Captivating Cover: GI Joe 135
Oh boy. The 90s hit us hard with this one. It’s a comic fad trifecta here. Popular character takes the spotlight of team book: check. Multiple squinting and yelling characters: check. Free trading card inside polybag: check.
Okay, I really don’t want to whiz all over a bygone decade with the benefit of hindsight, even though it’s become a cottage industry online. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel anyway. Come on comic commenters, pick something that’s not such an easy target. Anyhow–rant over. I’ve always liked the Ninja force concept, and Andrew Wildman’s art is certainly dynamic. This cover makes me pine for a properly articulated Ninja Force Snake Eyes again.
”Original 1982/ Ninja Force-Scarlett/Snake Eyes combo wins it all out.”
The Ninja force comics might be frowned upon in the G.I.JOE community but they are not as ‘bad’ as all the really bad [most of Liefelds stuff] comics at the time.
For a small ninja clan, I always wondered where all those Red Ninja keep coming from. I mean, Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow, and Scarlett seem to have killed a shitload of those guys.
“Okay, I don’t want to whiz all over bygone decade with the benefit of hindsight, even though it’s become a cottage industry online.” – HA! That’s some dynamic writing right there^ made me chuckle 🙂 Nicely put.
I was buying comics in this era mostly out of habit. The stories aren’t that bad, though. Re-reading them now you find some solid gems in here. I wasn’t a fan of the ’90’s artwork, but that was mostly because I grew up with the ’80’s art. At the time, you didn’t realize how that style would date itself right along with neon colors and flannel shirts.
All of these characters would have been great figures if they had standard articulation. The Snake Eyes head in partcular was a really cool design.
I also used to buy and be bought comics out of habit. Looking back on the Joe comics of that period, I’m one to admit the stories weren’t good. Wildman was the man of the moment in some senses, but to me, his artwork was over done. The poses, especially the hand gestures where ridiculous and as for ‘Snake Eyes & Ninja Force dominating both the cover and the stories this was the era in which Hasbro took a wrong turn and overplayed Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Duke…its something they’ve continued to do. Which is a shame.
Wildman was the last good regular artist on the vintage comic, he put a lot of detal in, but he had his own cliches, like squinting eyed characters with their mouths wide open. Note 3 characters doing that on this cover alone!
I was about to post that this marked when the vintage comic turned to crap, but it was well before this. That never ending silent castle stuff and Firefly’s return.