Showing posts with label Hasbro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hasbro. Show all posts
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Monday, October 13, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
1986 - Anatomy of a cover - G.I. Joe Yearbook #2
http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=863437
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Friday, November 8, 2013
1985 - G.I. Joe Yearbook #1
And here's Golden's cover, recently recoloured.
And the original published cover
And a print without the logo.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
1984 - G.I. Joe #21 "Silent Interlude"
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #21
March 1984
"Silent Interlude"
Writer: Larry Hama
Artists: Larry Hama/Steve Leialoha
One thing to keep in mind as you read this is that I didn't read G.I. Joe regularly in the 1980s. I picked up a couple of issues here and there, but I was never pulled into the Joe universe. Even this issue's impact and influence had escaped me. However, "The Most Unusual COMIC BOOK Story Ever!" is easily the first issue that gets mentioned when I talk to anyone about Marvel's G.I. Joe comic series.
The plot is pretty straight forward. A new Cobra ninja, Storm Shadow's first appearance, brings in a captured Scarlett. Fortunately, Snake Eyes came to her rescue, although she wasn't exactly a damsel in distress. The last page sets up a connection and back story between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes as they had the same tattoos. That tattoo being an identifier for the Arashikage ninja clan.
While it wasn't the first time a comic didn't have any dialog or narration (see Will Eisner's The Spirit), but Hama pulled it off quite well. I believe one of the reason this works is that Hama not only wrote this issue, but drew the breakdowns. Interestingly, I spotted Leialoha's name before reading it and was on the look out for his work as it has its own unique style, which helped convey those subtle facial expressions. The backgrounds are minimal at best and it looks like it was intentional, allowing the reader to focus on the characters and their motions. The action is smoothly conveyed.
Since the issue spotlighted Snake Eyes, a character who didn't speak, it focused on a lot of action, delivering almost 22 pages full of action. Although there is one bit of fun narration that Hama sneaks into the story, the writing on a fragmentary grenade that's tossed at a charging ninja.
Larry Hama, in an interview with Dwight Jon Zimmerman, from David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview, explained his approach:
"I wanted to see if I could do a story that was a real, complete story – beginning, middle, end, conflict, characterization, action, solid resolution – without balloons or captions or sound effects. I tried to do it again, as a matter of fact, with the Joe Yearbook #3 story."
Hama actually pulled off a third silent issue in 2010 with G.I. Joe: Origins #19.
He revealed another interesting tidbit about the issue in an interview with joebattlelines.com (http://www.joebattlelines.com/interviews/larryhama1.htm):
"At first, readers hated it. They felt cheated that there were no words, that it could be “read” too quickly. That issue got LOTS of negative mail. But then, so did the annual that was drawn by Michael Golden. Readers complained that the drawing was too “cartoony.”
Sunday, April 14, 2013
1981 - Fury Force by Larry Hama
Larry Hama's Fury Force circa 1981.
Hama's concepts were original intended for a proto-S.H.I.E.L.D. team, but when Hasbro approached Marvel, Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, he recalled this work and tapped Hama to apply them to the new G.I. Joe book.
Monday, April 1, 2013
1982 - G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1
And back to our regularly scheduled programming...
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1
June 1982
"Operation: Lady Doomsday"
Writer - Larry Hama
Penciler - Herb Trimpe
Inker - Bob McLeod
Marvel Comics was the first company to produce a comic book version of the famous Hasbro toy franchise. The comic book series’ launch was timed with Hasbro’s new toy line in 1982. They moved away from the single, larger G.I. Joe action figure and to a team concept with figures of 3 ¾” scale.
The first issue, as the cover described, was a Blockbuster 46-pages long and featured the first appearance of G.I. Joes: Breaker, Clutch, Flash, Grand Slam, Grunt, Hawk, Rock 'n' Roll, Scarlett, Snake-eyes, Stalker, and Short-Fuse. As well, Cobra Commander and the Baroness made their first appearances as well.
From Jim Shooter’s blog (http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/07/secret-parts-of-origin-of-gi-joe.html), he revealed that after the initial meeting with Hasbro, he “went straight to Larry’s office. He, with his military background, was the obvious choice to do the heavy lifting. I told him what happened. He thought, and I agreed, that much of what he’d already cooked up for Nick Fury could be adapted to the project. [Archie Goodwin] came up with the first bad guys, the Cobra Command and the Cobra Commander.
Larry Hama was interview in Comics Interview #37 in 1986: “The big, really major difference was they wanted to give all of the guys characters and backgrounds, and they wanted to have a comic book. They wanted to have a back story. That’s why Marvel was brought in at the very beginning. When we showed up they had basic designs for the figures. What they knew about these figures at the time was that one was a basic infantryman, one was a commando, one was a mortar, one was communications, one was a laser expert, and so on and so forth. We agreed to do dossiers on each figure, to come up with the background and characterization and the way they would fit together as a team. The surprising thing for all of us was they hadn’t even though of doing a bad guy.”
The kidnapping of a prominent scientist prompted the US military to engage its new counter-terrorism team, G.I. Joe. The team came together quickly and assaulted Cobra Island where the scientist was being held. Each member got to show off their unique skills and Hama didn’t waste time bringing out the hardware and vehicles.
But, Hama wasn’t really writing this series to promote toys. The comic book character used real-world firepower and the combat was handled with a stark realism. Characters suffered injuries and there was usually a deadly cost to these engagements.
Larry Hama would go on to write all but a few issues of the 155-issue series and was recently brought back by IDW Comics for the relaunch of an ongoing series that kicked off where the 1980s series had left off.
The core story was backed up by 10 page story called “Hot Potato” featuring Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, and Rock 'n' Roll. The extras seemed endless with a double-page spread detailed the G.I. Joe Base called "The Pit", heavy weapon and vehicle profiles, and classified personnel files.
I found the art to be a bit lack lustre Herb Trimpe, who had penciled the Hulk’s adventures in the 1980s, was never, in my humble opinion, the best fit for the book. Although, for issue #1, the talented and underrated Bob McLeod inked Trimpe’s work and gave it that extra punch. Unfortunately, after the premiere issue, Trimpe’s inkers weren't as well suited and really didn’t do his art any favours.
G.I. Joe: The Complete Collection Volume #1 hardcover was recently published by IDW reprinting the first twelve issues and they’ve done a great job. They’ve faithfully reprinted all the extra materials and all the military dossiers. The reprint quality is great and even the format is slightly a bit larger than the original comic size and has been beautifully recoloured.
June 1982
"Operation: Lady Doomsday"
Writer - Larry Hama
Penciler - Herb Trimpe
Inker - Bob McLeod
Marvel Comics was the first company to produce a comic book version of the famous Hasbro toy franchise. The comic book series’ launch was timed with Hasbro’s new toy line in 1982. They moved away from the single, larger G.I. Joe action figure and to a team concept with figures of 3 ¾” scale.
The first issue, as the cover described, was a Blockbuster 46-pages long and featured the first appearance of G.I. Joes: Breaker, Clutch, Flash, Grand Slam, Grunt, Hawk, Rock 'n' Roll, Scarlett, Snake-eyes, Stalker, and Short-Fuse. As well, Cobra Commander and the Baroness made their first appearances as well.
From Jim Shooter’s blog (http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/07/secret-parts-of-origin-of-gi-joe.html), he revealed that after the initial meeting with Hasbro, he “went straight to Larry’s office. He, with his military background, was the obvious choice to do the heavy lifting. I told him what happened. He thought, and I agreed, that much of what he’d already cooked up for Nick Fury could be adapted to the project. [Archie Goodwin] came up with the first bad guys, the Cobra Command and the Cobra Commander.
Larry Hama was interview in Comics Interview #37 in 1986: “The big, really major difference was they wanted to give all of the guys characters and backgrounds, and they wanted to have a comic book. They wanted to have a back story. That’s why Marvel was brought in at the very beginning. When we showed up they had basic designs for the figures. What they knew about these figures at the time was that one was a basic infantryman, one was a commando, one was a mortar, one was communications, one was a laser expert, and so on and so forth. We agreed to do dossiers on each figure, to come up with the background and characterization and the way they would fit together as a team. The surprising thing for all of us was they hadn’t even though of doing a bad guy.”
The kidnapping of a prominent scientist prompted the US military to engage its new counter-terrorism team, G.I. Joe. The team came together quickly and assaulted Cobra Island where the scientist was being held. Each member got to show off their unique skills and Hama didn’t waste time bringing out the hardware and vehicles.
But, Hama wasn’t really writing this series to promote toys. The comic book character used real-world firepower and the combat was handled with a stark realism. Characters suffered injuries and there was usually a deadly cost to these engagements.
Larry Hama would go on to write all but a few issues of the 155-issue series and was recently brought back by IDW Comics for the relaunch of an ongoing series that kicked off where the 1980s series had left off.
The core story was backed up by 10 page story called “Hot Potato” featuring Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, and Rock 'n' Roll. The extras seemed endless with a double-page spread detailed the G.I. Joe Base called "The Pit", heavy weapon and vehicle profiles, and classified personnel files.
I found the art to be a bit lack lustre Herb Trimpe, who had penciled the Hulk’s adventures in the 1980s, was never, in my humble opinion, the best fit for the book. Although, for issue #1, the talented and underrated Bob McLeod inked Trimpe’s work and gave it that extra punch. Unfortunately, after the premiere issue, Trimpe’s inkers weren't as well suited and really didn’t do his art any favours.
G.I. Joe: The Complete Collection Volume #1 hardcover was recently published by IDW reprinting the first twelve issues and they’ve done a great job. They’ve faithfully reprinted all the extra materials and all the military dossiers. The reprint quality is great and even the format is slightly a bit larger than the original comic size and has been beautifully recoloured.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
