Anyone reading these?

Are they good?

Do they introduce new characters?

Thanks

Steve

_________________

They're really good compared to the last book

As a standalone...some of the issues it feels like not a lot really happens in them...like a no bang for the buck feeling. But they've brought in (and killed off) some new characters and the story's more interesting than devil's due stories were.

_________________

The main book suffered from a slow pace around a pointless fight scene. Since about issue 8, it's gotten good. They've introduced one significant character, Brainstorm. He's pretty irritating, stealing a lot of page time from the actual characters. If he were Hi-Tech or Hard Drive this wouldn't be a problem, but creating a new character with a redundant specialty and then giving him more face time than two thirds of the characters we've been introduced to so far makes me hate him every time he shows up. Also, this title has the same mix of Sunbow/Marvel that Devil's Due did poorly. IDW's done it better so far, but still the weakest of the titles.

Hama's GI Joe: Origins has been pretty solid. It's introduced a new villain called Chimera that could be Cobra Commander but so far we don't know. If Origins were the only title, I think it would be a bit sparse, but the main title compliments it well and mixes up the characters.

GI Joe: Cobra has been (arguably) the best thing IDW has put out. Focused on Chuckles infiltrating the Crimson Guard, it's got the perfect tone for collectors that grew up on the Marvel stuff and now want their GI Joe a bit more adult. The GI Joe: Cobra special one shot was a thing of beauty, technically challenging, and made Tomax and Xamot very intriguing characters.

I think the first trade of each series is out or will be out soon. I can't recommend the story arc in the main title, but either of the other two are worth it.

_________________

I just received the Origins tpb and reg. series tpb this week; I enjoyed them both, but I really enjoyed Origins. The trade for GI Joe: Cobra was just released this week and I should be receiving it soon. I like everything I've read, so far, but I've given up on buying on a month-to-month basis. Waiting for the trades is gonna kill me.

Anyone have a list of the new (alive and dead) characters

Steve

_________________

Origins and Cobra were awesome. I have the last two Origins sitting here that I haven't read yet. The most recent Cobra one-shot was rather weak, though, I thought.

I think the main story is absolutely horrible compared to America's Elite. I know no one agrees with me on that, but it's just really, really boring.

_________________

Well I personally dislike GIJoe: Cobra because it removes all the fun stuff about GIJoe and just gives us grittygrittygrittyheylookweretotallyBournewannabeinggrittygrittygritty. I found nothing of appeal there, IMO Devil's Due did a much better "Undercover Clutch" tale with History Repeating.

The main book is a bit of a mess because of the sheer amount of generics cluttering up page space just to die. It's hard to keep track of the characters, too, because they lack the unique uniforms of the classic book, give or take a Beachhead and a Shipwreck. It got off to a slow start but things are slowly coming together, storytelling-wise. I find myself looking more and more forward to the next issue as they come out.

Origins is the best, though. Much like with Storm Shadow, Origins shows that Larry Hama can still deliver some really good comics. Heck, the mere fact that it got switched from a 5-issue miniseries into an ongoing shows how good it is. Chuck Dixon wrote two issues, so there's an uncertainty in how regular Larry will be. Still, good book thus far.

_________________

I liked Origins better than the regular series, and I'll pick up the Cobra tpb when it comes out. One of the things I noticed about the regular series and Origins is the military "Feel". Having Larry Hama write GI Joe gives it at least a basis in real-world military, something that's missing in every GI Joe title he didn't write, including the current Chuck Dixon book.

_________________

I honestly think that aside from Cobra there garbage. I tried em, and I can understand getting your Joe fix the only way you can get it but they are not for me. The Joes have a giant underground city for their base. It has major sci-fi elements (teleportation?) Too many new throw-away characters (the one villian in origins, and labrat and company.) The female dialtone instead of using someone like Firewall. From my understanding Hasbro has had their hand in making sure some Joes get on the scene and some don't. Roadblock is around but is called Heavy Duty instead. The list could go on.

I say stick with fanfiction if you need something new. They might get better but i don't know if i can look past the bad start, aside from stand alone books. Cobra really was amazing!

_________________

I don't think they are doing to good, I don't care for them besides the regular series but I prefer what devils due did more,
I didn't follow the cobra series since I don't care about chuckles and the art is horrible.
Origins bought a few but was blah too and the art again horrible.
The regular ,storywise nt to great but the art with Atkins was good but what we've gotten for the last 4 or so months is crappy too, so I'm hoping we get atkins back soon and the story gets better but I won't be spending my money on any of the other series.
IMO IDW pretty much has a bunch of horrible artists and devils due was a better company for Joe at least sofar