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Classic G.I. Joe #8
Classic G.I. Joe, Volume 8
The adventures of America's elite soldiers continue in issues #71-80 of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero! Completely remastered and collected into trade paperback for the first time!
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2010
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About the author
Larry Hama
1,954 books151 followersLarry Hama is an American writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 16, 2022
Gi Joe Classics has G.I. Joe issues #71-80.
The saga continues with this 8th Volume of the Classic G.I. Joe series. The series is pretty exciting overall- with the main arc revolving around the power struggle within Cobra, as Cobra Commander (Fred) must fight for control over Cobra with Serpentor on one side and Destro on the other. In a reverse of the Cobra attack on the GI Joe pit, it's the Joes who must join forces with Cobra Commander to assault Cobra Island and defeat Serpentor.
The final several issues which focus on the Joes getting framed for the Cobra Island invasion by a secret cabal of generals is not that good, but the rest of the stories are solid otherwise.
The saga continues with this 8th Volume of the Classic G.I. Joe series. The series is pretty exciting overall- with the main arc revolving around the power struggle within Cobra, as Cobra Commander (Fred) must fight for control over Cobra with Serpentor on one side and Destro on the other. In a reverse of the Cobra attack on the GI Joe pit, it's the Joes who must join forces with Cobra Commander to assault Cobra Island and defeat Serpentor.
The final several issues which focus on the Joes getting framed for the Cobra Island invasion by a secret cabal of generals is not that good, but the rest of the stories are solid otherwise.
January 25, 2016
An excellent blend of the comic superhero style storytelling and a military war comics. Huge cast of characters and a great evil villain and organization balances the series well. Very recommended.
April 8, 2021
This volume collecting issues #71-80 of the original Larry Hama Marvel series picks up with Wild Bill, Crazy Legs, and a handful of Dreadnoks trying to make their way out of Sierra Gordo after crash landing their getaway plane in the jungle. I always enjoyed the stories where the good guys and bad guys were stuck in a situation where they have to work together, because I feel like you get to see different sides of their characters.
From there we get an issue introducing the Star Viper, a new soldier with hyper-reflexes created by Dr. Mindbender, who pilots the Stiletto jet. The Star Viper infiltrates the GI JOE headquarters to steal a high-tech piece of surveillance equipment. Meanwhile, tensions on Cobra Island are building between Serpentor and the returned Cobra Commander, who is actually a Crimson Guard imposter who shot the real CC in the back two volumes ago.
A small team of Joes are sent to Cobra Island to retrieve the stolen equipment, and they happen to find themselves arriving just in time for the budding Cobra Civil War, which was one of the more memorable stories from the original run. Cobra Commander has Baroness, Zartan, and the Dreadnoks on his side while Serpentor commands Dr. Mindbender, Tomax and Xamot and their Crimson Guards, and all of Mindbender's BAT androids. Serpentor convinces the US government to back him against Cobra Commander, so the GI JOE team is sent in to fight alongside one half of Cobra against the other half. Eventually Destro shows up with his Iron Grenadiers to create a third faction adding to the chaos. This was an entertaining story that decided the ruler of Cobra Island once and for all.
Then we get a couple issues where Hawk and General Hollingsworth are set up to take the fall for how the operation on Cobra Island went, resulting in the entire JOE team being locked up, save for Roadblock and a few other stragglers who have to come together to save the team. There are a few fun callbacks to the very first issue of the series here. The volume ends with a standalone tale involving the Dreadnoks versus a small group of JOEs (it was fun seeing the two canine officers teaming up), followed by a battle between a small group of new JOE characters (about half of whom I remember) versus a team of Cobras fighting over a new island forming in the Gulf of Mexico due to all the faultline activity that created Cobra Island in the first place.
The Cobra Civil War story was quite entertaining, and it's adorable how the Dreadnoks' main vices are chocolate covered donuts and grape soda (this was a kids' book, after all). One of my favorite stories in the volume was the last one with the two small teams duking it out over control over a small piece of territory. It introduced the new JOEs in a much more satisfying way than had been done in the previous waves, with us getting a small team that are all introduced as part of a mission, and we get to focus on them a bit for an entire issue, instead of tossing them into the mix alongside dozens of other more familiar characters. Something about that issue made me recall the earlier issues where there weren't as many characters to keep track of, the focus was on the mission, and it was fun to see how both sides dealt with the challenges imposed by the environment and each other.
Also noteworthy is that I think this might be the only volume of the series that doesn't feature Snake-Eyes in a single issue. I do love Snake-Eyes (as does Hama, obviously), but it's nice to see some other characters get a chance to shine for a bit (like Wild Bill!). The art here is a mixed bag, with Ron Wagner's pencils being the most satisfying of the bunch. Marshall Rogers's art is a little too sloppy for my tastes, but thankfully he only did a couple of the issues contained here. This was a fun trip down memory lane I'm glad to have taken.
3.5 STARS
From there we get an issue introducing the Star Viper, a new soldier with hyper-reflexes created by Dr. Mindbender, who pilots the Stiletto jet. The Star Viper infiltrates the GI JOE headquarters to steal a high-tech piece of surveillance equipment. Meanwhile, tensions on Cobra Island are building between Serpentor and the returned Cobra Commander, who is actually a Crimson Guard imposter who shot the real CC in the back two volumes ago.
A small team of Joes are sent to Cobra Island to retrieve the stolen equipment, and they happen to find themselves arriving just in time for the budding Cobra Civil War, which was one of the more memorable stories from the original run. Cobra Commander has Baroness, Zartan, and the Dreadnoks on his side while Serpentor commands Dr. Mindbender, Tomax and Xamot and their Crimson Guards, and all of Mindbender's BAT androids. Serpentor convinces the US government to back him against Cobra Commander, so the GI JOE team is sent in to fight alongside one half of Cobra against the other half. Eventually Destro shows up with his Iron Grenadiers to create a third faction adding to the chaos. This was an entertaining story that decided the ruler of Cobra Island once and for all.
Then we get a couple issues where Hawk and General Hollingsworth are set up to take the fall for how the operation on Cobra Island went, resulting in the entire JOE team being locked up, save for Roadblock and a few other stragglers who have to come together to save the team. There are a few fun callbacks to the very first issue of the series here. The volume ends with a standalone tale involving the Dreadnoks versus a small group of JOEs (it was fun seeing the two canine officers teaming up), followed by a battle between a small group of new JOE characters (about half of whom I remember) versus a team of Cobras fighting over a new island forming in the Gulf of Mexico due to all the faultline activity that created Cobra Island in the first place.
The Cobra Civil War story was quite entertaining, and it's adorable how the Dreadnoks' main vices are chocolate covered donuts and grape soda (this was a kids' book, after all). One of my favorite stories in the volume was the last one with the two small teams duking it out over control over a small piece of territory. It introduced the new JOEs in a much more satisfying way than had been done in the previous waves, with us getting a small team that are all introduced as part of a mission, and we get to focus on them a bit for an entire issue, instead of tossing them into the mix alongside dozens of other more familiar characters. Something about that issue made me recall the earlier issues where there weren't as many characters to keep track of, the focus was on the mission, and it was fun to see how both sides dealt with the challenges imposed by the environment and each other.
Also noteworthy is that I think this might be the only volume of the series that doesn't feature Snake-Eyes in a single issue. I do love Snake-Eyes (as does Hama, obviously), but it's nice to see some other characters get a chance to shine for a bit (like Wild Bill!). The art here is a mixed bag, with Ron Wagner's pencils being the most satisfying of the bunch. Marshall Rogers's art is a little too sloppy for my tastes, but thankfully he only did a couple of the issues contained here. This was a fun trip down memory lane I'm glad to have taken.
3.5 STARS
January 9, 2022
One of the first volumes that I really cared about, because of the wild Cobra Civil War. This series as a whole is tough for me because it's plot-heavy and character light, and we get very little time with a lot of the Joes apart from a few of the main ones.
March 22, 2022
Despite being faced with having so many new Joes, Cobras, and vehicles to incorporate into the comic, Larry somehow finds a way to make it work. Some characters are just plain awful but you end up liking them.
April 9, 2022
Aww, yeah! The original Cobra Civil War! Hawk and Hollingsworth getting framed! Destro getting even more awesome than usual! I love you, GI Joe comics.
November 5, 2013
The Cobra Civil War becomes a tri-tussle between Cobra Commander (Fred), Serpentor, and Destro, with Destro as usual showing the most honor. The Baroness keeps looking better and better too.
August 21, 2015
The Cobra Civil War, which takes up the majority of this trade, is my favorite GI Joe story. It's a wonderful build up that pays off with great action and appearances by a ton of characters.
July 2, 2024
I had already abandoned ship when these issues were originally released, so this was all-new to me. The linework and restoration are spotty throughout the book. Most of it looks fine, but there are some pages that you can tell were not re-colored by "hand". All comics are colored on computers these days, including collected editions like this. The colorist matches the original color palette as closely as possible, and there are two methods to doing this. One is by hand, very time consuming but very nice, and the other is to let the computer fill in the shapes, which often obliterates linework. This is the case here. Also, some of these issues were scanned in poor resolution, with pixelated linework being the result. While nowhere near as bad as Volume 6 or 7 (or some of the later ones...reviews forthcoming), it still annoys the ***t out of me because I know that this is laziness and not the limits of technology. Every other company has long since learned how to collect Classic (read: pre-digital file) material properly, so why can't IDW?
The stories are fun, action-packed, never a dull moment fare. Writer Larry Hama is a genius with these characters, even making the mandated insertion of new characters and vehicles (toys) seem plausible. Marshall Rogers (of '70s Batman fame) even alternates artwork duties with Joe stalwart Rod Whigham.
This book smells fantastic, with it's toxic yet pleasing aroma undoubtedly being the result of that magical Korean printing. It smells much like the Chinese printing, which I have characterized in the past as such: The result of asbestos tiles, lead paint chips, and mercury from recalled thermometers. The Korean printing has one extra delightful ingredient, though: the tears of the children forced to make these books in sweatshop conditions. It's funny how in these issues Roadblock bashes a motorist who doesn't drive an American vehicle, and there are a few other pro-American references in this title, and now these things are printed in Korea.
The stories are fun, action-packed, never a dull moment fare. Writer Larry Hama is a genius with these characters, even making the mandated insertion of new characters and vehicles (toys) seem plausible. Marshall Rogers (of '70s Batman fame) even alternates artwork duties with Joe stalwart Rod Whigham.
This book smells fantastic, with it's toxic yet pleasing aroma undoubtedly being the result of that magical Korean printing. It smells much like the Chinese printing, which I have characterized in the past as such: The result of asbestos tiles, lead paint chips, and mercury from recalled thermometers. The Korean printing has one extra delightful ingredient, though: the tears of the children forced to make these books in sweatshop conditions. It's funny how in these issues Roadblock bashes a motorist who doesn't drive an American vehicle, and there are a few other pro-American references in this title, and now these things are printed in Korea.
May 26, 2020
This volume was action packed. The majority of the volume is spent on Cobra Island as Cobra engages in a Civil War with Cobra Commander's forces battling Serpentor's forces with the Joes caught in the middle. Then when it's all said and done, the government tries to burn the Joes and leave them to hang. This was good action and this probably wasn't the last time we'll the Joes hung out to dry. Good stuff.
January 23, 2024
Entretenido, al menos, gracias al despliegue del guion en la guerra civil de Cobra y sus consecuencias políticas contra el equipo (someras, aunque inesperadas para un título de corte propagandístico). Persisten, lamentablemente, la inclusión forzosa de personajes sin mucho desarrollo y un baile de dibujantes cada vez menos impresionante.
August 4, 2022
Some interesting storylines with the turmoil within Cobra. Better than the previous volume.
August 26, 2023
"That ruin of a face! It's Snake Eyes!"
August 10, 2020
Reread July 2020.
Man, the Cobra civil war was so freaking good. It was given time to breathe and what could have been an all-out-action set piece became something more.
That said, in my memory the Civil war was sort of the last really massively memorable tale in Hama's pantheon in my opinion. Not that there weren't good issues still to come, but I don't particularly remember any *big* stories after this in the way that I remember this, the Cobra Island creation, Springfield invasion, etcetera... (I'm going to continue rereading these - so we will see if there are other long term stories that hold up.)
Fun, fun nostalgia. (and a very much needed escape at this point).
Man, the Cobra civil war was so freaking good. It was given time to breathe and what could have been an all-out-action set piece became something more.
That said, in my memory the Civil war was sort of the last really massively memorable tale in Hama's pantheon in my opinion. Not that there weren't good issues still to come, but I don't particularly remember any *big* stories after this in the way that I remember this, the Cobra Island creation, Springfield invasion, etcetera... (I'm going to continue rereading these - so we will see if there are other long term stories that hold up.)
Fun, fun nostalgia. (and a very much needed escape at this point).
September 5, 2016
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero issues 70 - 79. This was a great set. The main story was the Cobra War, which was covered in almost all ten of the issues. It was the most compelling storyline I'd read In a while. I regret not reading these later issues as a kid, they're fantastic. And I've grown to love Destro and his character over this book. Very classy and cool bad guy. Some shocking surprises in these pages...
February 12, 2017
Cobra Civil War.... amazing.
March 27, 2013
See my review of Classic G.I. Joe Volume 1
May 2, 2017
Like the title says; Classic GI Joe...
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews