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Classic G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe Yearbook
This volume collects all four of the action-packed G.I. Joe Yearbooks. Re-caps of important storylines, character profiles, and new stories were presented in these yearly comics that were published from 1985-1988. It also includes cover galleries and pin-ups by G.I. Joe cover artist Mike Zeck.
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
264 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2012
21 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Larry Hama
1,955 books152 followersLarry Hama is an American writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 17, 2022
This collects GI Joe Yearbook #1-4. The Yearbook concept was started as a way to re-cap the G.I. Joe comics. This volume collects all four of the Yearbooks. Inside you will find character bio's for both Joes and Cobra.
This volume also contains one off stories. The first is a reprint of the GI. Joe first issue and then the rest of the stories are closely related to various events. The really interesting thing was the little blurbs about the G.I. Joe tv series. It has information about the new characters, how they make the cartoon and the artwork.
Finally it has some cool cover art and every yearbook has an encapsulation of the events that happened during that years run. A cool collectors item for someone who appreciates the original Gi. Joe comics.
This volume also contains one off stories. The first is a reprint of the GI. Joe first issue and then the rest of the stories are closely related to various events. The really interesting thing was the little blurbs about the G.I. Joe tv series. It has information about the new characters, how they make the cartoon and the artwork.
Finally it has some cool cover art and every yearbook has an encapsulation of the events that happened during that years run. A cool collectors item for someone who appreciates the original Gi. Joe comics.
April 7, 2021
Nice overview book for the classic series. G. I Joe is always an entertaining read. Recommended
July 31, 2017
80s Joe fans will dig this but I wish there was a little more comic content and less recapping.
December 17, 2023
IDW are completely clueless when it comes to collecting G.I. Joe. You'd think that when they set out to reissue the classic Marvel run of the title that they would have spent a few minutes online figuring out crossovers, etc. Instead, they issued Classic G.I. Joe, which collected the core series, G.I. Joe A Real American Hero. Then they released the G.I. Joe Special Missions trade paperbacks, collecting that series over the course of four trades. Now we have the G.I. Joe Yearbook trade paperback. They should have collected all three into one cohesive line. Oh wait, they are going to do that...in hardcover, now that everyone has already bought of all them. Bastards.
I wonder if they will include the G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers '80s series in with those hardcovers? IDW issued a separate trade of those crossovers. That choice almost made sense, since both G.I. Joe and the Transformers have been licensed to multiple comic companies over the years, and there have been crossovers from multiple companies. They landed over at IDW a couple of years ago, and IDW has made some decent choices with new material, such as resurrecting the Marvel continuity for both properties, getting Larry Hama back on the title, etc. My beef is with the way that they presented the material in this book. Let's get started, shall we? (*cracks knuckles*)
G.I. Joe Yearbook No. 1 was appealing to me as an 11 year old upon it's newsstand release in December of 1984 because I didn't get in to the G.I. Joe comics until issue 23 in February of that year. The bulk of Yearbook No. 1 was a reprint of the at-the-time expensive first issue of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero. This was already collected in Classic G.I. Joe Vol. 1, so this was nothing more than padding in my opinion. Had they collected this in proper sequence, this could have been omitted. The linework doesn't look too bad for this issue.
The linework restoration in Yearbook No. 2 is superb, worlds better than the crap that IDW passed off on us for the rest of the books. I wonder why the lines are so sharp and clear in this story while the other three issues are a pixelated mess. My guess is that they had access to Michael Golden's original artwork.
The other two issues in this book suffer from same the subpar production values that IDW had for Classic G.I. Joe Vols. 6-9. Those books are complete crap, production-wise. I have reviewed them all here in my blog. Click on the G.I. Joe tag below and see for yourself. IDW created typos. The linework is obliterated. They use crappy substandard computer recoloring, allowing the computer to fill in the shapes which resulted in poor gradient blends and “airbrushed” looking lines. There are rampant jagged lines due to low resolution scanning of the floppies. I would have rather seen them just do straight scanning of the pages than this crap. Dots would have been preferable to this garbage. I wonder if they even bothered asking Marvel to use the files for these issues. Wouldn't have hurt to ask.
The stories in and of themselves are fun, but the shoddy presentation ruined this book for me. I would advise everyone to pass on this book unless you cannot live without this material in collected edition format. Rating below is based on the stories themselves.
I wonder if they will include the G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers '80s series in with those hardcovers? IDW issued a separate trade of those crossovers. That choice almost made sense, since both G.I. Joe and the Transformers have been licensed to multiple comic companies over the years, and there have been crossovers from multiple companies. They landed over at IDW a couple of years ago, and IDW has made some decent choices with new material, such as resurrecting the Marvel continuity for both properties, getting Larry Hama back on the title, etc. My beef is with the way that they presented the material in this book. Let's get started, shall we? (*cracks knuckles*)
G.I. Joe Yearbook No. 1 was appealing to me as an 11 year old upon it's newsstand release in December of 1984 because I didn't get in to the G.I. Joe comics until issue 23 in February of that year. The bulk of Yearbook No. 1 was a reprint of the at-the-time expensive first issue of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero. This was already collected in Classic G.I. Joe Vol. 1, so this was nothing more than padding in my opinion. Had they collected this in proper sequence, this could have been omitted. The linework doesn't look too bad for this issue.
The linework restoration in Yearbook No. 2 is superb, worlds better than the crap that IDW passed off on us for the rest of the books. I wonder why the lines are so sharp and clear in this story while the other three issues are a pixelated mess. My guess is that they had access to Michael Golden's original artwork.
The other two issues in this book suffer from same the subpar production values that IDW had for Classic G.I. Joe Vols. 6-9. Those books are complete crap, production-wise. I have reviewed them all here in my blog. Click on the G.I. Joe tag below and see for yourself. IDW created typos. The linework is obliterated. They use crappy substandard computer recoloring, allowing the computer to fill in the shapes which resulted in poor gradient blends and “airbrushed” looking lines. There are rampant jagged lines due to low resolution scanning of the floppies. I would have rather seen them just do straight scanning of the pages than this crap. Dots would have been preferable to this garbage. I wonder if they even bothered asking Marvel to use the files for these issues. Wouldn't have hurt to ask.
The stories in and of themselves are fun, but the shoddy presentation ruined this book for me. I would advise everyone to pass on this book unless you cannot live without this material in collected edition format. Rating below is based on the stories themselves.
December 8, 2021
For a four-year stretch during Larry Hama's original Marvel run of G.I.JOE, they published a special Yearbook (instead of Annual) issue, which featured a special story (or two), recaps of everything that happened in the main comic series that year, articles about the toys or cartoon, and file cards on various characters. This volume collects all four of these specials, and reading this was a fun trip down memory lane.
The first Yearbook just had a reprint of G.I.JOE #1, which at the time I initially read this as a youngster, was very appreciated, since I'd missed out on that issue and it was hard to find an affordable copy. The second Yearbook had a really fun story featuring the Oktober Guard testing a new laser in Afghanistan. Cobra attacks and steals the laser from them, and they struggle over possession of the laser throughout the story. The G.I.JOE team is barely even in this one, but of course they have to make a token appearance. What I loved best about this story is Michael Golden's art, particularly the dynamic way he draws vehicles that are distorted in just the right way to suggest rapid movement.
The main story in the third Yearbook is another silent issue, recalling issue #21's "Silent Interlude". This time Scarlett and Storm Shadow team up to rescue Snake-Eyes from Cobra captivity. It's certainly not as powerful as the first silent issue, but it is a nice call back and reversal on the previous story's situation. And the fourth Yearbook features the Oktober Guard again, as they sneak onto Cobra Island in an attempt to kidnap Cobra Commander, only to be thwarted by a small force of Joes who want to capture the same prize themselves. It's also one of the only appearances we ever have of Croc Master and his hungry pets.
I particularly enjoy the fact that the criminally underused Oktober Guard appears in two of these stories, because I felt like we never got to see enough of them in the main G.I.JOE title. The file cards contained in these books are a bit truncated compared to the ones that came with the toys, but it's still nice to get some insight into the characters that may have otherwise been missing, as there's such a large team and Hama certainly had his favorites. There are some nice individual character and group pin-ups as well. This collection is definitely something you'd want to read if you're going through the main Marvel series.
The first Yearbook just had a reprint of G.I.JOE #1, which at the time I initially read this as a youngster, was very appreciated, since I'd missed out on that issue and it was hard to find an affordable copy. The second Yearbook had a really fun story featuring the Oktober Guard testing a new laser in Afghanistan. Cobra attacks and steals the laser from them, and they struggle over possession of the laser throughout the story. The G.I.JOE team is barely even in this one, but of course they have to make a token appearance. What I loved best about this story is Michael Golden's art, particularly the dynamic way he draws vehicles that are distorted in just the right way to suggest rapid movement.
The main story in the third Yearbook is another silent issue, recalling issue #21's "Silent Interlude". This time Scarlett and Storm Shadow team up to rescue Snake-Eyes from Cobra captivity. It's certainly not as powerful as the first silent issue, but it is a nice call back and reversal on the previous story's situation. And the fourth Yearbook features the Oktober Guard again, as they sneak onto Cobra Island in an attempt to kidnap Cobra Commander, only to be thwarted by a small force of Joes who want to capture the same prize themselves. It's also one of the only appearances we ever have of Croc Master and his hungry pets.
I particularly enjoy the fact that the criminally underused Oktober Guard appears in two of these stories, because I felt like we never got to see enough of them in the main G.I.JOE title. The file cards contained in these books are a bit truncated compared to the ones that came with the toys, but it's still nice to get some insight into the characters that may have otherwise been missing, as there's such a large team and Hama certainly had his favorites. There are some nice individual character and group pin-ups as well. This collection is definitely something you'd want to read if you're going through the main Marvel series.
January 26, 2019
A nice trip down nostalgia lane with this collection of "yearbooks" or the G.I. Joe version of an annual.
G.I. Joe written by Larry Hama was such a well written comic book back in the day. Clever stories, with some solid character development and a wonderful balance of developing the villains as much as the heroes. The four stories in this collection are all good with the stand out story being the one with art by Michael Golden (the 2nd story) featuring the Oktober Guard from Russia. That are is simply amazing and Michael Golden who is a much beloved artist didn't have a large volume of work so this story is a nice way to remember him.
The first story is a reprint of G.I. Joe 1, a good story but still just a reprint. The third story is a silent story of Scarlet and Stormshadow breaking out Snake Eyes from Cobra Command. It would be better if it hadn't already been done better with a story of Snake Eyes breaking out Scarlet in a silent story (and it made more sense about the silence in that one - this is a pale imitation of that superior story). And the 4th is a pretty boring story of a time I had already stopped reading the title with a guy named Fred impersonating the Cobra commander.
Overall a nice collection to remind me of why I loved G.I. Joe and remind me (the 4th story) of why I eventually stopped reading it :).
G.I. Joe written by Larry Hama was such a well written comic book back in the day. Clever stories, with some solid character development and a wonderful balance of developing the villains as much as the heroes. The four stories in this collection are all good with the stand out story being the one with art by Michael Golden (the 2nd story) featuring the Oktober Guard from Russia. That are is simply amazing and Michael Golden who is a much beloved artist didn't have a large volume of work so this story is a nice way to remember him.
The first story is a reprint of G.I. Joe 1, a good story but still just a reprint. The third story is a silent story of Scarlet and Stormshadow breaking out Snake Eyes from Cobra Command. It would be better if it hadn't already been done better with a story of Snake Eyes breaking out Scarlet in a silent story (and it made more sense about the silence in that one - this is a pale imitation of that superior story). And the 4th is a pretty boring story of a time I had already stopped reading the title with a guy named Fred impersonating the Cobra commander.
Overall a nice collection to remind me of why I loved G.I. Joe and remind me (the 4th story) of why I eventually stopped reading it :).
July 6, 2020
Glad they finally collected the Yearbooks into their own volume. Some really fun stories in these.
Reread in July 2020. Not necessary to a Joe reread but some fun tales for sure. As a kid, the annual Joes on TV bit was my only access to the cartoon (though I still maintain that I wasn't missing much...).
Reread in July 2020. Not necessary to a Joe reread but some fun tales for sure. As a kid, the annual Joes on TV bit was my only access to the cartoon (though I still maintain that I wasn't missing much...).
March 23, 2022
This one was a lot of fun, even if it's largely a curio. The two non-reprint stories that focus on the Oktober Guard are especially great, and the silent story is a blast, as usual. Fun stuff.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews