Rare G.I. Joe Comics

[@Rob_Gibson]

Giggling at the PSA at the end. Awesome.

[@doomedhuh]

Cobra Commander looks like he's popping out of his helmet. I hope he's not mutating into a snake again.

[@PrincessGrouchy]

"Oh, hi! You caught me mutating into a snake again. Speaking of mutating into a snake again, let's take a look at Cobra Commander."

[@Darkness-ie2yl]

sounds like he needs a lozenge

[@XxXxTwofirstnames69420xXxXx]

I absolutely loved G.I, Joe when I was a kid. I'm so jealous you got to interview Cobra Commander!

[@jalderink]

LOL!

[@danielreed4050]

My favorite time of week, thank you for making such a great show Chris

[@Dawnbreakerr]

Chris, you're a dork and that's why we love you. Never change.

[@gevdarg]

LOL...exactly.

[@TheJMuise87]

Great video! Really loved that look at the differences between McFarlane and Marshall Rogers. Was a huge fan of McFarlane back in the day, as I've gotten older I've noticed that his story telling techniques may not be the best. Marshall may not have had the style techniques of McFarlane, but the storytelling was better IMO.

[@steakcrust558]

Dedication + Hard Work = Comic Tropes

[@adamandava6emeryandemery18]

That cobra commander sounds an awful lot like my neighbor, Starscream. Hmmm?

[@recon3113]

Transformers and GI joe got me into comics!

[@lukebaldock4672]

Same here

[@stazjohnson8618]

My first professional comic work was done for Marvel UK on ACTION FORCE MONTHLY. The AFM stories were later re-packaged for the USA market as G.I.JOE: EUROPEAN MISSIONS.

[@ComicTropes]

Staz Johnson I loved your Rogue Trooper issues. I read a story in Heavy Metal and tracked down more issues after that, from the late 90s through early 00s.

[@stazjohnson8618]

@@ComicTropes Hey thanks Chris. Rogue Trooper has always been one of my favorite characters (both to read & to actually draw) hence why I use him as my avatar icon. Great episode btw, 'Tropes is the best comics show on YT... hands down!

[@DrPluton]

I used to love GI Joe (the cartoon and action figures). I should look into some of the old GI Joe comics.

[@JefeDeJefes8484]

It's 1228 bored on a Saturday night, then all of a sudden one of my favorite You Tube channel's drops a notification for another great Comics Tropes episode. Especially one of my favorite childhood cartoons and toys. Even though I'm not going to lie I was a big M.A.S.K fan. Thanks for the great info and I never knew Grant Morrison did early G.I Joe comics. Thanks learned something new again from Comic Tropes.

[@AL-ws5yi]

Whoever did Cobra Commander's voice needs to be hired to do any reboot cartoon of GI Joe. Love GI Joe the cartoon. My mom would never let me buy comics. I read the comics from some boys in my class. I was shocked how different it was from the cartoon.

[@ComicTropes]

A L The voiceovers were all me.

[@AL-ws5yi]

@@ComicTropes That Cobra Commander voice is legit. Loved it and love your show.

[@artbythecoco]

From the charmingly terrible split-screen effect to all the great trivia to the amazing PSA at the end, this episode is fucking awesome and from now on, it's going to be my go-to for introducing people to this channel. =)

[@QueenViolet8]

My fave G.i. Joe comic is the one were there are no words it's all about Snake Eyes.

[@new2vero2]

Awesome ( as always) ... Comic Tropes and HCC788 are huge inspirations... Chris’s insight into comic world is spot on .

[@Jmh2989]

1:42 Larry Hama's short run on batman were the first comics I ever bought

[@Jmh2989]

@Jake Proven batman 575-581 from the late 90s or early 00s I think. The best issue is a standalone story about a crew of thugs pulling a heist on Wayne manor and discovering the batcave.

[@gabrielbien-willner2509]

Loved the after credit scene. The problem with GI Joe (the cartoon) to me was always that Cobra never seemed to have a believable motivation for anything it did. Maybe this was better fleshed out in the books. That and the fact they were always shooting each other but no one ever got shot.

[@caseygibson7266]

I wonder if Transformers and G.I Joe are somewhere out there in the MCU multiverse. Or for that matter Archie, Star Trek, Godzilla, ect. There's so many things that have crossed over with Marvel that listing them all would take up a dictionary length book.

[@Clay3613]

Marvel no longer has publication rights to G.I. Joe and Star Trek. These silly copyrights are also keeping ROM and Micronauts from getting reprints. Yet Hasbro allowed Transformer reprints...

[@excellentatom343]

Chance Gibson I wouldn’t have wanted that until Bumblebee came out, but I’m all for it now. That movie could fit in the MCU multiverse seemlessly. Plus the look of the Transformers from that movie would fit really well aesthetically with Joe, Cobra and the Marvel Characters.

[@OnlyMagikarp]

This is terrifying to watch at 3 am. Its like im peering into the G.I Joe dimension

[@raydrecker1883]

Snake Eyes is without a doubt the Most Badass GI Joe character ever!

[@skippermatt7939]

And here I thought Cobra Commander was going to ask those kids, "Who want's a body massage?" in the PSA.

[@BensBrickDesigns]

Good stuff, buddy. Very informative. Keep it up.

[@HeroJournalism]

Goddamit, Chris... You just HAD to insult Batroc.. super weepy crying emogies coming your way

[@grantbaugh2773]

Right? He goes toe to toe with Captain America, so he has to be a top level martial artist. I understand if people don't care for him that much, but his skill should be undeniable.

[@HeroJournalism]

@@grantbaugh2773 - heck yeah!! And he's a Kirby Kreation!

[@neilgross7033]

Funny how Hasbro wouldn't allow Marvel to use "Big Bear" because they didn't create him, then made their own character called "Big Bear" years later.

[@zacharykendall9653]

That closing bit was legend Chris!

[@JefeDeJefes8484]

It's 1235 am bored on a Saturday night, then all of a sudden one of my favorite You Tube channel's drops a notification for another great Comics Tropes episode. Especially one of my favorite childhood cartoons and toys. Even though I'm not going to lie I was a big M.A.S.K fan. Thanks for the great info and I never knew Grant Morrison did early G.IJoe comics. Thanks learned something new again from Comic Tropes. Also I never realized one of my favorite artist Todd McFarlane drew these titles of G.I Joe.

[@johnlawful2272]

I found out the mask is actually horror

[@JefeDeJefes8484]

@@johnlawful2272 I'm not talking about the movie. Which was great and I heard that too. I'm talking about M.A.S.K Toys I had as a kid. They were like Transformers. I actually as a kid had more than I did Transformers.

[@johnlawful2272]

@@JefeDeJefes8484 oh okay

[@Th3Xp3rt]

I started looking up all this old G.I.Joe stuff last week and noticed you were dropping videos about it. Creepy! Thanks for the good work.

[@georgelea4297]

a great show as usual Chris keep it up, loved reading Action Force as a kid

[@jrharryman32]

Very cool video. I have that comic in which fred shoots cobra commander. It's interesting to see the other version of the same comic.

[@slaytanicsabbath]

Hell yeah I was passing out and saw this, always a highlight if my day.

[@Rob_Gibson]

John McCrea had some work on Action Force. I was happy to hear you mention that title!

[@kdisley]

Speaking as a UK comics fan, British comics in the late 80s/early 90s were definitely made to be more disposable - there wasn't quite the kind of reverence for vintage comics that the US seems to have had at the time, and the promotional toy comics like "Action Force" and "Transformers" were intended to be consumed more like the cartoons - something to be watched or read once or maybe twice, then discarded... kids' stuff, rather than literature. That said, I kept most of my comics from my personal favourite Hasbro license - Transformers - in large cardboard boxes (not longboxes, but random bulk-stock boxes scavenged from local stores, with no comics bags let alone backboards!) in the attic for as long as I could. I can confirm that they did not last very long... I can find a few from my collection which have survived the various house-moves since, but most of them have been separated from their covers, and I think the majority have probably disintegrated by now from years spent boxed-up in crawlspaces! Like their American counterparts, "Action Force" comics did have a few crossover stories with "Transformers" (besides reprints of the US crossovers), many of which were created by writers and artists common to both titles at Marvel UK, such as Simon Furman and Geoff Senior (who both got snapped up later by Marvel US during the British Invasion); I remember a whole story arc with a crazed clone of Megatron being dumped in the Thames and being found in the sewers by Action Force who then called in the Autobots to help deal with him, for example - I think this one ran across both comics in alternating issues, which goes to show how deeply connected both titles were in the UK. Our continuity of "Transformers" stories was in a separate universe from the US continuity (US = Earth-91274 and UK = Earth-120185, to be precise... yes, I had to go look it up! lol) so there were some inconsistencies between the two, which seemed to include a lot more interaction between the UK universe's Autobots and Action Force than the US universe's GI Joe team and the equivalent. Apparently, the US and UK continuities officially diverge in a storyline from UK issues #255-260 (which was after the release date of US issue #60 in December '89... an issue written, incidentally, by Brit Simon Furman), so from 1990 onwards the UK "Transformers" continuity snowballed off on its own to such an extent that Marvel eventually had to give them their own separate universe to explain all the differences! I must admit that I never actually subscribed to "Action Force" (or - as it later became for a few transitional years - "GI Joe: The Action Force" before coming fully into line with the US title), but I remember a lot of crossovers with "Transformers", and also a selection of American stories - with all Joe references swapped for the European equivalents, of course - were run as a popular back-up strip in the UK "Transformers" comic for some time. It was in an issue of "Transformers" where I first read the classic AF/Joe story "Hush Job" (originally printed in the US as "GI Joe Yearbook" vol 1 #3) and I remember thinking at the time what a stroke of genius it was to create a story about the mute ninja Snake Eyes with no speech at all in it, turning his character trait which was often viewed as a flaw ("How can he be in a military unit if he can't communicate?!") and turning it on its head. What can I say? At 12 years old, I was a precocious kid. There were a couple of major differences between Action Force and GI Joe, in both the toy ranges and the comics - most notably, Flint was in charge of the "European team" and several other characters (Lady Jaye, Wild Bill, Quick Kick, Airtight and a few others) were given different, more international birthplaces. Also, Destro was written as being disfigured beneath his mask (which explained why he never took it off... although I seem to remember him removing it in stories set during the escape from Cobra Island with Cobra Commander and having to use a Mission: Impossible-style rubber mask to hide his scars). I can highly recommend the UK "Transformers" comics as well as the "Action Force" run (from the few issues I actually read... mostly the crossovers)... and if you enjoy both and can somehow lay your hands on any of the British-written crossovers you will definitely enjoy those for just how silly and epic they got. What differentiated Marvel's Hasbro toy comics from a lot of the others (especially in Britain) was that they were about the stories rather than just selling toys... don't get me wrong, they *were* still selling toys, but they weren't just throwing any old slapped-together plot together from clichés and recycled ideas. They didn't condescend or patronise, they treated the toy-buying kids like readers rather than simple consumers. And as a precocious kid, I really appreciated that.

[@christianbrix5211]

Great stuff! Loved GI Joe as a kid and still do, still have all my Danish versions of the comics, all 19 of them - they were double issues of the American ones starting from around issue 40 until about issue 70, with Special Missions thrown in for good measure. Very interesting to see McFarlane's version of issue 61, never seen that before! Definitely prefer Rogers' work for GI Joe, McFarlane seems better suited to superhero comics in my opinion. Keep it up!

[@AscendantStoic]

Nice episode, interesting to see Cobra Commander as a guest, but guess considering the ending he won't be coming back ;) Also highly recommend the "Toys that made us" episode on G.I Joe, very interesting.

[@adamderosa9142]

Love coming on here to see a new upload of yours. Great video, Chris 👍

[@hisalexness8478]

I love this channel so much!

[@thehaip]

This is a great episode. Really interesting deep dive.

[@ptsteelers]

Cobra Commander voice played at .25 speed is awesome!!! And of course playing your videos at the "Drunking Speed" of .5 always makes your videos fun the second time around! Haha Great video buddy.

[@antgto]

Great episode, and the ending is gold.

[@bjrn-jakobbenonisen3497]

Thank you! Allways love your Gi Joe videos! Can you please do a Michael Golden video sometime? I love his art in Gi Joe Yearbook #2 and The Nam #1 to #10

[@Homeschoolsw6]

Thanks ComicTropes!

[@mandelabutterfly9162]

COBRA!

[@Huw_Morgan]

Interesting stuff, thanks for posting. I used to read the UK Action Force comic - some decent stories, but they never seemed to sync the continuity like they did with UK/US Transformers. For me, the Rogers illustration was much better - rather than an over-the-top superhero style, it was more moody and considered, which was when the comic was at its best.

[@magnuslauglo5356]

Fascinating comparison of the two versions of the issue that starts the immortal Borovia arc.

[@benderbendingrodriguez420]

Feels like a throwback to the old days of CT, great episode!

[@QueenViolet8]

Oh yeah Batrock is suppose to be a Master of Savate, Gambit also said he was one as well. Even though he barley uses it.

[@williamgazca6641]

Mr tropes thank you for all you do sir

[@davidmesquita1047]

Damn you spoiling us with this early upload lol right at midnight

[@josesagastumesagas1860]

Great video as always, i love Sundays now.

[@michaelpayton9164]

Action Force started in another UK comic, Battle Action Force from IPC, with a totally separate continuity. It had a totally new cast at first since the original Action Force toys were different from the Hasbro US toys. It eventually evolved into the more recognized version we know.

[@KevinGalbraith]

"Well, that got dark... let's just go back to the comic book." LOL

[@mightyone8313]

bro that slowmo coco really got me good

[@marknutt4398]

Great episode, but one question; *Will Spider-Chris ever get out his " final stand" threat?* 0:19 Same with *Civil war Iron-Chris* . Ah, those would be good *What-Ifs* .

[@citadelli]

Lol, love cocos t-shirt. Well done vid!

[@abelchavez2463]

Man! Love this channel

[@GryphonICD]

Heads up from the UK, should check out the even older comic, Battle Action Force, with Baron Ironblood (who then turned into Cobra Commander when GI Joe combined with it).

[@kencoleman5007]

I felt that Hama's first run starting waining in quality consistency after a while, but loved the Blaylock era the most. That and GI Joe: Renegades.

[@LungsOutJem]

I'm liking this Hama guy. I may be looking up more of what he's done.

[@macsnafu]

Enjoyed the comparison between McFarlane and Rogers' artwork for the same story. Interesting to see how different art choices and styles affected the story.

[@psychodeviant8903]

Never let it be said this channel doesn't have production values. Anyway, I really enjoyed the comparisons of the art between McFarlane and Rogers for that GI Joe issue. Really cool to see how two different artists went about drawing from the same script and their different approaches to depicting the action.

[@DWNicolo]

Great love letter to GI Joe.

[@quinnlondon2991]

Like your videos man.

[@josiahalcorne]

Great video. Wow, Quick Kick has a history with Shang Chi. Bet he won't make an appearance in the Shang Chi movie. Big week for MCU news. I have very mixed feelings about all of it. I am mostly happy because it seems like its mostly what I personally would want to see but I worry how big audience will take it. It's always nervewracking worrying about MCU stumbling. They are doing so well it's a long fall if they fail.

[@itswilbur3747]

Loved reading Action Force as a kid. There was also another UK Action Force comicbook that predates the Marvel UK one. It was published by IPC and called Battle Action Force. It focused on the first wave of AF/GI toys in the UK at the time and had a very different continuity than Marvel US. AF had different enemies. The Red Shadows led by Baron Ironblood. Cobra would show up later towards the end of the run, with Ironblood becoming Cobra Commander in a ridiculous origin story... and Destro's origin was just weird :) Here's a cool site with all the info you could ever want on this weird part of GI Joe/Action Force history www.bloodforthebaron.com

[@galbyman]

My kids just started watching the cartoon and most are loving it. My five year old refuses to watch it and begs for transformers when I put it on.

[@TheYoungDoctor]

I use to buy Action Force weekly/monthly (along with Transformers). Transformers US/ G.I. Joe was set on Marvel Earth-91274 and Transformers UK/Action Force on Marvel Earth-120185.

[@allluckyseven]

Some viewer that lives in the US should send you a cloth bag and some numbered chips for the fanart section!

[@unmitigated-claustrophobia]

From the 90s so not rare but gijoe vs transformer drawn by Jae Lee has one of the coolest takes on Snakeyes.

[@juanc1328]

All that work into Quick-Kick who end up being one of the casualties in the Trucial Abysmia debacle.

[@langleymneely]

Talking about ShangChi just as Marvel announces “ShangChi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings”!! Can you do a video on him but also Fu Manchu & how the are replacing him with Mandarin!?

[@SomeDumbKid1]

Mandarin is already pretty much Fu Manchu in all but name. I never really understood why Marvel had both the real Fu and their own pastiche at the same time.

[@michaelmartin9022]

@@SomeDumbKid1 Maybe Fu Manchu wasn't public domain when they created the knockoff, but became so later.

[@radiofreeacab]

Guys, I'm pretty sure "Cobra Commander" in this video is just Chris in a dollar store Halloween mask and a spandex skinny suit.

[@spider_dude]

I was about to sleep and the notification hit me, again great job Chris

[@Trev794]

the man who gave me back my love of comics !!!!!!!

[@Clay3613]

Action Force has some awesome covers. I would've loved if Nick Fury had his own G.I. Joe...

[@cfcoll]

Marvel Comics GI Joe Year Book 1-4 featured Rocky Balboa & retraction. Video request, can you do a short video on this occurrence?

[@sneakyskunk1]

Feel like I should leave a thanks for Jor El for donating those Gatchapon. Thanks Jor El!

[@prathapbangera508]

That time remapping is awesome

[@Videogamefanmax]

Chris:”Oh hi, You caught me witnessing half of my collection vanishing.” God damn it thanos you had to snap half of all comics out of existence.

[@ghazzter]

Cobra Commander was a used car salesman? Yeah, makes sense.

[@VorpalDerringer]

The Borovia storyline is one of my favorites, and I have to say overall, Rogers does it better. I do like the highlighted look MacFarlane uses in the opening page, with the characters as ghostly outlines among the projection, but his detail overall is less than Rogers and inaccurate in some instances--Jinx's hair, the garage walls become generic scifi walls, the tank, etc. Most notably, the Slobovian SMGs--Rogers draws them as something like a portmanteau AKM receiver and stock with PPsh-41 drum magazines. MacFarlane's are just like the tanks, not as on-model and blobbier. The biggest difference is between the truck explosion pages--Rogers goes all out and really lets us feel the explosion from the Joe teams perspective--only a dozen or two feet away down the alley, feeling the heat and the shrapnel from the tank shell exploding, the explosion consumes the entire page, filling our entire perception--just like for the Joes. I like Rogers version of Outback in the tunnel much better--it's my favorite scene. The cramped tunnel, the enemy soldiers just inches away, and it gives more dramatic impact to Stalker's blood dripping on Outbacks face.

[@spencerwelchii573]

It took me a couple of times watching on repeat, but I figured out that your voce sounds like Eddie Trunk.

[@Dinosaur_Senior]

Watching this at 3am 🙏

[@touche5616]

Fan art was great this video.

[@kamulecPL12]

Mr. Cobra Commander seem to have some time dilation issues in the first segment.

[@PrototypeOnDemand]

great vid! feature cobra commander again

[@blackphoenix77]

Why was Cobra Commander moving in slow motion? 😛

[@ComicTropes]

Correct. It’s really tough to time it out properly so sometimes I have to slow down half of the footage to line it up.

[@HeroJournalism]

You're not at Comic-Con?

[@MarsHottentot]

My Lawyer will be in touch about this whole SssssssSSSSSS!!!!

[@UserNameMandatory]

Cool t-shirt. I got that one too. Did Pravada Patrol get used again?

[@MrVideo-dj7dl]

Hey, ComicTrops. Can you take a look at the IDW My Little Pony comics?

[@braija]

wow... cobra commander REALLY let himself go.

[@sethleoric2598]

I will always be puzzled to why Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow's names seem to be switched, like seriously guys?! Snake Eyes is literally a shadow!

[@maymay5600]

soo, uhhh is there by any chance of getting your hands on the manga? the manga looks good and interesting seeing there was real american hero anime which was unfinished, listen as a fan growing up in the 2000's watching the 80's version late on cartoon network, yeah

[@user-daviddog]

GI Joe was my favorite 1n the 80s I have almost the hole collection just non of the rare ones 😞

[@waterking74]

Is cobra commander related to corporate commander or maybe starcream ;3

[@jandrewworld]

Bloopier?

[@smeyely]

Gotta love americas greatest figthing force😭😭🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@adriantrela]

I don't understand why IDW don't reprint this McFarlane issue. They have rights to all marvel joe comics including this one. They reprinted I guess everything from Marvel so why not this one? I'd love to buy a reprint and if they'd put a new McFarlane cover (I doubt Todd'd agree to draw it) it"d awesome. Goddamit IDW do it!!!!!

[@raulzavala9061]

kikiłesio - IDW actually did reprint this issue in their large Hardcover Marvel reprint books.

[@adriantrela]

@@raulzavala9061 You kidding right? McFarlane did one issue of regular series which was reprinted by IDW and this unpublished issue which was reprinted in SPECIAL by Marvel. But if you are right and IDW reprinted SPECIAL I must get it.

[@raulzavala9061]

@@adriantrela - it was reprinted in volume 7 but only in their Marvel Hardcover volumes as they didnt include this in their paperbacks.

[@creativerealms]

Curse that Thanos, wiping out half the comics on the universe.