What's the general consensus on IDW's GI Joe? Is it worth reading or should I leave it alone?

As I understand it, it wipes away all of the Image/Devil's Due storyline, even though the DD stuff took place as a sequel to the Marvel run. Hama climbed back into the driver's seat and continued the original continuity as he would have done it, right? This only makes sense, as Josh Blaylock never really figured out what do to with the characters once he secured the rights to them. Brandon Jerwa had a much better understanding of the characters and dynamics, but seems to have been blocked by Blaylock, who didn't want to be out-shined.

To be fair, there were two things about the DD era I liked: Kamakura and other new characters. Sean Collins/Kamakura is (sort of) back in IDW Joe lore, but introduced under a different code name? I guess Hama didn't want to feel like he had any DD residue in his writing. Giving Blaylock credit for making the boy SE wrote a letter to in the last Marvel issue grow up to be a Joe seems like an idea Hama would have gotten to anyway.

Is Hama's writing still good or has it become a parody of what it once was?

I definitely think IDW's Real American Hero is worth reading. Larry Hama is as impressive as ever. Technically, yes, it does wipe out the Devil's Due stories, but if you liked those, there's no reason you can't continue to enjoy them. IDW has even reprinted them in Trade Paperback format, dubbing them "Disavowed".

Hama has done an excellent job of picking up where he left off. I certainly recommend IDW's Real American Hero.

I've come to discover that Hama when I was 11 and Hama when I am 45 are two completely different things.

As far as a simple answer to your over-arching question of worth reading? Yes. Especially Mike Costa's stuff.

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The ONLY comic I get is the Hama one... I don't read the OTHER IDW Joe comic at all... and ESPECIALLY NOT the GI Joe/TF comic as it has NO real story to it and looks and reads like it was drawn by a 12 yr old.

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It's a fun continuation of the original run, but I also enjoyed 90% of the Devils due stuff. I thought WW3 was great.

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My only real complaint about it is the art of SL Gallant. A minor complaint is The Death Of Snake Eyes story arc and it's aftermath...

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Roguetiger, regarding your analysis of the art in the G.I. Joe/Transformers comic -- you're insulting 12-year-olds. That thing's a disgrace.

LIVEVIL, SL Gallant's art isn't bad. It's not top of the mark, but it's not bad. I've certainly seen worse at times over the years.

Perhaps SL Gallant's art isn't total garbage but I still shudder at MD Bright and Phil Gosier's art at GI Joe back in the Marvel days. Too bad they can't get Mike Zeck or Rod Whigham again...

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Gallants art was an acquired taste...At first I didn't care for it but rather like it now.

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If you're a Marvel run fan then yes the A Real American Hero continuation is worth picking up. I will warn you that it is collected under 2 different names - "Classic G.I. Joe" which is a continuation of the Marvel run TPBs that IDW reprinted and the "A Real American Hero" TPB collections. The Classic books are packaged to match the first 15 Marvel run TPBs while the ARAH books match the other IDW trades. Also the ARAH are more current than the Classic.

If you're into some new continuity then I can't recommend the "Cobra" series highly enough. It is a beautiful book with a fantastic storyline. Definitely what I think G.I. Joe should be in the new millennium.

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The last issue I bought was 192, so I went and picked up volumes 8,9, and 10 of the ARAH trades today. I'll be caught up in no time, but will probably just continue with the trades instead of the singles. At some point I will go back and pick up the other 7 trades for some uniformity.

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IDW's main GI Joe book runs hot or cold. The offshoots or stories that focus on Cobra (Hearts and Minds) have been fantastic. But the main book is inconsistent for me.

Hama has always been able to dance the fine line between book based on a toyline and real world military. I admit I havne't been keeping up with it recently but it too seems to have its ups and downs. But Hama is great at narrative and layout so at least you won't be confused about why you dislike something. He's also still great at leaving bread crumbs for later stories.

TF/GI Joe, we've said it before, this book is a fun book, but it is absolutely not for everyone. The art, as described by Hypnohustler is "a fever dream wrapped in Kirby krackle". The covers appear to be homages of some of the TF packaging collage posters. The stories take leaps between panels/pages/issues that make the overall story feel super compressed. And it isn't in continuity so they play around with everything you know and love and do it up differently. But then you get stuff like the free comicbook day story about Billy that includes a connect the dots cybernetic leg activity section. It is weird and I would never want it as the main book, but it is so different and original I like that it exists.

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I gave up on the main IDW line way back...I remember them rebooting the book into two with a more super hero aesthetic for the main line...I bought some of the issues but never bothered to read them and eventually stopped picking it up altogether.

I've given the TF/GI Joe book a few chances, but absolutely cannot get past the horrendous art work. With comics being a visually centric medium, if I can't stand to look at it, I can't stand to read it.

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