Jamarmiller comments on GI JOE #0

FOR WHAT ITS WORTH ( NOT MUCH I KNOW )!! LOL


So I got the book courtesy of Chris Ryall. And I’m going to post my thoughts. Before I begin I just want to say a big thank you to Chris Ryall and IDW for allowing a place to visit and post good or bad, for or against, and for sending me the book.

As businessmen they have gained my respect, and they seem to be reading the same business books that I am reading. This is to say They have done what I always do with my critics and I for one have appreciated them for it and their interaction. So, for what its worth, Coming from a president of a Financial services company now residing in Japan and going to Chris Ryall and the guys at IDW ( the 3rd largest company book company now! Way to go IDW) a big thank you, you have earned my respect. So with that said let me share my thoughts………………………

If you are a comic book reader, then this book is one you cannot pass up. I honestly don’t know how any comic book reader / fan could pass up on this book and its upcoming 3 titles that these 3 stories will be continued in. For a comic book, for a military book it’s awesome.

Like I have been saying and posting on several boards since IDW announced the creative teams, they have assembled the very best people to work on these books. If there was a GI JOE heaven these guys would be the ones doing the book there. Seriously this is the dream team of creators for a GI JOE comic. IDW puts out quality stuff and they put out a lot of it. All 3 stories were very good in my opinion. Larry’s back and at his best, Chuck Dixon’s (whoever he is ---see my later comments) story is very interesting , modern and captivating as well and the Chuckles story looks fun. The art is amazing, with R. Atkins being my favorite. So I simply cannot say enough good words about the people, the company, the story, and the production of this book. Ryall has always been great to interact with the fans (even sent me some copies to review –a big thank you Mr. Ryall) even with his critics, which speaks volumes about the person and the businessman.



The only thing that I can say that isn’t in favor of all of this is, it’s not in continuity and it’s a whole new one. And again that is not to say this isn’t a dam good story. What I liked A LOT is that The Duke story (so far) as well as the Chuckles story could very easily fit in with the old continuity (almost or with a slight tweak or two ) if you really wanted it to, and as long as that happens then I would most definitely be into those issues and stories.

The covers are back to being that harder page / cover stock which is nice and the interior pages have this great feel and gloss look to them. So just the overall feel of the book in your hands is super nice, it is the typical HIGH CLASS materials that you can expect out of any IDW books. ( which should be no surprise )


But let me just think out loud (or write it LOL) for a brief LAST TIME moment a once and for all time kind of thing:

Let me first put it this way; The new toys that Hasbro is doing are amazing, they are definitely better than the ones that I used to have. I look at them and I say wow those are pretty dam cool hell there better than what I had, but I’m 32, and I’m not a toy collector and so I don’t buy the toys. HOWEVER with that said, I do pick up the ones that I always wanted as a kid but never was able to get, for example Satan, Ninja-ku and Glenda, Those are the only 3 I have picked up ( I will pick up wraith too though ). I only pick those up because they hold a sentimental value to me; I always wanted them when I was younger.

This is very much the same with the comic book, Notice how I started this review/ comment piece. IF YOU’RE A COMIC BOOK READER. Whether it’s a big or small group, there is a group of people out there that don’t consider themselves comic book readers and have only read the GI JOE comic because it was a story that we read when we were kids, a story that was a direct continuation of the one we grew up with. To further illustrate this point, and In NO disrespect to the Chuck Dixon. but I don’t know Chuck Dixon from Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum and that’s because I’m not a comic book reader. ( from the short story in this issue , he looks like a capable and professional writer one who seems great for the book and franchise so again NO OFFENSE whatsoever)
I ( we ) read the book saying hey if I read 175 some issues when I was a kid and its continuing I cant stop I have to continue reading and see what happens to my childhood heroes. With a new reboot, that story is done. So the emotional tie to the book has been cut and now you’re asking a 32 year old Business man who isn’t a comic book reader to start reading a comic book based on a toy instead of asking someone who read a story that they have been reading for 20 some years.

Now with that in mind I had to smile at the last page of this book when I read it . The creative teams mission file , I felt, was written at times straight about/for me ( which is wasn’t but you get my point) ( this is a good thing )

Just thinking out loud some more though, I loved the fact that we had 300 some characters to choose and pick from to use, it was a big big universe that was begging for several books to be done, now with a small group and limited characters its suddenly a very very small place one that says hey a few books is definitely ENOUGH and maybe too much. I find having to RE-INTRODUCE EVERYONE all over again is completely boring, it’s a good chance we will most likely never see the likes of Barrel Roll Black out and Bomb strike at least for some time and that’s just depressing. For me it was great fun to see my favorite characters like Storm Shadow and Duke interacting with these new characters.

NOW NONE Of these things are a slight against IDW in anyway, and I’m just thinking out loud here if you will. Bottom line is if I was given the mandate from Hasbro to REBOOT or have it go to another company then I couldn’t have thought of a better way to get it done than what IDW has done. So in that aspect I really have to give IDW Kudos on that.

I can’t say I’m jumping up and down in joy for a reboot nor am I’m saying I am definitely in for the long haul but I will definitely buy the 1st TPBs of these first 3 stories/ series because I owe Ryall and the IDW gang at least that since they were cool enough to send me the copies. I will also say that I will be looking very very hard at these books to find a reason to really care and read this book EVERY MONTH like I have for the last 20 some years. Trust me I am HOPING to find a reason . I think the moment a character that I have always wanted to see shows up ( SKAR , IRON KLAW, THE RED SHADOWS OR ANY OTHER FOREIGN CHARACTER ) and gets some serious screen time Ill probably be in completely but its going to have to take something like that to re-establish that emotional tie for me personally. I keep hoping this new villain that Larry says in the interview part he had to think up and create to be badder than, and to be one up on, Destro and Cobra Commander, is going to turn out to be THE RED SHADOWS OWN BARON IRON BLOOD of IRON KLAW OF SKAR. Ill be super disappointed if we have a brand new villain and group introduced when they could have minded the GI JOE universe first. So well see on that front.

Anyways who knows after I buy those 3 TPBs maybe Ill be hooked ( I'm actually hoping I will be)

In the end I also have two choices that I have to consider :
1. I can say “nope I wont read and buy this book” and be partly at fault for why IDW doesn’t do 10 books a month . OR-------------------
2. I can help support this book by buying it. I can look at all the FREAKING AWESOME THINGS about this book and what this company is doing with the franchise and how cool the people are to interact with. And hope that all those characters ( THE RED SHADOWS and every other foreign character) that I want to see come into the book eventually happen

If I choose number one I can pretty much kiss any chance the stuff I’m looking forward to goodbye If I choose number 2 then at least there is some small hope of it happening (whether it is false hope or not there’s at least some hope.)

Final Words:

Do yourself a favor and check out IDW’s GI JOE, having this book in your hands is going to give you a pretty dam cool feeling. IDW is doing an awesome job with a reboot Mandate from Hasbro, so even if it isn’t what I would prefer I cant say, I cant deny that its not TOP NOTCH stuff. The quality of the book will speak for itself .Pick it up, Especially if you’re a comic book fan, as I simply don’t know how you couldn’t be reading this book and not be hooked. So here’s to seeing the RED SHADOWS and S.K.A.R. get the IDW treatment someday as I really look forward to seeing what they can do with these guys !

Thanks again IDW and Chris Ryall for taking a few more minutes of your already busy schedules to cater to this one fan who hasn’t been overjoyed exactly with things and who is probably insignificant to the grand scheme of things, you have proven your dedication to the fans by this simple act.

to everyone else
YO JOE

_________________

Well, I got my monthly Westfield Comics box over the weekend, and it included G.I.JOE #0. So in response to jaramiller's thoughts on IDW's G.I.JOE #0, here are GITrekker's thoughts on G.I.Joe #0.

Two things leap out at me right off the bat, one of which I knew about.

#1 - It's a whole new continuity. One might assume that it's at least going to be reasonably similar to what we have come to expect, but the "Reset" button has definitely been hit. And for all the respect I have for people like Larry Hama and Chuck Dixon, this bothers me.

My gripe against reboots, reworkings, reimaginings, is hardly confined to G.I.Joe. I don't like Marvel's "Ultimate" universe, I don't like the modern Battlestar Galactica, I don't like what Tim Burton did to Planet of the Apes, and I think I already expressed my opinion about the forthcoming Star Trek movie in here someplace.

My bottom line has to be -- IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT. And while there are those that would argue that DDP slipped and stumbled with G.I.Joe more than needed, I will disagree that it is necessary to scrap everything from the past 26 years and start a whole new canvas. Regardless of how well the stories may well be, it bothers me.

#2 - Among the character designs in the back is an illustration of Roadblock. The character is clearly Roadblock. The design is even stated to be based on "v2". The character description and his capabilities are clearly those of Roadblock. And yet the name over all of this? HEAVY DUTY!

Look, I really have no problem with Heavy Duty as a character. BUT HE IS NO REPLACEMENT FOR ROADBLOCK. And I'm finding this switchover to be annoying in the extreme, and wondering a bit whose idea it really was.

Will I be reading IDW's G.I.Joe titles? I don't know. I do read some of their other work. I have found a reasonable percentage of their efforts on Transformers to be enjoyable, even if, there as well, I didn't see the need to reboot the G1-based tales the way they did, although in fairness, the continuity in Transformers is not quite as "set" as G.I.Joe, in my opinion.

I have also been generally VERY pleased with IDW's efforts on Star Trek. Given my opinion of Star Trek's cinematic future, it's nice to see that the REAL Star Trek continues somewhere, although I might wish that IDW would do more than sticking largely to the Classic Series with occasional appearances by Next Gen. There's three other Treks out there that I wouldn't mind hearing from again.

But G.I.Joe? We'll see... Right now, I'm just not sure.

I know a lot of you have kept up with 20 years of GI Joe comics, but with the 25th anniversary a lot of old fans (like me) are rediscovering GI Joe. I collected the first 40-50 issues of the Marvel run until the corner drugstore closed and I couldn't find them. Since those are the only issues that made it into TPB format, I literally have no clue what happened since. If they had decided not to reboot the continuity, they had virtually no chance of luring back fans like myself to the comic. With a reboot they will lose some die hard fans, but I think they'll gain a lot of new fans (especially with the new cartoon and movie coming out next year).

Ironically, now that I visited a comic shop for the first time in at least 10 years looking for Issue 0, I discovered back issues in the dollar bin of some of the other series (Reloaded, Frontline, and the main storyline). I really like the Frontline stories, since their story arcs wrap up in a few issues I can follow along with what is happening. I find Reloaded to be strange, but interesting. Of the three, I found the issues in the main continuity to be the least appealing. So I welcome the reboot, but I also can't wait for the reprints of the Marvel run. Here's hoping they make it all the way through.

just thinking out loud here but what I wonder is, how many of those new fans will be reading it 2 years later.

the die hard fans like me who are dropping the title most likely would have stayed and read this book until we were 100 and would have bought 10 books a month if they put it out. will the new fans do this? I dont know looking at the industry and idws numbers on Transformers I dont think so

BUT I HAVE BEEN WRONG PLENTY OF TIMES Before!

_________________

I think a lot of that will depend on how easy it is to find. I hadn't realized how difficult it is to find comics. I knew that when I was barely a teen and the local drugstore closed, that I couldn't find the comics I wanted on a regular basis, but fast forward 20+ years and now I have a car and I drive to book stores and toy stores and grocery stores and drug stores, and comics are nowhere to be found. Where are the rotating racks filled with comics?

Outside of comic shops, the only place I found comics was one grocery store, and it has them all jammed into a small area of their magazine rack. Without digging through them you can all see a half dozen of the comics because the rest are buried behind those.

And we wonder why kids today don't read and can't form a sentence... My son is 3 but I've already decided that I will try to grow a love of comics in him. You'd think stores like Toys R Us would stick a rack or two of comics in their stores... after all it's a way to get the kids in your store every month. I know if I ran a toy store I'd do it.

So do I just live in a bad area, or is this what it's like now to be a comic reader? Are comic shops the only way to find them?

I have to agree with jamarmiller here (and sorry for not spelling your name right earlier). I think G.I.Joe is more dependent these days on the longtime fans than Hasbro or IDW realizes, and I think we'll be less inclined to accept a reboot.

Hasn't IDW indicated that they might put the original run into trade paperback form -- BEYOND the first fifty issues that Marvel compiled? Personally, I'd love that, but there's a certain irony in that if IDW makes the original stories available, it might cost them some interest in the newer material they're creating.

Honestly, I've enjoyed a fair percentage of what IDW has done with Transformers, but we'll see about G.I.Joe.

Oh, and meyerc13 -- if you can't find comics reasonably in your area, I HIGHLY recommend Westfield Comics. I've used this online ordering service for a number of years now, and have never had any problem with them. They offer a discount on almost all titles, a flat shipping fee, they package your books in a VERY sturdy box, and it arrives at your door very promptly once a month via FedEx. Check out www.westfieldcomics.com