Captivating Cover: Sea to Shining Sea

I’ve found several of these GI Joe vs. Cobra books of late, and I find myself fascinated by the fact that in the early 2000s, the brand was deemed viable enough by Hasbro to procure licensing deals to produce ancillary bits of cross promotion.

Some of the books lack the boldness of the 80s offerings, but this one I find quite exciting. It’s partially due to the art, but also due to the designs of the two characters. Wet Suit and the Cobra Moray bear some resemblance to their toy counterparts, but the uniforms here are much more striking than the final released product. There’s just a little extra graphic “oomph” to these two that make them more interesting to me. If only the final toy product could have translated such excitement. Then again,maybe I’m just jazzed to see sharks on the cover of a GI Joe book.