Larry Hama returns to G.I.Joe!, page 1

The writer that started it all back in the 80’s is back!

The G.I.Joe toy line is 42 years and was even canceled back in 1979. This didn’t last very long though as the success of the Star Wars toys kicked Hasbro in the butt and got them to talk to Marvel Comics.

Comic book writer, Larry Hama, had conceived an idea for a Marvel Comic book. The book was to be about Nick Fury’s son assembling a team of elite commandos to battle Marvel’s terrorist group Hydra. Marvel turned down the idea, but dusted it off when they learned that Hasbro was resurrecting their G.I. Joe toy line. Nick Fury’s son was replaced with the character Duke and Hydra was replaced with Cobra.
So was born the 80’s gem known as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.

Larry Hama wrote the G.I. Joe books for Marvel as well as the "file cards” that came on the back of they toy’s packaging.

Now over 20 years have past and Larry Hama is back writing the legends he created in Devil’s Due’s G.I.Joe: Declasified.

Comicbookresources.com

Official Press Release

Chicago, IL – April 5, 2006 – This June, Devil’s Due launches the G.I. JOE franchise into the stratosphere with G.I. JOE: DECLASSIFIED #1 (of 3) (Cover A - APR063088 E, Cover B - APR063089 E). The writer that started it all, Larry Hama (G.I. JOE, Wolverine), returns to the fold this June to tell the unbelievable story of how the G.I.JOE team became the elite fighting force that they are today, in an all-new three issue limited series from DDP. In the vein of the popular SNAKE-EYES: DECLASSIFIED limited series, get the untold stories of the very beginning of the G.I. JOE saga in the 48pg, three issue, bi-monthly series illustrated by up and coming artist Pat Quinn, with a cover A by Francis Manapul (Witchblade, Tomb Raider, Necromancer), all three cover A's will connect for one large image, and card stock vintage cover B by Tim Seeley. G.I. JOE is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS).

“Fans have always wondered exactly how G.I. JOE became the COBRA-smacking, force of nature it is,” says Sam Wells, DDP Assistant Publisher and G.I.JOE enthusiast. “Who were they before they were G.I.JOES? When did romances and hatreds begin? Now, after nearly 20 years of waiting, fans are finally getting the chance to find out, and I can’t wait.”

“The years before G.I. JOE #1 is a period of G.I. JOE story we have yet to really tap,” says DDP Editor Mike O’Sullivan. “I’m excited that we’re finally getting the chance to have the man who started it all tell this story, and I think fans will be pleasantly surprised. It won’t happen quite like everyone thinks it will.”

HAMA TALKS "G.I. JOE: DECLASSIFIED"

ComicBookResources.com

When "GI Joe: Declassified" begins, the team has been assembled and moved past exercising together and have begun to tackle missions. "There will be a vignette of how each guy got to be there," Hama explained. "The selections will be in flashback. I'm really trying to make it be organic to the story so it will all fit rather than just to have hem say, 'Well, here's how I got here.' Which is the difficult part. I'm very happy with how the first installment works. I think I've set up everything with a lot of neat surprises."

It shouldn't come as no surprise that one of the most popular Joe team members, Snake Eyes, is on the team in "Declassified." The story is set after the helicopter accident which destroyed his face, robbed him of his speech and turned him into a mask wearing bad ass. "There's a scene with him in this issue on the ferry with Scarlett," Hama stated. "It's sort of a reprise of previous ferry episodes and they meet a surprise person on the ferry."

"GI Joe: Declassified" will include a number of surprise appearances. Hama hinted that the secret military cabal The Jugglers would play a role in the story, "In a Jugglers sort of way." He also said, "Chuckles is showing up. So is the original Fred Broca and somebody that people have been asking me about for twenty five years."