Click the read the rest of the story link below to check out the full details.

Danger Girl/G.I. Joe #2

Andy Hartnell (w) • John Royle (a) • J. Scott Campbell X 2 (c)

It’s the most dangerous event of the summer, and the action continues right here!  COBRA’s surprise attack has brought the G.I. JOE team to its knees.  But when Lady Jaye learns that Flint has gone missing behind enemy lines, she joins forces with the Danger Girls on a covert mission that aims to rescue her man and get the Joes back on their feet!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Variant Black & White J. Scott Campbell variant cover!

G.I. Joe: Cobra Command, Vol. 3

Chuck Dixon & Mike Costa  (w) • Wil Rosado, Bennie Lobel, & Antonio Fuso (a) • Menton3 (c)

COBRA COMMAND AFTERMATH! It’s a new day for the JOEs—as they crawl from the ruins of “Cobra Command”, they find a new status quo… and a change in command! The stories from G.I. JOE, SNAKE EYES, And COBRA converge in this volume plus the G.I. JOE: Cobra Annual is included.

TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-351-2

Bullet points:

• Contains issue #12 of each series plus the Cobra Annual.

G.I. Joe: Field Manual

Jim Sorenson & Bill Forster  (w) • Various (a) • Bill Forster (c)

Relive your favorite memories of the classic G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon with the G.I. Joe Field Manual, Volume One—an amazing archive of beautiful animation models. From Roadblock to Zartan, from the Skystriker to the H.I.S.S. Tank, from the Weather Dominator to the U.S.S. Flagg, all of your favorite characters, vehicles, and world conquering devices are present in this amazing volume. Thrill to never-before-published production artwork and behind-the-scenes designs that made the classic 80′s Joe cartoon so memorable.

TPB • BW • $19.99 • 208 pages • 8.5” x 11” • ISBN 978-1-61377-350-5

Bullet points:

• Compiled and presented by the team behind Transformers: The Ark
• With over a thousand images from the first sixty five episodes of G.I. Joe and a new foreword from lead designer and comic-book legend Russ Heath.

G.I. Joe #16

Chuck Dixon (w) • Will Rosado (a) • Tommy Lee Edwards (c)

DEEP TERROR concludes! Scarlett and Team Bravo are trapped a mile beneath the Earth’s surface with an army of COBRA killers beneath on their tail! Their only hope is—Mainframe? Also: COBRA’s too-public campaign to destroy the Joes rolls on. How can America’s super-secret heroes survive in the light of day?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Black & White Tommy Lee Edwards cover!

Bullet points:

• All-new direction for G.I. JOE continues!

Cobra #16

Mike Costa (w) • Antonio Fuso (a) • Antonio Fuso (c)

THE HUNT IS ON! The key to all of Cobra’s secrets is in the crossfire as FLINT’s secret G.I. Joe squad converges on FIREFLY and BLACKLIGHT! Everyone has their own agenda—and everybody has a lot of guns! It’s not-stop action and betrayal as secrets come to light and bodies hit the floor!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Variant Joe Eisma & Juan Castro cover!

Bullet points:                                                                                            

• NEW CHARACTERS! NEW MISSION!
• SAME CUTTING-EDGE STORYTELLING!

Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow #16

Chuck Dixon (w) • Robert Atkins (a) • Andrea Di Vito (c)

SERPENT’S SHADOW concludes here in the lair of the COBRA Commander! Snake Eyes, Storm shadow and the murderous Rika must free themselves from a trap set by the Commander in the only way they know how—KILL their way out! Will Snake Eyes show his hand and reveal his betrayal of the Arashikage or play this round out to the end?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Lee Ferguson & Sal Buscema cover!

Bullet Points:

• Non-stop ninja and commando action!
• Featuring the key villain from G.I. JOE: RETALIATION!

G.I. JOE / Transformers Crossover, Vol. 1

Michael Higgins & Larry Hama  (w) • Herb Trimpe Chris Batista, Steven Leiber,  William Rosado, & Jesse D’Orozco (a) • Klaus Scherwinski (c)

The worlds of G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS combine in this first volume reprinting the classic crossovers. Contains the 4-issue G.I. JOE and the TRANSFORMERS limited series plus issues #139-142 of A REAL AMERICAN HERO. MEGATRON and COBRA versus the JOEs and the AUTOBOTS, who will come out on top?

TPB • FC • $24.99 • 192 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-352-9

Bullet points:

• The classic G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS crossovers, re-colored and ready for duty!

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #181

Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • Herb Trimpe, Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema (c)

G.I. Joe’s mission at a Comic Convention comes to a close, only to reveal a new, intriguing enemy that may share a history with the Arashikage clan. Meanwhile, Darklon remains a prisoner of the Joes… until an attempt to transfer him from the Pit goes horribly awry! What is the Machiavellian arms-dealer’s nefarious plot and how is Destro involved in it? Secrets are unveiled in this pulse-pounding issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Larry Hama variant sketch cover!

Sure didn’t turn out that way, huh?

I must give credit to long time Joe buddy Todd of Magnum 6 Delta for prompting me to put this post together, and considering the G.I. Joe: Retaliation motion picture on the horizon, and the potential for redefining the core characters of the Real American Hero brand, the timing couldn’t be better.  Click the “Read the Rest of this Story” link below to check out the full article.

It all started in 1984, as so many G.I. Joe stories did.  Looking back at that year from this perspective, 28 years removed, it’s astounding to see what 1984 brought us from a mythology perspective.  While Roadblock is the central point of this article, 1984 also brought to us Firefly, Storm Shadow and Zartan, essentially building the foundation of Cobra that we would all come to know, and all three characters are core villains in the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation film.  There is no doubt the strong character-based foundation that was built in 1984 helped propel G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero into the 30 year behemoth that it has become.

Throughout the Sunbow era, an often-rhyming Roadblock represented just one of the very unique and funny characters that permeated the Sunbow universe, and his trademark poetic slang is one of the most often remembered traits of the character.

While Roadblock didn’t rhyme in the Marvel Comic issues of the era, he was first introduced in issue #24, right alongside Duke and made a quick splash during the funeral for General Flagg.  For the following several years, Larry Hama made perfect use of the character, giving him personality, and an intense and patriotic drive to succeed as a soldier.  In fact, throughout the Marvel Comics history, Roadblock has appeared on more covers than nearly any other G.I. Joe teammate, and his importance throughout the 12 year run in the vintage era can hardly be questioned.

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But it hasn’t all been wine and roses for the G.I. Joe heavy machine gunner.  Throughout the vintage years, Roadblock was a persistent presence, showing up in 1985, 1986, in Tiger Force, twice in various Battle Corps iterations, and even has a major part of Star Brigade.  Roadblock was the man in those years.  But something changed.

Somewhere between 1994 and 2000 the Roadblock name was lost in legal limbo.  The exact details of what happened is currently unknown, but for whatever reason Hasbro determined that they didn’t need to pursue his particular trademark, and when the G.I. Joe line made its big mass retail resurgence in 2002, Heavy Duty was now the primary heavy weapons specialist.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, Roadblock was brought back to the team in spirit a year before, in 2001, but instead of being the Roadblock we all know and love, his look was relegated to a bizarre offshoot character named Double Blast.

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Yes, Double Blast.

Can you imagine the theatrical posters for that one?  G.I. Joe: Retaliation featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as…  DOUBLE BLAST.  I’ve got goose bumps.

The times for the G.I. Joe fandom were far simpler back then, so the campaign to get Roadblock back on the G.I. Joe team started almost instantly.  A G.I. Joe conventions, the fans made their voices heard, and it actually didn’t take long for Hasbro to get their act together.  In late 2003, as Spy Troops was preparing to fade away into Valor Vs. Venom, Roadblock finally made his appearance…as an orange turtle.

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Not the most auspicious return for Mr. Hinton, but again, Hasbro was right on the ball and re-released the G.I. Joe heavy machine gunner with the proper neck proportions.  And there was much rejoicing.  But life still wasn’t perfect for Roadblock…  yes he was present and accounted for throughout Spy Troops and Valor Vs. Venom… heck, he got some very well designed love in a comic pack and a Heavy Weapons Set for Toys “R” Us.  But as Valor Vs. Venom kicked off, Wave 1 brought us, once again…  Heavy Duty.  As if that wasn’t enough, the Valor Vs. Venom animated feature established Heavy Duty as Roadblock’s cousin who also happened to be a gourmet chef.  Yes, seriously.  You can’t make this stuff up.  Needless to say, there was fan rage everywhere to the point where even Devil’s Due Publishing (who had the comic license back then) felt the need to mention it.

Feedback from Hasbro this time around was simply that “Heavy Duty” was deemed a more marketable name.  They obviously had the Roadblock trademark, as we had gotten retail release figures under his moniker, but because of marketing research (which never fails us) Heavy Duty remained front and center, the lynchpin heavy machine gunner for the G.I. Joe team.  He had essentially replaced Roadblock in almost every way.

As Valor Vs. Venom morphed into Direct to Consumer, and then finally into Sigma 6, the trend continued.  Roadblock was nowhere to be seen from 2005 through 2007, even as Heavy Duty was sprinkled heavily throughout various lines in that time period.  Perhaps the most galling example was in Sigma 6 where Heavy Duty was clearly a Roadblock clone in almost every way, yet the Heavy Duty name persisted.  Roadblock had become redundant.

So, what happened?

The collectors happened.

When Sigma 6 began its descent, and Hasbro decided to go back to the drawing board, they started design work on the 25th Anniversary line with collectors truly at the forefront of their thinking.  The first G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero 5-Pack was being conceived, and looking back through the 25 year history, it was immediately obvious that Roadblock deserved to have a place in it.  Throughout Sunbow, Marvel Comics, and even Devil’s Due, Roadblock was a character rich with personality and history, and since collectors were the important focus here, Heavy Duty was finally retired and Roadblock was re-introduced.  Throughout 2007 and 2008, things looked good for Roadblock.  He was getting a little bit of love in the 25th Anniversary line (much more than Heavy Duty, who has yet to make an appearance in the modern era, aside from his Rise of Cobra versions), but then word of the Rise of Cobra film emerged.  Was it possible?  Was Heavy Duty once again going to get the green light?

I will say that as a fandom, we did whatever we could to prevent that.  During one of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club JoeCon events, I believe it was the 2008 show in Frisco, TX, many of the site leaders and web administrators met with Hasbro and folks from Paramount about the Rise of Cobra film.  During that meeting, we all expressed our desire to see Roadblock as the central heavy weapons specialist and not Heavy Duty.  Interesting to note that during this same meeting, we expressed an interest in Ripcord being an “obscure” character that fans would appreciate, not realizing that this was a character Marlon Wayans was slated to portray.  Yes, Ripcord was all our fault.  By the end of this meeting, I think most of us felt reassured that we had gotten our point across, but in the end, again, Paramount determined that Heavy Duty was a more “marketable” name, and he was the one firing the hip-mounted chain gun, not Roadblock.  Not only that, but to coincide with the film release, IDW was even relaunching the G.I. Joe comic universe featuring a character who even looked just like Roadblock, yet sported the code name Heavy Duty.

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Perhaps that was for the best.

Roadblock’s next big break came in 2009 when he was brought on board the cast of G.I. Joe: Resolute.  It became quite clear early in the process that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was being designed as a mainstream vehicle to get the G.I. Joe brand in the public eye while G.I. Joe: Resolute was a love letter to the long time fans featuring characters that we wanted.  Hence, we got Stalker, Roadblock, Spirit, Gung Ho, Flint, and many other characters near and dear to the fans’ hearts while the Hollywood production stuck to the safer bets.  But again, perhaps that was for the best.  In the film, Heavy Duty ended up being a South African heavy weapons specialist who really bore no resemblance to either Heavy Duty or Roadblock, so in the long run it was probably preferred that the Roadblock character wasn’t wasted with a background that didn’t properly befit his character.

The next step in Roadblock’s resurgence was, believe it or not, G.I. Joe: Renegades.  When this animated series was first announced at JoeCon in 2010, Roadblock and Heavy Duty became an immediate conversation point, and the fans were ecstatic that Roadblock would be featured as a lead character.  Very interesting, though, was the fact that G.I. Joe: Renegades producers at JoeCon acknowledged the whole Roadblock phenomenon and reported that Heavy Duty would also make an appearance in the show.  As it ended up, Heavy Duty did appear, showing up as Roadblock’s cousin, and between the two of them, they carried episode 23 of G.I. Joe: Renegades into one of the best episodes of its short life.

Of course, in spite of Roadblock’s apparent new found popularity, it would appear he is the only member of the G.I. Joe: Renegades team who is not slated to receive his own figure.

That brings us to G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson…  Cinemacon’s action star of the decade, and the man who Hollywood and Hasbro are banking on to rebuild and reinvigorate the G.I. Joe brand.  Starring as “Roadblock”.  It almost seems inconceivable.

From an appearance standpoint, the choice is almost perfect.  The Rock is a huge, muscular, charismatic personality, all of this suits Roadblock to a “T”.  Roadblock has always had the bulk and brashness of someone who handles an M2 Browning like it’s a .45, but underneath the layers of muscle and attitude, he’s been smart and oozing with personality.  He is fiercely patriotic, loyal to a fault, and someone who absolutely has your back no matter what happens.  From everything we’ve seen and everything we’ve heard, Dwayne Johnson is taking exactly this tactic when playing Marvin Hinton, and I for one couldn’t be happier.  I think he is the perfect choice.

Which makes the whole events of the past 10 years even more ironic and amazing.  In 2002, Duke littered store shelves and Roadblock was a forgotten trademark by a company who didn’t think he was worth the investment to renew.  Ten years later, in a feature film being designed to revitalize the G.I. Joe brand as we know it today, Duke is taking a back seat and Roadblock is being given the reigns.  I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens.

Helpful Links

• YoJoe.com – Roadblock (1984)
• YoJoe.com – Double Blast
• My Useless Knowledge – Roadblock

Some big names have been added to the rosters including Cobra Commander, Serpentor, Scarlett, and Sci-Fi!  I love that we’re getting a decidedly IDW flavor for both Cobra Commander and Serpentor, with Sci-Fi obviously having his very cool 30th Anniversary elements included.  Great, great looking stuff.

Check out the ever growing Special Ops gallery below for all of the great character art to date, including today’s additions!  I’m getting very fired up for this game to hit.

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G.I. Joe: Ongoing Vol. 2 #13

Chuck Dixon (w) • Will Rosado (a) • Rosado x 2 (c)

“Deep Terror” begins here! COBRA is digging a miles-deep shaft in the Patagonian wilderness and what they’re digging for could change the world forever and NOT in a good way. The Joes are looking for payback after recent events but will the cuts to their operating budget allow for a mission to the bottom of the world? Also: A new JOE arrives at Fort Baxter!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant Covers:

Variant Tommy Lee Edwards cover!

Variant Black & White Tommy Lee Edwards cover!

Bullet points:

• An all-new direction for G.I. JOE!
• All the G.I. JOE titles this month have two foil character covers! Collect all six!

Not only that, but we had some old friends stop by and hang out on the show for a little while, which was a really fun, awesome experience.

I just happened to be running a little late for this one, but I should pop up about an hour into the episode, and eventually I don’t sound like I’m talking in a trash can.  Listen to this landmark 1 year anniversary episode on Podbean.com, or check it out via the embedded player below.  As always, the show notes will be after the jump.

SHOW NOTES

LIVE FROM St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New York, Seattle, Dayton, Milwaukee AND Sydney, its the ONE YEAR What’s on JOE Mind Anniversary spectacular! This is the episode where we have YOU the fans call in and join us in the conversation! Also joining us on hotline calls were Operation Red Retrieval Director Mark Cheng, Canadian Joe Con promoter Mike Heddle, Marvel’s Director of Communication Arune Singh AND…HERB FROM RHODE ISLAND! Instead of jamming this event into one TINY podcast, we decided to loosen the belt a little and let the show expand into what is now OUR LONGEST EPISODE EVER! I mean, with so many folks calling in, how could we NOT talk to all of you, our fans who stuck with us over the last year. As a special thank you, we got the biggest and best voice in ALL of the Joe Sunbow world to sit down with us for a solid hour. We had the one, the only, Michael Bell (aka Duke) shoot the bull with us AND critique Chuck on his horrible Major Bludd impersonation/immitation (call it what you want, he does neither good).

The remainder of the “first half” of the show are ALL of your calls while two lucky callers walk away with some Robert Atkins art for just calling in. Pretty sweet! We also get the latest on the Canadian Joe Con, Greg makes a return and Craig teases us about seeing The Avengers.

During our halftime break, we debut our newest promo. Will Chuck finally get to talk about robots in it?

In the news we talk about the GIJCC reveals of Diana and Schrage (which we pronounced a number of ways, including one with a tweeeest). Pics from China reveal the long rumored Amazon 4-pack and we get an additional surprise of a Renegades 4-pack. The single pack “dollar store” figures appear in The Philippines and we discover variants and running changes to the line. SyFy.com launches GI Joe: Special Ops (sounds like a podcast) social media game. IDW employees shoot down concernes about the Joe titles being scaled back. On the movie front, we got a ton of new movie posters and poster variants…and FINALLY, the big news of the week are the plethoria of domestic and regional trailers which will hold us over until the big day in June.

In the final segment of the show, the remaining cast and special guest, Will Bell, give their thoughts over the last year. Sure, its a little gratuitous back patting, but for anyone who has a podcast, been on a podcast or attempted a podcast, this is NOT easy work. We thank you the listeners for all the comments, good and bad, who fueled this show to this day. It is not often anything last long enough to complete a year and we thank you for being part of the ride.

One year is just the beginning for WOJM. The show is often immitated but it will never be duplicated. There is so much more to talk about for 2012, the movie, the toys, the comics and all the cons – and we’ll be there with you, every week to talk about it. Hotel internet sucks! Now let’s roll!!

Our apologies for anyone who go in the queue and didn’t get a chance to be on the show. From the sounds of things this was a successful concept and we will do it again in the future.

Michael Bell

• IMDB
• WikiPedia

Guest Hosts

• Greg on Twitter
• Arune on Twitter
• Mark Cheng – Planet Nerd Rage Productions
• Craig on Twitter, and at The Fwooshcast
• Terry from YoJoe
• Jay on Twitter and at Carded Heroes
• Mike Heddle from Canadian JoeCon
• James Kavanaugh from RAHC Guide

News and Intel

• Oktober Guard Members revealed at GIJoeCon.com
• Amazon 4-Packs Revealed – G.I. Joe: Renegades and G.I. Joe: Retaliation Sneak Preview
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Character Posters
• G.I. Joe Dollar Store figures released in the Philippines… and we have variants!
• G.I. Joe: Special Ops Social Media game for Facebook and SyFy.com

G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trailers

Theatrical Trailer #2

International Trailer D (With lots more footage)

International Trailer G (With more footage)