One of my most popular posts directly after the posting of the original G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer were my 10 questions or answers revealed from the trailer. It seemed to be a very well-trafficed post and I got some great feedback on it, so I figured I would revisit the idea now that we not only have a new theatrical trailer, but we also have some awesome, spoilery details revealed from some early footage screenings.

I will endeavor to write this post keeping spoilers to a minimum, but folks trying to keep 100% pure from potential revelations may want to avoid it. Really, though, I’m just using my own perspective, not much inside knowledge. So, upon these new details and trailers, what do we know now and what is still to find out?

Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below to read my thoughts.

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Maybe these went up yesterday along with the story by USA Today, but somehow I missed it?  Either that, or they just went live today and WOW!!  Spectactular.  If the concept art is any indication whatsoever of the kind of character design we’ll be getting, this game may already have knocked aside Avengers Alliance as my current addiction.

You can hit up the SyFy site and the Facebook Page to check out a wealth of concept art, and even sign up to play the Beta when it becomes available.  So cool!  Check out some mirrored images below from the SyFy gallery.

Guys.  TRUBBLE BUBBLES.  Low Light.  AGH!!

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This looks SO COOL.  If this is truly a tactics game along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics, or G.I. Joe: Renegades Tactics, then I will be so in love with this.  Very cool.

Oh shoot.  As if Avengers Alliance hasn’t been consuming enough of my life over the past month or so, it looks like there will be another social media game to add to my repertoire.

Big thanks as usual go out to GeneralsJoes friend and geek media expert Brian Truitt from USA Today who dives into the story of SyFy and Facebook teaming up for a new social media G.I. Joe game entitled G.I. Joe: Special Ops.  Man, does this sound like it has some serious potential.

You can read the full story over at USA Today, but let me cover some of the high points here:

• An arena based game in an enclosed battlefield where you pick a squad of Joes or Cobras to do battle with
• Character choices include Cobra Commander, Destro, Baroness, Snake Eyes, Flint, Duke, and Firefly
• Designs for the characters will be pulled from all different era’s of G.I. Joe history, including a very Resolute themed Destro (ummm AWESOMMME).
• Release will be timed for the June 29th launch of G.I. Joe: Retaliation
• Lots of classic themes for the older fans, but some new twists for the younger set as well

What made me smile the most about this whole story was this quote involving some dialogue with Derryl DePriest:

“The first Joe member DePriest is enlisting on his Special Opsteam? Stalker.

“I haven’t made sure he’s there in the first set, but now that you mention it, I’ll walk over to the team and make sure he’s in there so I can play with him up front!” he says.”

So yeah, Stalker.  Holy crap, this sounds like it has some potential.  I can feel some real elements here from the very cool G.I. Joe: Renegades turn-based game that was launched on The Hub’s site so long ago, and this feels like elements from Final Fantasy Tactics as well, which is a game I absolutely loved.  This could be very cool, but very bad for my at-work productivity.

The guys behind Avengers Alliance better get those next 4 chapters finished and uploaded before June 29th, before my attention gets diverted!!  Huge props again to Brian Truitt at USA Today.  I’ve mirrored some concept art included in the article below, but definitely check out the article itself for the full details.

GEEK OUT.

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It’s been a busy week for Gyre-Viper, and he’s not letting up, even on a Friday!

Over on JoeDeclassified.com he has posted images of the upcoming San Diego ComicCon exclusive Constructicon B.A.T. and Destro, the driver of the upcoming Shockwave HISS tank!  The HISS itself (initially revealed at Toy Fair, but not shown in the images below) looks like a very cool and fun variation of the regular Retaliation HISS Tank, and the two figures slated to come with it look like a lot of fun.

The B.A.T. has the color scheme from the Constructicons, which is an awesome touch.  Destro himself is a repaint of the City Strike Destro tweaked looking City Strike Destro using PoC Dusty and Techno-Viper parts, and just looks like an awesome figure.  Check out the mirrored images below and a huge thanks to Gyre-Viper for the heads up!

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I mean, look at that.  IT’S SO GREEN.  And SO PURPLE.  GREEN AND PURPLE.

G.I. Joe community member Don Maue dropped us a line over the weekend to let us know that he has self-published a great piece of G.I. Joe fiction!  Here is the official press release, and the download link to check out “Tales from Castle Destro Volume 1″.  It’s a really good read!

Now available as a free e-book at www.smashwords.com:

Tales from Castle Destro Volume I – Mercenary War

As the head of the Military Armaments Research Syndicate (MARS), Laird James McCullen Destro XXIII is the world’s foremost weapons developer. His private army of elite mercenaries, known as the Iron Grenadiers, is a force feared around the world. But when a mysterious enemy begins targeting MARS interests with impunity, it will take more than a fearsome reputation if the Iron Grenadiers are to survive.

Download the ebook here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140542

Sun Prairie, WI – March 10th, 2012 – What do you do when you’re disappointed by what you perceive as a distinct shortage of G.I. Joe fiction? Don Maue decided to try writing his own! In October of 2011, he started work on a short story dealing with Iron Grenadier characters. That short story quickly turned into the basis for a fan-fiction blog. Tales from Castle Destro Volume I – Mercenary War is a collection of the first twenty-two chapters published at Don’s blog.

Don Maue is an avid collector and customizer of G.I. Joe toys. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two children. This is his first e-book.

ISBN: 978-1-4658-4204-6

For more information, visit Don at his blog, Tales from Castle Destro (http://castledestro.blogspot.com/)

Big kudos go out to Comics Alliance who took today to celebrate the Winter Solstice by taking a deep and analytical look at Sunbow episode Skeletons in the Closet.  This was actually one of my favorite episodes of the Sunbow cartoon as a kid, finding that hidden relationship between Lady Jaye and Destro, and Comics Alliance brings an awesome snarky (but not mean-spirited) perspective.

It’s a hilarious and fun read with a ton of screenshots and a one-eyed tentacle monster.  Where can you go wrong?

Click here to check it out.

Ahh…  G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  The gift that keeps on giving.

Caught up in the “Wow” moments of last night, it was tough to sit back and look at what we saw and make judgements about the events transpiring and what they mean for the film.  I will be laying some trailer related spoilers out here, so if you’re avoiding the trailer for some weird reason, you may not want to read ahead.

Click the “read the rest of this entry” link below for the full article.

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Well, I’m going to go off on a long tangent here, so if you just want to read the review and entry for Episode 26, then hit up the Episode Guide, or click the link below:

• G.I. Joe: Renegades Episode 26 – Revelations Part 2

So…now that that’s out of the way…I always get a little flack when I talk about G.I. Joe: Renegades being canceled.  A lot of folks out there really believe that the hiatus is just a hiatus and we’ll see the series come back after the movie.  As everyone has probably guessed by now, I’m not convinced.  Click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link below to read my diatribe.

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The beginning of the end is here.  Over the past several months we’ve seen these characters evolve, seen the story play out (some would say a bit too slowly) and we’ve been through a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

Ups as we saw the great growth of characters like Major Bludd, Zartan, and Destro…. ups as we got great cameos by Wild Bill, Barbecue, and Law & Order.  Downs as the Bio-Vipers made appearance after appearance, and downs as Ripcord turned out to be a lot less dead than previously believed.  The biggest down, of course, came with the announcement that Season One would be essentially the only season of G.I. Joe: Renegades before an ill-timed “hiatus” to give them a chance to retool for the movie sequel.

Through it all, I’ve been here, staying up way too late, and while many folks consider Friday and Saturday nights a time for letting loose and partying, I glued myself to the computer and encoded, then uploaded video.

I’ve had people actually ask if me I was sort of glad the series was ending, just because I wouldn’t have to spend several hours every episode posting a review.

Hell No.

I’d trade that time for G.I. Joe: Renegades continuing.  In a heartbeat.  This show got the short end of the stick, and it is a shame.

Enough of that.  Onward and upward.  As this universe ends, the G.I. Joe movie sequel begins, and hey, it could be worse…it could be 1995.  So, time to sit back and watch this stage of A Real American Hero fade into the ether, and see where things go from here.  Check the Episode Guide, or click the link below to go there directly.

• G.I. Joe: Renegades Episode Twenty-Five – Revelations (Part 1)

You know, I was wondering with preparations for Easter whether or not I’d be able to get this done tonight.  Turns out I got it done in record time!  Episode 17, Castle Destro has been added to the G.I. Joe: Renegades Episode Guide and it’s a doozy!

One of the best episodes we’ve seen in a while, it features Destro in all of his iron masked glory, tons of firefight action and some great character building.  Check out the episode guide here, or just hit the link below to go direct!

• Episode 17 – Castle: Destro