IDW Publishing Forums

shanecdavis · Last edited by shanecdavis on Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:19 am; edited 3 times in total

In honor of 2012 being the 30th Anniversary of the Marvel G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic that we all know and love, we will be holding a reading marathon. Each week we will read 5 issues and then post our thoughts here. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate, even if you aren't able to actually read the issues. Please share any experiences you had when you first read these issues, whether it be as a kid, or picking these up later as a teen or adult. If you missed out on the previous weeks, you can find the URLs at the bottom of this post.

WEEK 10 - Marvel G.I. Joe #46-50

COVERS

Marvel #46 - Who's Who On Cobra Island

Marvel #47 - Sea Duel

Marvel #48 - Slaughter

Marvel #49 - Serpentor

Marvel #50 - The Battle of Springfield

HIGHLIGHTS:
* First appearance of Beach Head, Wet Suit, Sgt. Slaughter, Leatherneck, Lift Ticket, and Slip Stream
* Death of Professor Appel and Storm Shadow
* Zartan poses as Ripcord and Ripcord mistaken as Zartan
* Hawk introduced to Jugglers
* Storm Shadow revealed to have feigned death
* Serpentor is created
* The Joes attack Springfield
* Serpentor leads evacuation to COBRA Island

PREVIOUS WEEKS
WEEK 9 - Marvel #41-45, Marvel Yearbook #1
WEEK 8 - Marvel #36-40, Hasbro #36 1/2
WEEK 7 - Marvel #31-35, Marvel Yearbook #1, Hasbro #32 1/2
WEEK 6 - Marvel #26-30, DDP Snake Eyes: Declassified 1-6
WEEK 5 - Marvel #21-25, DDP Snake Eyes: Declassified Trade, Hasbro #21B
WEEK 4 - Marvel #16-20
WEEK 3 - Marvel #11-15
WEEK 2 - Marvel #6-10
WEEK 1 - Marvel #1-5, DDP G.I. Joe: Declassified 1-3

Pictures courtesy of Antarctica's website - http://www.yojoe.com/comics/index.shtml#Marvel

jackharkness · I'm kind of a big deal Joined: 02 Aug 2011 Posts: 247

didn't candy and soft master die during this time frame, and wasn't scrap iron introduced?

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

Yes, it happened in last weeks reading.
_________________
Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.

ER · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:12 pm Post subject:

Can't wait to get to the reading for this week! Smile

And Shane, please forgive me for being so anal, but Special Missions #1 came out the same month as #52, so I was thinking that it should be included with next week's reading.
_________________
30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

CrazyK · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:09 pm Post subject:

MORE AWESOME COVERS!!!!!!!!!!
_________________
"I... I don't believe it..."
"That. Is why you fail..."

ER · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:21 pm Post subject:

Just finished reading #46 and #47 and wow, talk about two ACTION PACKED issues and talk about two AMAZING covers Smile

(And just in case there's anyone out there who still has doubts about the timeline we put together, consider this: according to our timeline #46 is the January 1986 issue and #57 is the December 1986 issue. And it just so happens that 1986 was the 25th anniversary year for Marvel and on the covers of Joe #46 thru #57 it has the Marvel 25th announcement. Just another addition to the much evidence that we've already found to support our timeline)

Anyway, I love both of these issues - the only weak point for me would be in #46 when we see Quick Kick taking on Cobra Troopers while wearing no shoes Rolling Eyes

_________________
30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

ER · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:25 pm Post subject:

ER · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:46 pm Post subject:

Hey guys, just for fun (and to help spread the news that the Hamaverse is back in action) I've been putting a little website together.

On the site I've posted pictures of:

*my Hama continuity collection (still have to add Special Missions and Yearbooks)

*classified files from Tales of G.I. Joe #1 (reprinted from G.I. Joe #1 and haven't been collected into trades yet)

*some of those great old 1980s ads from the original Marvel issues (as of now I have some awesome ads posted from #16-30. I'll add more when I get a chance)

*a sweet 1985 Hasbro fold-out ad that came with one of my Joe vehicles

For those of you who don't have the original issues and would like to supplement your marathon reading with some of these pictures, please feel free to come on by!

www.hamaverse.weebly.com

When I get it a little more complete I plan to post a link to it from my facebook profile and see if I can get some of my friends on board for the current issues! Smile

_________________
30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

Torpedo · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 4:52 am Post subject:

Very cool, ER!
_________________
Author of Mr. Smartass, available for Amazon's Kindle, iPad/iPhone, and other e-reader devices and apps.

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

46 and 47 are the continuation of the SS SE team up and the Ripcord Zartan story. I love these issues. Between the action and the brilliant plan by Zartan ( as I thought as a kid) Today I wonder why they didn't take their wounded teammate to the closest hospital.

Intro Devil fish, Hydro sled, Wet Suit, and Beachead. The Baroness shoots Storm Shadow! Man after all that action and the great team up, SS gets left for dead by the Joes and Cobra. Nobody loves him Wink

Doc knows something's up with "Ripcord," but isn't sure what exactly. "Ripcord" is on his way to the depths of the Pit and "Zartan" is in the hands of his Dreadnoks headed to a Cobra hospital.

Zartan always seems to be the most competent Cobra. Also the best person to infiltrate the Pit in every universe... Let's see he killed the Hard Master the Blind Master and Serpentor, and invaded the Pit on numerous occasions in multiple universes. Storm Shadow will always be my favorite character, but Zartan is also a fascinating character and is always in my top 10 Joe characters.
_________________
Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.

shanecdavis · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:37 am Post subject:

Thanks ER! I guess I was excited to start adding the Special Missions issues so I gave us a head start. Yeah, that's it!

shanecdavis · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:02 am Post subject:

Marvel #46 - Who's Who on COBRA Island?

Okay, how incredible is the cover to #46??? It is one of my Top 10 covers of all time. Tommy looking like one BAMF, and teaming up with Snake Eyes for the first time too! "We're here, Snake-Eyes! If we want to succeed, we must be swift...and ruthless!" That one panel from the end of #45 certainly made the wait for #46 last what felt like longer than a month! Two sword brothers loose on COBRA Island. I simply could not wait. Reading it again now, even with the ninja overload and Snake Eyes becoming the central character in the mythos, it is still a pretty damn good story.

While I was hoping it was Ripcord that defeated Zartan and not vice-versa (I wasn't observant enough back then to see the chest wound on the last panel of #45), I was relieved to see that Ripcord was at least not dead. I still didn't like the concept of Zartan, but the character I was warming up to. Still thought (and think) the Dreadnoks were stupid (mainly because they weren't used properly), and his two siblings were even more stupid (totally worthless and unnecessary characters, in my opinion).

Speaking of bad concepts - enter Quick Kick. Okay, I may have misspoke. The concept of a Japenese/Korean martial artist on the team wasn't bad. Unfortunately for Mac though, his uniform was completely ridiculous. I groaned over Spirit's uniform, but at least he had a shirt and shoes. On top of that, Mr. Hama would shortly bring Tommy over to the Joes to perhaps fill the spot that Hasbro may have originally had Quick Kick slotted for. Makes sense though, as there is no duo that is more efficient or dangerous than Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. At any rate, adding a Joe like Quick Kick to this insertion team made perfect sense, although seeing him run around the island full of jagged rocks barefoot did not.

There were so many great moments in this issue I'm not sure I can list them all. Mr. Hama weaved the different scenes into one incredible story! The Joe team making their way inland and settling in to do some recon. How many issues would it be before we actually see the COBRA Night Raven?? I thought it looked really cool and hoped to see it in action in this issue. How about seeing both the Joe team and Snake Eyes spot the Stinger with Zartan on it? Two different perspectives of the same scene. Bravo, Mr. Whigham! Then there was being able to see the inner workings of the Terrordrome, and watching the COBRAs prepare for what was about to happen to them. CC stringing along Prof. Appel as he tries to locate Candy. Prof. Appel finding his daughter's photo in "Zartan"'s hand. The Joe team finding Zartan and dealing with the COBRA patrols. Alpine sure was badass. Can't forget Prof. Appel helping Ripcord get away in the Firebat so he could find Candy.

All great stuff, but the greatest were the scenes of Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. Disposing of the COBRAs at the tower and then making their way to the "Launch Base". Two of my favorite scenes was Tommy leaping over the blast shield and then when he and Snake Eyes were standing in the doorway. Not quite as amazing as the cover, but still epic. Interesting to see how CC saved his own * by telling them Zartan did it to prove he could. I will admit that Tomax and Zamot at least looked formidable in this issue. None of the stupid sharing sentences or any of that. Just good leaders that even chastised CC for selling out a wounded man. Apparently they didn't know the depths that a used car salesman would stoop in order to sell an idea. I was saddened to see Prof. Appel die at the hands of Tommy's sword, but with the introduction of Dr. Brain Wave, another hair-brained creation of Hasbro, Mr. Hama's must superior creation had to go.

There were a few things that made me scratch my head though, beyond a barefoot Quick Kick. First was Flint watching "Ripcord" disappear. I can't say from experience, but if I saw someone totally disappear I wouldn't have dismissed it so quickly. I would have preferred if Flint looked away for just a moment and then looked back to see him gone. Also, Spirit's assessment of the injuries not matching. I would think that would throw up a bigger red flag. I am not remembering #47 though, so maybe he does bring it up and it gets overlooked. Guess I will find out shortly!

Overall, this is one of my favorite issues. Had Gung-Ho been added instead of Quick Kick, it very well may have been my all-time favorite. Not only a great issue, but this would be the pinnacle of the Joe mythos for me. Mr. Hama would provide a handful of great stories over the remainder of the run, but it just wouldn't be the same.

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

One more thing on Issue 47... Where did Beachead and wetsuit come from? It would have made more sense if they were dropped off with the Devil Fish, but they were there before... But not in the previous issue...
_________________
Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.

shanecdavis · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:57 pm Post subject:

Beach Head and Wet-Suit were in the WHALE with the other Joes that arrived at the beginning of #47. The only Joes in the Gulf previous to that was Flint's team.

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

Thought the whale was there the issue before that
_________________
Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.