G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Volume 4

Classic G.I. Joe #4

by Larry Hama, Frank Springer (Illustrator), Rod Whigham (Illustrator)

Since 1982, Larry Hama has been chronicling the comic book adventures of G.I. Joe, influencing every aspect of the property. This collection of stories, spanning the length of Hama's career truly represents The Best of Larry Hama, and includes G.I. Joe: Real American Heroes issues #31-41.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Adventure, Thriller, Science Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Larry 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.

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume Four is another excellent addition to the G.I. Joe collection. Collecting issues 31-40.

The last few volumes have been excellent. After some initial floundering, G.I. Joe has found its stride. Introducing some great characters we learn a lot about Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Cobra Commander's son-Billy. These stories also expand on the Crimson Gaurd and we finally meet Xamot and Tomax.

All in all, this is a great blast from the past with some great issues. A must-read for anyone who is a fan of the classic G.I. Joe comics.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

"G.I. Joe is the codename for Americans daring, highly trained special mission force. It's purpose: to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another fun volume in Larry Hama's G.I.JOE series that I so fondly remember from my youth. This volume gives us new characters like Tomax and Xamot, Flint, Lady Jaye, Barbecue, Spirit, Ripcord, Recondo, and my personal favorite, Shipwreck.

We're well into the ongoing story at this point, and even when Hama gives us an episodic adventure, he often still spends some time forwarding the other plot threads that have been established. The volume starts off with Destro and Firefly attacking Snake Eyes in his cabin in the High Sierras. From there we go into the assassination attempt on Cobra Commander by his son Billy, mayhem with the Dreadnoks, Tomax and Xamot wreaking havoc at a carnival, and finally, Cobra's plot to create Cobra Island, which will be their home base for most of the series.

One of the best moments from this volume is issue #34, which features a dogfight between Ace and Lady Jaye in a Skystriker versus Wild Weasel and Baroness in a Rattler. Each party is taking a test flight to try out some new tech, and wouldn't you know it they just happen to cross paths. What ensues is a wildly entertaining fight between two evenly matched pilots that constantly try to outsmart one another. Absolutely delightful.

The art in this volume is done by many artists, but for the most part it's pretty consistent. Mistakes get made here and there--why is Snake Eyes defending the mobile battle platform from a Cobra attack when just on the previous page he hopped onboard the G.I.JOE WHALE hovercraft and departed that same battle platform? Minor gripes like that and some pretty flat coloring in some of the issues aside, this is absolutely the G.I.JOE I remember so fondly from my childhood. I'm happy to report that revisiting these stories as an adult hasn't detracted from the joy I get from them at all. Sure, some things seem a lot sillier now than they did when I was a kid, but honestly that's half of the fun.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action ramps up in the fourth collection. More characters are brought in, including two favorites, Lady Jay and Flint. Also the introduction of Tomax and Xamot that add a new level to the Cobra forces. The creation of Cobra Island occurs in the final two collected comics (although the battle for the establishment of the island is a tad far fetched).
I'm so thankful to have the ability to re-read some of the comics from my youth. And they are as awesome as I remember.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

This series remains strong in this volume. We start to see more characters pop up (although we are also seeing less of the originals) and Cobra really kicks into high gear by forming its own sovereign country. Storm Shadow starts to become a good guy and we get the long running story line featuring Cobra Commander's son. The art isn't blow away but is still good.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread in 2019 - *This* is where Hama really brings it together. One of my favorite runs of the book. Pure nostalgia for me, but there is some excellent serial writing going on here...

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh darn, Larry Hama could write a good story. I had forgotten how well put together these stories were and it was nice to read them again. Nothing classic about them and the art is solid but not spectacular. Which isn't to put it down - because the artists do a great job of story telling it's just that the style doesn't jump out at you. But here the story telling is king and Larry was the master. We get Joes versus Cobra and he does a great balancing act of not making the Joes too perfect or Cobra too incompetent. He makes sure each side gets their hits in. He brings a lot of in depth knowledge about the military to make it feel authentic even when it is being done with equipment that goes a bit beyond the available technology. One stand out take is a dog fight in the air with both sides using (what feels like) real tech and real maneuvers.

He throws a lot of Joes at us so we don't get to know any of them real well but each have their own personality and feel real. Even though we all know Snake Eyes is the break out star of the series Larry doesn't give him special treatment in this 10 issue volume. All the Joes are great in their own way.

This series deserves a nice new reprint. It really is a showcase of great writing. No super villains, no super heroes...just a fun military based comic. All done by one amazing writer - Larry Hama.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent installment of Larry Hama's writing as he starts to run a continuing plotline for the characters. Here, we have Cobra plotting with Professor Appel to create Cobra Island. This is one of the rare victories of the evil organization bent on world conquest and I am here for it. We also introduce Candy as Ripcord's girlfriend but having justifiable reservations about a man who fights terrorists for a living. Oh and her dad is the aforementioned Cobra scientist (Candy Appel? Really? You know her father is evil). Some good single issues like a airplane dogfight too.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A esta altura, queda manifiesto el empeño de Larry Hama por darle a la la colección coherencia e integridad, por mucho que se trate de una vitrina para juguetes. Tanto las subtramas como los nuevos personajes se entrelazan a la premisa general, incluso cuando los episodios de relleno pecan de absurdos ¿Lo mejor del volumen? "¡Sacudida!" un duelo aéreo que destaca por su dinamismo y contundencia argumental.

[Phillip Murrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fan favorite super couple, Flint and Lady J show up here. It's interesting remembering the order they arrived in the comics. This is an exceptional volume because it includes the creation of Cobra Island. One thing I love about the comics over the show (which I love even more) is the fact Cobra won from time to time. That, and dead characters, though named Joes and Cobra are nonexistent or rare in these earlier issues.

[Brian Lakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Classics just keep getting better and better!

Really enjoyed this volume. I feel like the series finally hit its stride in this volume. The groundwork has been laid and now it can build more.

[J.R. Sedivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic

I enjoyed reading these comics as a child but hadn't read the entire backstory. These collections are a great way to read all the back issues without having to hunt them down individually or physically store them.

[Eric Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The GI Joe's backstories are getting fleshed out and we learn more about Snake-Eyes, Cobra Commander, and Stormshadow. I feel like if you've read the first 3 volumes, it's starting to pay off with deeper storylines.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Joe collection, marred only by a fill-in issue that was completely incomprehensible.

[Sohrab Rezvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great volume of GI Joe goodness. Issue #34 (Shakedown) was a standout issue, especially the ending. I also liked the storyline around Cobra Island - absurd and realistic at the same time.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cobra finally get a win!

[Sean Chick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plots are getting thin and action scenes have few consequences. The series seems to be slipping up after the good stuff in volumes 2 and 3.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - Issues # 30 - 39. These weren't quite as good as the first two collections and the longer story arcs just weren't as interesting as the previous ones. They had an interesting way to move out some of the older characters and bring in new ones by making the original Joes "office support staff" for the new people coming in. To me these issues were just annoying because the new people weren't as well developed as the older ones and they just kept swapping them in a few at a time each issue. Hard to have any continuity when you're constantly shuffling people in and out. At least they kept the main characters like Snake Eyes, Hawk, Duke, Stalker, and Scarlett. Don't think I'd have been able to continue if they weren't still there. Hope this revolving door on The Pit slows down in the next collection.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork in these books leave much to be desired. The signature eyepatch of Major Bludd was missing in a number of panels and parts of clothing were flesh colored. Jeez. It's like a 4th grader tried to color these things.

[John]

This volume was the one I remembered best. Ripcord's infiltration of Springfield and the birth of Serpentor. The promotion of Hawk to brigadier general and the formation of Cobra Island from the ocean floor. Good stories and well drawn.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

See G.I. Joe #1

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good volume. There's one issue in here that just doesn't make sense, but a lot of things in this one, especially the classic Wild Weasel-vs-Ace story, more than make up for it.

[Doyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The nostalgia factor couldn't overcome 2 or 3 of the really cringe worthy issues in this run, but I'm really enjoying reading these new (to me) Joe adventures.