GI Joe – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com The best place on earth for nerds. Wed, 12 Jan 2022 20:39:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-nerds_head_thumb2-100x100.png GI Joe – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com 32 32 All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, under one umbrella. We create short run podcasts for nerds, covering D&D, Marvel, Starfinder, and more! You vote for your favorite shows and they just might get a second season. GI Joe – Nerds on Earth false episodic GI Joe – Nerds on Earth jason.sansbury@nerdsonearth.com podcast All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, the best place on Earth for nerds. GI Joe – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/noe-podcast-logo.png https://nerdsonearth.com/blog/ Comic Haul: Saving a Very Quiet Issue of GI JOE for Last https://nerdsonearth.com/2022/02/comic-haul-saving-a-very-quiet-issue-of-gi-joe-for-last/ Sat, 19 Feb 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=37959

I just got a big comic book haul. Click the video to see what I got!

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I’ve been buying comic book collections. So, each and every Saturday I will show you a portion of what I got. Although there is variety in the comics collections I buy, I do have a type: Marvel Silver and Bronze Age. And I focus on key issues.

So, if you are interested in my comic book hauls, click the video above to see which comics I got, each and every this Saturday! Spoiler: This time it’s an assortment of Marvel Age, Marvel Fanfare, plus GI Joe #21, the Silent Issue.

More on cleaning comic books here.

By the way, I'm still buying comic book collections. If you want to unload anything from 5 to 100+ boxes in one easy transaction, then please do reach out. clave [dot] jones [at] nerdsonearth.com  Click here for more details. 

I invite you to look over my shoulder as I the sweet comic books I’ve aded to my collection. You’ll likely see covers that you have never seen or have long forgotten and, as we go, we’ll talk about some of the major keys, big events, comic trivia, and lore of late Silver Age and Bronze Age Marvel Comics. OK, a few Moderns too, especially if it’s Star Wars

***TITLES LIKELY TO BE SEEN IN THIS VIDEO*** The Defenders, West Coast Avengers, Star Wars, Sub-Mariner, The Invaders, Iron Fist, G.I. Joe A Real American Hero, Thor, Amazing Spider-Man, Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel Two-In-One, Avengers, Howard the Duck, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Uncanny X-Men, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Tomb of Dracula, X-Factor, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, Marvel Team-Up, Ka-Zar, Adventure into Fear, Thor, Web of Spider-Man, Marvel Age, Marvel Fanfare

***NOTABLE CHARACTERS*** Black Widow, The Inhumans, Valkyrie, Captain America, The Thing, Man-Thing, Hulk, Rhino, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Iceman, Doctor Strange, Spider-Woman, Peter Parker, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow

***NOTABLE CREATORS*** Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Steve Ditko, Herb Trimpe, Chris Claremont, Marie Severin, Louis Simonson, John Byrne, Walt Simonson, Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, Jim Shooter, Mark Gruenwald, Larry Hama

***PUBLISHERS*** Marvel Comics

***ERAS*** Silver Age, Bronze Age, Copper Age

***TOPICS DISCUSSED*** Comics, Comic Books, Unboxing, Vintage Comics, Collecting Comics, Comic Book collecting, Variants, Comic Haul, Flea Markets, Antique Shops, Cleaning Comic Books, Mark Jewelers

***TERMINOLOGY USED*** first appearance, 1st appearance, 1st app, key issue, first issue, 1st issue, 1st iss, 1st ish, origin, classic cover, iconic cover, direct sales, newsstand edition, comics bag, spine, spine bend, spine tick, cover crease, reprint, reprint series, spoiler, death issue, costume, water stain, king-size, special, 2nd print, second printing, gold edition, raw single, corner box, logo, masthead, 100-Page Super-Spectacular, Bronze Age

***MISCELLANEOUS*** @NerdsonEarth superheroes, MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Nerds on Earth

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What if GI Joe Characters Became Marvel Superheroes? https://nerdsonearth.com/2021/06/gi-joe-characters-marvel-superheroes-avengers/ Fri, 18 Jun 2021 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=35966

What if GI Joe soldiers were Avengers? Which Avenger would they be?

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It’s been a long time since GI Joe was kinda sorta maybe possibly a part of the Marvel Universe. GI Joe is a Hasbro IP, but Marvel had the license to do the comics in the 80s. During that time, it was illegal to advertise your toy brand during your cartoon, so the hugely popular GI Joe cartoon advertised the comic book instead, making the Larry Hama written comic a #1 seller during its heyday.

The GI Joes comics then served as fantastic advertising for the toys, of course, creating a virtuous marketing cycle for GI Joe. The proof? Hasbro sold 375 million of the 3.75 inch figures.

So, the GI Joe comics were published by Marvel but not officially Marvel IP. Yet the extreme popularity of the comics created a feeling that the Joes were battling Cobra in the Marvel Universe, since they were sold alongside titles like Thing, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight.

But what if GI Joe really was a part of the Marvel Universe? Which Avengers would they be? Well, I know the answer to that question and I’ll share it with you, because knowing is half the battle.

1. Scarlet – Black Widow

Image from yojoe.com

Scarlett was one of the original 3.75 inch Joes in 1982 and was known for her romance with Snakes Eyes in the comics and for rescuing herself when Snake Eyes came to rescue her in the iconic GI Joe #21 “Silent Issue.”

One of the wonderful things about GI Joes were the backs of the blister packs. The top of the card back showed tiny thumbnails of that year’s action figure releases, but the bottom was the file card, which told the Joe’s rank, military specialty, and background, written by Larry Hama himself.

We learned from Scarlett’s file card that her primary specialty on the Joe team is counter intelligence, and that Scarlett is additionally skilled in martial arts and acrobatics. Hmmm. Counter intelligence with an acrobatic fighting style? Yup, that’s Black Widow.

2. Lady Jaye – Mockingbird

Lady Jane’s file card informs us that her speciality is also intelligence and she’s trained to infiltrate just like Mockingbird showed during her spy days with SHIELD.

But owners of the Lady Jaye action figure also know that she came with an odd weapon, a javelin launcher. Sure, it’s not a one-to-one match, but the shape of a javelin is reminiscent of the staff that Mockingbord fights with it. In fact, it’s enough of a match that I’m calling that Lady Jaye would be Mockingbird if she was an Avenger (West Coast) in the Marvel Universe.

3. Snake Eyes – Daredevil

Image from 3DJoes.com

Sure, Snake Eyes is mute and Daredevil is blind, but it is those disabilities that create a connection between the characters. Further, the hand-to-hand fighting styles cement the characters, as do ninja training, the Arashikage Clan for Snake Eyes and the Hand with Daredevil.

Snake Eyes and Daredevil are both silent fighters and if GI Joe was really a part of the Marvel Universe, he’s easy to associate with Daredevil.

4. Duke – Captain America

Image courtesy of 3DJoes.com

Duke was the handsome, courageous field leader of the Joes. Captain America is the handsome, courageous field leader of the Avengers. We don’t need much more than that to make a connection between the two, but Duke sure would have looked good with a shield in addition to his Army issued firearm.

But if you need more proof, read the last line of Duke’s file card and picture Chris Evans saying it in a scene from Captain America: The First Avenger.

5. Roadblock – War Machine

Image from yojoe.com

I’ve always loved that War Machine had shoulder-mounted artillery as part of his Stark armor. It’s bada@@. Shock and awe, baby. And us Nerds got a good example of it when War Machine was raining fire down on Thanos’ mininons when they were attacking Wakanda during Avengers: Infinity War.

Roadblock similarly rains down fire with his M2 .50 caliber “Ma Deuce” Browning heavy machine gun. Read that last paragraph of Roadblock’s file card and picture Colonel James Rhodes. It works.

6. Storm Shadow – Hawkeye

Image from hisstank.com

Hawkeye isn’t a Ninja, I know. And bow and arrow is something more associated with Zartan in the comics. But silent weapons works broadly for both Storm Shadow and Hawkeye, particularly when you factor in his Ronin persona. Sure, it’s a reach, but give this one to me, OK?

7. Spirit – Falcon

So, I’m reaching again but I loved my Spirit action figure as a kid and I loved that he came with a falcon. For that reason, my mind immediately went to Falcon and his bird, Redwing, which was a real bird in the comics and not a drone like it is in the MCU.

Bonus! Shangi-Chi – Quick Kick

Larry Hama is an Asian American who served in Vietnam and practiced martial arts, particularly traditional martial arts that focused on a bow, which is undoubtedly why so many Joes had that focus. So, there is no better person to have created a character like Quick Kick, the silent weapons specialist of GI Joe.

I loved the figure as a kid and I also loved the covers from the old school 70s Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu comics, so much so that I’ve purchased several of those back issue comics recently.

Bonus! Winter Soldier – Major Bludd

Major Bludd was a mysterious mercenary who worked for Cobra, if the price was right. He also had a mechanical hand, which was fascinating to me as a kid who wondered how he got such a thing.

Being brainwashed by Hydra, Bucky Barnes wasn’t a mercenary per se, but it’s hard not to make the connection, particular with that flashy Wakandan mechanical arm he is sporting.

Bonus! Destro – Iron Man

image courtesy of hisstank.com

Destro was a weapons supplier, as was Tony Stark before he had a literal change of heart. Destro also has a silver battle mask, as does Tony Stark. The similarities end there, but it’s enough of a connection to make me wonder if there isn’t a spot for Destro on the Avengers!

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The Punchlist: This Week’s News for Nerds https://nerdsonearth.com/2020/07/the-punchlist-this-weeks-news-for-nerds-14/ Wed, 29 Jul 2020 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=32127

Welcome to THE PUNCHLIST where Nerds on Earth rounds up this week's nerd news. GI Joe, New Mutants, D&D 5e, comics, and more!

The post The Punchlist: This Week’s News for Nerds appeared first on Nerds on Earth.

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Welcome to this week’s PUNCHLIST, where we round up the biggest news in nerd culture. It might be from the MCU, board gaming, D&D, and more. But whatever the news is this week, you can bet it will eventually separate you from your money.

7. Playstation Reveals Free Games for August

PS Plus subscribers can download a remastered version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2‘s campaign (no multiplayer) as of this posting, and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout on August 4th. The latter is a party game that pits 60 players against one another in a series of Wipeout-like games until only one is standing.

+ More here: PS4 Free Games for August

6. D&D: Curse of Strahd Revamped Edition Announced

This collector’s edition of Curse of Strahd for D&D 5e includes a softcover printing of the adventure book (including errata), maps, the Tarokka Deck, a special gothic horror version of Dungeon Master’s screen, and more. It comes in a coffin-shaped box and will retail for $99.99 in October of this year.

+ More here: Curse of Strahd Revamped Edition

5. Video Games: G4 Teases a Return

The hit video game TV network, which stopped airing in 2014, released a teaser trailer hinting at a 2021 revival. A slew of personalities from the network’s past (Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb, Olivia Munn, Kevin Pereira, and others) commented on the trailer, but there’s no word yet as to any of their involvement or what form the return will take.

+ More here: G4 Teaser

4. Video Games: GI Joe: Operation Blackout Info

What was initially a set of leaked box art has morphed into a set of in-game screenshots and official info for GI Joe: Operation Blackout – a third-person shooter team-based game that pits the Joes against Cobra in cel-shaded battle. It is due out in October.

+ More here: GI Joe: Operation Blackout

3. Eisner Award Winners

The long list of 2020 Eisner Award winners were announced on July 24th. Interestingly, Marvel, DC, and Boom! came away empty handed. Not surprisingly, though, is the fact that many titles aimed at children or young adults made up a large portion of the winners. Catch them all below and consider using it as a to-read list!

+ More here: 2020 Eisner Award Winners

2. Hulu Released Trailer for Marvel’s Helstrom

The Hulu original follows the brother-sister duo of Daimon and Satana (“Ana” in the show) Helstrom as they battle evil in a horror-themed, ten episode series. The series releases in full on October 16th.

1. New Mutants Gets New Trailer and Poster Art

The long-awaited New Mutants movie released another trailer during Comic-Con@Home last week featuring new footage. The movie poster has also been revealed. We’ve included the entire panel below, but you can jump to 24:30 to catch the trailer!


Check back next Wednesday for more news for nerds. Better yet, scroll down just a few more inches and sign up for our newsletter, The Cable.

Catch Clave and Abram’s review of each week’s Punchlist on Facebook Live every Wednesday at 4:30CST!

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GI Joes Are Back! And They’re Totally Rad, 80s Kids! https://nerdsonearth.com/2020/07/gi-joe-classified-series-snake-eyes/ Thu, 23 Jul 2020 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=32014

We give you a close look at the hot new Snake Eyes GI Joe: Classified figure, and talk about why it's more than okay to play with toys as an adult!

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I loved GI Joe figures when I was a kid. In fact, I still love GI Joe figures and routinely scour eBay for broken ones to repair. (Here are my GI Joe repair tips.)

Well, there is a new line of GI Joe figures called GI Joe: Classified and they are hyper-detailed 6 inch figures, a boost of HGH over the 3.75 inch O-Ring Joes you grew up with. Can’t visualize 6 inch figures? Well, think about Marvel Legends or Star Wars: Black Series.

The GI Joe: Classified line is narrow at the moment, consisting of just about a half dozen figures over two waves. And what figure served as the crown jewel of the launch?

Snake Eyes, of course. See below.

I’m thrilled about this new GI Joe line. I played with Joes for hours upon hours. There were a million reasons I loved them, the best of which was they were fun.

Then you grow up and society says toys are lame. You’re supposed to knuckle-down, be productive, and filter any ingenuity into your job! You’re not supposed to build LEGO, or pose action figures, or paint miniatures anymore; you’re supposed to build a shed in the backyard to store the tools you need for completing never ending home improvement projects around your house. If you enjoy handy work, fine. But it’s not why you’re doing it.

The closest thing to playing that’s permitted of an adult is restoration. You can fix up an old convertible or re-stain a table. Those things are fine, because the end product will be usable for something. Again, it all comes back to practicality.

The thing is, not everyone wants to gut and remodel an Airstream trailer. I say that it’s much more fun to play with old GI Joes from your childhood!

So why then is collecting GI Joes looked down upon like they are some childish thing? Why is replacing an O-Ring in an old Joe rather than a faucet considered a “guilty pleasure” rather than just a “pleasure”? And why am I considered a reclusive nerd, other than the fact that it’s true?

Because you allow it, that’s why.

But you don’t have to! You can say, “Screw it. I’m collecting GI Joes! I hold down a day job and it’s OK that I have a hobby I enjoy. So if you need me, I’ll be down in The PIT, posing these new 6 inch plastic action figures into a fighting force against Cobra. Because that’s what I want to do, and no, I won’t apologize.”

Getting them will be the problem. They are hot right now and if you are a nerd who loves the hunt, good luck with Target or Wal-Mart, because they leave the shelves as soon as they arrive. And they are getting marked up on Amazon.

Personally, I use Big Bad Toy Store. It’s a mom and pop online store that caters to collectors and specializes in the good stuff us nerds love. So, you don’t get the insane shipping speed of Amazon, but you get the guarantee of pre-orders. Give Big Bad a try: GI Joe Classified.

Snake Eyes | Cobra Commander | Duke |
Scarlett | Destro | Gung-Ho | Roadblock

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The Punchlist: This Week’s News for Nerds https://nerdsonearth.com/2020/07/the-punchlist-this-weeks-news-for-nerds-13/ Wed, 22 Jul 2020 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=32054

Welcome to THE PUNCHLIST where Nerds on Earth rounds up this week's nerd news. The Walking Dead, GI Joe, Starfinder, Pathfinder 2e, and more!

The post The Punchlist: This Week’s News for Nerds appeared first on Nerds on Earth.

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Welcome to this week’s PUNCHLIST, where we round up the biggest news in nerd culture. It might be from the MCU, board gaming, D&D, and more. But whatever the news is this week, you can bet it will eventually separate you from your money.

7. Usagi Yojimbo Spin-Off Series Heading to Netflix

Stan Sakai’s decades-long and very popular Usagi Yojimbo comic will get an animated series berth on Netflix. Entitled Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, the show is set in the future and follows Yuichi, a descendant of the comic’s titular character, Miyamoto Usagi. Sakai is directly involved.

+ More here: Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles

6. Paizo Approves More Pathfinder and Starfinder Content for Organized Play

Ahead of Gen Con Online, the folks at Paizo revealed that character options for their newest books have been given the green light for legal organized play. Pathfinder 2e’s Advanced Player’s Guide and Starfinder’s Starship Operations Manual and Near Space all offer new content for your Society and system of choice!

+ More here: Paizo Organized Play

5. Marvel Battleworld Has Arrived in Stores

The collectible adventure game was announced earlier this year. The Funko collaboration is aimed at younger gamers and has a “gacha” character collection means. The Series 1 Mega Pack comes with 4 revealed heroes and two mystery characters encased in “Thanostones.” Battle Balls also offer two mystery characters, each of which comes with a small collectible figure along with all the accessories needed for play.

+ More here: Marvel Battleworld

4. Hasbro Unveils GI Joe Retro Series of 3.75 Inch Figures

The first wave includes Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Baroness, the Cobra H.I.S.S. tank and the Joe A.W.E. Striker. They all come packaged in “vintage-inspired packaging with retro Hasbro branding,” and will be available exclusively through Walmart starting in October.

+ More here: GI Joe Retro Series

3. Keanu Reeves Writing Original Comic for Boom! Studios

Entitled BRZRKR and co-written by Matt Kindt, the series follows a “hyper-violent” immortal who has lived through tens of thousands of years of war and is now working for the US government in exchange for information regarding his past. It is scheduled for 12 issues and is due out in October.

+ More here: BRZRKR

2. The Walking Dead Returns to Comic Store Shelves in Full Color

Beginning in October and releasing a “new” issue twice-monthly, all 193 issues of The Walking Dead will be rereleased in full color, also to feature variant covers and a brand new commentary section. Colorist Dave McCaig is giving the series its fresh coat of paint. The series will sell under the title The Walking Dead Deluxe.

+ More here: The Walking Dead Deluxe

1. Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 Announced

The hit Pandemic Legacy series gets its third and final installment in Season 0. Set in the Cold War, players will cooperate to investigate a Soviet bioweapon. The announcement is riddled with fun espionage twists on the classic Pandemic formula, so we couldn’t be more excited!

+ More here: Pandemic Legacy: Season 0


Check back next Wednesday for more news for nerds. Better yet, scroll down just a few more inches and sign up for our newsletter, The Cable.

Each week we also discuss the news!

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If I Won the Lottery: The 7 Changes I’d Bankroll in Nerd Culture https://nerdsonearth.com/2020/06/if-i-won-the-lottery-the-7-changes-id-bankroll-in-nerd-culture-2/ Tue, 16 Jun 2020 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=30707

What seven things would you wish for if you won the lottery? Here are my seven.

The post If I Won the Lottery: The 7 Changes I’d Bankroll in Nerd Culture appeared first on Nerds on Earth.

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That guy in South Carolina who won the billion dollar lottery is super lucky. Not because he can pay off his mortgage, buy a Tesla, or establish a foundation that eliminates suffering and disease, and builds a just and equitable world for all. No, it’s because he is now so wealthy that he can insist that companies support his hobbies at the expense of their actual businesses. That’s right, he’s now super entitled.

Well, I’m going to pretend I won the lottery and with all this imaginary money, there is no way I’m keeping it real. First, I’m insisting I pay no taxes because I’ve come to learn that rich white men feel entitled to such a thing. Then I’m going to use my newfound power to change the below 7 things.

To be clear, these don’t necessarily make good business sense, nor or are they reasonable. But I’m imaginarily rich, so I’ve lost all tethering to reality. Hear me out?

If I Won the Lottery

Warcraft on iOS

I understand that some folks are upset that Blizzard is making a Diablo game for mobile, but I’m actually begging for the old school Warcraft for my iPad, saving a space for it right next to Stardew Valley and the current addition of Nerds on Earth writers, Marvel Strike Force.

To be clear, I want Warcraft 4 and all the other sequels and new franchises as well. But I like iOS. There are times when I want a quick 20 minute filler or a simple single player experience. The original Warcraft would be perfect such a thing. And it would be a load of fun!

Touch controls would make it easy to harvest lumber and move units. And the horsepower is easily there, as the new iPad Pros are clocking higher than even the heftiest laptops. Finally, the successful Hearthstone shows that Blizzard can do mobile well.

So, why not? With my lotto money we’ll soon be having fun on our iPhones as we sit in the lobby of Great Clips. Touch controls, zero lag, single player experience…where does it all end? A bitter spiral of addiction that leads to nights sleeping in a dumpster outside of Knollwood Mall, that’s where.

Gaslands Boxed Set

Nerds on Earth writer Brandon raves about Gaslands. I was so inspired by his love for the game that I bought the Gaslands rulebook.

Yet, I’ve never played. Why? Well, because while you get the rules with the book, you still need dice, templates, and to mod out your cars. Listen, tricking out stuff and being a maker is part of the joy of being a nerd, but I won the lottery in my imagination and as a newly rich person, I refuse to do any type of work whatsoever.

So I’m going to need Osprey to make Gaslands be a just-open-the-box experience. Literally. Why not create a Gaslands boxed set? A single 8 x 12 x 4 inch box could include the following:

  • Gaslands rulebook,
  • a full set of cardboard templates to be punched,
  • custom dice,
  • and 4 cars that are already modded.

This lets players get going straight away, while allowing folks to further trick out and add to their games if they want to. Sure, I realize there are third party companies that make templates, but I don’t want to have buy several different things from several different vendors for a single experience.

Needing to buy separate items is a petty complaint, I know. But a lot of people ask the Earth Nerds, “How can I get into the business of complaining about everything in nerd culture?” It’s easy! Simply take the latest thing done for nerds, discuss just the bad aspects of it and completely ignore the good aspects. It’s just that simple. When you toss in that I’m newly rich, I’m even more petty and entitled. Read on!

Daughters of the Dragon

One thing I’ve learned about rich people is that they also are highly confident that they are creatives. So not only will I finance superhero TV, I will insist on being in the writer’s room as well. Sure, this next one isn’t likely to happen even with my copious lottery winnings, but I don’t like to let reality get in the way of my hot takes. It really slows down my writing process.

Anyone who enjoyed Marvel on Netflix in the past likely enjoyed the characters Misty Knight and Coleen Wing. But OG comic readers also know that Misty and Coleen frequently teamed-up in the comics under the moniker Daughters of the Dragon.

Sure, Marvel on Netflix has been cancelled, but with my lottery winnings, I’m financing the Daughters of the Dragon spinoff on Disney+. Don’t worry, each season will just be 6 episodes to prevent some of the filler we’ve seen from the 10+ episode seasons on Netflix. But 6 episodes of Misty and Coleen will be glorious. Better yet, I’ve gone ahead and green-lit two seasons!

Relaunch of FASERIP

The Marvel Roleplaying Game owned my soul when I was a kid. I want to bring it back so that it can steal more souls. But only the premium souls. The souls with good resale value.

If you aren’t familiar, FASERIP was the shorthand term for the old school Marvel Super Heroes roleplaying game that used the d100 system. Character attributes were Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, Reason Intuition, and Psyche, which were colloquially called “FASERIP.”

It was a wonderful system and the later Ultimate Powers book really amped up character creation. I should know, I rolled up about a million superheroes using the FASERIP system. We also rolled up a character for fun on our weekly Nerds on Earth Zoom call!

Who knows who has the licensing for the game now? With nostalgia pulling everything back, the fact that an updated edition hasn’t been released is probably a clear indicator that scoring the rights to the game would be a mess. But I’m now imaginarily rich, so I’ll just buy up Marvel, or WotC, or even build a time machine to go back to old TSR days. Money is no object and FASERIP 2nd edition needs to happen.

Whatever Marvel Legends Figures I want

A long tradition of entitled nerds is to waste time talking about the products that would be created if a smart person like you were in charge and not a bean counting toy executive!

Well, when I’m so rich that I dole out the beans to toy executives, I’ll be selecting which Marvel Legends figures are released, my current favorite toy line.

I’m an old school Claremont fan, of course, so let’s start with the Marauders, the villains of the Mutant Massacre crossover. Scalphunter, Harpoon, and Vertigo will be nice additions to my Marvel Legends collection.

Next, I’ll need figures to represent the Cross Time Caper from old school Excaliber. That entire Excalibur team plus some of their wacky villains would be nice. Then, sticking with that time period, I’ll need Marvel Legends from the Inferno crossover.

To prove that I’m not stuck in nostalgia – although what are rich people if not stuck in nostalgia – I’ll be commissioning Marvel Legends from the current Jonathan Hickman X-Men run. Krakoa is where I’ll start. Is it feasible to have a Marvel Legends mutant island the size of a real life house? Heck no, but I’m imaginarily rich, so I’ll need it right away.

Slipcovers for Pathfinder 2E Adventure Paths

I love Paizo and their Starfinder and Pathfinder roleplaying games, so why don’t I complain about them more, because to an entitled person, that is somehow magically love.

I’ve already written several articles belaboring the fact that I think Paizo’s Adventure Paths are the jewels of the roleplaying game industry, so let’s skip straight to what I think is wrong with them, which is that the 6 floppy books need to have a slipcase to store them together.

Sure, this comes off like whining, “Why can’t Usain Bolt run faster?” But I want a sweet slipcover with full color artwork and enough room to slide in the floppy adventure path volumes plus maybe the map pack that Paizo creates to accompany the AP. All slipped together, the full AP will then store nicely and look great on my shelf.

Yeah, I could use one of those magazine holder thingamabobs but I want a slipcover and I don’t care what the logistics or cost of bringing such a product to market might be!

The year-old release of Pathfinder 2nd Edition is the perfect time to make my sweet slipcovers happen. Get to it, Paizo. Remember, I’m imaginarily rich now, so I’ll buy your company if I have to.

Re-Release 3 3/4 Inch GI Joe Figures

Listen, let’s start here: These Joes would have an O-Ring.

None of this new school technology like pinless joints. Just a good old fashioned O-Ring that snaps and needs repaired, just like when we were kids.

Don’t worry, I’ll buy the new GI Joe Classified figures and I know that 6 inch figures from Fortnite are all the rage, but 6 inch scale doesn’t allow for playsets. That’s another reason why I’ll re-release the old school 3 3/4 GI Joes: I’ll be re-releasing all the vehicles as well! Now that I’m rich, I’ll be getting a USS Flagg, the Holy Grail of toys that was denied to me as a child at Christmas after Christmas.

You know what? I’m imaginarily rich. So I’m buying Hasbro. That way I’ll have ownership of the old GI Joe molds, plus the Transformers, ROM, Visionaries, and MASK lines. Hasbro also owns D&D, so my purchase of the company really gives me some options!

Well, my lottery dollars are spent. But in keeping with the fine tradition of rich people, I’ve wielded my power indiscriminately and made the above seven changes to nerd culture, regardless of how plausible they are. You’re welcome.

The post If I Won the Lottery: The 7 Changes I’d Bankroll in Nerd Culture appeared first on Nerds on Earth.

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Why the Four Horsemen Says Playing with GI Joes Is Time Well Spent https://nerdsonearth.com/2019/09/playing-with-gi-joes/ Mon, 09 Sep 2019 12:00:55 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=25803

Does imagination and play feel like wasted time to you? Well, playing with GI Joes might be a good thing.

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Daniel Dennett doesn’t believe in The Force. In fact, Dennett, like Han Solo, doesn’t believe in any sort of “hokey religion.”

Dennett is an atheist, part of a movement that calls themselves the “Four Horsemen.” Dennett and his colleagues study the mind, intentionally trying to decouple it from religious thought.

Interestingly, Dennett has done research on the effects of playing with toys and being the old Grognard I am, that sets my mind thinking about 80s Star Wars, GI Joe, MASK, and He-Man action figures.

Well, this got weird fast. I mean, this article went straight from religious thought to waxing philosophical about GI Joe toys. Yet while it might seem like some steps are missing, I promise I’ll get there. But before we go any further, let’s acknowledge the most befuddling philosophical conundrum of them all, which is fandom itself.

Don’t try to understand fandom. It lies beyond the realm of analytic comprehension. Asking why some adults compulsively horde with religious fervor every GI Joe action figure released with an O-Ring is tantamount to asking why the universe exists. It just does. And they just do.

I should know: I have boxes full of GI Joes.

Instead, simply accept the fact that fandom is illogical and let’s lean into it. With this mindset, it’s pretty easy to mash up religious thought and GI Joe toys.

While our culture dismisses our use of the imagination as wasted time, mystics throughout history have told us that the imagination is a conduit into reality, not away from it. So while many assume that imagination distracts us from the real world and proper responsibility, many believe that imagination can open our minds.

In the 16th century, St. Ignatius of Loyola designed the training manual of the Jesuits, in which adherents were to deeply imagine themselves partaking in incidents from the life of Jesus, creating internal and personal “virtual realities” as a means of coming closer to God. Ignatius thought that deeply imagining themselves walking along with Jesus would help them to live a life well lived in the real world. This was simply building on the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates.

Sixty-five years later, the Spanish nun Teresa of Ávila wrote a prayer manual called The Interior Castle, but you could easily say she wrote a “Player’s Handbook.” The Interior Castle described Ávila’s path to God as a kind of single-player game of D&D. She described the soul as a crystal globe, containing seven mansions to represent seven stages of deepening faith.

Throughout the book, she warned that this imaginary internal world will be constantly assaulted by reptilian “toads, vipers, and other venomous creatures,” representing the dangers to a soul that must be vanquished. Teresa of Ávila was totally a real-life cleric, y’all.

Similar techniques exist in many world religions, like the inner visualizations of Buddhism, for example. Those mystics and more speak to the importance of imagination, speaking of the vital importance of daydreaming and fantasy, and in their cases, imagination as literally the door to divinity.

Dennett observed that something equally interesting happens when we play with toys. Sure, action figures are physical objects but they don’t have minds, obvi. But what if action figures actually had plans of their own?

Dennett calls this the “intentional stance.” Think of it this way: when you play with Snake-Eyes, you don’t just plop a piece of plastic down on the table. No, you recreate scenes and absolutely make whooshing ninja sounds and you make him kick and slice like a Real American Hero.

But what if some smart alec Dreadnok corrects Snake-Eyes, letting him know that ninja lore has, um, actually been romanticized throughout time. Would Storm Shadow then step in and knock that smart Alec upside the head with a nunchuck?

In other words, playing with action figures helps us to think about what someone else would think, even if that someone else began as Cobra before turning to GI Joe. Imaginative play helps us to think about others intentions, making our decisions based upon the beliefs of our characters and the situations we’ve set up for them.

Now, deciding what an action figure will do is different than predicting what a real person will do in similar circumstances, so Dennett would warn us about wrongly projecting intentions onto inanimate objects.

Yet, we do it all the time. Chevys, starships, and the USS Flagg don’t respond to begging, yet anyone who has driven a clunker has at some point begged their car to start, much like Han Solo begged the Falcon to hold together. Or what nerd hasn’t wished upon a dice roll?

Sure, these are superstitious beliefs. Lightning doesn’t strike because Zeus is angry. But just like Teresa of Ávila or St. Ignatius of Loyola hoped for us, we can use our imagination to picture the best behavior for ourselves, thereby taking a baby step towards being more pure in our intentions. This is why I love to listen in on my girls playing with my Marvel Legends superhero action figures. They pretend to be heroes and my heart swells for them.

Fake it until you make it, in other words. Imagine you are a Jedi, committed to the Light Side of the Force. Or maybe you are a GI Joe filled with honor and a commitment to service.

Like many nerds, I spent my introverted childhood in my mind, reading, writing, and playing with action figures. Tolkienesque fantasy, Claremontian prose, and yes, tiny plastic GI Joes cut straight across my Western-thinking subconscious, allowing me to become a hero against the evil forces of Cobra Commander. I embarked on missions to battle the bad guys and in my imagination the good guys always prevailed.

And although our culture dismisses our use of the imagination as wasted time that distracts us from the real world and proper responsibility, I encourage you to pick up a Joe or grab the character sheet for your Paladin.

Imaginative play is not the same thing as making positive, constructive life choices but now we know that practice can make perfect. And knowing is half the battle.

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7 Reasons GI Joe is so Great https://nerdsonearth.com/2019/09/7-reasons-gi-joe-is-so-great/ Mon, 09 Sep 2019 12:00:22 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=24914

GI Joe is great and we list 7 reasons why. Now you know.

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Selling more than Yo-Yos or Radio Flyers is the iconic GI Joe, the insanely popular action figure line of the 80s, an estimated 375 million figures flew off the shelves, a number that is easy to remember because the height of GI Joes is 3.75 inches.

Obviously, a number that huge provides a good bit of cultural infusion as well as generates a healthy collector’s community. Yet there are many who didn’t or don’t collect GI Joes, so when they learn the rest of us nerds have boxes full of old GI Joes, they might scoff and ask us if we aren’t a bit old to own toys, as if only a child would care about such things.

We might laugh it off, because while some people look at Joe and see stupid little army men, when a GI Joe collector looks at them, we see our own histories.

So, what can we say to make non-collectors understand our love of GI Joe: A Real American Hero? Here are seven places to start:

7 Reasons GI Joe is so Great

Great Toys Mean Great Play Time

Photo courtesy of Special Mission Force.

As a little child, you’re given toys. First it’s clunky wooden blocks, then Legos if you’re lucky. Along the way you get action figures. They help your mind grow, and best of all they’re fun.

Then you grow up and society says playing is lame. You’re supposed to knuckle-down, be productive, and filter any ingenuity into your job! You’re not supposed to build LEGO, or pose action figures, or paint miniatures anymore; you’re supposed to build a shed in the backyard to store the tools you need for completing never ending tasks around your home. If you enjoy handy work, fine. But it’s not why you’re doing it.

The closest thing to playing that’s permitted of an adult is restoration. You can fix up an old convertible or re-stain a table. Those things are fine, because the end product will be usable for something. Again, it all comes back to practicality.

The thing is, not everyone wants to gut and remodel an Airstream trailer. It’s much more fun to play with old GI Joes from your childhood!

So why then is collecting GI Joes looked down upon like they are some childish thing? Why is replacing an O-Ring in an old Joe rather than a faucet considered a “guilty pleasure” rather than just a “pleasure”? And why am I considered a reclusive nerd, other than the fact that it’s true?

Because you allow it, that’s why.

But you don’t have to! You can say, “Screw it. I’m collecting old Joes! I hold down a day job and it’s OK that I have a hobby I enjoy. So if you need me, I’ll be down in The PIT, posing tiny plastic action figures into a fighting force against Cobra. Because that’s what I want to do, and no, I won’t apologize.”

Besides, research has shown that play is vitally important, even in adults.

The Characterization

Photo courtesy of Special Mission Force.

GI Joes weren’t just presented as faceless soldiers, they were presented as people with real names and personalities who interacted with one another.

From Ryan Costello of the Know Direction Podcast: “The characterization of GI Joe was amazing. In a few years on the air, GI Joe had a larger cast than any cartoon until The Simpsons. The Joes and Cobra had dynamic relationships, consistent personalities, and a lot of layers.”

Don’t take it from me, take it from Ryan, but he and I agree that GI Joe is great because the characters almost felt like friends to us. Better, they are characters we could look up to and emulate.

The Comic Book

Larry Hama is the man who wrote the book on GI Joe. A Vietnam veteran, Hama had just began to work at Marvel and was offered GI Joe as a consolation, a job that was considered the kiss of death, as no writer wanted to be associated with a toy line.

At the time of the cartoon, FCC rules prohibited children’s programs from advertising their own brand of toys, so instead Hasbro advertised the G.I. Joe comic — to fantastic results. Hama’s comic–GI Joe: A Real American Hero–was a wildly successful comic, appearing at the top of 80s comic sales charts alongside The Amazing Spider-Man and Claremont’s X-Men.

The comic was praised for its attention to detail and realism in the area of military tactics and procedures, this due to Hama’s military experience and the large amount of research he put into the book in order to be as up-to-date as possible. (He was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Vietnam war, so the figure Tunnel Rat was fittingly modeled after him)

But it was the soap-opera(y) nature of the book and the fact that the Joes were written as a family that ultimately made the comic be such a beloved read. Hama didn’t write the Joes as soldiers, he wrote them as people.

The comic also had moments of incredible artistry, such as G.I. Joe #21, titled “Silent Interlude”, which was told entirely without words or sound effects. (Our full story on that issue is here.) There were also spin-off titles such as GI Joe: Special Missions and Larry Hama also wrote the majority of the file cards that appeared on the back of the action figure blister packs, which millions of kids cut out and kept along with their Joes.

In short, the comic is absolutely a reason to be a Joe fan and endures to this day. In fact, I recently re-read through every Hama GI Joe comic and wrote about the experience here.

GI Joe is Diverse

Photo courtesy of Matt Middendorf.

There were female Joes right from the beginning and those characters like Lady Jaye and Scarlett had breasts and hips that were of normal proportions, choosing instead to treasure female characters’ strength and intelligence over the male gaze.

Likewise, there were lots of people of color and those Native American, Asian, and African American Joes were of high of a rank and just as much in the thick of battle as any other Joes.

This is due largely to Larry Hama, the legend behind the GI Joe comic. As mentioned, Hama didn’t write the Joes as soldiers, he wrote them as people. And males and females of all colors and types were the people who surrounded him in his New York home. In fact, Hama admittedly as much, saying, “I based the characters on people I knew.”

More than Nostalgia

Photo courtesy of Special Mission Force.

For many, GI Joe represents our greatest memories. I grew up in a small town and was very shy, not making friends easily. But GI Joe was always there for me, as cheesy as it sounds. I suspect many others feel the same way.

I don’t have a touchstone to my childhood home, as my parents moved away. I can’t visit the house I grew up in and look out in the backyard to remember the good ‘ole days. Instead, I carry my memories in plastic clamshell cases.

It’s important not to wallow in nostalgia, but it is important to remember the influences on your life. So, what a non-collector views as stupid pieces of plastic, I view as memories that have bared witness to my childhood. Some people look at old GI Joes and see stupid little army men, but when I look at them, I see my own history. I’m not alone in that.

They were legit

We’ve had had moments of looking back on something with nostalgia only to realize it doesn’t even remotely hold up when we revisit it. GI Joe holds up. They were really good toys.

From Strato-Viper on Twitter: “As a kid it was the toy as a whole. I loved the poseable figures, the art on the box, the catalogs in the vehicles. It seemed a step up from any toy. Then I started reading the comics and I was hook line and sinker.”

Strat has a point: GI Joes felt like a step up from every other toy at the time. Listen, I had tons of 80s Star Wars figures, but they had 5 points of articulation. GI Joes, on the other hand, could be bent and posed a million different ways, plus they came with great accessories that they could hold. GI Joe was is legit.

A Legacy of Service

Photo courtesy of Special Mission Force.

Ron Friedman and the writing team that created the Sunbow G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon series had complex feelings about a show that portrayed war, so they wanted it to leave a legacy of service and to provide positive messages of inclusion, self-sacrifice and heroism. 

To this end, millions of kids watched GI Joe, each episode ending with a PSA aimed at teaching kids values and morals. These ultimately became a popular and enduring part of the GI Joe lexicon, spawning the catchphrase, “Now you know…and knowing if half the battle.”

As a result, the GI Joe cartoon helped inspire countless men and women to become first responders, members of the armed services, and others who put themselves on the line for the greater good. Now you know.

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The Nerds On Earth Podcast: An Interview With YouTuber Michael Mercy https://nerdsonearth.com/2019/07/the-nerds-on-earth-podcast-an-interview-with-youtuber-michael-mercy/ Fri, 19 Jul 2019 05:01:42 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=24965

An interview with Michael Mercy of the incredibly popular 80s toy nostalgia YouTube channel.

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The Nerds on Earth Podcast features interviews with the creatives behind some of the nerdy things we love. The mission of Nerds on Earth podcast is to celebrate the creativity and professionalism of some of our favorite creators, while being able to take a peek behind the curtain of their craft.

This episode features an interview with Michael Mercy, creator of the EXCELLENT YouTube channel dedicated to 80s toys like GI Joe, Transformers, and more. His “History of…” series alone is pure brilliant joy.

This is a wide-ranging interview. Michael and Clave talk about nostalgia in pop culture, our favorite X-Men, GI Joe, and much more. Give it a listen!


This podcast is presented by Nerds on Earth. It is up to you to decide if you want more nerdy interviews. So if you liked this episode of the pod or any of the others, it’s up to you to let us know. Share the word, but also leave an iTunes review. If you ask for more, we’ll line up more interviews with creators!

Bonus: Check out a video presentation of the podcast below. Visit the Michael Mercy channel for more!

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An interview with Michael Mercy of the incredibly popular 80s toy nostalgia YouTube channel. An interview with Michael Mercy of the incredibly popular 80s toy nostalgia YouTube channel. GI Joe – Nerds on Earth full false 1:06:49
What I Learned from Reading Every Single GI Joe Comic https://nerdsonearth.com/2019/07/what-i-learned-from-reading-every-single-gi-joe-comic/ Thu, 04 Jul 2019 12:00:16 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=24615

Lessons learned after reading ALL of the Larry Hama GI Joe comics.

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I just read every single GI Joe comic. Well, the ones Larry Hama wrote anyway.

To catch you up, Larry Hama was a Vietnam veteran who had just began to work at Marvel Comics where he pitched a SHIELD series in order to draw upon his military background. He was turned down, but offered GI Joe as a consolation, a job that was considered the kiss of death, as no writer wanted to write a comic that was associated with a toy line.

At the time, FCC rules prohibited children’s programs from advertising their own brand of toys, so Hasbro instead advertised the G.I. Joe comic — to fantastic results. Hama’s comic–GI Joe: A Real American Hero–was wildly successful, appearing at the top of 80s comic sales charts, sometimes even outselling The Amazing Spider-Man or Claremont’s X-Men!

The comic was praised for its attention to detail and realism in the area of military tactics and procedures, this due to Hama’s military experience.

But it was the soap-opera(y) nature of the book and the fact that the Joes were written as a family that ultimately made the comic such a beloved read. Hama didn’t write the Joes as soldiers, he wrote them as people.

The comic also had moments of incredible artistry, such as G.I. Joe #21, titled “Silent Interlude”, which was told entirely without words. There were also spin-off titles such as GI Joe: Special Missions.

There were stretches in the Marvel run where there was nothing better.

The comic lasted throughout the 80s and even into the 90s. Marvel cancelled it at issue 155, giving it a remarkable run. Various other companies like Devil’s Due and Image had the GI Joe license for a while, but a remarkable thing happened. IDW Comics got the license in the 00s and brought back Larry Hama to continue his story!

Starting with issue 155 1/2, Hama picked up where he left off with his Marvel run. The IDW run is now into the 260s and it is these 300(ish) comics I read for this article (I also included Hama’s Special Missions comics.)

What did I learn?

Larry Hama is vastly underrated. Creator-owned comics are glamorized and superhero comics are prioritized, so its understandable that folks overlook a writer like Larry Hama, as he has spent the bulk of his career writing stores about a toy line. But it’s a darned shame.

Company men like Hama get unjustly maligned as being uncreative. This couldn’t be further from the truth. He had to thread the needle of providing strong stories while introducing toys, even as he balanced militarily-believable satires that also stretched into sci-fi.

And he did it beautifully.

Even though the 90s were rough on GI Joe toys and comics, Larry Hama is so talented that he somehow made most of them work.

Comics have changed throughout the decades. Reading a single story that has stretched across several decades allowed me to get a feel for how the comic industry has changed.

I began reading comics in the 80s, so that has a nostalgic feel for me. Those stories were heavy with dialogue and inter-personal drama. But there was also an absolute wholesomeness to them. It’s as if the famous GI Joe cartoon PSAs were done without a hint of irony.

The 90s were absurd. Superhero comics were leaning into foil covers, big guns, extreme characters, and millions of pouches, and GI Joe comics were editorially driven in that direction as well. The vehicle colors became more garish, storylines were marketed as more “extreme,” and characters were rebranded to be hip and trendy.

I can’t always tell what is going on the in 2000s with decompressed storytelling. Hama, beginning his career in the 70s, doesn’t always hew to this. His stories still zip along but the comics have the more realistic art style that is marketable today.

Some runs stand out more than others. As a result of traversing hundreds of issues spanning decades, there are some peaks and valleys. The original Marvel run didn’t click until issue 11, but it didn’t get to be high octane until issue 21, the Silent Issue.

Then the 30s-50s of the GI Joe Marvel run is among the absolute best across all comics. In fact, there other moments of brilliance up until issue 110, but when the comic hit the 1990s, it was rough in most patches.

Issue 155 1/2 is actually a solid jumping on point. This begins the IDW run and even though it is still Hama on the book, the time jump helped modernize it.

The IDW run starts at issue #155 1/2 and picks up where the Marvel run left off.

It’s even better than before in many ways! No new toys are being introduced, so Hama is no longer forced by Hasbro to ham-fist the latest toy release into the pages of the comic. In fact, beloved characters like Scarlett and Firefly have been returned to their original looks, as Hama chose to cast off the 2.0 and 3.0 versions of the characters that were produced when the toy line was in the garishly neon of the 90s.

And Hama has balanced the military action with the wild sci-fi shenanigans of Cobra even better than ever. Let’s look at IDW issue 261 for example. It’s approximately 100 issues after the Marvel run and it contains two major storylines.

First is Cover Girl, Dusty, Repeater, Leatherneck, and Muskrat joining with Ripcord, Heavy Duty, and Airborne as they exfiltrate relief workers who are being pursued by hostiles. The second story is Destro and my dear Baroness battling an out-of-control A.I.

One is kooky science fiction and the other is grounded action, but Hama balances them both perfectly. And did you see those Joes listed above? Old favorites are included but under-appreciated Joes are given space to shine as well.

Hama can lean on old tropes and storylines at times (I never want another story involving Dr. Venom Mindbender’s brainwave scanner), but that’s understandable after decades of stories. And it pales in comparison to how fun the comic still is after all these years.

Of course Mutt and Junkyard buddy jump behind enemy lines.

There is strong community support. There is a big GI Joe community on Twitter and YouTube, despite there being no toys on the shelves and the movies being duds. For example, Talking Joes podcast is one place to connect with follow GI Joe comic readers and the Michael Mercy YouTube channel is great to get a look art the old toys.

The issues can be difficult to track down if you like the dead trees version but if you are an Amazon Prime member, digital will rescue you. Amazon owns ComiXology, a digital comics service, and if you are a Prime member you are able to borrow lots of comics.

I was able to read approximately 85% of all the Larry Hama GI Joe comics for free by borrowing them through Comixology. Search “GI Joe classics,” look for volume 1 (which begins the Marvel #1 from the 80s), and click ‘Borrow.’ I paid for the Special Missions trades and it gets a little tricky when it shifts to IDW, but I trust your Google-Fu powers.

Hama didn’t shy away from the realities of war but he’s always humane.

Nerds, I had the time of my life reading those Larry Hama GI Joes comics! Nostalgia was strong with the Marvel run and it brought back wonderful memories. I was also reminded just how good so many of those comics were. They deserved to be the best-sellers they were.

And I’ve loved the IDW run so much that I added them to my pull list at my shop. Oh, I didn’t mention that? Yeah, they are current. I get to read GI Joe every month written by the legendary Larry Hama. You can too.

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