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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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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The latest season of IDW’s G.I. Joe title is cruising along, with Fred Van Lente on the writing duties as he makes great strides building this G.I. Joe universe.  We’re already getting some backstory that has been previously unrevealed…but are the memories real, or manufactured?

It’s an interesting look into Duke’s background, though some questions remain.

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

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The comic world has changed in many ways over the past several years, and writers have learned to adapt to this new mentality.  Writing for the trade, or building stories in a certain way is considerably different now than it was even 15 or 20 years ago.  The entire landscape is different.

Someone forgot to tell Larry Hama this.

To read the full review of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #189 click the Read the Rest of the Story link below.

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I was hoping to get this review posted yesterday, but just didn’t quite have the time.  New comic day hit Wednesday and with new comic day came the first issue of the next generation of the “Cobra” universe from IDW!  Like The Who says “…meet the new boss… same as the old boss”.

But personally, even if this new iteration is more or less the same, I couldn’t be happier.  Click the Read the Rest of the Review link below for the full review.  BEWARE, SPOILERS for this issue will not be concealed!

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G.I. Joe: Special Missions from its earliest onset sounded sort of like a continuation of the main G.I. Joe title from IDW.  Chuck Dixon writing, a very military themed book with Scarlett and Mainframe leading a small team…it sounded like pretty much what the main G.I. Joe book has been, especially over the past year.

Now getting my hands on the first issue, I find that assumption to be mostly correct.  In fact, the storyline in Special Missions is a direct continuation of the final Target: Snake Eyes story from the last run at IDW.  To check out my full review, click the read the rest of the story link below:

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I’m not sure how I feel about the whole “season” breakdown when it comes to comics, but it does help keep things straight, especially when three major restructurings have happened over the past few years.  Considering IDW has been keeping the same continuity, the only way things can really be divided is by “Season” so in that regard I think it makes sense.

Issue #1 worked towards building this new “universe” so to speak, and now that G.I. Joe is in the thick of it, this issue serves to continue moving the story along a bit, while also trying to build some of these new personalities.

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

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With all of the excitement surrounding IDW’s big G.I. Joe relaunch, a title has been a little lost in the shuffle, mostly because it’s the one title that isn’t changing at all.  That’s right, 188 issues into it and still going strong, Larry Hama and SL Gallant’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero hits us this Wednesday (that’s today!)  in comic stores everywhere, and as we’ve come to expect every month, does a terrific job continuing on the legacy of a Real American Hero.

Check out the full review after the jump.  Be warned… spoilers afoot!

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Officially announced during NYCC last year, this next generation of G.I. Joe comics from IDW promised to shake things up and go in some different directions.  Numerous interviews with series writer Fred VanLente promised some out of the box ideas and a significant evolution to what has been going on in years prior.

Previously a top secret special missions force where the members were officially deceased, the G.I. Joe team was to become a publicity darling, taking the battle to Cobra in front of TV cameras, and even in front of an embedded blogger.  How exactly was this going to work?

Well, we’re all about to find out!  G.I. Joe #1 hit comic stores this Wednesday, and with the hubbub surrounding it, I wanted to get the review done pronto.  Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the full review.

Be warned, with the comic hitting stores tomorrow, there will be some spoilers below.  I tried to keep them to a minimum, but I do reveal some story details.  Proceed at your own risk!

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As I started reading the latest issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, I was having an internal struggle with myself over whether or not I’d be able to squirrel away the time to review the issue.  As I flipped through each page I assessed whether or not I wanted to discuss certain aspects of this story, with Hama’s usual writing skills and Gallant’s impeccable artistic slant.

Even though this issue maintained the level of excellence that I’ve come to expect, I had to judge how much free time I had and when I might get 10 minutes aside to type up a review… I really wasn’t sure.

Then I got to page 19.

Yeah, that made up my mind.  Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below to check out the review.

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