We just had a week of no new Joe titles at comic stores, and it was a weird feeling.  Seems like almost every week there’s something hitting stores, and now things are back to status quo.  IDW is releasing two G.I. Joe issues to stores on Wednesday, February 1st, and we’ve got five page previews for both below.

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G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #175

Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • Herb Trimpe, Gallant (c)

The Blue Ninja clan have proven to be worthy adversaries for Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. To take down the rogue ninja clan, strange alliances must be formed, enemies become partners, and unexpected team-ups lead to an all-out assault against the Blue Ninjas. Will the tenous alliance of Snake Eyes and Baroness be enough to finally bring them down? Don’t miss the team-up you’ve all been waiting for in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #175!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Larry Hama variant sketch cover cover!

Bullet points:                                                                                             

• Snake Eyes & Baroness… Together for the first time!

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G.I. Joe: Ongoing Vol. 2 #10

Chuck Dixon (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Dave Wilkins, Will Rosado (c)

COBRA ON THE ATTACK! The new COBRA COMMANDER begins a global strategy to turn the super-secret cabal into a legitimate world power. But those plans are only known to the highest levels of COBRA, and the invasion of a sovereign Southeast Asian country continues. The Joes and UN Forces are outmaneuvered and outgunned in a war of total annihilation!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Vertically inter-connected variant Tom Whalen cover!

Bullet points:

• PART 4 of the G.I. JOE crossover, “COBRA COMMAND”!
• A rolling nine-issue crossover between all three ongoing G.I. JOE titles, all with the same art team!
• Ask your retailer about the special vertically inter-connected Tom Whalen variant covers on all three titles!

A lesson in podcasting, folks!  If you get a group of guys together for a couple of hours a week for 9 months straight, eventually tempers might flare… a bit.  Episode 39 is an example of this.  All of us on What’s on Joe Mind have very specific, dedicated ideas of what we want for the show, and some times those ideals don’t gel, and sometimes we get a bit heated.  I think that’s a good example of why the show is so well received.  We are all very opinionated and care very much about putting the best product out there as humanly possible.  Generally we’re able to talk out our disagreements off-air, but sometimes…  well those disagreements come out.

Regardless, I still think Episode 39 was a good one.  We had Chris Sims from Comics Alliance on the program, which unfortunately for him, put him front and center to some bickering, but I think the whole thing went well.  Don’t let Gary dissuade you.  ;)

It was a host-packed show with Gary, Chuck, Greg, Justin, Craig, AND Mike all in the house alongside Chris Sims and I think folks will enjoy it if you can get over the spats.

Hit up our Podbean Page or listen via the embedded player below.  Onward and upward!

Yes, panic is a strong word.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen any real panic from anyone yet, but I do think what we’re seeing already from some Avengers toys being shown on Toys “R” Us Canada’s website might be something we want to keep in mind as we prepare mentally for Toy Fair in a couple of weeks.  I will admit, I did panic a little bit myself, mostly over articulation concerns, but in all honesty, I don’t think we have much to worry about with the mainline G.I. Joe releases.

As for the product itself, the first thing is the appearance of a clear image of the Avengers Quinjet:

Originally there was some hypothesis that maybe the Quinjet was retooled from the canceled Sigma 6 Thunderhawk and Rise of Cobra Phantom X90, but upon closer inspection that’s not the case.  The surface is completely different, and while there are some structural simularities, I think the vehicles themselves are different molds.  If you look at the cockpit area, the surface is much smoother on the Quinjet without the vents near the rear, and the wing assembly looks like it’s all one piece, and not modular like on the other planes.

Regardless of the construction, the Quinjet looks pretty neat, and could make for some potentially cool custom fodder.

Next up, is this weird Ground Assault Vehicle:

This thing is actually pretty darn cool, design-wise, as long as it’s larger than the picture indicates (I think it probably is).  If it’s close in size to the RHINO or even a bit smaller, it could make for a pretty awesome Cobra vehicle, with some fresh paint applications.

Another potential source of cool custom fodder is revealed with the appearance of Captain America:

Yes, the figure looks great, the webgear looks awesome…but…  where’s the articulation?  We’ve got single-joint knees and no torso joints whatsoever.  Curious…  I know some folks were wondering about this last week when Marvel leaked a few early images of the Avengers figures, but now seeing a finished model looking the same way is a concern.  Granted, if your only worried about the accessories, this isn’t a big deal, but it is somewhat disappointing, especially considering it won’t necessarily match aesthetically with the rest of the Marvel movie figures that have been revealed so far.

Granted, Marvel figures aren’t necessarily known by their extensive articulation, but still…  I have an Ultimate Captain America, Iron Man, and Nick Fury all in this format already, it is kind of too bad the Thor and potential Hawkeye figures won’t match it.

So even beyond folks being excited for G.I. Joe toys in 2012, the potential is there for some awesome customizing above and beyond the Retaliation brand.  More info will come in a couple weeks from Toy Fair, and GeneralsJoes will be there as always to cover it!

TRANSFORMERS PRIME:

THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

Featuring Over 10 Hours of Non-Stop Action, Special Bonus Content and More!

THE COLLECTIBLE 4-DVD SET &

 LIMITED EDITION 4-DISC BLU-RAY™ COLLECTION –

PACKED WITH A 96-PAGE GRAPHIC NOVEL

OWN IT ON MARCH 6, 2012 FROM SHOUT! FACTORY

 Click the Read the Rest of this Story link below for the full Press Release details!

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Here we have the IDW Publishing solicitations for April, 2012 featuring the “devastating aftermath” from Cobra Command as well as new installments in the Real American Hero universe, and another issue of the pretty cool looking G.I. Joe: Retaliation film prequel series.

Sounds like some intense events happening in the next couple of months, and as I’m getting more and more drawn into the IDW universe I can’t wait to see how things progress.

Click the Read the Rest of this Entry link below for all of the potential spoilery details.  In fact, no potential about it… there are BIG spoilers below, so read at your own risk.

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With big thanks to IDW Editor Chris Ryall’s “RyallTime Blog” for giving us a GREAT look at some upcoming art for not just the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Annual, but also the cover for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #177.

Going totally old school with artistic geniuses Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema, Ron Wagner, and Herb Trimpe, even these few pages are like an awesome walk down memory lane.  Such great retro art that really suits the G.I. Joe classic universe nicely.

Check out the Ryalltime Blog to see all of these great images, I’ve mirrored only a couple of them below.

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Pretty much since day one, IDW’s Cobra title has been very unique among the other G.I. Joe titles.  It had a very distinct writing style and an even more unique art style, which immediately brought it out of the “high octane” action world and into a crime noir episodic world.

So what was going to happen when IDW brought Cobra into the more mainstream style?  Well, it loses some of its unique charm, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad issue.  Click the Read the Rest of this Entry link below for the details.

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I find myself looking forward to the Real American Hero title every month, but this week…wow.  Seems like we got some IDW G.I. Joe overload.  I really found myself loving the issues dealing with the modern style of IDW G.I. Joe comics this week, so suddenly being thrust back into the old school Marvel Universe was a bit jarring, but still a lot of fun.

We get a lot more tank action, some more convoluted military stylings, and a whole lotta Larry Hama goodness.

Click the Read the Rest of this Entry link below for the full review.

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I had to smile when I saw the cover to this issue, featuring a jungle camouflaged version of the Cobra Deviant Mech barreling through the jungle, facing off against Snake Eyes.  I can’t really explain it, but for some reason when I see my toys in movies, cartoons, or comic books, I absolutely love it, and I really dig seeing the Cobra mech’s being used in the IDW universe.

Part of me does wish they stuck with the original paint scheme, but that red and black would have stood out quite a bit in the jungle foilage.

To see the full review, click the Read the Rest of this Story link below.

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Many of us really saw it coming throughout the Cobra Civil War that Krake was destined to be the new Cobra Commander, but I still thought it was a very fun ride getting to the end result. But I think most folks were complaining a bit that we didn’t really know Krake’s history and what makes him tick.

No longer. The entirety of the 2012 G.I. Joe: Cobra annual is devoted to the backstory of Cobra agent Krake and how he becomes who he is. I was approaching the issue with some hesitation, just because I wasn’t entirely sure how much I cared. Turns out I did care.

Click the read the rest of the story link below for the full review.

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