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G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!, Vol. 1
For Fans of DUKE, COBRA COMMANDER, and X-FORCE collects the resurgence of one of the longest running non-superhero series into a collection that will have readers shouting YO JOE!
A NEW ERA FOR G.I. JOE BEGINS HERE! The Joes know Cobra are up to something in Springfield, but they’re not prepared to uncover the secrets behind their enemy’s new deadly weapon. Will the Joes be able to stop Cobra in their tracks before tragedy strikes? Legendary series writer Larry Hama is joined by new series artist Chris Mooneyham (Nightwing) and superstar cover artist Andy Kubert (Batman, X-Men) to continue one of the longest running titles in comics history!
Collects G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero #301-305.
A NEW ERA FOR G.I. JOE BEGINS HERE! The Joes know Cobra are up to something in Springfield, but they’re not prepared to uncover the secrets behind their enemy’s new deadly weapon. Will the Joes be able to stop Cobra in their tracks before tragedy strikes? Legendary series writer Larry Hama is joined by new series artist Chris Mooneyham (Nightwing) and superstar cover artist Andy Kubert (Batman, X-Men) to continue one of the longest running titles in comics history!
Collects G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero #301-305.
120 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2024
5 people are currently reading
13 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 27, 2025
Mooneyham is a phenomenal artist, this book just looks so good on every single panel. The story is more of that 80s military Joe content you’d expect. It’s not a new take like the Energon universe, which is to be expected since this is a continuation of the classic series. I’m not super familiar with a lot of the Joe’s, I mostly know characters from the toys my dad kept from when he was a kid, so it’s a little difficult to keep up. But that’s what happens when you jump in 300 issues into a story I guess. Snake Eyes and Scarlett are always peak though 🔥
March 8, 2025
This was good, even with no background knowledge of the Joes. The art is crazy reminiscent of Joe Kubert, though, and that's awesome.
October 5, 2024
This was a fun read, the Marvel continuity continues.
February 9, 2025
This is one hundred percent freshly squeezed pulp, and that's a good thing. Larry Hama gives us Joe fans exactly what we've been waiting for with this continuation of his original series. Chris Moneyham delivers with the visuals and the whole thing transports me back to when I was a kid picking this up off the spinner rack at my local 7-11 corner store. Fun stuff!
January 1, 2025
Such a fun and exciting continuation of Hana’s decades long GI Joe saga. Chris Mooneyham’s art breathes fresh air into these stories that the IDW years were lacking. I’m in for the long haul.
January 4, 2025
Seemed like a whole book of setups. Will they pay off? Who knows!
September 20, 2024
Volume 1 is an interesting way of framing a book that starts with issue #301!
Larry Hama has been writing GI Joe comics on and off for over 40 years. His first run started at Marvel in 1982 and ran until 1994. The series went on hiatus and was picked up by IDW in 2010 with Hama writing again and ran until 2022. This third iteration began at Image/Skybound in conjunction with Robert Kirkman’s Energon Universe endeavour in 2023, so, if the pattern holds and Hama lives until he’s 86 (he’s currently in his mid 70s), there’s another 11 years of Hama/GI Joe comics to follow! Gawd help us…
I feel like I read at least one Hama/GI Joe comic at some point over the years - a free issue from Comixology (RIP) or something - but never a full book. So, even though that comic did nothing for me, I was curious to see what a Larry Hama GI Joe book would be like. If it’s been running for this long, with this same writer, it must be ok, right?
… Eh. No. It’s a bit like Todd McFarlane’s Spawn or (I imagine - I’ve never read it) Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon: a writer can write a series indefinitely and that series can start, remain and continue at the lowest quality ever, for some reason. But unlike McFarlane and Larsen, who own their crap characters and the company that publishes them, I don’t understand why Hama has this connection with Hasbro’s property GI Joe.
Nostalgia has to be the only reason, unless those ‘80s comics were so damn good, which I don’t believe. Is there a single Hama/GI Joe book that people point to as a classic, in the same way people point to Dark Knight Returns for Batman? Nope. And that’s probably because, in those 40+ years, Hama didn’t write anything that great.
Obviously I haven’t been reading the preceding comics to #301 so I have no idea whether this storyline continues a previous one, but it’s not like Hama’s reinventing the wheel: it’s still GI Joe vs Cobra in their perpetual war against one another. A GI Joe character dies (I already forget which one), some people are turning into zombies for reasons, and the whole book is basically one long mindless, disconnected, completely uninteresting action sequence.
Honestly, this was the most unimpressive comic I’ve read in quite some time. It’s like a McDonald’s meal - I ate something but I don’t feel like I ate at all; I read a comic but I don’t feel like I read anything at all. Or a Rock movie where you know things went bang on the screen and The Rock stared stupidly at nothing for an hour or so but you can’t recall a single detail about it.
The one thing I did notice was that the scene where Cobra Commander is introduced is similar to the scene that ends Joshua Williamson’s first (standalone?) Cobra Commander book. Does that mean Hama’s GI Joe is part of the Energon Universe or is it entirely separate, existing in its own world? Dunno. Don’t really care either!
Chris Mooneyham’s art is cool and skilful but indistinct - it could be any of a dozen different artists’ work. If I didn’t know the artist’s name and you told me Paco Medina, Valerio Schiti, Kyle Hotz, Ivan Reis, or Mike Hawthorne (to name just a few) drew this book, I’d accept it.
It was recently announced that Joshua Williamson would continue his GI Joe streak at Skybound by writing his own GI Joe series, with Hama’s neverending GI Joe series running concurrently alongside it. And while I also don’t rate Williamson that highly as a writer, his GI Joe is almost certainly going to be head and shoulders above Hama’s.
Much like James Roberts’ unfathomably popular(ish - it went for a great many issues despite nobody talking about it) yet impenetrably dull Transformers series at IDW, Larry Hama brings his brand of bland to Skybound with his GI Joe, a zombie comic that lurches on despite not having a pulse. This book was one of the most pointless things I’ve ever read and I’ve read the New 52!
I don’t know who reads Hama’s GI Joe: A Real American Bore to justify keeping it on life support (possibly just the one that matters: Robert Kirkman) but those are the only readers who’re going to get anything out of this one - I expect everyone else, once they awaken from their stupor, will be as baffled as I am at its longevity.
Larry Hama has been writing GI Joe comics on and off for over 40 years. His first run started at Marvel in 1982 and ran until 1994. The series went on hiatus and was picked up by IDW in 2010 with Hama writing again and ran until 2022. This third iteration began at Image/Skybound in conjunction with Robert Kirkman’s Energon Universe endeavour in 2023, so, if the pattern holds and Hama lives until he’s 86 (he’s currently in his mid 70s), there’s another 11 years of Hama/GI Joe comics to follow! Gawd help us…
I feel like I read at least one Hama/GI Joe comic at some point over the years - a free issue from Comixology (RIP) or something - but never a full book. So, even though that comic did nothing for me, I was curious to see what a Larry Hama GI Joe book would be like. If it’s been running for this long, with this same writer, it must be ok, right?
… Eh. No. It’s a bit like Todd McFarlane’s Spawn or (I imagine - I’ve never read it) Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon: a writer can write a series indefinitely and that series can start, remain and continue at the lowest quality ever, for some reason. But unlike McFarlane and Larsen, who own their crap characters and the company that publishes them, I don’t understand why Hama has this connection with Hasbro’s property GI Joe.
Nostalgia has to be the only reason, unless those ‘80s comics were so damn good, which I don’t believe. Is there a single Hama/GI Joe book that people point to as a classic, in the same way people point to Dark Knight Returns for Batman? Nope. And that’s probably because, in those 40+ years, Hama didn’t write anything that great.
Obviously I haven’t been reading the preceding comics to #301 so I have no idea whether this storyline continues a previous one, but it’s not like Hama’s reinventing the wheel: it’s still GI Joe vs Cobra in their perpetual war against one another. A GI Joe character dies (I already forget which one), some people are turning into zombies for reasons, and the whole book is basically one long mindless, disconnected, completely uninteresting action sequence.
Honestly, this was the most unimpressive comic I’ve read in quite some time. It’s like a McDonald’s meal - I ate something but I don’t feel like I ate at all; I read a comic but I don’t feel like I read anything at all. Or a Rock movie where you know things went bang on the screen and The Rock stared stupidly at nothing for an hour or so but you can’t recall a single detail about it.
The one thing I did notice was that the scene where Cobra Commander is introduced is similar to the scene that ends Joshua Williamson’s first (standalone?) Cobra Commander book. Does that mean Hama’s GI Joe is part of the Energon Universe or is it entirely separate, existing in its own world? Dunno. Don’t really care either!
Chris Mooneyham’s art is cool and skilful but indistinct - it could be any of a dozen different artists’ work. If I didn’t know the artist’s name and you told me Paco Medina, Valerio Schiti, Kyle Hotz, Ivan Reis, or Mike Hawthorne (to name just a few) drew this book, I’d accept it.
It was recently announced that Joshua Williamson would continue his GI Joe streak at Skybound by writing his own GI Joe series, with Hama’s neverending GI Joe series running concurrently alongside it. And while I also don’t rate Williamson that highly as a writer, his GI Joe is almost certainly going to be head and shoulders above Hama’s.
Much like James Roberts’ unfathomably popular(ish - it went for a great many issues despite nobody talking about it) yet impenetrably dull Transformers series at IDW, Larry Hama brings his brand of bland to Skybound with his GI Joe, a zombie comic that lurches on despite not having a pulse. This book was one of the most pointless things I’ve ever read and I’ve read the New 52!
I don’t know who reads Hama’s GI Joe: A Real American Bore to justify keeping it on life support (possibly just the one that matters: Robert Kirkman) but those are the only readers who’re going to get anything out of this one - I expect everyone else, once they awaken from their stupor, will be as baffled as I am at its longevity.
December 3, 2025
I don't really know what to expect from GI Joe, maybe something akin to what transformers did? This is not bad and it is better than the Williamson vol.1 I recently read which felt thin. This volume throws you into a battle right off the bat. Cobra, the Joes, Serpentor, and that AI thing Alpha 1 all are in the mix. Serpentor and Dr. mindbender drop a bio bomb on Cobra island and turn a bunch of cobra into super powered cannibals that Alpha 1 enhance even more. You see all the cool heroes like Duke, snake eyes, spirit, wild bill etc. A really cool fight with Snake eyes in the Sierra mountains was my fav. I guess Hama is an original writer so that is cool, he knows the character for sure. Art was good. Solid book but maybe I am just as into Joes as when I was 8 years old, who knew ;)
May 31, 2025
Larry Hama still fucking got it after all this time. Makes me want to buy back issues, toys, and support the troops. Yo Fuckin’ Joe!
October 16, 2025
ARAH was what got me reading comics in 80s. I missed all of IDW's run, so I started here hoping would be good jumping on point...
Not a lot of hand holding, just have to go with it and hope it makes sense later.
overall, enjoyed it but would have liked a bit more "previously on" recaps....
Not a lot of hand holding, just have to go with it and hope it makes sense later.
overall, enjoyed it but would have liked a bit more "previously on" recaps....
October 23, 2025
Much grittier than I remember. Many factions. Insane foes. Covert ops and intel play a big role. Outcome is uncertain since most main characters don't die.
March 20, 2025
Not my favorite of the gi joe relaunches. Felt a tad rushed, crammed and starting mid stream
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews