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Classic G.I. Joe #11
G.I. Joe: Classics Vol. 11
Classic G.I. Joe continues the original run of A Real American Hero, featuring issues #101-#110, with stories including "The New Guard," "Amazing the Welkin," "Hero of the People," and "Apparent Conclusions."
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 5, 2011
7 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Larry Hama
1,953 books151 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 20, 2021
This...was...too...much....to take on.....
From Scarlett & Snake-Eyes to the infamous arc with SAW Viper....
Goddarnit, so much gritty '90s in here...
From Scarlett & Snake-Eyes to the infamous arc with SAW Viper....
Goddarnit, so much gritty '90s in here...
September 13, 2021
This volume starts with a fun storyline in which a small team of Joes go back to the central American country of Sierra Gordo and team up with the Oktober Guard. We meet some new members of the Guard, and they face off against Darklon (yawn), who is in command of Destro's Iron Grenadier forces. It's entertaining seeing the interactions between the Joes and the Oktober Guard. Meanwhile, Mutt and Spirit continue to deal with the whole Cobra invasion of the small American town of Millville.
Scarlett is still in a coma from when the Baroness shot her in the head, so Storm Shadow (in a particularly silly scene) blackmails a group of generals into giving Snake-Eyes a super difficult mission so that he can distract himself from his worry over her. He's sent into the eastern European country of Borovia to free a POW from an internment camp (the exact same thing he did the last time he was there) and placed in a ninja trance by Storm Shadow to allow him to become a hyper-focused killing machine. The most noteworthy thing about this story arc is that we see Major Bludd again for the first time since issue 57.
The story arc in this volume that has the biggest impact is the one that sets off the long war in the wonderfully named Middle Eastern country of Trucial Abysmia. A small team of Joes is sent there to destroy some Cobra terror dromes, and after they're ambushed and captured by Cobra, a tragic misunderstanding of Cobra Commander's "get rid of them" order results in seven members of the Joe team being executed. Cobra Commander had just been threatened by Snake-Eyes at knife point and told to leave New York City and go back to Cobra Island, so he's very eager to not anger the Joes until he gets safely back to home soil. I remember at the time this issue came out how shocking and controversial this all was, given that they'd gone 108 issues without killing any of the good guys.
Rumor has it that Hasbro finally gave writer Larry Hama permission to kill off some of the older characters, since the roster had become so huge, and Hama goes all in. It's a little too much all at once for my taste and lacks the impact it might have had if it had been handled differently. The scene in which the order is misunderstood is played for laughs, and while it IS a bit funny on a meta-level, it doesn't really make sense that Cobra troopers who have been routinely killed by the dozens for the previous 108 issues would suddenly balk at the idea of killing the ones who've killed so many of their brothers and sisters in arms. They're so uncomfortable with the idea of killing them that the only one willing to do it is a lone ruthless SAW Viper.
One other odd thing about this story is that they're on a mission in a Middle East desert and one person they didn't bother to assign to the mission is Dusty, their specialized desert trooper. I guess I should be happy they left him out though, or one of my favorite characters may have kicked the bucket here.
Scarlett is still in a coma from when the Baroness shot her in the head, so Storm Shadow (in a particularly silly scene) blackmails a group of generals into giving Snake-Eyes a super difficult mission so that he can distract himself from his worry over her. He's sent into the eastern European country of Borovia to free a POW from an internment camp (the exact same thing he did the last time he was there) and placed in a ninja trance by Storm Shadow to allow him to become a hyper-focused killing machine. The most noteworthy thing about this story arc is that we see Major Bludd again for the first time since issue 57.
The story arc in this volume that has the biggest impact is the one that sets off the long war in the wonderfully named Middle Eastern country of Trucial Abysmia. A small team of Joes is sent there to destroy some Cobra terror dromes, and after they're ambushed and captured by Cobra, a tragic misunderstanding of Cobra Commander's "get rid of them" order results in seven members of the Joe team being executed. Cobra Commander had just been threatened by Snake-Eyes at knife point and told to leave New York City and go back to Cobra Island, so he's very eager to not anger the Joes until he gets safely back to home soil. I remember at the time this issue came out how shocking and controversial this all was, given that they'd gone 108 issues without killing any of the good guys.
Rumor has it that Hasbro finally gave writer Larry Hama permission to kill off some of the older characters, since the roster had become so huge, and Hama goes all in. It's a little too much all at once for my taste and lacks the impact it might have had if it had been handled differently. The scene in which the order is misunderstood is played for laughs, and while it IS a bit funny on a meta-level, it doesn't really make sense that Cobra troopers who have been routinely killed by the dozens for the previous 108 issues would suddenly balk at the idea of killing the ones who've killed so many of their brothers and sisters in arms. They're so uncomfortable with the idea of killing them that the only one willing to do it is a lone ruthless SAW Viper.
One other odd thing about this story is that they're on a mission in a Middle East desert and one person they didn't bother to assign to the mission is Dusty, their specialized desert trooper. I guess I should be happy they left him out though, or one of my favorite characters may have kicked the bucket here.
July 5, 2020
Larry Hama really brought the gusto when he killed off seven joes in one issue over the course of two pages.
April 7, 2022
In my opinion, this is the last high-quality run of the series. It is perhaps my favorite. I think the toy line was in decline and somehow they let Larry really take over and deliver his best GI JOE work during this time.
January 29, 2017
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero issues 101 - 110. Snakes Eyes and Storm Shadow are my two favorite characters from this series and they're in every single issues, with a big chunk of the middle ones all to themselves. Loved this one. The special missions they went on were excellent. Great run of issues.
December 17, 2023
G.I. Joe isn't very realistic at this point in the title, with the far flung fantasy elements (science fiction, ninjas) getting as much attention as the military elements of the series. I was admittedly a sucker for this back when I played with the toys and read the comic books. I was no longer buying comic books when these issues were originally published, so these were all new to me. There is a sense of fun amidst all of these goings on. There is also a sense of reality, as seven Joes meet their maker in issues 109-110. And no, I'm not referring to Hasbro.
Larry Hama's writing is a precursor to modern comic book storytelling. Unlike his contemporaries, Hama did not use third party narrative captions to set scenes. He would list a location or a time and then cut to the dialogue. This is pretty much standard operating procedure at Marvel over the last decade, but Hama might very well be the first to have done it. I'm not a comics historian so I can't say for certain. The artwork is done by a rotating crew, and is solid throughout the book. Clear, concise, competently done artwork. Mark D. Bright does the bulk of the book (101-106 and 108), and I enjoyed his run on Iron Man.
This was a fun escapist read. I'll admit that G.I. Joe is pure nostalgia for me, as I played with the toys, watched the cartoon series, and read the comic books in the '80s. I left Star Wars for G.I. Joe in 1983, which seemed like a big deal at the time but now seems funny to me. Star Wars is so much cooler than G.I. Joe, but it had run it's course by late 1983.
Larry Hama's writing is a precursor to modern comic book storytelling. Unlike his contemporaries, Hama did not use third party narrative captions to set scenes. He would list a location or a time and then cut to the dialogue. This is pretty much standard operating procedure at Marvel over the last decade, but Hama might very well be the first to have done it. I'm not a comics historian so I can't say for certain. The artwork is done by a rotating crew, and is solid throughout the book. Clear, concise, competently done artwork. Mark D. Bright does the bulk of the book (101-106 and 108), and I enjoyed his run on Iron Man.
This was a fun escapist read. I'll admit that G.I. Joe is pure nostalgia for me, as I played with the toys, watched the cartoon series, and read the comic books in the '80s. I left Star Wars for G.I. Joe in 1983, which seemed like a big deal at the time but now seems funny to me. Star Wars is so much cooler than G.I. Joe, but it had run it's course by late 1983.
June 5, 2020
This wasn't bad but there were a few things I didn't like. Storm Shadow came across a little stupid in the whole Snake Eyes in Borovia mission, and several Joe members were killed by Cobra in this volume. My problem wasn't so much the fact they had Joe members killed as really considering it's a war I always thought there should have been more casualties on both sides. My problem was 7 Joes were killed by a goofy new character who wasn't all that special (the SAW Viper) and they were killed for a stupid reason (Cobra Commander told Tomax and Xamot to "get rid" of the Joe prisoners. He meant let them go, but they took the order as kill them.)
There were some very important firsts. We get to see the face of Snake Eyes, the face of Destro, and Snake Eyes finally speaks. There were some other cool parts as well.
Overall a good volume, but as I said last review it feels like Larry Hama had been on the book a while now and it wasn't flowing as well as the early issues.
There were some very important firsts. We get to see the face of Snake Eyes, the face of Destro, and Snake Eyes finally speaks. There were some other cool parts as well.
Overall a good volume, but as I said last review it feels like Larry Hama had been on the book a while now and it wasn't flowing as well as the early issues.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2024
GI Joe Classics Vol 11 collects GI Joe issues #101-110.
This was a very good volume and one of the darkest. The Joes do a joint operation with the Oktober Guard in Darklon. Snake Eyes, worried about Scarlet, is sent on a mission to Barovia by Storm Shadow.Stalker and Storm Shadow also face a shadowy cabal of Generals. But, it is the operation against Darklon which will result in many original members of GI Joe getting killed. Didn't see that coming.
This was a very good volume and one of the darkest. The Joes do a joint operation with the Oktober Guard in Darklon. Snake Eyes, worried about Scarlet, is sent on a mission to Barovia by Storm Shadow.Stalker and Storm Shadow also face a shadowy cabal of Generals. But, it is the operation against Darklon which will result in many original members of GI Joe getting killed. Didn't see that coming.
January 24, 2022
At this point the series continued to ride high, this collection includes the first meaningful deaths on the Joe team and some great Snake Eyes and Major Bludd stories.
April 15, 2022
Any kind of honest review is impossible for me. These are the comics that cemented my love of comics. Without these, i could literally have become a different person.
February 25, 2023
GI Joe continues to recover from some of the mediocre middle of the run issues. Some standout issues in this volume.
February 6, 2024
Vitrina de juguetes que solo destaca por el infame número 109 y su eliminación masiva de personajes, junto a las portadas de un inspirado Lee Weeks.
September 29, 2020
Reread September 2020. (adjusted score from 3 stars to 2)
I would put this volume a little above the last but still feel like these issues were where the title really started heading downhill.
The Snake Eyes in Borovia issues were really good, similar to Hama's earlier work.
But then we head into the war in Trucial Abysmia and I could probably go on forever with the narrative problems that brings into the series. I don't particularly care that Hama was allowed to kill off Joe characters (I was probably excited by the premise back in the day as it was a strangely bloodless affair for the Joes up to this point, for the most part.) but he kills off a bunch of fan favorite characters in the space of two issues, trying to make the tone very serious and dire. At the same time, though, the storyline of the saw viper, crimson twins, and Cobra Commander amps the camp level up to the stratosphere. (The Cobra organization presented here becomes closer and closer to the cartoon version while the deaths take it really far from the cartoon take...) It makes for a really weird read and feels like Hama wasn't quite sure exactly what he wanted to do with the tone of the book.
That's my take, at least. There's still some good work here but the goofiness is off-putting in my opinion.
I would put this volume a little above the last but still feel like these issues were where the title really started heading downhill.
The Snake Eyes in Borovia issues were really good, similar to Hama's earlier work.
But then we head into the war in Trucial Abysmia and I could probably go on forever with the narrative problems that brings into the series. I don't particularly care that Hama was allowed to kill off Joe characters (I was probably excited by the premise back in the day as it was a strangely bloodless affair for the Joes up to this point, for the most part.) but he kills off a bunch of fan favorite characters in the space of two issues, trying to make the tone very serious and dire. At the same time, though, the storyline of the saw viper, crimson twins, and Cobra Commander amps the camp level up to the stratosphere. (The Cobra organization presented here becomes closer and closer to the cartoon version while the deaths take it really far from the cartoon take...) It makes for a really weird read and feels like Hama wasn't quite sure exactly what he wanted to do with the tone of the book.
That's my take, at least. There's still some good work here but the goofiness is off-putting in my opinion.
April 20, 2022
The Snake Eyes-in-Borovia stuff is the real selling point here. It's just great stuff all around, chock-full of drama and high stakes. And the beginning of GI Joe's and Cobra's war going very hot very quickly at the end is absolutely great, too. So much good stuff.
August 6, 2015
I WISH I had known about these when I was a kid. This is what G.I. Joe should be. Action, actual peril, plots by Cobra that are actual plots. Great reading.
January 25, 2016
An excellent blend of the comic superhero style storytelling and a military war comics. Huge cast of characters and a great evil villain and organization balances the series well. Very recommended.
March 27, 2013
See my review of G.I. Joe Volume 1
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews