[K.B.]

This thread spills out of the "I am a dissenter!" thread over in the 25th anniversay figs section.

I myself am not a fan of it. I thoguth the first 5 issues were ok as a sort of "what if?" type of thing but after the 5 issues...blargh. I couldn only take up till the tenth issue and after that I just couldn't handle it.

[todd_m6d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K.B.

This thread spills out of the "I am a dissenter!" thread over in the 25th anniversay figs section.

I myself am not a fan of it. I thoguth the first 5 issues were ok as a sort of "what if?" type of thing but after the 5 issues...blargh. I couldn only take up till the tenth issue and after that I just couldn't handle it.

are you referring to America's Elite or the first 43 issue DDP G.I.Joe run?

[Irid70]

I think DDP has done some really good things and some not so good things. I think their willingness to kill characters....yes, even Lady Jaye...serves them well. We all know Marvel cannot EVER let a character go, or let any continuity stand. Given the crap Marvel is churning out lately (and I liked Civil War, and Captain America's death) I don't want Marvel to get its clutches on the license.

[Moses]

I am not a big fan of what I have read of DDP so far in comparison to the original Marvel series. I think we will see with the 25A comic packs this year what has been missing - Larry Hama's writing! I have to read DDP Declassified yet, but I have high expectations of that.

[Moses]

I am not a big fan of what I have read of DDP so far in comparison to the original Marvel series. I think we will see with the 25A comic packs this year what has been missing - Larry Hama's writing! I have to read DDP Declassified yet, but I have high expectations of that.

[K.B.]

I was refferring to the original run back in, what, 02?

I know there have been a few good stories in some books like the Beachead one by Paul Jenkins but the good a few and far between.

[Moses]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K.B.

I was refferring to the original run back in, what, 02?

I know there have been a few good stories in some books like the Beachead one by Paul Jenkins but the good a few and far between.

That was the Devil's Due series that ran for 43 issues. I got through the first five or so as well and lost interest. Definitely not the same "flavor" as the old series. DDP did release quite a bit of other tales as well and I am going to give them a taste.

[Omegawrath]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moses

That was the Devil's Due series that ran for 43 issues. I got through the first five or so as well and lost interest. Definitely not the same "flavor" as the old series. DDP did release quite a bit of other tales as well and I am going to give them a taste.

I've purchased at least one of every issue that DDP has produced, so I feel thoroughly qualified to offer opinions on all stages of Joe comics. That's not a "HA HA I M TEH STUPERI0rz!" Just letting you guys know that if I comment on something, I've read it. ALL of it. Even when I hated it I was loyal.

I think that the hundreds of dollars I've given up to DDP qualifies me to bitch like a striking worker. And when I get back , I'll lay ALL my feelings out.

Tremble.

[K.B.]

I didn't mind the first 5 issues because I just thoguht it was going to be a mini and they would contiue with an ongoing in a reg continuty setting (as in the joes/cobras arent 50 and fat).

The art was pretty bad and the stroy wasnt the greatest but it was passble for 5 issues. Sadly it just got worse from there.

The battle files were prolly the best thing so far. Some good artists and not a lot of messed up continuty

[Omegawrath]

I have to admit to you all that I totally hate on Blaylock's writing all the time. I really should chill out. He's not a bad guy. I know this. And he has done amazing things with what he has acquired from a business standpoint. The man is slicker than Firefly.

My problems with the Devil's Due crew sort of stem from their Rodimus Prime (or as I like to call him, "Not Optimus")approach to the whole thing. Originally I approached the whole thing with an open mind, but when I talked to them at a convention in Orlando around the time issue 3 had been released, I had a lot of grave concerns. I asked a lot of very direct questions and I was placated with a Devil's Due Logo Shirt.

And I wore it.

I asked Josh Blaylock what qualified him to write G.I. Joe. He said that he had been a fan of the toy and cartoon since the early eighties and that he loved Larry Hama's writing.
To be fair I asked this question one on one with him so as not to embarass him in front of the panel or to be a COMPLETE jackass, but I hadn't been so passionate about anything in a while. The Marvel G.I. Joe run was and still largely is mysterious to LEGIONS of Joe fans.

I read the first 21 issues of the series before I rendered my decisions on how I felt about it.

I believed that Billy was the most important character in that universe, and I feel he took giant steps backwards with that character. I feel that Brandon Jerwa had a better feel for how to integrate the new continuity that Josh Blaylock had created with what had come before.

You see, that's my real problem. Larry Hama had written almost every GI Joe comic that existed up to that point. He had created and shepherded the characters for twelve years. Everything that existed from the cartoons to the foreign comics carried elements of his work. Josh had serious brass to think that he could follow him. I knew that Larry had been let down by Hasbro over a new Joe comic just a few years earlier. Ron Lim was on board and the team was AWESOME. Hasbro failed G.I. Joe in those years as well. Even in the abysmal 15th anniversary line with it's grotesquely inappropriate sculpts and poor quality control. Broken promises all around RIGHT after Kenner was integrated. They had let go of all those guys at Hasbro including Ron Rudat.

I guess the "fade into obscurity" torture workd, because I knew and I believe to this day that whoever wrote G.I. Joe upon it's return was going to be irrelevant. 80's retro was cool with the kids, and they don't know no better.

Steve Kurth.

Anyway, Jerwa and Seely started out as a one-two punch. The pacing was a bit slow but the character development, notably of Blackout and the new plethora of offspring Blaylock brought with him.

So again, even though he's not writing the series, Larry's influence is felt, as (I believe) he created the link between the Stalls.

Bombshell is a MUCH better name than Bombstrike.

What was great about the way it worked out is that a bunch of writers got a shot.

At one point, around issue 4 or 5, Devil's Due openly stated that they were telling the stories that "they've always wanted to tell."

Fortune favors the bold.

I have missed Larry Hama's writing on G.I. Joe for years. It was something that I was emotionally dependent upon, like Bloom County or Star Trek, or Queen or Coke(R) (Hooked to all at 6.)

(Note how I've opened myself up wide for "that's just sad" comments here.)

Anyway, I'm glad my man is back in the saddle. I hope IDW gets the Comics and gives Larry Hama carte blanche like they have Simon Furman. I hope they start at issue 156 and I hope they do more Special Missions.

Heck, even bring in other writers to try out things like Sigma Six, Extreme, Adventure Team or Sgt. Savage.

I'd buy 'em all, no matter who wrote 'em.

And if they sucked, I'd tell you. In front of God and everybody.

I'll even defend Larry Hama to the point of making an ass of myself about it.

Understand, I went the full route. I joined the Marines. I got the experience so that I could serve my country. Maybe that made me a little arrogant about the whole thing. But I believe that if you ask any fan who has served in ANY branch, their biggest problems with Joe come from GLARING military inaccuracies. Larry Hama knew his stuff and did his homework. DDP gave the Joes flashy, weird and sometimes silly uniforms. Their art references weren't up to snuff either. Rarely did ANY Joe or Cobra vehicle look accurate as drawn by anyone. Even Seely would draw a beautiful HISS Tank, then he'd draw a MOBAT that looked like an IRON Panther.

Look at Ron Wagner or Rod Whigham or Michael Golden. My God.

America's Elite was excellent. Still is. Still a little slow paced, but smart enough to have pared down the team a bit. Still, a lot of characters I really cared about got little or no face time.

The master and Apprentice stories were interesting, and making Sean Collins kamakura was great. However, the name Kamakura just seems a little Eastern.

All told, I saw some good and a lot of bad, but never what I wanted, except in the first four issues of FRONTLINE.