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G.I. JOE THREAD YO JOE!!!!!!
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It's tough to pick the top spot, but probably toys > comics > cartoon. The comics and cartoon helped flesh out the personalities and give back-stories when I played with the toys, but those only came out periodically. The toys were there every day for new adventures. Hama did such a great job with the comics, some very sophisticated, nuanced stuff in there. I had a knack for absorbing words and phrases I read as a kid and so often I hear or say things now that I remember picking up from Hama's dialogue.

When I began buying graded comics back in the early red label days, I was trying to put together a run of GI Joe in 9.6 ('cause 9.8's were crazy tough back then).The only one I still have is #23 because that's my favorite issue (the entire run through the 20's is just pure joy to me).  I'm surprised the comics don't do better because, as you said, it seemed like so many kids were into Joes at the time.

And I had the same experience back in the 80's. Star Wars was king, but GI Joe became instant competition as soon as I saw Grunt hanging from the pegs. I discovered the comic with issue 4 (I'd already managed to find 4 or 5 of the figures by then, but they were constantly sold out it seemed). By the time Return of the Jedi was out of theaters, I was into Joe with both feet, stayed with the toys and comic until around 1987 (Croc Master and Big Boa were my last figures, Issue 63 was my last comic).

The moment when I "grew up" was when I saw the cartoon movie "GI Joe jumps the Shark" (which I remember being only half-interested in when I saw it, so I was already moving on). When Cobra Commander turned into a snake and the whole Cobra-Lalalalalala ridiculousness, it was one of those Wonder Years moments where my voice-over came in and said "I knew at that moment my childhood was over..." 

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13 hours ago, Mickey7 said:

Anyone else grow up with GI Joe in the early/mid 1980's?   I almost forgot all about Star Wars during that time frame, as GI Joe really took over my interests.   It seemed like most of the boys in my grade school were hooked on GI Joe as well as it was a real phenomenon at that time. 

Between the awesome toys & toy box artwork, comic books, & cartoons it probably is my best memory of being a kid around that time frame.  My question is, if you could pick only one (toys, comic, or cartoon) what was you favorite back then?  Tough call.  hm  Though I loved the comics & cartoon, I'd say the toys stimulated my imagination and brought me a lot of enjoyment. 

 

 

 

Comics

 

But toys were my favorite at the time.

Edited by H0RR0RSH0W
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I believe I started with the toys, it must have been late 82 or early 83 because my first two figs were Stalker and the Cobra Trooper with the straight arms from the 82 series. Wish I still had them! After that it was the cartoon and my first issue of the comic was #29. As for a favorite I would say the comics, I stuck around until issue #69. 40 issue run!

Edited by FutureFlash
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Some of you remember your first toy & first comic.  (thumbsu  I remember mine as well.  I got into the toys toward the last of the straight arm figures.  My first was straight arm Hawk with the MMS. 

G.I. Joe was also what first got me into collecting comics.  My first ever comic that I remember purchasing was G.I. Joe #10 at a local pharmacy/candy store. 

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I'd appreciate some opinions. I was a big GI Joe fan growing up - mostly the toys and cartoons. Looking at this thread occasionally, it sounds like the comics were good reads too. Do they hold up? If they are worth reading, is the "Classic GI Joe" TPBs by IDW the most cost effective way to read them? I don't read digital comics and I don't really want to buy all the individual issues. I've seen a few hardcovers, but it doesn't look like they cover the entire series. Thanks.

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7 hours ago, srezvan said:

I'd appreciate some opinions. I was a big GI Joe fan growing up - mostly the toys and cartoons. Looking at this thread occasionally, it sounds like the comics were good reads too. Do they hold up? If they are worth reading, is the "Classic GI Joe" TPBs by IDW the most cost effective way to read them? I don't read digital comics and I don't really want to buy all the individual issues. I've seen a few hardcovers, but it doesn't look like they cover the entire series. Thanks.

Wow, interesting that you didn't delve into the comics back then. To me, they absolutely hold up. The cartoons, love them as I did, were drastically dumbed down compared to the comics. Hama really took the ball and ran with it in this series -- he juggled some complicated plots in the comics with lots of internal politics and adult relationships while infusing so much personality into his characterizations that you felt like you knew these guys and gals personally. Don't take this the wrong way, but I would equate it to something of a military soap opera and I mean that as a compliment -- it was very sophisticated for what was just supposed to be a toy tie-in book! Hama's dialogue was fairly advanced as well and there were plenty of words and phrases I still use today which I remember learning through the pages of GI Joe. The comics and file cards were the foundation for all my "plots" when I played with the toys, so to me the comics were the core universe.

I'm not sure which version of the trades to recommend -- I have IDW's first batch with the dreadful J Scott Campbell covers (IIRC they did 5 volumes which went up through the first 50 or so issues) and they're serviceable enough, although I still have my original issues which I bought off the newsstands if I want the original coloring on real newsprint. For my money, the peak of the run is in the 20's and I would say it maintained its quality without much drop through the 40's. It was really cool to see new or upcoming characters from the toy line get incorporated along the way (and just imagine how we all freaked out when Storm Shadow was introduced in issue 21 -- the Marvel office got bombed with letters asking if there was going to be a SS toy coming soon!) Once Hasbro started coming out with wackier characters and concepts which Hama had to incorporate ('86-'87), it went off the rails. I dropped out around issue 60 or so.

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On 10/18/2017 at 4:54 AM, Martin Sinescu said:

Wow, interesting that you didn't delve into the comics back then. To me, they absolutely hold up. The cartoons, love them as I did, were drastically dumbed down compared to the comics. Hama really took the ball and ran with it in this series -- he juggled some complicated plots in the comics with lots of internal politics and adult relationships while infusing so much personality into his characterizations that you felt like you knew these guys and gals personally. Don't take this the wrong way, but I would equate it to something of a military soap opera and I mean that as a compliment -- it was very sophisticated for what was just supposed to be a toy tie-in book! Hama's dialogue was fairly advanced as well and there were plenty of words and phrases I still use today which I remember learning through the pages of GI Joe. The comics and file cards were the foundation for all my "plots" when I played with the toys, so to me the comics were the core universe.

I'm not sure which version of the trades to recommend -- I have IDW's first batch with the dreadful J Scott Campbell covers (IIRC they did 5 volumes which went up through the first 50 or so issues) and they're serviceable enough, although I still have my original issues which I bought off the newsstands if I want the original coloring on real newsprint. For my money, the peak of the run is in the 20's and I would say it maintained its quality without much drop through the 40's. It was really cool to see new or upcoming characters from the toy line get incorporated along the way (and just imagine how we all freaked out when Storm Shadow was introduced in issue 21 -- the Marvel office got bombed with letters asking if there was going to be a SS toy coming soon!) Once Hasbro started coming out with wackier characters and concepts which Hama had to incorporate ('86-'87), it went off the rails. I dropped out around issue 60 or so.

I was young when GI Joe was popular, so I played with the toys and watch the cartoons. I didn't start reading comics for a few years after that. I was thinking of picking up the Campbell cover trades because they are readily available, but I wasn't sure if there were other editions out (I haven't really found any). I'm not a completest, so I have no problem only reading the first few trades then maybe the last to see how the series ended. Thanks for the thoughts on the series.

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Just had this commission finished.  I thought you guys in this thread would appreciate.

Pencils were done by Hama at the Camden Comic Con last year.

I handed it right over to Mark Morales who was also at the convention and he just completed the inks this week.

Hope to have this back from Mark by the end of the week.:wishluck:

Snake Eyes Vs. Storm Shadow

snakeeyesstormshadow.jpeg

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5 minutes ago, Martin Sinescu said:

Wow, these are supposed to be maddeningly-hard to find in even "decent" condition, how in the world did you manage a 9.8?!?!?!

Luck and OCD! I've been actively looking for this book in just about every avenue for over 7 years and then this beauty showed up and I bought it. I had CCS press it prior to grading. The next highest grade is a lone 9.4. Brad @Sharp Comics introduced the So Much Fun books to me.  

IMG_20171107_150313814.jpg

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On 11/7/2017 at 6:37 PM, KolmarAvenue said:

Luck and OCD! I've been actively looking for this book in just about every avenue for over 7 years and then this beauty showed up and I bought it. I had CCS press it prior to grading. The next highest grade is a lone 9.4. Brad @Sharp Comics introduced the So Much Fun books to me.  

IMG_20171107_150313814.jpg

Wow. Has Silent Master seen this?

Edited by Mr.Illmannered
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On 11/7/2017 at 9:37 PM, KolmarAvenue said:

Luck and OCD! I've been actively looking for this book in just about every avenue for over 7 years and then this beauty showed up and I bought it. I had CCS press it prior to grading. The next highest grade is a lone 9.4. Brad @Sharp Comics introduced the So Much Fun books to me.  

IMG_20171107_150313814.jpg

Wow! This is amazing! Congrats :golfclap:

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On 12/12/2017 at 10:19 AM, pubmonkey said:

Wow! This is amazing! Congrats :golfclap:

Thanks! here are better scans. Apocryphally 5,000 of these were printed in 1987, inserted into 3 pack bags and sold at discount stores and tough to find in higher grade.

008.jpg

009.jpg

Edited by KolmarAvenue
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