G.I. JOEversity: First Issue Round Table

Welcome to our very first G.I. JOEversity round table! With the premiere of G.I. Joe #1 last month, I invited several Multiversity staffers to discuss G.I. Joe and provide a new readers’ perspective on the series’ first issue. Joining me are Multiversity Editor-In-Chief, Matthew Meylikhov, Associate Editors Walt Richardson and Brian Salvatore, and Staff Writers Vince Ostrowski and David Henderson.

Welcome to G.I. JOEversity, guys. Before we dig in and start talking about the new G.I. Joe #1, I want to find out just how “novice” you fellas truly are. So prior to this issue, what did you each know about G.I. Joe?

Walt: I know that they fight Cobra mostly.

Vince: I mostly know the cartoon Joes. I know that I try to get into GI Joe comics every time there’s a relaunch event and they always lose me before a year is over. I know I should eventually get around to reading Hama’s Joe comics.

Matthew: I know that they they like to approach random children making poor life decisions and offer up some corrective measures to improve their lives.

Brian: Like any red-blooded American boy between the ages of 25 and 40, I had some GI Joe toys growing up, and I watched the cartoon sporadically. I can probably name a half dozen characters from the series.

David: I saw the film a few months back and I remember Christopher Eccleston being in it. That’s about it.

So you’re all basically on the same page where the current G.I. Joe comics are concerned, and that’s good, that’s good…

Okay, so was this week’s G.I. Joe #1 something you were already planning on picking up, or did you only read it because I asked you to? And for those who had decided to give it a try, why was that?

Brian: To be totally honest, the only reason I would have picked it up is if my good pal Chad Bowers that I’d be a fool not to, which is to say I probably would have picked it up, because Chad is pretty enthusiastic about all things Joe. But, beyond a first issue? It would really have to knock my socks off for me to add it to my regular pull list.

Matthew: Kind of a mix of the two. I don’t know. I definitely feel pressured into it by Chad Bowers, who keeps threatening my cats. I don’t think I’d ever read a GI Joe comic on my own, just because that’s not in my wheelhouse. I mean, I liked the Transformers cartoons when I was a kid and own the movie on DVD, but I don’t read those comics. So, that’s the main impetus – Bowers.

But, I like #1s, I like Fred Van Lente, I like getting into things. Even if Bowers hadn’t sent me threatening texts, I probably would’ve given it a read. It’d be a bit silly of me not to be awares of what’s going on in Comic Land, right?

David: Having never really indulged in G.I. Joe before, I don’t know if I would have bought it, but I know that after Chad explained the rundown of the reboot at NYCC I was definitely keeping an eye on it. I would have probably flicked through it in the store the week it came out to decide if I wanted to buy it or not.

Walt: I had heard good things about IDW’s Joe comics, but never got around to reading them. Like most comic fans, I can be a sucker for a shiny new #1, and with Fred Van Lente’s name attached to it, I finally had a chance to jump on. Van Lente is really one of the most underrated guys in the business, and from his recent work on Archer and Armstrong and the general premise of G.I. Joe, it seemed like a book he could turn into something new.

Plus, the thing about Matt’s cats. Turning them into slippers? That’s really screwed up, Chad.

Vince: I would have picked it up, because I always try the new GI Joe #1’s whenever they come around. My reasoning is that I really want to like a GI Joe comic. Unfortunately, I want to like them more than I ever actually end up liking them.

A man’s got to keep his feet warm, Walt.

Also, who knew I was so influential in your lives, guys? I feel like I just spoke at your graduation ceremony of something.

Anyway, now that you’ve all had a chance to read it, and as essentially newbies, what’s your take on the first issue?

Matthew: I think it’s pretty good. As a general first issue, it accomplishes all the basic tasks: introduces the characters, introduces the core concepts that fuel the book, shows the team in action and presents a dynamic worth reading about. I think Van Lente provides a particularly good voice here, because he’s a guy who knows how to straddle that line between serious and comedy in a way where neither feels intrusive. “GI JOE”, to me, seems like one of those books that needs to be serious enough to represent the army yet still embrace the ostensibly goofy nature of its existence, and it does that in spades. And Steve Kurth is a champ, and has worked with Van Lente in the past, so that’s already a great sign of things to come.

All that said? I can’t help but note that I burst out laughing at the final page, and not really in the best way. I will assume this has come out after people have had the chance to read it and I’ll throw in a spoiler warning none the less, but that final page of Baroness all awkwardly contorted this way and that to accentuate her body? That was pretty ridiculous. Kind of killed it for me. I showed my gal the comic and her reply was that Baroness must have scoliosis.

Not to be a prude or anything, but, you know. Just kinda silly.

Brian: I enjoyed it, perhaps even more than I anticipated. There were just enough winks and nods to the past without it turning into a nostalgia trip, and it managed to be funny, without being obnoxious. I feel like, for the most part, I know who these characters are, even if i found Tunnel Rat and Quick Kick’s uniforms and styling a little same-y and confusing.

Fred Van Lente is an odd guy to take on this book, as he is a pretty outspoken lefty, politically, but I think that is why the book works as well as it does. It is about the military but doesn’t smack you across the face with the typical “rah rah killing brown people” rhetoric that, probably unfairly, people expect a military comic to be.

Steve Kurth’s work was nice, but I wish that IDW went with a more idiosyncratic artist. Van Lente is making a GI Joe book that doesn’t resemble any other; why not let an artist do the same? Kurth’s actual work (minus the Baroness pinup at the end) was solid and quite nice in parts, but the book could have used someone more distinct on pencils, at least for me.

Walt: I’m not sure if I would say it wasn’t obnoxious at all — while I get what Van Lente is going for with Hashtag, I let out an audible groan with nearly every panel she was in. I know, I know, that’s kind of the point, but I do not find those kind of purposefully annoying characters entertaining in the slightest. Otherwise, I agree with both Matt and Brian: Van Lente has always been great at having fun while still taking his story seriously, and this looks to be another example of that. The problem with a lot of writers who try to inject humor into their stories is that they do it at the expense of the story, instantly killing any reader interest. The premise that Van Lente is dealing with is 100% serious, and excellently accomplishes the two important things that this issue needs to do: first, introduce the Joes to a new generation of readers; second, fully suspend the reader’s disbelief — something difficult when the reader is fully aware they are reading a comic about… well, toys.

Sorry, Chad.

As for Kurth, I am going to have to echo Brian’s sentiments. Is he a bad artist? Not in the slightest. A few pages were a bit stagnant — though that could have been the product of the low resolution and IDW watermark — but for the most part, he’s a solid artist who fits the bill. Unfortunately, though, that’s the best I can say about him. I like his work, but I don’t love it.

Vince: First of all, I enjoyed this as a first issue of Joe, because it really did feel like a different Joe than I’ve read in a while. A lighter GI Joe. It doesn’t get stuck in the hard ass, personality-free tone that military books often fall into. Even Duke, who hasn’t had a personality in years, gets a few chuckles from me. Van Lente does an especially good job balancing a team and giving everyone something to do.

I called Kurth a “reliable” artist in CSBC this week. I stand by that after issue #1. He gives you reliable art for an issue, but never once wowed me. The Baroness shot at the end was pretty jarring, but he handled the other ladies in the comic well, I thought.

I did find Hashtag to be annoying. And I can just see it coming down the road: everyone will play up her worthlessness until she comes through in a clutch moment to go beyond her duties as a blogger, or something, proving her worth. I think putting Joe in the media eye is an angle that’s already giving the characters a fresh feel, but I’m not sure I want Hashtag tagging along.

See what I did there?

David: Much like everyone else, I enjoyed the issue. A lot more than I was expecting to, actually. Not that I doubt Chad’s wisdom in such matters but not American, I think I had this unfair notion that G.I. Joe was some kind of Michael “America, Fuck Yeah” Bay predecessor.

But the story that Van Lente is not only a lot more genuinely enjoyable than I would perhaps have expected, but also speaks to an international audience in the same way some military superheroes do. The Joes are symbols first and foremost and while that did lead me to not really being able to distinguish between the characters, but the one shot of the people watching the Joes fly off to the action and react to it gave them a real sense of purpose and place.

Other than that, I enjoyed Kurth’s art even if I didn’t find it anything too special and the reveal at the end of the issue did hook me enough to want to read more. So I think a job well done.

I actually really liked Kurth’s art on the book. I get what you’re saying, but I honestly feel like once the other books are (re)added to the line — G.I. Joe: Special Missions and Cobra Files — we’ll really see why Kurth was the guy for G.I. Joe. Mostly, I think, because it’s the wide open superhero G.I. Joe, as opposed to the espionage heavy, global crime initiative book that the other two will be.

So who would you recommend this first issue to? And do you think you’ll stick with it?

David: I think I would comfortably recommend the issue to most anyone looking to read G.I. Joe.

As my own first issue it really worked in explaining the world and the idea of G.I. Joe and I feel like that it would do the same for everyone.

And, yeah, I think I really will stick with it.

Vince: I will stick with it. Through the first arc (or “trade”). I’m looking for even more of that “superhero” GI Joe you’ve mentioned. I want the wacky villains and impossible sci-fi situations back. I want cackling bad guys and Cobra Commander with an evil lisp and everything! If Van Lente continues to lean more in that direction, then I’ll be hooked.

I would recommend it to people who have fond memories of Joe from the 80’s, but only if I think they don’t take themselves too seriously, either.

Walt: I’d recommend this to people like me, who have heard good things about the comic franchise but have yet to jump in. As for whether or not I’ll stick with it, I think I will. Between this and Archer and Armstrong, Fred has been carving out a unique niche for himself with comics that are both political and don’t take themselves too seriously. This has the potential to go some really interesting places.

Matthew: I’d generally openly recommend the book. I imagine this is probably more exciting for people with some sort of attachment to GI Joe, but it’s open-ended enough where a guy like me can hop in and check it out and “get” what’s going on. It’s a good introduction.

That said, will I stick around? I don’t know. Haven’t decided yet, but honestly, probably not. At least, not in single issues. I have no investment in GI Joe, and while I liked this issue nothing about it particularly tells me I should read it over what I normally read. Like, it’s good, but it’s not so good that I want to invest in a new franchise. I’m probably going to give it another look once it comes around to trade, but as faux pas as it is to probably say, I just have so literal general interest in the GI Joe franchise as a whole that one good read isn’t going to turn me around.

If, however, I hear immediately how great the second issue is, I will certainly go back to the store and check out the second issue. I’m perfectly happy to be wrong. In fact, I’d rather be!

Brian: I would recommend the issue to anyone who has a connection to GI Joe or asked what I thought of the issue, but I don’t know if this is the sort of book that I tell the wife “You’ve gotta read this.” I don’t know if this is the type of book that could penetrate either the non-licensed comic readership nor the irregular comic reading audience. I hate, hate, hate this phrase, but this isn’t much of a water-cooler comic.

As for whether I’ll stick around – I’m not sure. Like all of us, I’m on a comics budget, and I don’t know if anything will drop from my pull to add this in on a regular basis. However, checking out issue #2 is a definite, as is checking out all the other #1s in the relaunch.

I seriously don’t know what I’ll do if I find myself reading 3 GI Joe comics.

All in all, boys, it seems like you enjoyed the first issue. To varying degrees, of course… but yeah, a like’s a like in my book.

As for continuing with the series, I understand why some of you might not be 100% sold. But as we close things out, explain how you perceive G.I. Joe as a new reader, and how jumping on this book is different from, say, reading X-Men for the very first time, or a non-DC suddenly reading New 52 Justice League?

Is it just that there’s already a broad, multi-media familiarity with most of those casts and characters because we’ve been around comics so much? Or is there genuinely something different and marginally distracting about G.I. Joe as a legitimate comic property because of its toy roots?

And finally, can G.I. Joe position itself maybe a little better in that regard?

Vince: Well, I come at this as more of a lapsed GI Joe fan than a new reader, so I guess I can only tell you my own reasons for seeing it differently than an X-Men or a Justice League comic.

GI Joe used to be about colorful villains and explosive, world-spanning action. It was never too realistic, nor was it particularly subtle. As a kid, whether I knew it or not, that’s what I dug about it.

My perception is that GI Joe, since the whole cartoon/toy era ended, has had trouble recalling what made it so special in the first place. It has dealt more with subtle espionage, shadowy military conspiracy, and, most disappointingly, realism. That’s not all bad. “Cobra” was an exceptional miniseries from IDW. But it’s not the type of thing I want from my main GI Joe title, nor is it what I want the whole line to feel like.

The potential variety in the cast had been dulled in efforts to downplay how frankly goofy some of these characters were. But when you worry about making these characters too realistic, you end up with a bunch of faceless army guys. Characters said “Yo Joe.” through clenched jaws instead of “YO JOE!!!” The fun was gone and it made GI Joe stand out to a lesser degree on the stands. Unfortunately, whether totally accurate or not, that’s been my perception of GI Joe since the early 00’s – maybe even earlier.

Maybe Fred Van Lente can bring the fun back.

Matthew: Speaking personally, GI Joe for me is about 90% new material. I know a thing or two, but it’s not like me seeing a new #1 from Marvel or DC. That makes it really hard to answer your question with any specific certainty, because I have no idea what its like for a new person to try and read something like the X-Men, which I’ve been reading for years.

I mean, what’s the big complaint about jumping-on points? People not being able to understand references, or being intimidated by continuity? Eh. Neither of those things really bug me here. I know next to nothing about GI Joe outside of a name and that Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn’t in the sequel. Continuity doesn’t intimidate me here.

I don’t see other things as playing a part of it, because it’s really all about just the one thing: the book, it’s quality (or lack thereof) and whether or not it engages the reader on a level enough to make them want to continuity. Perhaps writing for a website about comics for a few years has changed how I see things (note: oh, it assuredly has) but outside factors just don’t particularly matter to me. It’s all about enjoying the comic for what is presented within the pages.

Well, that and monetary considerations, but that’s a completely different argument.

But that said, Fred Van Lente and Steve Kurth are definitely the team for the insurmountable task of making GI Joe more relevant, that’s for sure.

Walt: Speaking personally, I don’t have any problem with the toy aspect, but I can see why that is distracting to other readers. With, say, the Batman franchise, you have so many other iterations of the character besides the comic: the films, the shows, the video games, the novels, and, yes, the toys. The GI Joe franchise has all of these, too (though maybe not to the same degree), but I think what separates the two is the GI Joe was a toy first. This disconnect isn’t present in, say, Batman because even though comics are still a marginalized media by everyone who isn’t a Hollywood executive trying to make money out of them, it is still a storytelling medium. Some companies may put a lot of world building into a line of toys, but once the box and the little stapled packet included at purchase are lost, the only stories attached to a toy or those you place upon it, making it harder to acheive that kind of disconnect. I suppose watching the GI Joe movies or reading the GI Joe comics instantly makes many adults think of playing with toys — and in today’s society that is significantly less acceptable than shouting racial and homophobic slurs while playing Call of Duty.

Brian: To me, and this is probably pretty indicative of the types of comics I like, GI Joe as a concept is pretty dull. You mentioned reading X-Men for the first time – a group of teenagers who have no idea how to harness their immense natural powers, and a system to help them through that – that idea is still riveting today. Military dudes? Much, much less interesting to me. But that said, I don’t want GI Joe to try and be X-Men or Justice League – be GI Joe. For me to regularly buy the books, it needs is to be consistently well executed, because it isn’t a book I’d buy because I enjoy hanging out with, or a concept I can’t deny.

The toy roots don’t bother me, and I think that what Van Lente did in #1, subtly referencing the toys (“That’s some grip”) is the best way about it. There is no reason to play down that connection; in fact, it helps GI Joe stand out from other properties.

As for how can GI Joe better position itself in the comics world, it is simply by making better comics. I don’t think people wander into a comic shop and buy GI Joe comics because of name recognition; they need to be purchased because they are good. And, if this first issue is any indication, that is exactly what they’re doing.

David: I think for me, the difference between something like G.I. Joe and, say, the X-Men is what it’s “about”. This might have something to do with the fact that I had access to the X-Men cartoon and not the G.I. Joe, but I’ve always known that X-Men are about finding your place in the world as an outsider. Ask seven year old David what G.I. Joe is about and you’d probably get an unsure “The army guys?”

Perhaps it does have something to do with the fact that the stories were built as extended toy commercials. But I never even had that problem with Transformers which you could say the same thing about.

I think for me to continue reading G.I. Joe long term, Van Lente would have to do what he seemed to be doing with this #1: make the Joes be about something. Make it be about the military as a symbol and how that relates to the host of superhero comics in the world.

Good to know. Hey, thanks for stopping by, boys, and thanks for sharing.

Join us later in the week as we prep for March’s launch of G.I. Joe: Special Missions with an interview by series writer Chuck Dixon.