Superhero Graphic Novels

G.I. Joe Graphic Novel Reading Order

2010-07-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

Looking to get caught up on your favorite special mission force, but don't know which volume 3 goes with which volume 1? We're here to lend a hand.

As I start my series on the reading order for some of the graphic novel series, I thought I'd start out with G.I. Joe. G.I.Joe was my introduction to comics, so I figured it would be a good place to start my efforts to create a place where people can go to get the definitive lists of what order to read the consolidated trade paperbacks in. So here's the G.I. Joe graphic novel reading order:

G.I Joe: A Real American Hero

These are the original comics written by Larry Hama and published by Marvel. These are reprints being published by IDW. The last couple are not yet released, but are available for pre-order.

Classic G.I. Joe Volume 1 Contains issues 1-10 of the original series
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 2 Issues 11-20 of the original series
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 3 Issues 21-30 of the original series. Includes the famous "Silent Interlude" story, and the famous two-part series on Snake-Eyes's origin. If you just get one Classic trade, this is the one to get.
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 4 Issues 31-40 of the original series.
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 5 Issues 41-50 of the original series. Includes the battle for Cobra Island, the identity of the Hard Master's killer is revealed, and Serpentor is born.
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 6 Issues 51-60 of the original series.
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 7 Issues 61-70. Includes the ninjas rescuing Stalker and Quick-kick from he Soviet Gulag.
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 9 Issues 81-90
Classic G.I. Joe Volume 10 Issues 91-100

Going along with these, IDW has published a "Best of" series, featuring the best stories of characters like Snake Eyes, , Storm Shadow, Destro, Hawk, the Baroness, and even a big hardcover book they've dubbed The Best Of Larry Hama. These each contain a few select issues of the original run that focus on a particular character and don't really have an order, per se. They're superfluous if you're getting the trades above, but might be perfect if you just want a book or two to bring back memories.

G.I. Joe: Special Missions

This was a second series published by Marvel in the 1980's. These were also written by Larry Hama, but were mostly stand-alone stories. If you're like me, you had to be selective with your comic book dollars back then and didn't always spring for the stand alones.

Issue number 6 I had, though--it was a continuation of the storyline from issue 61 of the regular series that picked back up in issue 63 of the regular series.

G.I. Joe: Special Missions Volume 1 Issues 1-7 of G.I.Joe: Special Missions
G.I. Joe: Special Missions Volume 2 Issues 8-14 of G.I.Joe: Special Missions

Frontline, Master and Apprentice, and Declassified

Although published during and after the regular Devil's due series, these two series served as bookends to the original series.

The Frontline series took place after the original series and before the "Reinstated" storyline, and the first volume is written by Hama himself.

G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 1: The Mission That Never Was
G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 2: Icebound
G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 3: History Repeating
G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 4: One Shots

The Master and Apprentice series focused on how Snake Eyes took on an apprentice. This also took place after the original continuity and before the Reinstated storyline. Master & Apprentice 2 featured Storm Shadow taking on a student, but was never released as a trade.

G.I. Joe - Master & Apprentice

The Declassified series took place prior to the original series, and featured origin stories of major characters. The Snake Eyes declassified story was, unfortunately, not penned by Hama, although he did write the G.I.Joe Declassified trade. There was also a Declassified 48 page one-shot about Scarlett, but it was never collected in a trade.

G.I. Joe - Snake Eyes: Declassified The Origin of Snake Eyes
G.I. Joe - Declassified Features the original 13 Joes in an early adventure. Written by Hama.
G.I. Joe - Dreadnoks Declassified The origin of Zartan and the Dreadnoks

Reinstated/Disavowed

In 2001, Devil's Due publishing began a take on the G.I.Joe series that picked up where the original series had left off. The new writer was Josh Baylock, and is commonly called the G.I.Joe: Reinstated line. IDW, who is starting their own series picking up where the old one left off, has started re-releasing these under the name G.I.Joe: Disavowed.

The new version, so far, only has two volumes, but they contain more issues each than the original trades:

G.I. Joe: Disavowed Volume 1
G.I. Joe: Disavowed Volume 2

These are the original editions, in order, which are all out of print, but used copies are sometimes available.

G.I. Joe: Reinstated
G.I. Joe: Reckonings
G.I. Joe: Malfunction
G.I. Joe: Alliances
G.I. Joe: The Return Of Serpentor
G.I. Joe: Players & Pawns
G.I. Joe: Union Of The Snake
G.I. Joe: Rise Of The Red Shadows

G.I. Joe: America's Elite

Picking up one year later, G.I. Joe: America's Elite continued the same continuity as the Reinstated line, with new authors and artists.

G.I. Joe - America's Elite: America's Newest War
G.I. Joe - America's Elite: The Ties That Bind
G.I. Joe - America's Elite: In Sheep's Clothing
G.I. Joe - America's Elite: Truth & Consequences
G.I. Joe - America's Elite: WWIII

These two series take place during the same timeline as the America's Elite series.

G.I. Joe - Special Missions Volume 1 Not to be confused with the 1980's series above, this issue collects 3 of the 5 issues of the new series launched with America's Elite.
G.I. Joe: Storm Shadow Volume 1: Solo Another Hama written series, about Storm Shadow on his own.

Other Pre-IDW stories

There are a couple of other stories from before the current Era that are worth mentioning:

G.I. Joe: Arashikage Showdown Volume 1

While often listed as a trade paperback, this is actually a manga-sized black and white story where Snake Eyes and Scarlett fight with Storm Shadow over a mystical crystal. Because of the magic elements it's not really cannon to any other continuity.

G.I. Joe - Reborn
G.I. Joe - Reloaded Volume 1: In The Name Of Patriotism

The Reborn/Reloaded series was an attempt by Devil's Due to see what they could do with the franchise if it was revamped from the ground up. While there are some big changes, it's suprisingly good and sad that it got cut off so short in it's life. After the Reborn mini-series, the Reloaded regular series was meant to be ongoing, but only lasted 14 issues. Only the first five issues of that are collected in the trade.

G.I. Joe - SIGMA 6

A short series based on the TV show of the same name, with exactly the same style of art. Contains the six issues of the series, which are each stand-alone stories.

IDW's 3 New Titles

After accquiring the publication rights to G.I.Joe in 2008, IDW began a 3 title take on the Joes, outside of any other existing continuity. These three titles were:

G.I.Joe: Origins

The first issues of this series were penned by Hama, but contain little overlap with the original continuity. It tells the stories of the formation of the new Joe team, as well as histories of several of the villians.

G.I. JOE: Origins Volume 1 Issues 1-5
G.I. JOE: Origins Volume 2 Issues 6-10
G.I. JOE: Origins Volume 3 Issues 11-15

G.I.Joe

This is the main title of the series, focused on the conflicts between G.I.Joe and Cobra in this new iteration of the conflict. It's written by Chuck Dixon.

G.I. Joe Volume 1 Issues 0-6
G.I. Joe Volume 2 Issues 7-12
G.I. Joe Volume 3 Issues 13-16 & GIJoe: Helix
G.I. Joe Volume 4 Forthcoming

G.I.Joe: Cobra and Limited Series

This one is about Chuckles going undercover with the mysterious new organization "Cobra" to gather intel. Didn't sound promising to me, but it's most people's favorite of the new series, so I need to give it a go.

G.I. Joe: COBRA Issues 1-4 and a special edition issue
G.I. Joe: Cobra Volume 2
G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds A Major Bludd story

G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra

When the movie came out, IDW also did a few comics to tie in with its continutity, and some of those are collected in trades:

G.I. JOE Movie Prequel
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra - Official Movie Adaptation
G.I. Joe Movie: Snake Eyes Co-written by Ray Park, the actor who plays Snake Eyes
G.I. Joe: Operation Hiss

Classic G.I.Joe--It's Back

While not in trade paperback yet, this year's free comic book day featured a special G.I.Joe issue--G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero issue 155 1/2. Inside was the announcement that Hama will be starting the original series, which ended at issue 155, right where it left off, starting with issue 156. This is why IDW is tossing all the Devil's Due continuity--inlcuding the stories written by Hama himself--out the window. This will now become the "true" continuation of the stories we all knew as kids.

So that's the breakdown. Hope it helps. Cuz now you know. And . . .

Well, you know the rest.

Teen Titans: A Kid's Game by Geoff Johns

2009-05-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

It's no secret I dig Geoff Johns. The man just gets the DC universe. He understands what people like about these characters and this universe, and he touches exactly those notes when he writes.

So when he took over the relaunch of the Teen Titans, it's no surprise to anybody that he started doing stories steeped in the history of the Titans comics, but also staying true to each of the characters that populate the new team.

Naturally, the villain in this one is Deathstroke, but it's Deathstroke as you don't expect. Yeah, I'm not going to say more than that--so I still care about spoilers, so what?

So who's in this version of the team? Playing the "mentor" parts are Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy. At this point in the continuity Donna Troy and Jericho are dead and Dick Grayson is leading the Outsiders. Playing the "Teens" in Teen Titans are Tim Drake as Robin, Conner Kent as Superboy, Cassie Sandsmark as Wonder Girl (she's the blond one), and Bart Allen as Impulse.

If you read any of Young Justice, you remember that it was a fairly lighthearted look at the Titans. This book isn't like that at all. Not only is the tone serious, but the story depends on you taking what's happening really seriously.

And for me, at least, that isn't hard. Johns gets what I dig about DC as well as anybody, so he plays the characters right.

That's not to say the book's perfect. There's a bit of a scuffle between the Justice League and the Titans that seems more like it was worked in because it was a cool concept than that it actually grew organically out of the characters. Which is the "I'm Trying To Sound Smart" way of saying--do you really think Wonder Woman would start fighting with Titans before she talked to them, or do you think they just decided Titans fighting Justice Leaguers would make a neat cover, and ran with it?

But the Deathstroke story works great and good foundations are laid for some of the conflicts that come up in some of the later books in the series.

Welcome to Superhero Graphic Novels

2009-05-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hey, true believers.

I was a teenager at the time when comic books were perhaps more popular than they have ever been. The publishers would crank out sixty seven different versions of a comic book, and guys would run out and buy every single copy, and leave them in the bags unopened.

That wasn't me.

I then, and now, have always bought comics for the stories. I actually care about what happens to these superheroes.

Since then, I grew up, and have found a far better way to get my superhero fix without having to mess around with flimsy comic books or worrying that I'm going to ruin a future collectible.

I buy the graphic novels. The trade paperbacks. The "Collected Editions." Call them what you will, I've got a bookcase full of 'em. Superman, Batman, Wolverine, Spider-man, they're all at the party and they've all come looking for action.

My goal here is to give you an idea of which ones you'd like and which ones you wouldn't--even if you like different sorts of comics than me.

What do I like? Well, I'm a DC guy mostly (When Geoff Johns starts waxing poetic about all the reasons he feels at home at DC, I completely get it), but wouldn't turn in my card in the Merry Marvel Marching Society. It was G.I. Joe that got me into comics, so if a review or two of that group show up here, don't begrudge me just because they're not "Superheroes" in the strictest sense--They were my gateway drug for the rest of them, so I owe them some press time.

So I hope you find any of this helpful, and either way, remember--it's really about the stories.

Reviews: Batman & Son and Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul

2008-11-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

I like Grant Morrison.

At least, I thought I did.

I liked Arkham Asylum as well as anybody else. And I enjoyed his run on Justice League right from the start.

But reading the books leading up to Batman: R.I.P., I can't help but wonder if I don't like him as much as I thought I did.

Take these two storylines.

The main plots of Batman and Son and Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghulare simply ridiculous. There's nothing to them at all.

In the first one, it turns out Batman has a kid, and he's a more annoying version of Jason Todd. In the second one, Ra's Al Ghul comes back from the dead.

The first idea is a real stinker. Batman fans have already proven they're willing to pay money to kill off annoying kid characters. The second idea simply drags out something everyone knew would happen anyway--in a medium filled with characters coming back from the dead, Ra's is pretty much defined by coming back from the dead over and over. It's certainly not compelling enough to warrant its own book.

But that's not to say these books are entirely without value. There's a great subplot about Batman being attacked by alternate versions of himself. The subplot and the mystery surrounding it is far more compelling than anything in the main story.

And in the Ra's book, the interesting subplot isn't about Batman, Talia, or their little tyke--the most compelling conflict is the one involving Tim Drake and his parents. In order to win Tim's trust, Ra's offers to bring Robin's parents back from the dead.

There are some legitimate questions in the subsequent moral conundrum Tim has with himself and Nightwing as he debates why, in a world like the DCU, where people like Ra's can come back from the dead, where zombies and Dead Man and other heroes and villains run wild, why can't his parents come back?

Of course, that conflict takes place in the part of the crossover that wasn't written by Morrison. So what does that mean?

It doesn't mean I've given up on Morrison completely--he did write the great Batman-confronted-by-alternate-Batmans stuff that runs through these books, so I've got hope for the guy. And I've got hope for Batman: RIP, which I haven't read an issue of yet.

And I didn't hate it for the reasons I thought I would. I thought I'd hate it for the same reasons I hated Superman Returns--the idea of super-hero orphans going around having kids they don't know about is not only silly, but untrue to the characters.

But the history of this one is basically that the old graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon really took place, and Batman had the kid during a drug-induced farce of a wedding to Talia, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul.

So I've still got hope that Batman: RIP will be worth reading.