Cobra Command has come and gone, and the ramifications are still being felt.  By the looks of this next issue of Cobra, I think we’re in for a very cool retrospective issue.  I love how Chuckles has become such an immortal character in the IDW universe.  They’ve done such a great job with him.

Check out the five page preview below, and be ready to hit up your local comic store tomorrow to get the book in hand!

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Cobra Ongoing #12

Mike Costa (w) • Antonio Fuso (a) • Antonio Fuso, David Williams (c)

COBRA COMMAND AFTERMATH! Devastated by the events in COBRA COMMAND, the team reflects on the life and death of fan-favorite character, CHUCKLES. Meanwhile, the survivors of COBRA COMMAND make peace with horrors of the past… and prepare the horrors of the future.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Black & White Antonio Fuso cover!

Bullet points:                                                                                             

• In the aftermath of COBRA COMMAND, everything changes!
• Fan favorite character CHUCKLES’ story is seen from a new angle
• G.I. JOE stands at a crossroads!

Over the past few years, Gyre-Viper has become pretty well known throughout the community mostly for his early modern samples that he gets his hands on and then showcases for the rest of us.  However, one thing he hasn’t been getting much credit for lately is his ability to dig out some awesome stuff from the past.

Everyone’s work on the excellent JoeDeclassified Spec Ops podcast has brought some of those age old mysteries back to the forefront.  Meanwhile, Gyre-Viper has also been posting some great tidbits via his Twitter account.  Just this week we got some great pictures of concept art for Chuckles as well as a great inter-office communication which reveals that perhaps the Special Missions Brazil set in 1986 changed somewhere along the way.  It’s all good stuff, and I’m certain we’re going to get even more good stuff out of upcoming episode of JDSO.

Check out some of the mirrored images below, and follow Gyre-Viper on Twitter to see more of the great behind-the-scenes intel.  I promise more stuff is coming, and from what I hear, a question that’s been on fans’ minds for the past 25 years will be answered on an upcoming episode.  Can’t beat it.

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Another very cool update for the upcoming G.I. Joe: Initiate fanfilm!  Last week and this week they posted two new cast images, this time for Tunnel Rat and Chuckles.  The actors are really looking their part, and things are looking very high end.

I love how Chuckles image has a bit of a Cobra flair, like he might already be an undercover operative…

But as I said before, this great looking fan film needs our help.  They need to get gas for the actor’s cars, get them meals…and whatever profit they make goes straight to the Wounded Warriors charity.

They are currently hovering just about 50% of their goal, but we need to step up and do what we can to push them over.  Check out their Kickstarter page to help them out and keep up to date with the latest and greatest G.I. Joe: Initiate information at their Facebook page.

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It hits comic shops today, and I plan on having a review up within the next 24 hours or so, but figured I should probably post the preview at some point, too!  Check it out below.  This marks the final issue of this particular installment of the G.I. Joe: Cobra title before we get ready for another “reset” of sorts in May.

G.I. JOE: COBRA #13

Mike Costa, Christos N. Gage (w) • Antonio Fuso (a & c)

After the shocking events of last issue, all bets are off for the last chapter of Chuckles’ undercover saga. He’ll have to face enemies, friends… and, finally, himself. Costa, Gage, and Fuso finally bring one of the most shocking GI Joe stories of all time to a close, and not everyone is getting out alive.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

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Tomorrow is new comic day, and the latest issue of G.I. Joe: Cobra is slated to hit comic shops.  Check out the five page preview below.

G.I. Joe: Cobra #11

Mike Costa, Christos N. Gage (w) • Antonio Fuso (a & c)

Chuckles continues his descent into the very nerve center of COBRA… only this time, he has Cobra Commander himself as a guide. Costa, Gage and Fuso take you on the final steps toward oblivion, and re-introduce yet another forgotten member of COBRA, just in time to make the trip just a little more dangerous.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

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While I’ve fallen behind on some of the comics, I try to keep up to date on the G.I. Joe: Cobra title.  Far and away my favorite Joe themed series, I’m constantly amazed by simply how intelligent the writing is.  Mike Costa and Christos Gage manage to really delve into the idea of a shadowy terrorist organization like Cobra and really try to rationalize the concept and have it make sense.  In the old school days, Hama just sort of accepted some things and expected the readers to do the same.  Nothing wrong with that idea in the least, but I really like that this new generation of Cobra is trying to exist within a realistic world and the writing team is trying to breathe life and idealism into Cobra as a whole.

Issue #10 was refreshing.  I had no major issues with the last story arc in this series, but it’s like spending the weekend at your best friend’s house when you were a kid.  During that weekend, life was different, yet still fun, with some adventures.  But then you get back home and go back to your own bed, and suddenly, everything just falls into place.  The weekend was fun, sure, but there’s nothing like home, and getting thrust back into the Chuckles and Cobra Commander arc was like coming back home.

Click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link below to see the full review.

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G.I. Joe: Cobra II #4 hits shops tomorrow, promising to reveal the IDW Cobra Commander for the first time…and we’ve got a 5-page preview.

With it’s distinctive “film noir” style, it looks like G.I. Joe: Cobra is dipping into the action flick realm this month, but as usual, it’s being handled very well.  I am really looking forward to this one.

G.I. Joe: Cobra II #4
The plans of Cobra, Chuckles, and the agents following him all collide. Can anyone survive? Will the Joes get what they want from Chuckles… by any means necessary? And brace yourself for a last page that will impact the entire line of G.I. Joe books!

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Tomorrow is new comics day, but even better, tomorrow is new G.I. Joe: COBRA comics day!  Yay!

Easily my favorite G.I. Joe themed comic in the last 13 years, Costa and Gage continue to hammer it out of the park with their unique film noir style, excellent dialog, and no holds barred action.  But anyone who knows me knows that I love seeing some obscure characters get attention, and they are doing that as well!  Issue #1 already gave us Croc Master…Issue #2 brings Chameleon on board (though, I did it first…  ) and we’ve been promised Crystal Ball and even Serpentor.  Normally this would make me cringe, but I have the utmost faith in these guys, they’ve only done awesome things so far.  Below you’ll find a 5-page preview of this latest issue of G.I. Joe: Cobra II, and I know I’ll be practically waiting at the comic store for it to arrive.

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A few days ago I posted the Preview listings for IDW G.I. Joe related product, but now we have the full blown solicitations, courtesy of JoeReloaded.com.  Click the Read the Rest of this Entry link below to check ‘em all out!

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As usual, Gyre-Viper over at HissTank.com comes through with some more sweet pictures of some equally sweet upcoming Pursuit of Cobra figures that are pretty much blowing my head clean off.  I really am not normally a big fan of arctic figures normally, but holy crap if these two guys don’t look incredible.

The Pursuit of Cobra stuff below is the Duke (Arctic Threat) and Snow Job (Arctic Threat) from early assortments of The Pursuit of Cobra slated to arrive in 2010, though common thought is that figures should start hitting retail around the holiday season this year.

These figures just look…amazing.  The bulky insulated arctic uniforms, the totally rocking accessories!  I love both of those backpacks…Snow Job’s sniper rifle is inSANE.  I also really love those snap-out wings on Duke’s snowboard.  Such cool looking stuff…initially I wasn’t going to dive headfirst into all of the Pursuit of Cobra figures, especially with the Arctic figures, but damn…I HAVE to own these.  They are incredible.

Along with the Pursuit of Cobra figures, there are also images of a Silver Mirage and Chuckles that would have likely been released in the 25th Anniversary line.  The colors on the test shot are indicative of early samples of Chuckles with the dark gray shirt, so I would imagine they were probably slated to be sold together in some sort of battle pack.  As such, I wouldn’t expect to see that to arrive in that incarnation in the Pursuit of Cobra.  Still very cool to see the images online!  Check ‘em out below, and big thanks again to Gyre-Viper for sharing these pictures.

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