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- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- Behind the scenesIt grew out of a S.H.I.E.L.D. pitch
Larry Hama had a pitch called Fury Force, a super-soldier team tied to S.H.I.E.L.D. When Hasbro signed with Marvel in 1981, it became G.I. Joe, and Archie Goodwin suggested Cobra as the recurring enemy.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe first comic with a TV ad
Issue #1 got a TV commercial in 1982, the first ever made to sell a comic book. Since it advertised the comic and not the toy, it could run about 30 seconds of animation instead of the 10 allowed for toy ads.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA whole issue without words
In #21, Hama wanted to see if he could tell a complete story with no balloons, captions or sound effects. Readers complained at the time that it read too fast, and today it is the series' best-remembered issue.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe movies started here
Hama was hired as a creative consultant on The Rise of Cobra (2009), and the producer said the inspiration was Hama's comics, not the cartoon. The Joes' base in the film is the Pit, as in the 1980s comic.
source ↗ - SetupLook at the tattoo
On the last page of #21, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow turn out to have the same red tattoo on their arms. The series explains what it means a few issues later.
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- Behind the scenesSpecial Missions, the harder-edged spin-off
Special Missions spun out of issue #50 and ran 28 issues from 1986, mostly drawn by Herb Trimpe. It was more violent and pitted the Joes against enemies outside Cobra.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesMcFarlane's rejected pages
Marshall Rogers penciled the final version of issue #61 after Hama turned down Todd McFarlane's pages for the same story.
source ↗ - Behind the scenes1,200 letters a week
By 1985 the comic sold over 330,000 copies a month, and Jim Shooter said it was Marvel's top subscription title. In 1987 the office was getting 1,200 letters a week.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA used-car salesman
The volume tells Cobra Commander's secret origin: a former used-car salesman whose brother died in a crash after coming home from Vietnam.
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- Behind the scenesSnake Eyes' face
This stretch of the series is where Snake Eyes' face is shown for the first time, after years behind the mask.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe Snake Eyes Trilogy
Issues #94–96 make up the Snake Eyes Trilogy, in which the Baroness shoots Scarlett. In #102, Snake Eyes says her name for the first time in years.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAn empty grave
The original Cobra Commander was shot in the back in #61. His comeback in #98 (March 1990) starts with the discovery of an empty grave.
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- ReferenceThe first Transformers team-up
G.I. Joe and the Transformers (January–April 1987) teamed the Joes with the Autobots against the Decepticons and Cobra. The shared-world idea came back in 2023 with the Energon Universe.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesEnding alongside the toys
Marvel canceled the series with issue #155 in 1994 due to low sales. Hasbro ended the toy line that same year, and the second cartoon had been canceled three years earlier.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA letter to close it out
Marvel's final issue is a standalone story called A Letter from Snake Eyes.
source ↗ - SetupSnake Eyes' origin gets a twist
This volume reveals a link between Snake Eyes' origin and Cobra Commander himself, which recasts their rivalry.
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- Behind the scenesFree on Free Comic Book Day
Issue #155½ came out free on Free Comic Book Day, May 1, 2010, and launched the IDW series, which continued with #156 in July.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAs if Devil's Due never happened
The series continues straight from Marvel and sets aside the continuity Devil's Due Publishing had built in the 2000s.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAll the way to #300
Hama wrote the IDW series through #300 in November 2022, when the publisher lost the G.I. Joe license.
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- Behind the scenesSame series, new publisher
Skybound took over the license in June 2023 and released #301 on November 15 that year. It is the same series that began at Marvel in 1982, still written by Larry Hama.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesIt opens mid-explosion
Issue #301 doesn't start fresh: it picks up #300's cliffhanger, with Serpentor trying to set off a bomb and the Joes racing to get away.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAndy Kubert cover
The volume is drawn by Chris Mooneyham with a cover by Andy Kubert, who also did covers for the Marvel-era Compendiums.
source ↗ - SetupVipers with electronic eyes
Serpentor deploys Vipers with implants that transmit everything they see. Keep track of who is watching through them.
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- Behind the scenesOn the best-issues lists
Issue #21, Silent Interlude, ranked #44 on Wizard's 100 Best Single Issues list and #6 on an io9 list.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesHama did the breakdowns too
On #21, Larry Hama wrote the story and drew the breakdowns, with Steve Leialoha finishing the art. The only text in the issue is written on a grenade.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFive Joes, zero words
The new stories follow #21's rule and give a solo issue to Duke, Roadblock, Jinx, Spirit and Beach Head.
source ↗ - ReferenceRetaliation's nod to #21
G.I. Joe: Retaliation's Himalayan sequence has almost no dialogue as a nod to #21. Snake Eyes even shoots down Storm Shadow's throwing stars with his submachine gun, as in the comic.
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- Behind the scenesHoward Chaykin covers
The 2009 miniseries was written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa, drawn by Antonio Fuso, with covers by Howard Chaykin.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesAn MTV award
G.I. Joe: Cobra Special, focused on twins Tomax and Xamot, won MTV's award for Best One-Shot of 2009.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFrom miniseries to ongoing
The follow-up started as Cobra II, another 4-issue miniseries, and went ongoing from #5 for 13 issues in total. Cobra Civil War came next.
source ↗ - SetupRobots that can't pick a side
The B.A.T. robots Chuckles oversees still can't tell friend from foe. That flaw matters at the end of the miniseries.
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- Behind the scenesAn Eisner for the colors
Jordie Bellaire won the 2025 Eisner Award for Best Coloring for her work on Duke and G.I. Joe.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe writer collected the figures
Joshua Williamson said he had been collecting G.I. Joe Classified figures before taking on Duke, which he called a new take on how the team was formed.
source ↗ - ReferenceThe scientist from issue #1
Dr. Adele Burkhart, killed off in #1, comes from Marvel's first issue in 1982. One of her documents shows the M.A.S.S. Device, the superweapon from the cartoon's pilot.
source ↗ - ReferenceToy vehicles under a new flag
The weapons Duke finds at M.A.R.S. include H.I.S.S. tanks, F.A.N.G.s and B.A.T.s, all classic Cobra vehicles and figures.
source ↗ - SetupThe mission on the last pages
The miniseries' ending hands Duke a job that becomes the starting point for the Energon Universe's next G.I. Joe books.
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- ReferenceCobra-La comes from the 1987 movie
Cobra-La, Golobulus and Nemesis Enforcer were created for G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987). In the film, Cobra Commander was also an agent of Cobra-La.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesEspionage horror
The publisher billed it as an espionage horror series, the second of four minis that launched the G.I. Joe side of the Energon Universe.
source ↗ - SetupKeep an eye on Cobra-La
The final pages show Cobra-La hasn't forgotten the Commander, and tie the underground city to the Transformers side of the story.
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- Behind the scenesEisner-nominated
Kelly Thompson was nominated for the 2025 Eisner Award for Best Writer for Scarlett.
source ↗ - ReferenceJinx has been on the big screen
Jinx, the friend Scarlett is looking for, was played by Elodie Yung in G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), where she is also part of the Arashikage clan.
source ↗ - ReferenceSnake Eyes' Hard Master
The Hard Master, head of the clan Scarlett confronts, appeared in Snake Eyes (2021), played by Iko Uwais. Samara Weaving played the film's Scarlett.
source ↗ - SetupA glowing sword
The prize the clan is guarding is a glowing sword. Note the color: it explains why Cobra wants it too.
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- ReferenceM.A.R.S. on the big screen
In The Rise of Cobra (2009), Destro is James McCullen, founder of M.A.R.S., played by Christopher Eccleston. It is the same arms company as in this miniseries.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe story of the mask
In #3, Destro tells the history of the metal mask handed down through his family.
source ↗ - ReferenceAn ending borrowed from Transformers
The final scene recreates the ending of Transformers #12, Skybound's sister series.
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- Behind the scenesThe 2024 ongoing
G.I. Joe debuted on November 13, 2024, bringing together the four earlier minis (Duke, Cobra Commander, Scarlett and Destro).
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA Cobra tank on the Joes' side
During the escape from M.A.R.S., Clutch shows up driving an Energon-boosted H.I.S.S. tank, Cobra's classic vehicle.
source ↗ - SetupClutch's jeep
The reveal on the last pages changes the course of the Joes-Cobra war and ties the series firmly to the Transformers side of the Energon Universe.
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- Behind the scenesNight Force, the secret team
Flint and Lady Jaye start building Night Force, a team running alongside the Joes, and their first recruit is Beach Head.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesShooter's debut
Sharpshooter Shooter makes her first appearance in issue #12.
source ↗ - SetupThe shredded memo
In #7, Cover Girl asks Hawk about a heavily redacted memo that mentions Night Force. He calls it an old project and shreds it.
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- Behind the scenesRoadblock's debut
Roadblock makes his first Energon Universe appearance in issue #18, running a food truck in Biloxi.
source ↗ - ReferenceZartan and his disguises
In G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Zartan spends the film disguised as the U.S. President. His habit of posing as someone else drives this volume too.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesA full-page punch
Issue #17 has a Hound transformation sequence that ends in a splash page of the Autobot slamming his fist into the ground.
source ↗ - SetupHawk gets a call from his sister
In #17's epilogue, Hawk takes a call from someone who calls him her brother. Pay attention to who she is.
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