''G.I. Joe'' is an ongoing line of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

and

Skybound Entertainment Skybound Entertainment is an American multiplatform entertainment company founded by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert. It operates in concert with Image Comics. History Skybound Entertainment is the company behind the long-running comic series, ...

based on the toy line of the same name by

Donald Levine Don Levine (April 1, 1928 – May 22, 2014) was a business executive at toy manufacturers Hasbro credited as the "father" of G.I. Joe action figures. Donald Levine was born in Elmhurst, New York to the late Ralph and Mildred Levine. He gradua ...

and

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

. It is a successor of

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

's previous relaunch of ''G.I. Joe'' comics.

Publication history

After

lost the licenses to produce

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

and

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

comics by the end of 2022,

announced in June 2023 that

, an imprint of

, would acquire those licenses. Since November 2023, Skybound began publishing four limited series of the

Energon Universe The Energon Universe (EU) is an ongoing American comic book franchise and shared universe, shared fictional universe created and overseen by Robert Kirkman, and published by Skybound Entertainment, an imprint of Image Comics, in collaboration wit ...

franchise, as well as continuing IDW's ''A Real American Hero'' series, which originated from

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. During

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

2023, it was revealed that Skybound has plans to reprint both the Marvel and IDW comics based on ''G.I. Joe'', with more info set to release later.

Energon Universe series

Premise

In response to the arrival of Cybertronians on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

wants to investigate their origins while

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

wants to harness the power of Energon.

Overview

Prequel series

Starting in December 2023, Skybound began publishing four limited series set in the Energon Universe, starting with ''Duke'' and ''

Cobra Commander Cobra Commander is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' franchise. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra and the archenemy of the G.I. Joe Team. He was portrayed by Jos ...

'', being written by Joshua Williamsonn, with art and colors by Tom Reilly, Andrea Milana,

Jordie Bellaire Jordie Bellaire is an American comic book writer and colorist who lives in Florida and works for DC, Marvel, Valiant, and Image comic book publishers. She has colored '' Pretty Deadly'', '' The Manhattan Projects'', ''Moon Knight'', '' The Vis ...

and Annalisa Leoni respectively. Williamson said, “Childhood dreams come true! Get hyped! Tom and I are bringing you a new take on Duke and the formation of G.I. Joe that honors all that we love about the characters but takes it into a new and exciting direction. It's been awesome working with Skybound and Hasbro to bring this new take on the ''G.I. Joe'' franchise. For the last few years, I’ve been picking up all of the new ''G.I. Classified'' figures, so I am pumped to contribute to this new world of ''G.I. Joe'' and ''Transformers''!” In October 2023, Skybound announced that the main roster of

features

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

Stalker Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring t ...

and

Baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...

, while the main roster of

features

Destro Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional Character (arts), character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the Scottish people, Scottish leader of ...

Zarana Zarana is a fictional Character (arts), character from the ''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' toyline, comic books and animated series. She is affiliated with Cobra Command, Cobra as a member of the Dreadnoks. Profile Zarana is the younger siste ...

and

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (automobile), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City, US * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or tra ...

. In March 2024, Skybound announced the last two of the four initial limited series: '' Scarlett'', written by

Kelly Thompson Kelly Thompson is an American writer of novels and comic books. She is best known for the '' Jem and the Holograms'' comic with co-creator and artist Sophie Campbell, a modern re-imagining of the 1980s cartoon of the same name; the Eisner-nomin ...

, drawn by Marco Ferrari and colored by

Lee Loughridge Lee Loughridge is an artist who has worked as a colorist in the comics industry. He is possibly best known for his work on the various '' Batman Adventures'' titles. Bibliography His other work includes such titles as: *''Accelerate'' *''Angel' ...

; and ''Destro'', written by

Dan Watters Dan Watters is an English people, English Script (comics), comics writer who has written for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Alternative comics, independent comics. He is best known for his creator-owned comics ''Coffin Bound'' and ''Home Sick Pilot ...

, drawn by Andrei Bressan and colored by Adriano Lucas. Thompson said, “I'm fortunate that, thanks to my job, I often get to dig into characters and worlds that I’ve loved for a long time, but ''G.I. Joe's'' Scarlett is truly one of my first geek loves as a kid, and I am absolutely thrilled to have a hand in building her for this new, incredibly cool and rich universe at Skybound.” Watters added, “I'm incredibly excited to bring Destro to life with Andrei. This is going to be a visceral, explosive thriller in which he estroisn't very nice to anyone at all — everything you'd want from your favorite amoral arms trafficker.”

Mainline series

As announced in the ''Energon Universe 2024 Special'', a new ongoing ''G.I. Joe'' series in being planned for development, being a direct continuation of the ''Duke'', ''Cobra Commander'', ''Scarlett'' and ''Destro'' limited series. The series will feature the ''Duke'' creative team, with Williamson returning as writer, Reilly as illustrator, and Bellaire as colorist. The first issue debuted on November 13, 2024. To promote the debut issue, Skybound announced a fan initiative titled "Choose Your Side", in which readers submit photos and publicly declare their loyalty to either the

factions. Additionally, on the same publishing date of issue #1, there was a screening of '' G.I. Joe: The Movie'' (1987) in AMC City Walk, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, which includes a panel discussion featuring Williamson.

Plot

''Codename: G.I. Joe'' (2023–2024)

''G.I. Joe'' (2024–present)

Other continuities

''A Real American Hero''

An ongoing series written by

Larry Hama Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an People of the United States, American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles ...

, drawn by Chris Mooneyham and colored by Francesco Segala, which continues the run left in the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

and IDW series, starting with issue #301. Hama said, "I am delighted to be continuing the saga of ''G.I. Joe'' with the good folks at Skybound and totally amped to be taking the G.I. Joe team to issue #301 and beyond. Little did I know back in 1982 that I would be associated with the Real American Hero for over 40 years. My thanks to the whole crew at Skybound for allowing me to continue to chronicle the exploits of characters who have become like a family to me.” A series of five one-shot issues titled ''A Real American Hero: Silent Missions'', featuring several characters in scenes with no dialogue, was published during April 2025.

''Cold Slither''

''Cold Slither'' is an upcoming one-shot issue written by

Tim Seeley Tim Seeley is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work on books such as '' Grayson'', ''Nightwing'', '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', ''G.I. Joe vs. Transformers'' and '' New Exiles''. He is also the co-creator of the Ima ...

, drawn by Juann Cabal, colored by Rex Lokus, and lettered by Pat Brosseau. It will be published on October 1, 2025. The issue features the fictional band Cold Slither, which is based on

's Dreadnok faction, and is set in a modern version of the shared continuity between the animated series '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', ''

The Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'', '' Jem'' and ''

Inhumanoids ''Inhumanoids'' is the title of an animated series and the name of a Hasbro toy property that were both released in 1986. In the tradition of other Hasbro properties such as ''Transformers (toy line), Transformers'', and ''G.I. Joe'', the show w ...

''. Seeley said, “The catchiest song ever to grace a military themed toy line has lived in my head rent-free for forty years, so I’m happy to drag it out, and write the true story of the scrappy band of miscreants who recorded it.” Cabal added, “My parents met at a Cold Slither gig back in the ’80s, so getting to draw this one-shot has been really special for me.” Ben Abernathy, Executive Editor on Skybound, also added, “To say this face-melting issue was a labor of love is an understatement. Getting this motley crew of creators together for this incisive and heartfelt look at the rise and fall of the legendary Cold Slither was a heavy metal dream come true!” Additionally, Hasbro and

Reigning Phoenix Music Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM) is a German-American record label, specialising in extreme metal and heavy metal. History Reigning Phoenix Music was launched on July 18, 2023, by Gerardo Martinez, former manager of Nuclear Blast America, and Ge ...

will present a concert in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

’s Brick by Brick festival (July 24), featuring Gus Rios as

Zartan Zartan is a fictional character from the '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' toyline, comic books, and animated series. He is one of the main villains in the franchise as the leader of the Dreadnoks, and a mercenary who often worked directly for ...

(vocals/bass), Ross Sewage as Torch (guitar), Matt Harvey as Ripper (guitar) and Andy Selway as Buzzer (drums).

Accolades

Collected editions

Energon Universe

''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero''

Notes

References

{{Hasbro Comics based on Hasbro toys G.I. Joe comics Hasbro Military comics Reboot comics Skybound Entertainment titles Superhero comics Transformers comics