IDW Publishing Forums

[shanecdavis]

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 16 - Marvel G.I. Joe: ARAH #76-80

Optional reading - Marvel Special Missions #13-15

COVERS

Marvel #76 - All's Fair


Marvel #77 - Aftershocks


Marvel #78 - Payback!


Marvel #79 - Dreadnoks Rule!


Marvel #80 - Rolling Thunder


OPTIONAL COVERS

Marvel Special Missions #13 - Washout


Marvel Special Missions #14 - In From the Cold


Marvel Special Missions #15 - ...and Into the Fire


HIGHLIGHTS:
* First appearance of Ghost Rider, Rumbler, Charbroil, Hardball, Hit & Run, Muskrat
* Death of Serpentor
* COBRA Civil War ends with Dr. Mindbender making a deal with Fred VII after Serpentor's death
* Baroness reveals to Destro that Fred VII is posing as CC
* Return of Dr. Adele Burkhart
* Generals Hawk and Hollingsworth arrested
* Introduction of General Malthus of the Jugglers and Senator Hegel


PREVIOUS WEEKS
WEEK 15 - Marvel #71-75, Marvel Special Missions #11-12
WEEK 14 - Marvel #66-70, Marvel Special Missions #8-10, Marvel Yearbook #4
WEEK 13 - Marvel #61-65, Marvel Special Missions #6-7
WEEK 12 - Marvel #56-60, Marvel Special Missions #3-5, Marvel Yearbook #3
WEEK 11 - Marvel #51-55, Marvel Special Missions #1-2
WEEK 10 - Marvel #46-50
WEEK 9 - Marvel #41-45, Marvel Yearbook #2
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

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

[Mamu_Nestor]

WOW a lot of Special Missions for this week, cool!
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Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.

[Firefly210]

Loved issue #80 seeing both Joes and Cobras fighting for the same piece of rock was awesome. Enjoyed seeing the Joes in the C130 and then fighting it out on the rock with Mindbender and Fireflys forces. This issue had one of my favorites Hit & Run in it and was an overall solid issue. The irony of the whole thing was hillarious when both Joes and Cobras fought tooth and nail for the same piece of real estate only to have it sink back into the ocean in the end. Great read!!

[CrazyK]

I loved #80 as well... It featured a lot of the "new" Joes I was loving, like Hit & Run and Hardball. Throw in the stealth fighter, the Rolling Thunder and two of my favorite Cobras of all time - Mindbender and Firefly- and I think I read this six or seven times in the first four days I had it!
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"I... I don't believe it..."
"That. Is why you fail..."

[ER]

Calendar for #76-80:

June 1988
#75
#76
Special Missions #13 (upgraded to monthly title)
Tales of G.I. Joe #9
European Missions #1

July 1988
#77
#78
Special Missions #14
Tales of G.I. Joe #10
Digest #12 (reprinting #32-34)
European Missions #2

August 1988
#79
#80
Special Missions #15
Tales of G.I. Joe #11
European Missions #3

Quite the explosion of Joe product! I've never bought European Missions and by this time I had stopped collecting the Digest issues because I had already tracked down most of the back-issues that were being covered at that point. (The last digest I bought was the one that reprinted #23-25.) But between the main title, SM and Tales I bought 12 Joe issues that summer and was loving it - Highlights were Cobra Civil War, SM 13-15, and reading #10 and #11 for the first time in Tales - all in a few months time - so awesome!
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

[ER]

Shane, please forgive me for being so anal, but SM#16 and SM#17 came out the same months as #81 and #82 and shouldn't be included with this week's reading.
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

[shanecdavis]

Thanks to both Firefly210 and CrazyK for your comments and I hope we see more of them in the future.

Marvel #76 - All's Fair

How awesome was it to only have to wait two weeks for this issue? VERY AWESOME!! How awesome was the art only having to wait two weeks? Not so awesome. While Wagner overall did a stellar job, sadly there was a BIG lack of detail in this issue. I would say almost half the panels have Joes roughly drawn and not colored. Hell, we have an entire landing craft full of reserve Joes loaded up in FIVE vehicles and we can only positively identify three characters. Not cool.

Thankfully, what was lacking in art detail was more than made up for in story content. The Joe recon team's situation went from bad to worse to "UGGGGHHHHH!". Fred VII's incompetence was revealed in a big way. Destro makes his final push. Things built up to what you expect to be a battle of epic proportions........

Then it happened. "THAKKK" Holy smokes!!! I was in shock! I couldn't believe it! Shock was then quickly replaced with jubilation. SERPENTOR'S DEAD!!!!! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Sure it made CC's death even more pointless, but I was just so happy to be rid of that character. Funny thing is I don't have those feelings anymore. With what we got stuck with later in the run, when I read it this time I was sad to see him go. One of the rare good moments of the DDP ARAH run is that Jerwa actually gave us a Serpentor vs. CC battle. The rest of the premise was stupid with all the clones and the like, but I did enjoy seeing CC take out Serpy once and for all.

Then Mindbender acts as spineless and pathetic as he is. COBRA went from having one of the most dangerous men in Venom to having a complete loser in Mindbender. Figures though, right? Joes get roped into helping Serpentor's forces only to have Mindbender flip-flop and the injuries and loss of equipment end up being all for naught.

Solid, solid issue. Not a fan of the fall-out in the next few issues though. Would have rather the war lasted through those issues as well, but enough of that. Looking forward to reading them again.

[Mamu_Nestor]

76 All's fair... I was disappointed at how easily Serpentor was taken out...especially with Fred VII's total incompetence... Zartan took maters into his own hands and did what needed to be done, further cementing him in Joe mythos. I did like the scene with Mindbender and CC shaking hands with Hawk and Zartan saying I don't believe this... Pretty good action packed issue and uneasy alliances are now over. Almost make's me want to go back and read DDP vol 5 "Return of Serpentor"
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Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.

[shanecdavis]

Marvel #77 - Aftershocks

This is one of those stories I could have done without. I thought it was cool to see some down time between the Joes and COBRAs as the former were attempting to withdraw from the island. The banter between them was amusing, but the cat fight - not so much. Bad attempt at levity after a very stressful situation.

I wasn't thrilled to see Rogers back on the art duties, but I guess when you are pumping out an issue every two weeks thems the breaks. Unfortunately, we also get some bad coloring on the background Joes. Perhaps that is the best the equipment could do back then. If so I put the blame back on the artist for not giving a little more detail so that we could distinguish who was who.

The rest of the issue had an intriguing plot and Roadblock's getaway was cool, but there was some inconsistency with the media. In the first report, it seemed the reporter wasn't aware they were Joes, but in the second report he correctly identified them as such and was even privy to the Flagg. Minor issue but I remember it stuck out to me the first time I read it, since I always thought the Joes were a clandestine group.

I thought the foreshadowing of Destro becoming the leader of COBRA was well done, although I don't think it worked particularly well. COBRA just was never COBRA without CC, and him behaving as his comic persona seen up until Serpentor showed up, not the cartoon version we had to suffer through with towards the end of the run.

[ER]

Woo-hoo! Set some time aside this morning and knocked out all the reading for this week so I'm finally caught up. Whether I find the time to comment on all of this week's issues today is iffy though.

I've been reading my originals for the marathon, but to burn thru the reading quicker today I went to town on my trades for these issues, and it was providential that I did. I found a statement by Mark Bellomo in Special Missions Volume 3 that totally confirms the timeline we established. "...comic collectors must keep in mind that since publishing schedules were usually three months behind, back issues of these G.I. Joe comics [Special Missions #15-21] would look as if they were released to the public during the months of November-May, when they were actually distributed from August until February." Yep, we have SM15 as the August release

I was already 99% sure of our timeline from all the other evidence I had found (not to mention that it jives with my personal memory on some things like #57 being the Dec '86 issue) but after Mark Bellomo's statement, I think we can all be 100% on our timeline.
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

[shanecdavis]

I also got a solid confirmation of the timeline with #73 when it was my first time driving to pick up a comic. With that done, and correcting for the semi-monthly issues for this year and next I was able to match up to when #100 came out, the issue I read prior to boot camp and exactly when I dropped the title for good. Thanks again to ER for coming up with this idea. It has been a lot of fun reliving the past and hearing about the memories and impressions you all have had as well.

This week's reading marks the official halfway point of the Marvel run, with #78 kicking of the second half which sadly, despite a few gems, just doesn't come close to the greatness of the first half.


Marvel #78 - Payback!

First thing that stuck out to me was the improved art. I wasn't observant enough to tell right away, but I eventually came to realize that this issue was drawn by Mr. Whigham. What a welcome change it was! I'm glad I didn't know right away that it was him or else I would have been more disappointed to find out he wasn't back on board, but only for that particular issue.

The story itself wasn't too bad. As I have said too many times now, I would have preferred these issues to have been part of the CCW itself, instead of a few issues dealing with the aftermath. I did enjoy seeing Flash and Zap and Grunt make an appearance, as well as seeing Tommy and Billy again.

I thought Hawk and Hollingsworth (good to see him back to being the correct race) being holed up in a hospital was a bit drastic, but it did make for a good story. Destro showing up at the end and outing Malthus was a complete surprise and probably the best moment of this issue.


Marvel #79 - Dreadnoks Rule!

Ugh. Not sure why Mr. Hama felt compelled to write so many Dreadnok stories. I'm sure it was supposed to be a fun and light issue, but it didn't appeal to me then and even less so now. With issues coming out twice a month it just felt very much like a rushed, mediocre filler issue. The plot was weak, the character selection was suspect, and the execution left a lot to be desired.

First off, why would you include such a conspicuous vehicle on a surveillance op, especially driving it down the freeway in rush-hour traffic? Not to mention then having to camouflage it. Pay no attention to be big huge lump out in the middle of the field. Also, why would you include, not one, but TWO dogs???? The team of Mainframe and Dial-Tone camped out across the street from the Consulate building at least made some sense.

Sadly, we have seen this typical Dreadnok plot too many times before, and this time was even less enjoyable for me. You can bet where this issue is going to rate.


Marvel #80 - Rolling Thunder

After just mailing it in with the previous issue, Mr. Hama got back on track with this one. There was just so much to like about this issue. What a terrific idea to have another slab of rock surface in the Gulf and have both the Joes and COBRA fight to secure it. The new Joes didn't exactly fit the mission, but Hasbro needed to promote the next wave of unnecessary characters. I will admit though that I thought Muskrat and Big Lob.....errrrrrrrr Hardball were pretty cool figures. Not sure what Hasbro was thinking about Hit & Run and Charbroil. ANOTHER Flamethrower? ANOTHER Infantryman? Because Blowtorch and Footloose had proven so very useful that another one of each was needed, right? Both seemed destined to slip quickly into the abyss of anonymity, as did their predecessors.

It was cool seeing Firefly again, but at this point I just couldn't stomach Mindbender. I don't know if Mr. Hama was bent over having to kill off Venom and so he took Hasbro's version of COBRAs resident mad scientist and turned him into an absolute joke or not, but it sure felt that way. As someone who knew that CC was an imposter, he sure wasn't smart enough to use that to his advantage.

Hard Ball performed great during his moment to shine, but the others not so much. Couldn't help but shake my head as Charbroil stood his ground against the COBRA Transport and took it down with his flamethrower. Another facepalm moment occurred when Muskrat used his shotgun to repel the advancing COBRAs that were so far down below his position that he would have been more effective using a slingshot and a rock.

Those few negative issues aside, the action throughout the issue was strong and well-paced. You could feel the tension of the situation grow with each page. Then to have the island slip back under the water was freaking awesome! Both forces worked so hard to try to call the pile of rock their own, only to have mother nature take it back for herself.

Overall just a great read. I don't think it will be Top 25 worthy, but it did make me feel better about the comic after what I had to read through the previous month. All in all this is one of my favorite stand-alone issues.

Another week done, although once again I'm not sure I'll be able to provide my thoughts on the Special Missions issues, which I did enjoy, in some cases more than the regular title.

[ER]

#76 - first time I read this I was disappointed that the Civil War ended so quickly. But that said, this is still an excellent, action-packed, pivotal issue. I absolutely love that Zartan takes down Serpentor with an arrow shot! I have nothing against #76 itself - it just should have taken us longer to get there. I think we could have easily done without #79, 81, 82 and 83 and had four more issues to spend on CCW.

#77, #78 - I'm actually a fan of the Civil War fall-out story. A fun, unique plot that had me on the edge of my seat as a kid and is still fun to read today.

#79 - technically this is a lousy issue. The Dreadnoks on the loose/Joes staking out the gas station plot is stale and does nothing for me. Based on my memories I was fully expecting to put this one in the "Dislike" category, but reading it last week there were enough little entertaining moments that I can't honestly say that I disliked reading it. I love the beginning with the Joes in the traffic jam and the "familiar" garbage raining down on them. I love Cobra's real estate scam. And there's a couple of panels that have Zanzibar downing the the grape soda in the background that had me laughing out loud reading it this time. It's just SO STUPID I had to laugh I think it's lame though, that Cobra found the bug on the consulate building before we saw the Joes get any good use out of it.

#80 - Great action and the setting for the fight is amazing - a sinking landmass - how cool is that? Fighting against Cobra while racing against nature - very cool. Also fun to see so much Hasbro product in this one. Truth be told, #80 never stood out to me as one of my favorites for some reason, but it's still a strong, entertaining read.

SM#13 - Third time I'm saying this: Arguably the best Joe one-shot ever! More than once throughout my life, when things got tough, this story came to my mind as motivation to never give up and to get the job done. The dire plot, the conflict between the Joes, seeing them survive in the desert, Mangler's sacrifice at the end, and some complexity in the "bad-guy" characters as well, this one knocks me off my feet every time I read it.

SM#14/SM#15 - First SM 2-parter! Has the feel of a Carl Bark's "Uncle Scrooge" treasure hunt! A secret map. A legendary valley of eternal mist - one of my all-time favorite Joe tales! Larry really had his imagination in overdrive for this one. I would love for there to be a future adventure with the Joes and the "new" Anderson in the current ARAH books!

Rankings:

Excellent
1) Special Missions #13
2) Special Missions #14
3) Special Missions #15
4) #76

Good
5) #77
6) #78
7) #80

Meh - Take It Or Leave It
8 #79
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

[shanecdavis]

Here are my rankins for this week:

Marvel #80
Marvel Special Missions #13
Marvel #76
Marvel #77
Marvel Special Missions #14
Marvel Special Missions #15
Marvel #78
Marvel #79

Both #80 and #76 just barely rank outside my Top 25. Years ago, the death of Serpentor alone I think would have been enough. Now though I wanted more of the war. The ending was just too anti-climatic for all the build up in the previous two issues for me. So there was no change in the ranking this week.

1. Marvel #21
2. Marvel #26
3. Marvel #46
4. Marvel #2
5. Marvel #34
6. Marvel #39
7. Marvel #66
8. Marvel #27
9. Marvel #45
10. Marvel #1
11. Marvel #31
12. Marvel #61
13. Marvel #43
14. Marvel #11
15. Marvel #32
16. Marvel #38
17. Marvel #75
18. Marvel #42
19. Marvel #49
20. Marvel #53
21. Marvel #63
22. Marvel #74
23. Marvel #19
24. Marvel #24
25. Marvel #22


What a joke #79 was, and not in a good way. I moved #9 off the list to make room for it, and it looks like next week we will have a few more additions as well.

10. Marvel #3
9. Marvel #71
8. Marvel #35
7. Marvel #68
6. Marvel #51
5. Marvel #79
4. Marvel #59
3. Marvel #37
2. Marvel #60
1. Marvel #44

Not looking forward to next week so much. This was the time I temporarily lost interest in the comic. Having 3 of 5 issues full of Dreadnoks was the final straw, and that was back when I didn't mind them as much as I do now. I just had other interests that were more important to me, like girls, our sophomore football team going undefeated (though I spent the second half of the season with a blown knee), dating, and girls. Did I mention girls?

The stats will take a little longer this week as it doesn't feel right to leave out the Special Missions and Yearbook issues. They are part of the same continuity and appearances there should count.

[ER]

Top 25 as of #80:

#1, 2, 4, 12, 15, 16, 21, 23, 26, 27, 31, 45, 53, 55, 61, 66, 73, 74, SM1, SM2, SM4, SM6, SM8, SM13 and SM14

Added: Special Missions #13 and Special Missions #14

Eliminated: #38 and #39

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

[Mamu_Nestor]

77 and 78 are pretty darn good. It is also rather familiar with the plot of the new movie...Roadblock in charge of the renegade Joe's. running from the government spooks trying to kill them and place all the blame on Hawk and Hollingsworth.

Little behind this week. It's nearing the end of the semester and I have a lot of grades to turn in. While trying to convince some students to put in extra effort now so they don't fail...
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Author: Karate is Self-Defense Available at Amazon.com. Kindle Version Coming Soon.