without further notice

Release date: Q4, 2013

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Just to show what kind of whirlwind the past month has been, I somehow neglected to post that Episode 79 of What’s on Joe Mind was released!  Featuring the impressive vocal talents of the immortal Brian Cummings, we talk about his role as Dr. Mindbender in the Sunbow series, and have a lengthy discussion about codpieces.

Yes, really.

But that’s not all!  We also bring our good Marvel buddy Arune Singh on to talk about Iron Man 3, C2E2 and get prepared for the upcoming ComicCon.  Check out this latest episode on our Podbean page, or the embedded players below.  As always, Show Notes are after the jump.

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HTML5 EMBED

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I got so excited about Cesspool yesterday that I totally missed two other reveals that took place as well!  Over on GIJoeClub.com they have posted more card art (as well as a “Did You Know” entry) for both Tiger Force Shipwreck and Wide Scope.

The more I see of Wide Scope the more I dig him…  I’m psyched they’re giving this obscure SWAT Trooper some FSS love!  Check out the images at the links above, or mirrored below.

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Following along with their previous “Did You Know” installments, the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club provides some insight and intel on Cesspool today with a peek at his card art and his completely and totally insane head sculpt!  That scar looks PAINFUL.

Check out the card art at GIJoeClub.com, or mirrored below:

The head sculpt can be found at Cesspool’s Figure entry, or also mirrored below.

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