You could make an argument that they’ll be telling the same stories over again whether it’s a reboot or not. What a reboot destroys is the characters that have been built over 250 issues.

Starting from scratch means long time readers have no idea who these characters are. If you’re into that you should be thrilled. But the potential to alienate fans is really high with this type of a stunt. Will it bring in more new readers than long time fans it sends away?

So far, all I see is mostly postings from the long timers. Some are happy and some are not. That’s not a sign that newbies are diving into this story concept though, which is really what IDW needs with this.

And check the inside cover of Frontlines #1: Hama scripted the story over Blaylock’s plots. That much was said before the first issue was released, and the lackluster plot was proof that Blaylock had zero understanding of what made the Marvel run so successful. It also tells me he wasn’t about to let Hama run wild, and put his work to shame by comparison.

Frontline was an olive branch to fans, and a slap in the face simultaneously. Devil’s Due saw what IDW knew instinctively. The fans want Hama involved, and after a year of hearing us complain, DDP had to bend under pressure.

XMEN lasted 40 plus years and never really rebooted their history. Crap from the 60s are still relevant there, heck even the 70s.

I mean the Cobra Civil War was priceless, Marvel issue 61 was a big deal, and I think it was 83 or 86 that first had the REAL GIJOE appear.

Now I know how pre-Crisis fans felt when DC rebooted in 85.

I will make one exception: Bring Cool Breeze back and make a figure of him and I will jump on.

So how do you explain Hama writing a mini and a Storm Shadow series for DDP?

I have to agree in principle with this. Having recently re-read the entire DDP run you can totally see Blaylocks fingerprints all over Jerwa’s story arcs. We can’t know for sure what parts were who’s, but there are easily a dozen places where I found myself yelling “DAMN YOU BLAYLOCK” during my reading of Jerwa’s run. The interference was glaring at times. And your point about M&A and SE:D are EXACTLY why I keep beating the Jerwa drum: those books are just plain great. Maybe I am a big dork for saying this but Master & Apprentice felt like the first time G.I. Joe was ever “real” to me. And I even got a little choked up when Shaun Collins was arguing about why Derenko couldn’t be the Nowhere Man. It was passionate and authentic.

I feel like the strength of those two books alone (and History Repeating) should be enough to make IDW put Jerwa to work immediately. He’s already said he wants to do it and Mr. Ryall seems to like him and there are more than a few fans who would like to see it happen. I think that without Josh’s interference, Jerwa’s best Joe work is still to come. I’m excited about Dixon, Gage and Hama (though I feel like his part of the preview was the weakest). But I need one more piece of the puzzle to make it perfect.

O’Sullivan would be a possible consideration too.

What many people forget, or never knew, is that in the days after Devil’s Due announced the license, Blaylock contact Hama, and essentially said “Don’t expect a paycheck.” then proceeded to spend months on the DDP boards getting schooled about what G.I.Joe was (giving Bludd a cyborg eye to match his arm, being among the biggest WTFs). In a pre-release interview, Blaylock even admitted he was a bigger Transformers fan, and when he couldn’t land that license, he went for GIJoe. Continuing on from the Marvel run was not only a “safe bet” for a small comic company, but it allowed Blaylock to take the true lazy route.

His entire 25 issue run was a fanfic nightmare of Mary Sues, storyarc rehashes, and blatent misunderstanding of the source material. He tried to age the iconic Joes and bring in the “next generation”, only to have a Hasbro mandate force him to write about the REAL G.I.Joe team. He railed against the Cobra Commander’s son Billy, then created kids for Destro and Zartan, and an adopted “student” for Snake-Eyes. His vague memories of the cartoon (and obvious preference of that version) changed the feel of the Marvel Universe, and made it *very* different.

Jerwa wasted his entire run trying to make sense of the muck Blaylock had begun, only to have his original storylines hacked apart and cancelled. His positive contributions (Master and Apprentice and Snake-Eyes Declassified) show his ability to weave new stories into the fabric of the Marvel Universe. But his DDP-centric offerings suffered because their foundation was crap.

Having IDW even try to build on the atrocious 36 issue run of America’s Elite… that’d just be a poor place for any new company to pick up from. Aside from Chris’ vague and sometimes confusing statements over the summer about Larry’s place in the IDW pantheon, I have accepted IDW’s choices and thoroughly enjoyed the shorts we got in #0.

“We’d have to forcibly resurrect some characters to even present the Joe team we wanted.” – I suppose this refers to Breaker being in the movie, and IDW wanting to start the book with the same cast. Right there, even if Hasbro mandated it, IDW would be screwed if they continued the Marvel/DDP Universe, and suddenly… there’s Breaker!

Add the deaths of Lady Jaye and Chuckles (the *main* character of “Cobra”!), the name-change mandate of Heavy Duty, and 23-years worth of Storm Shadow being a good guy (a problem Devil’s Due made so much worse by vacillating and trying to justify his Cobra status), IDW *needs* a clean slate.

A SnakeEyes with a mysterious past. Storm Shadow as a dedicated Cobra agent. The classic characters in their iconic uniforms (for the most part), without 25 years of backstabbing and rift-driving (on Cobra’s part). And best of all, Larry Hama and Chuck Dixon partnering to make G.I.Joe relevant, entertaining, and memorable again!

This is what was needed.

But a crossover with Transformers is expected once and a while, it’s just part of the situation. Hell, by the time Devil’s Due was done, I liked that continuity more than Dreamwave’s Transformers continuity. How about a continuation of that tiny one?

As important as continuity is, universal jumping on points are more important.

It’s good to occasionally scrape away the barnacles and let the creators build on the sturdy foundation at the concept’s core. Granted, you still need to have good creators involved, but the occasional reboot (even a soft one) is almost necessary.

I disagree with Chris on two points, however: Truman/Ostrander’s Hawkworld and Karl Kesel’s Superboy remain the only incarnations of those concepts that have ever worked for me.;)

Also just to add on to what someone said about Dark Horse, in a way. Image shouldn’t be treated separately from the pack. G.I. Joe at Image was Devil’s Due. They were just using Image as the company to release their books. So in actuality it’s only two companies that has worked on regular Joe comics – Marvel & Devil’s Due.

In my opinion, IDW is an amazing publisher. Just looking at the great work they’ve done with their previous licenses like STAR TREK and TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE is in great hands.

Not all of us will follow the herd

SO a reboot is necessary why again? I think the continuity from Marvel to Image (not Dark Horse) to Devil’s Due seemed pretty fluid to me. No Infinite Final Crisis Counting Down of the Multiple Secret Invasions that R.I.P screw ups. You don’t see daytime soap operas rebooting after years of continuity do you? Seriously I am getting sick and tired of these restarts. What got me into comics originally was the abundance of history that surrounded a character. I loved reading the asterisks that would say “*see issue – -”. Now we cannot do that.

Transformers, I can agree there because they got more alternate histories and universes than any comic I know. Their universe is sooo diverse, the DC Monitors are like “Now there is one f–ked up universe”. But GI JOE had one thing their robo-brethren NEVER had….consistency.

What? Is IDW too lazy to create new characters and actually develop old ones that they need to go back to the status quo fromt he 80s? If you’re that desperate, go on a fanfiction site, but seriously character need to change and develop. Did Tolkien reboot Frodo? Was James bond rebooted so the 20 movies were non canon?

If a reboot is necessary, why then are the 3 and 3/4 inch figures still around? Why not reboot them? Sigma 6 was successful right? WRONG! Don’t mess with the continuity true fans know! So new readers need some history, big whoop! Like XMEN doesnt have different rosters? You think the new readers care about ever roster of XMEN?

Reboot…no thanks. That’s what RELOADED was.

I do plan to try out the series, but I was underwhelmed with the #0 issue. The characters felt very hollow, as if their dialogue could have been spoken by anyone.

For example, the codenames were supposed to tell you about the character. Having Hawk pick Duke’s name for him made the name “Duke” become completely meaningless.

Sure, the first issue was a buck, but the next one is $5. The price plan is boxing them into a corner where they have to hold their audience immediately. Based on the #0 I question whether they can keep the die-hards or not.

Jerwa would be a great addition to this attempt IMO.

Speaking of Mr. Jerwa, Chris Ryall said in a Q&A that Jerwa’s involvement was (para-phrasing but close) a ‘maybe’ and that ‘we like Brandon a lot’. I think that Jerwa is sorely missed right now in the world of G.I. Joe and I can only hope that IDW is secretly preparing something with him right this very moment. He’s the missing ingredient. I was very disappointed to not see his name in the initial offerings. If IDW’s new start can include Hama then certainly there is room for Jerwa as well! Mr. Ryall, what sayest thou?