Still showing no signs of slowing down, IDW has sent along the solicitations for August, 2012, including a slew of different G.I. Joe themed releases.  All titles seem to be continuing to go strong, including some reprints and the long awaited Field Manual.

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

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Woooah, buddy!  Just doing some random checking today, and what do I see?  The SyFy website for the upcoming G.I. Joe: Special Ops online game has updated with some incredibly cool new character art!

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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Running about a day late due to some work related craziness…  these books should both be hitting today.  Interesting to see G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #178 so shortly after issue #177 was released.

Check out the two previews below.

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G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #178

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

Cobra is in trouble! The Blue Ninja clan has infiltrated COBRA’s american stronghold and, even with G.I. JOE’s help, they may not be able to stop the destruction. The leader of the Blue Ninjas, a mysterious cyborg that goes by the codename of BN-001, has arrived in Broca Beach as well. And when he goes after SNAKE EYES and BARONESS, his unmatched skills may finally be too much for the silent Arashikage warrior. Prepare for devastation in the newest issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant Covers:

• Larry Hama variant sketch cover!

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G.I. JOE 2: Retaliation Movie Prequel

John Barber (w) • Salvador Navarro & Atilio Rojo (a) • Salvador Navarro (c)

Snake Eyes and Roadblock. Perhaps the most dangerous of all the JOEs — their combination of stealth, cunning, power, and raw courage is nearly unmatched. Go figure, these two forces of might can’t always see eye-to-eye. But when Storm Shadow and his ninja enter the picture, these two JOEs will have to put aside their differences if they want to stop the enemy.

TPB • FC • $17.99 • 104 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-203-4

Bullet points:

• Sets the stage for stars like Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, Adrianne Palicki, and the RZA to explode into theaters this summer!

Over the weekend conversation about the IDW G.I. Joe comics reached a fever pitch as rumors circulated about titles “scaling back” and there were even specific rumors of just a single ongoing title existing.

Slowly but surely over the past few days, those rumors have been put to rest by folks at the ComixVerse, The Terror Drome, and Mike Costa himself.  Well, add another name to the pile of folks who are saying this “streamlining” either isn’t going to happen or is going to be much less than initially thought.  Larry Hama.

The writer of the Real American Hero title confirms via Facebook that as far as he knows, RAH isn’t going anywhere.  His exact quote:

“ I am dialogueing RAH#180 right now, and am writing to plot to to RAH#183 as well. Just talked to Carlos @ IDW, and he sai nothing about cutting backl I fact there are going to be Mexican editions, and I;m going to write one of the letter columns.”

Issue #180 was just solicited for July, so #183 would scope out to around October, so there certainly doesn’t appear to be any scaling back on the radar.  I’m glad to hear it.  With Larry Hama and Mike Costa being my two favorite comic writers at the moment, hearing them both say specifically that they’re not going anywhere is a big relief.  Hopefully it stays that way!

Since yesterday the G.I. Joe fandom has been buzzing about the rumor that IDW is “streamlining” their G.I. Joe comic releases, and one Twitter use ComixAce even mentioned the fact that they would be trimming down to a single title.

Obviously lots of concern was immediately voiced, specifically about G.I. Joe: Cobra, which many fans consider the best of the current running comics, to say nothing about its ties to G.I. Joe.  Cobra writer Mike Costa has evidently heard the concern, and voiced some reassurances via his Twitter page:

“Everyone’s concern has really been a huge compliment to me, but I want to assuage your fears: I am not leaving the Joe franchise”

What does this mean in the grand scheme of things?  Seems pretty unlikely that the Cobra title would remain the only G.I. Joe themed comic that IDW does, so my first guess is that this issue has been somewhat overblown.

While there is no doubt that some streamlining is likely taking place, my guess is that it’s not as serious as some folks are making it out to be.  Time will tell, and hopefully we’ll get some sort of formal announcement at C2E2.

UPDATE – Thanks to Troynos from the ComixVerse who reached out to John Barber and got even better clarification about IDW’s statements.  Check them out here, and also quoted below.

“I think Dirk (Wood, IDW’s VP Of Marketing) was actually talking in vaguer terms than any concrete plan; the basic gist is that we’re aware that (in general terms) there are a lot of groups of titles from a lot of publishers where there are a LOT of titles (like Avengers or X-Men or whatever). We’re aware of overburdening the market with a lot of anything–Joe, Turtles, X-Men, anything, no matter how popular–can have an overall negative effect on sales. Plus, I’ve got to admit that the GI JOE trade paperback numbering and the several-times renumbering of series like Cobra over the years is pretty confusing… and we’re trying to not be confusing going forward. What exactly that means, we’re not sure (other than I don’t want to have a GI JOE: COBRA: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 and a GI JOE: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 book and have them be different books…). But it’s not really any paring back on anything. It was more about assuring retailers we’re not going to flood the market with confusing material. We had a month or two with the movie-tie-in series plus some specials where there was a TON of Joe comics out the same month; we’ll try to spread the wealth more over a longer period of time.

So there’s still going to be plenty of GI Joe; D&D has never had more than one ongoing and a limited series; Magic’s never been more than one series at a time.”

Big props to Troy for reaching out and getting clarification.  Glad to hear this was misinterpreted.

IDW superstar Robert Atkins comes back to the show to talk about his time at Roll Out Roll Call 3, and we have a terrific conversation about the recent crackdown on 3rd Party vendors and artist’s alley at Botcon.  Great to talk to someone directly impacted by those events!

We also cover the latest news and intel going on in the G.I. Joe world, and Beachhead Mike actually makes it through the entire episode without ralphing.  It’s an Easter miracle!  Listen to the episode at our Podbean page, or hit up the embedded player below.  Show notes are after the jump.

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Once again running about a week behind, but I just can’t help it with all of the IDW awesomeness that comic stores are getting hit with on a weekly basis!  To this point I believe I have reviewed every installment of the Cobra Command series, and here is a helpful little rundown of all of those reviews:

• G.I. Joe #9 – Cobra Command Part 1
• Snake Eyes #9 – Cobra Command Part 2
• Cobra #9 – Cobra Command Part 3
• G.I. Joe #10 – Cobra Command Part 4
• Snake Eyes #10 – Cobra Command Part 5
• Cobra #10 – Cobra Command Part 6
• G.I. Joe #11 – Cobra Command Part 7
• Snake Eyes #11 – Cobra Command Part 8
• Cobra #11 – Cobra Command Part 9

I’ll be honest, it’s been a great ride, but obviously every story arc is only as good as the last memory of it.  So how does Cobra Command shake out?  Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the details.

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As Cobra Command has surged along at a high rate of speed, I’m struggling a little bit to keep up, but trying my best!  Cobra #11 was released today featuring the conclusion to Cobra Command, but I figured I can’t very well tackle a review of that one until I get last week’s installment off the table.

I’ve found myself surprisingly happy with the unfolding events in Nanzhao, even as some things that I’m normally not a huge fan of transpire around it.  I was a bit discouraged to see the super human B.A.T.s become such a major component, though they were pretty quickly wiped off the map with the detonation of the nuclear device.

Speaking of which… click the read the rest of the story link for the full review.

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Tomorrow is new comic day, and a pair of new G.I. Joe themed comics are hitting your local comic store.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation #3 continues the pre-movie adventures of Roadblock and Snake Eyes, while G.I. Joe: Cobra #11 puts a bow on the thrilling Cobra Command story arc.

Check out the 5-page previews below and don’t forget to hit up your LCS to pick up those issues!

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Cobra Ongoing #11
Mike Costa (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Dave Wilkins, Antonio Fuso (c)
“COBRA COMMAND” CONCLUDES! This is it—the final battle as the JOEs struggle to survive. Everything changes here! Who lives—who dies—who wins? The answers aren’t what you expect, and the foundation for the future of G.I. Joe starts here!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:
David Williams interconnected cover!

Bullet points:   
The G.I. JOE status is irrevocably changed!
The Future of the JOEs and COBRA starts here!

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G.I. JOE: Retaliation Movie Prequel #3
John Barber (w) • Salvador Navarro (a & c)
THE PREQUEL TO THIS SUMMER’S MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIE STRIKES AGAIN! Snake Eyes—a deadly ninja. Roadblock—an unparalleled commando. Now’s the time for them to match skills and throw down. Who’ll win in this battle of fighting styles? It’s no holds barred brawling with the bad guys in the middle—plus, new secrets of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are revealed!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:
Black & white Salvador Navarro cover!

Bullet points:
Leading directly into the hottest movie of the summer, G.I. JOE 2!

Nothing has gotten the fans in an uproar more with G.I. Joe: Retaliation than the idea that Snake Eyes and Roadblock may possibly be Arashikage ninja brothers.  While I’m sure there’s much more to the story than that, it’s obvious that the two are somehow linked, and it would appear that the third issue of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie prequel is going to touch on that connection.

IGN.com has posted a preview of the comic, which comes out on Wednesday.  You can see it right here.