Reading – G.I. Joe vs. Cobra, The Essential Guide
I have a weakness for “complete” and “ultimate” and “essential” guides for various areas of geekdom. From time to time I’ve opened some of my toy reviews with brief quotes from different guides that I own (some of you have no doubt noticed when I do that) and I’m always keeping my eyes open for new guides and/or used guides that I’ve missed.
Well, a few days ago I scored a copy of the new G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide written by Pablo Hidalgo. A 180-page softcover collection of facts, rumors, and trivia regarding the G.I. Joe team, this book appears to blend the old Marvel comics, the cartoon series, the Devil’s Due comics, and even some of the new IDW comics into a single G.I. Joe universe. Since I missed most of the Devil’s Due comics — and haven’t really touched the IDW comics — I’m no doubt blurring some things together but overall I really appreciate the level of detail that’s packed into this book.
The book is divided into five chapters — detailed below — and every single chapter is packed with artwork. From comics, toys, the cartoon . . . anywhere there was relevant G.I. Joe artwork the graphic designers/art directors on this project grabbed an image and ran. Even those Ashley Wood covers from the recent comic packs make an appearance in this book. This is hands-down the best-looking G.I. Joe book I’ve ever seen.
So about those chapters. Well, keep reading for a short description of each chapter and a few photos of some page spreads.
- Chapter One: G.I. Joe Characters – Roughly sixty pages of Joe character descriptions, from guys like Snake Eyes to Lifeline to Sci-Fi and dozens of others, pack this section. Each character is given at least one illustration, some basic info, and more important characters have a detailed history and information on a special mission or two.
Click to expand the photo in a new window. - Chapter Two: Threat Forces – Like the first chapter but for the villains, this chapter’s a fun read. (But where’s Dr. Venom?) Ever wanted Serpentor’s story in one place? Well, here it is.
- Chapter Three: Motor Pool: Vehicles and Hardware – Where would G.I. Joe or Cobra be without their awesome vehicles? Each vehicle is illustrated and has some information on firepower and basic technical specifications. This chapter’s for those of us who love the wacky and the mundane, from the S.N.A.K.E. to the Defiant to the Skystriker the info is at your hands. But hey, where’s the Pogo? They give us the Stellar Stiletto (which is my favorite spaceship in the series) but no Pogo Battle Ball? I call shenanigans!
Click to expand the photo in a new window. - Chapter Four: Mission Reports – A short section detailing a few of the larger conflicts, from both comics and cartoon. This section’s okay, but the book Now You Know: The Unauthorized Guide to G.I. Joe TV and Comics does a better job of covering this stuff.
- Chapter Five: The Mission Continues . . . – The last chapter is two comic stories. They’re very short stories, and simply lead into IDW titles, so including them here was more of a marketing move than anything else but it’s not a terrible chapter. (Just unnecessary and I would have rather seen the section devoted to a history of the toy line.)
Basically, this is a must-own book for G.I. Joe fans. I’m very happy I grabbed mine and recommend that you find yours now before they’re all gone.
Oh this sounds interesting. I might just have to check it out.
@Newt – If you’re a Joe fan then you want this book. Find it in a store and flip through it for about five minutes and you’ll see what I mean.