G.I. Joe: Declassified

G.I. Joe: America's Elite

by Larry Hama, Pat Quinn (Illustrator)

In the face of growing threats to freedom, the U.S. creates an elite team of soldiers to become a daring new anti-terrorist force: G.I. Joe Finally revealed - the recruitment of the original 13 agents, and the missions that happened before G.I. Joe #1 Also, a deadly anger brews in the heart of a frustrated used car salesman... Cobra is coming...

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2007

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

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shooter was an in-joke. There was no Shooter in the original GI Joe roster. Someone threw Shooter in there to be funny as Jim Shooter was Marvel's Editor-In-Chief at the time. But, that was enough to give Larry Hama an idea for a character and this wonderful story. Not just of Shooter but of the earliest days of the team. Though written almost 25 years after GI Joe A Real American Hero #1 this story sits comfortably with that classic run.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great origin story for the Joe team. Nice art and writing. Recommended

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really cool story. It told the backstories of the original GI Joe members and how they joined the team, but this was interwoven with a mission that was going on during the telling of the flashbacks. I really liked how it all was interrelated and supplemented the current mission. Great storytelling. Most important to me was that this was the return of Larry Hama as a writer, so all of these stories were 100% USDA Larry Hama Continuity Certified! Looking forward to jumping back into the original timeline once all these DDP issues are done.

[Andrew Shapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is the source material for a GI Joe movie that has never been made but most definitely should be.
Excellent.

[Tyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was rather disappointed by Snake Eyes - Declassified, but not by this one. Larry Hama, the legendary author who single-handedly wrote the 155 volumes of classic G.I. Joe comics, is back on the ride, with the original 13. Or 14 to be exact. Somehow I think for Larry these characters have been some kind of his own sons and daughters; they know them so well, they know what they would say, how they would interact. The result? A satisfactory account of how the Joes were made a Joe after all.

And no, it's not always because they're a great combatant. Oftentimes, it's because they did something that showed their sides other than their ability to lift up a gun and shoot. Steeler was enlisted because he carried a wounded soldier to get him to a safe place in the desert. Grunt used his money and day off to visit the mother of a dead soldier he hardly knew. It hit us home that these Joes were not ruthless, skillful, bloodlust soldiers ready to stamp down terrorism for Uncle Sam; they have qualities that make us fans admire them for years and years now.

And the most interesting of it all is Larry finally revealed who Shooter was! Yes! Do you remember the very first edition of classic G.I. Joe, when the faces and the names of the Joes are shown on screen? And there, on bottom-right, you see the name 'Shooter', but you can't see his face. After more than 20 years, Larry showed us who he was. And BOY. WEREN'T I SURPRISED.

Larry, you're a legend.

(And, unlike Snake Eyes - Declassified, the artwork in this book is something I would give my four thumbs to, although dual artists in several places result in a rather shaky style here and there.)

PS And Snake Eyes don't talk. Yeehaa.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best G.I. Joe story I've read of the post-Marvel era. It strips the team down to its core founding members and leaves out some of the sillier touches that eventually crept in. The main mission is a tense jungle adventure and you get origin stories about how all of the original 13 members joined the team. (Although several of them are awkwardly placed, like a casual "hey, Zap, you never told us how you got recruited" sort of conversation in the middle of a firefight.) It also added in the character "Shooter," giving an in-continuity reason for the little easter egg in the dossier from the very first 1982 issue that jokingly added then-editor Jim Shooter to the team. I appreciated the touch, but I'm not sure it was totally necessary. Most importantly, this was Larry Hama in top form. The characters all had personality, the stakes were high and it touched on important issues like torture without preaching any simple black and white answers. Nobody writes with such obvious patriotism and respect for the military, while adding in touches of gallows humor and biting cynicism like the veteran Hama.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved the GI Joe comics when I was growing up. It was the first comic I had a subscription to. To see the old characters revisited, with the same style and writing thanks to original author Larry Hame, was a treat. No, the graphics aren't on par with some of the modern comics out there. And there isn't the level of maturity that is evident in the newest generation of GI Joe comics. And that is a good thing! Want to read something that will remind you of your youth? This is a good place to start.

[Phillip Murrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read that finally revealed who Shooter was from the original comic. I know the picture clearly looked like a man, but Larry Hama wrote this, so he gets a pass. I really like the Devil's Due stories. I feel retconning is cheating, so the new run, also written by Hama, doesn't count. G. I. Joe ended with World War III. Thankfully, I can still reread these.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done origin story.