136-436: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a comic book that was published by Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1994. Based on Hasbro 's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys, the series has been credited for making G.I. Joe into a pop-culture phenomenon. G.I. Joe was also the first comic book to be advertised on television, in what has been called a "historically crucial moment in media convergence". The series
272-667: A bachelor's degree in Arts in 1997. He went on to a master's degree program at SUNY New Paltz . Beginning September 8, 1999, he taught art for two years at Eldred Central School in Sullivan County, New York . He lost his staff position in the mid-1990s when Marvel downsized, but he continued to freelance for the publisher. In 2000, he wrote an article for The New York Times about ageism in comics. Trimpe penciled BPRD : The War on Frogs (Aug. 2008) for Dark Horse Comics , and returned to his signature character by drawing
408-480: A superhero -team comic featuring the Hulk. He also drew the cover, featuring the Hulk, of the 1971 issue of Rolling Stone containing a major profile of Marvel Comics. The artist in 2002 recalled a less-than-smooth start to his Hulk tenure: "I did, like, three or four pages, and Stan [Lee] saw them and made Frank Giacoia do the layouts [for Trimpe's fourth issue, #109, Nov. 1968]. It wasn't my storytelling, there
544-675: A tabloid form. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also appeared in the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine . The content of Action , another title aimed at children and launched in the mid-1970s, became the subject of discussion in the House of Commons . Although on a smaller scale than similar investigations in the US, such concerns led to a moderation of content published within British comics. Such moderation never became formalized to
680-432: A "toy book". However its popularity eventually grew, and is credited with bringing in a new generation of comic readers. Within two months of the toy line's launch, "some 20 per cent of boys from ages five to twelve had two or more G.I. Joe toys", and by 1988/89 a survey conducted by Hasbro found that "two out of every three boys between the ages of five and eleven owned at least one G.I. Joe figure". These boys were drawn to
816-511: A "transmedia narrative". Although the adolescent male demographic was the traditional comic book reader, an unintended result of the TV advertising tie-ins was that they attracted people who were not traditional comic book readers. In an interview, Hama stated: I think [the commercials have] also opened it up to a very different type of audience. I get a lot of letters from girls. I get a lot of letters from young housewives who sort of started watching
952-472: A 1997 interview, described his Marvel arrangement: "I was a quota artist, which was non-contractual but [I] received a salary. I got a regular two-week check, and anything I did over quota I could voucher for as freelance income. I also had the extras, the company benefits. It was like a regular job, but I worked at home. It was a good deal." When Marvel went bankrupt in the mid-1990s, Trimpe attended Empire State College , Hudson Valley Center, graduating with
1088-636: A black artist or writer allowed in a major comics company." Asian characters within comic books encountered similar prejudiced treatment as black characters did. They were subjected to dehumanizing depictions, with narratives often portraying them as "incompetent and subhuman." In a 1944 edition of the publication United States Marines , there was a story titled The Smell of the Monkeymen . This narrative portrayed Japanese soldiers as brutish simians, and it depicted their concealed positions being betrayed by their repugnant body odor. Chinese characters received
1224-684: A breakout star of the X-Men . Herb Trimpe was born May 26, 1939, in Peekskill, New York , the son of Anna (Jamison) and Herbert Trimpe. He graduated from Lakeland High School . His brother, Mike Trimpe, inked an Ant-Man story that Trimpe pencilled in Marvel Feature #6 (Nov. 1972). Of his childhood art and comics influences, he said in 2002, "I really loved the Disney stuff, Donald Duck and characters like that. Funny-animal stuff, that
1360-473: A company named Comics Guaranty (CGC) initiated the practice of "slabbing" comics, which involves encasing them within thick plastic cases and assigning them a numerical grade. This approach inspired the emergence of Comic Book Certification Service . Given the significance of condition in determining the value of rare comics, the concept of grading by an impartial company, one that does not engage in buying or selling comics, seemed promising. Nevertheless, there
1496-506: A design for the Hulkbuster base, but it really wasn't a joke. It was just meant as the ironic juxtaposition of a military base run by an aggressive, blustery general, and the military base design being a symbol of peace. It was like in the '60s and '70s when protesters stuck flowers down the barrels of National Guard rifles. It was a provocative gesture. Trimpe also had a year's run on The Defenders (#68–81, February 1979 – March 1980),
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#17327976899931632-458: A famous example of the British comic annual. DC Thomson also repackages The Broons and Oor Wullie strips in softcover A4-size books for the holiday season. On 19 March 2012, the British postal service, the Royal Mail , released a set of stamps depicting British comic book characters and series. The collection featured The Beano , The Dandy , Eagle , The Topper , Roy of
1768-586: A five chapter spy genre tale written by Otto Binder and drawn by Al Carreno. It is readable online in the Digital Comic Museum . The magazine never reached a second issue. In 1950, St. John Publications produced the digest-sized , adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust , a 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" ( Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller ), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin , touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover. "It Rhymes with Lust"
1904-537: A four-issue limited series, strong sales led to it being upgraded to ongoing, and it lasted for 43 issues, before being relaunched as a new series G.I. Joe: America's Elite , which lasted for 36 issues. Devil's Due's license with Hasbro expired in 2008 and was not renewed. Building on the success of the Devil's Due Comics run of G.I. Joe , Marvel Comics collected the first 50 issues in five trade paperbacks , with ten issues in each book. The trade paperbacks each featured
2040-697: A frequently recurring character. Many subsequent storylines involved the machinations and power struggles between him, Cobra Commander, and the Baroness. Issue #11 established a pattern for the series in which every so often Marvel would publish an issue introducing a group of characters and vehicles that represented the new year's toy offerings. An early highlight was 1984's "Snake Eyes: The Origin" Parts I & II, published in issues #26-27. This issue established Snake Eyes' complicated background, and tied his character into many other characters, both G.I. Joe and Cobra. Hama considers it to be his favorite storyline from
2176-628: A government ran program, the Writers' War Board, became heavily involved in what would be published in comics. "The Writers' War Board used comic books to shape popular perceptions of race and ethnicity..." Not only were they using comic books as a means of recruiting all Americans, they were also using it as propaganda to "[construct] a justification for race-based hatred of America's foreign enemies." The Writers' War Board created comics books that were meant to "[promote] domestic racial harmony". However, "these pro-tolerance narratives struggled to overcome
2312-427: A less superior race and cannot believe they bested his men."The Tuskegee Airmen, and images of black aviators appear in just three of the fifty three panels... the pilots of the 99th Squadron have no dialogue and interact with neither Hop Harrigan nor his Nazi captive." During this time, they also used black characters in comic books as a means to invalidate the militant black groups that were fighting for equality within
2448-412: A lifelong passion for the stories within comics, often focusing on specific superheroes and striving to gather a complete collection of a particular series. Comics are assigned sequential numbers, and the initial issue of a long-lasting comic book series tends to be both the scarcest and the most coveted among collectors. The introduction of a new character might occur within an existing title. For instance,
2584-486: A meeting with Hama, Jim Shooter , Tom DeFalco , Archie Goodwin , and Nelson Yomtov to discuss the future of the property. It was at this meeting that Goodwin suggested the idea of Cobra Command as a recurring enemy for G.I. Joe to fight (similar to the HYDRA terrorist organization - recurring enemies to the aforementioned S.H.I.E.L.D. organization). Prior to this, Hasbro had not considered giving G.I. Joe an enemy. Based on
2720-514: A military-oriented bookstore in New York, and read many U.S. Army field manuals and technical manuals, and also credits his friend Lee Russel, a military historian, for helping him with research. In style and plot structure, the comic often made use of overlapping story threads. According to Hama: We’ve been following one basic storyline pretty much in the comic for fifty issues. It’s sort of like an extended soap opera, although I try to have
2856-547: A new cover artwork drawn by J. Scott Campbell. In 2009, IDW Publishing began to re-publish the original series again as Classic G.I. Joe , and like Marvel before it, collects ten issues in each volume; the last few collections have slightly more issues in order to conclude with the 15th paperback volume, which was published in August, 2012. Other collections for the spin-off Special Missions and assorted Annuals also appeared. In November 2012, IDW restarted its reprint series with
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#17327976899932992-433: A real solid resolution at the end of each book. But I like to keep some plot threads going. There's a sort of episodic quality to some of the earlier books, like one episode will last six issues. That will resolve completely, but two issues into it another thread may have started. At any given time there’s probably about three overlapping threads. The story arcs coincided with each of the new lines of G.I. Joe toys that Hasbro
3128-545: A series concept he was pitching that would be entitled Fury Force , about a team of futuristic super-soldiers affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. , an existing Marvel Universe property combining military and science fiction genre elements . As Hama tells it, he got the job of writing for the series because Marvel had asked every other available creator to write it and no one else would. Unable to find other writing work, he later said that, "if they had asked me to write Barbie, I would have done that, too". Soon after this, Hasbro hosted
3264-604: A student "to ink his backgrounds and stuff. So that's how I started, at Dell [Comics] , doing mostly Westerns and also licensed books, like the adaptation of the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth ." Trimpe then enlisted in the United States Air Force "for four years," he recalled in 1997, "the standard enlistment time, from 1962 to 1966. I was a weatherman, and our unit was on loan, you might say, to
3400-497: A surge of creativity emerged in what became known as underground comix . Published and distributed independently of the established comics industry, most of such comics reflected the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time. Underground comix "reflected and commented on the social divisions and tensions of American society". Many had an uninhibited, often irreverent style; their frank depictions of nudity, sex, profanity, and politics had no parallel outside their precursors,
3536-518: A working arrangement Trimpe said he enjoyed. Among the characters co-created by Trimpe during his run on the title were Jim Wilson in issue #131 (Sept. 1970) and Doc Samson in #141 (July 1971). During his time on the comic, he became the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine , who would go on to become one of Marvel's most popular. The character was conceived by Roy Thomas , written by Len Wein and designed by Marvel de facto art director John Romita Sr. as an antagonist for
3672-495: Is Japan. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at ¥ 586.4 billion ( $ 6–7 billion ), with annual sales of 1.9 billion manga books ( tankōbon volumes and manga magazines ) in Japan, equivalent to 15 issues per person. In 2020 the manga market in Japan reached a new record value of ¥612.5 billion due to a fast growth of digital manga sales as well as an increase in print sales. The comic book market in
3808-410: Is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Comic Cuts was a British comic published from 1890 to 1953. It was preceded by Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884), which
3944-502: Is also available to read online in the Digital Comic Museum. In 1971, writer-artist Gil Kane and collaborators applied a paperback format to their "comics novel" Blackmark . Will Eisner popularized the term "graphic novel" when he used it on the cover of the paperback edition of his work A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories in 1978 and, subsequently, the usage of the term began to increase. In 2017,
4080-458: Is an ongoing debate regarding whether the relatively high cost of this grading service is justified and whether it serves the interests of collectors or mainly caters to speculators seeking rapid profits, akin to trading in stocks or fine art. Comic grading has played a role in establishing standards for valuation, which online price guides such as GoCollect and GPAnalysis utilize to provide real-time market value information. Collectors also seek out
4216-662: Is generally considered the beginning of the modern comic book as it is known today. The Silver Age of Comic Books is generally considered to date from the first successful revival of the then-dormant superhero form, with the debut of the Flash in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956). The Silver Age lasted through the late 1960s or early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics revolutionized the medium with such naturalistic superheroes as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 's Fantastic Four and Lee and Steve Ditko 's Spider-Man . The demarcation between
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel Comics) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-625: Is largely set in Britain and starring the magician John Constantine , paved the way for British writers such as Jamie Delano . The English musician Peter Gabriel issued in 2000 The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped comic book as part of the CD edition with the title " OVO The Millennium Show ". The 2000 Millennium Dome Show based on it. At Christmas, publishers repackage and commission material for comic annuals , printed and bound as hardcover A4 -size books; "Rupert" supplies
4488-416: Is notable for its use of sequential cartoons to unfold narrative. These British comics existed alongside the popular lurid " penny dreadfuls " (such as Spring-heeled Jack ), boys' " story papers " and the humorous Punch magazine, which was the first to use the term "cartoon" in its modern sense of a humorous drawing. The first modern American-style comic book , Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics ,
4624-597: Is used in South Korea to refer to both comics and cartooning in general. Outside South Korea, the term usually refers to comics originally published in the country. Manhwa is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics though it differs from manga and manhua with its own distinct features. Webtoons have become popular in South Korea as a new way to read comics. Thanks in part to different censorship rules, color and unique visual effects, and optimization for easier reading on smartphones and computers. More manhwa have made
4760-696: The Army . We supplied aviation weather support to the First Air Cavalry Division based in the central highlands in Viet Nam . They used helicopters extensively to move troops around." He achieved the rank of Senior Airman. Upon his discharge in October 1966, he learned that fellow SVA classmate John Verpoorten was working at Marvel Comics ' production department, and . . . said they were hiring freelance people, and I should come up to
4896-548: The G.I. Joe comic book through its association with the toy line, and then went on to other comics. As Hama puts it: It was a toy book. Very uncool to the fan-boys at the time. It never got reviewed in the fan press. Totally ignored. The kids who bought G.I. Joe were a totally new crowd who were coming into the comic shops for the first time because they had the toys and they saw the commercials. Many of them started to buy other comics while they were there. According to comic book historian John Jackson Miller , Hasbro's promotion of
5032-434: The G.I. Joe Team battling against the forces of Cobra Command , an evil terrorist organization, many also focused on the relationships and background stories of the characters. Hama created most characters in collaboration with Hasbro, and used a system of file cards to keep track of the personalities and fictional histories of his characters, which later became a major selling point for the action figure line. G.I. Joe
5168-831: The Phantom Eagle in Marvel Super-Heroes #16 (Sept. 1968). In the 1960s, during the period known as the Silver Age of Comics , Trimpe was assigned to pencil what became his signature character, the Hulk . Beginning with pencil-finishes over Marie Severin layouts in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #106 (Aug. 1968), he went on to draw the character for a virtually unbroken run of over seven years, through issue #142 (Aug. 1971), then again from #145–193 (Nov. 1971 – Nov. 1975). Additionally, Trimpe penciled
5304-641: The United States and Canada was valued at $ 1.09 billion in 2016. As of 2017 , the largest comic book publisher in the United States is manga distributor Viz Media , followed by DC Comics and Marvel Comics featuring superhero comics franchises such as Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Spider-Man , the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men . The best-selling comic book categories in
5440-586: The archetype of the superhero . According to historian Michael A. Amundson , appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power. Historians generally divide the timeline of the American comic book into eras. The Golden Age of Comic Books began in 1938, with the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics (predecessor of DC Comics), which
5576-435: The second TV series three years earlier, the comic book could not count on the same cross-platform support it had enjoyed in the past. The target demographic had also changed considerably. According to Hama: It reached the end of its half-life. Until G.I. Joe and Transformers, toy books had a life expectancy of 1-2 years – 3 years was considered a long time. Hasbro didn’t expect the toy-line to have that much life in it. Also,
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel Comics) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-665: The " Bullpen Bulletins " of Marvel comics cover-dated June 1967, such as Fantastic Four #63. He remained associated with the company through 1996. While operating the Photostat camera in the Marvel offices, Trimpe did freelance inking for Marvel, and made his professional penciling debut with two Kid Colt stories in the Western series Kid Colt, Outlaw #134–135 (May and July 1967). Shortly thereafter, Trimpe and writer Gary Friedrich created Marvel's World War I aviator hero
5848-411: The 'stat' machine and wouldn't be seated at a desk, but I would be able to pick up some freelance pencilling and inking . This kind of opened the door. The staff job didn't pay much by today's standards; I think it started at $ 135 dollars a week which wasn't as low as it sounds. Remember, it was 1966 and that was a fairly good entry-level salary. His joining the Marvel production staff was announced in
5984-554: The 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and 60s – these comics were almost the only entertainment available to children." Dennis the Menace was created in the 1950s, which saw sales for The Beano soar. He features in the cover of The Beano , with the BBC referring to him as the "definitive naughty boy of the comic world." In 1954, Tiger comics introduced Roy of the Rovers ,
6120-422: The 1940s there was a change in portrayal of black characters. "A cursory glance...might give the impression that situations had improved for African Americans in comics." In many comics being produced in this time there was a major push for tolerance between races. "These equality minded heroes began to spring to action just as African Americans were being asked to participate in the war effort." During this time,
6256-426: The 1970s, plus occasional others), Ka-Zar ( Astonishing Tales #7–8, 1971), Nick Fury ( Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #13–15, 1969), Thor ( Thor Annual #15–16, 1990–1991), Ant-Man ( Marvel Feature #4–6), Killraven ( Amazing Adventures #20–24, #33), Rawhide Kid , Spider-Man , and many more as the regular artist of Marvel Team-Up #106–118 (1981–1982) and Marvel Team-Up Annual #3–4 (1980–1981). As
6392-560: The 1990s, changed the format and distribution of their comics to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small press. Small publishers regularly releasing titles include Avatar Press , Hyperwerks , Raytoons, and Terminal Press , buoyed by such advances in printing technology as digital print-on-demand . In 1964, Richard Kyle coined
6528-464: The 20-issue Shogun Warriors ; six issues of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (also writing the last two); G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 (July 1982) and eight other issues, three of which he also wrote or co-wrote; nearly the entire run of the 28-issue spin-off G.I. Joe Special Missions (1986–1989); three of the four-issue miniseries G.I. Joe: The Order of Battle (1986–1987); and three issues of The Transformers . Trimpe, in
6664-399: The 20th century, with the first comic standard-sized comic being Funnies on Parade . Funnies on Parades was the first book that established the size, duration, and format of the modern comic book. Following this was, Dell Publishing 's 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics as the first true newsstand American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of
6800-459: The 21st century and which Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini adapted into a 2003 film . Some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics. While their content generally remained less explicit, others resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned companies or by single artists. A few (notably RAW ) represented experimental attempts to bring comics closer to
6936-688: The Comics Magazine Association of America. The CMAA instilled the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the self-censorship Comics Code that year, which required all comic books to go through a process of approval. It was not until the 1970s that comic books could be published without passing through the inspection of the CMAA. The Code was made formally defunct in November 2011. In the late 1960s and early 1970s,
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#17327976899937072-521: The G.I. Joe universe, such as the Joes having a base under a motor pool, and introduced the iconic "original 13" G.I. Joe Team members. The issue also introduced two recurring villains, Cobra Commander and the Baroness . Whereas Cobra Commander and the various Joes already had action figures issued, the Baroness is the earliest example of a G.I. Joe character whose first appearance in the comics predated
7208-687: The Hasbro toy line, with the initial characters being the same as the action figures in the original 1982 release of the toy line. The team roster expanded as additional action figures were released. Hama created most characters in collaboration with Hasbro. Hasbro would send him character sketches and brief descriptions of each character's military specialties, and Hama would create detailed dossiers on each characters, giving them distinct personalities and background stories . Hama kept track of each character on file cards , and eventually Hasbro decided to reprint shortened versions of these dossiers as file cards on
7344-509: The Hulk at the Winter Olympics" which featured a story set at the 1980 Winter Olympics by writers Mark Gruenwald , Steven Grant , and Bill Mantlo . Jack Kirby's Machine Man character was revived in a 1984 limited series drawn by Trimpe. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Trimpe's Marvel work included licensed movie and TV franchises. He drew all but issues #4–5 of the 24-issue Godzilla (Aug. 1977 – July 1979); drew all but one of
7480-582: The Hulk, introduced in the last panel of The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #180 (Oct. 1974) and making his first full appearance the following issue. Trimpe in 2009 said he "distinctly remembers" Romita's sketch, and that, "The way I see it, [Romita and writer Len Wein] sewed the monster together and I shocked it to life! ... It was just one of those secondary or tertiary characters, actually, that we were using in that particular book with no particular notion of it going anywhere. We did characters in The [Incredible] Hulk all
7616-565: The Innocent (1954). This critique led to the involvement of the American Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency , which launched an investigation into comic books. Wertham argued that comic books were accountable for a surge in juvenile delinquency and posed a potential impact on a child's sexuality and moral values. In response to attention from the government and from the media, the US comic book industry set up
7752-661: The Magician , and the Phantom . Several reprint companies became involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter . Marvel Comics established a UK office in 1972. DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics also opened offices in the 1990s. The repackaging of European material has occurred less frequently, although The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix serials have been successfully translated and repackaged in softcover books. The number of European comics available in
7888-590: The Marvel run. In 1986, echoing events portrayed in the TV series, G.I. Joe #49 was published, introducing the character of Serpentor , a genetically created amalgam of history's greatest warriors. Serpentor played a significant role in the Cobra Civil War, which occurred in issues #73-76, a landmark story event that involved nearly every G.I. Joe and Cobra character vying for control of Cobra Island . When G.I. Joe began, most toy tie-in comics lasted an average of two years, so G.I. Joe, lasting for 12 years,
8024-400: The Rovers , Bunty , Buster , Valiant , Twinkle and 2000 AD . Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe ( / t r ɪ m p / ; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine , who later became
8160-597: The Silver Age and the following era, the Bronze Age of Comic Books , is less well-defined, with the Bronze Age running from the very early 1970s through the mid-1980s. The Modern Age of Comic Books runs from the mid-1980s to the present day. A significant event in the timeline of American comic books occurred when psychiatrist Fredric Wertham voiced his criticisms of the medium through his book Seduction of
8296-426: The U.S. "Spider-Man 'made it clear that militant black power was not the remedy for racial injustice'." "The Falcon openly criticized black behavior stating' maybe it's important fo [ sic ] us to cool things down-so we can protect the rights we been fightin' for'." This portrayal and character development of black characters can be partially blamed on the fact that, during this time, "there had rarely been
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#17327976899938432-507: The UK has increased in the last two decades. The British company Cinebook , founded in 2005, has released English translated versions of many European series. In the 1980s, a resurgence of British writers and artists gained prominence in mainstream comic books, which was dubbed the " British Invasion " in comic book history. These writers and artists brought with them their own mature themes and philosophy such as anarchy, controversy and politics common in British media. These elements would pave
8568-460: The US as of 2019 are juvenile children's fiction at 41%, manga at 28% and superhero comics at 10% of the market. Another major comic book market is France , where Franco-Belgian comics and Japanese manga each represent 40% of the market, followed by American comics at 10% market share. Comic books heavily rely on their organization and visual presentation. Authors dedicate significant attention to aspects like page layout, size, orientation, and
8704-443: The United States. They were the ones painted as intolerant and disrespectful of the dominant concerns of white America". Manga (漫画) are comic books or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, though the art form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art . The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning in general. Outside Japan,
8840-605: The artist of Super-Villain Team-Up , Trimpe co-created the Shroud with writer Steve Englehart . Captain Britain was introduced by Chris Claremont and Trimpe in an ongoing series published by Marvel UK . In 1976, Trimpe was one of the inkers of Captain America's Bicentennial Battles , an oversized treasury-format one-shot written and penciled by Jack Kirby . Trimpe drew Marvel Treasury Edition #25 (1980) "Spider-Man vs.
8976-469: The cartoons with their kids and sort of started getting into the characters, and then somewhere along the line they picked up the comic book and they started following the stories and got caught up in the continuity. The comic book's popularity with women has also been attributed to the strong female characters featured in the comic, such as Scarlett and Lady Jaye . Since very few of the G.I. Joe action figures were female, Hama tended to frequently use all of
9112-427: The comic book context, they were able to include a full thirty seconds of animation. Marvel was paid $ 5 million by Hasbro to produce the commercials through its animation division Marvel Productions . Larry Hama relates the genesis of the commercials: There were only a few seconds of animation you could have in a toy commercial, and you had to show the toy, so people wouldn’t get totally deluded. Somebody at Hasbro (who
9248-687: The comic book market size for North America was just over $ 1 billion with digital sales being flat, book stores having a 1 percent decline, and comic book stores having a 10 percent decline over 2016. The global comic book market saw a substantial 12% growth in 2020, reaching a total worth of US$ 8.49 billion. This positive trajectory continued in 2021, with the market's annual valuation surging to US$ 9.21 billion. The rising popularity of comic books can be attributed to heightened global interest, driven significantly by collaborative efforts among diverse brands. These collaborations are geared towards producing more engaging and appealing comic content, contributing to
9384-463: The comic book market. The rarest modern comic books include the original press run of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #5, which DC executive Paul Levitz recalled and pulped due to the appearance of a vintage Victorian era advertisement for "Marvel Douche ", which the publisher considered offensive; only 100 copies exist, most of which have been CGC graded. (See Recalled comics for more pulped, recalled, and erroneous comics.) In 2000,
9520-438: The comic book, several revivals and reboots have been published throughout the 2000s. In the early 1980s, Hasbro noted the success of Kenner Products ' Star Wars action figures , and decided to re-launch its long-running G.I. Joe property as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero with 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) scale action figures rather than the traditional 12 inches (30 cm) scale. Hasbro also decided that it wanted
9656-448: The comic resulted in dramatic sales increases, from 157,920 copies per month in 1983 to 331,475 copies per month in 1985, making it one of Marvel's "strongest titles". According to Jim Shooter, G.I. Joe was Marvel's number one subscription title in 1985. By 1987, the main title was getting 1200 letters every week. Hama read every one, and sent out fifty to one hundred hand-written replies every week. In comics, where images are at least half
9792-545: The comics all together. There was a comic created about the 99th Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen , an all-black air force unit. Instead of making the comic about their story, the comic was about Hop Harrigan. A white pilot who captures a Nazi, shows him videos of the 99th Squadron defeating his men and then reveals to the Nazi that his men were defeated by African Americans which infuriated him as he sees them as
9928-473: The conception of its action figure. Most of the early stories were completed in one issue, but multi-part stories began to appear by the middle of the series' first year of publication, and there were hints of the ongoing storylines that would later characterize the series. In May 1983, issue #11 introduced many new characters, including most of the 1983 action figure line and the villain Destro , who would become
10064-433: The coon stereotype but had some subtle differences. They are both a derogatory way of portraying black characters. "The name itself, an abbreviation of raccoon, is dehumanizing. As with Sambo, the coon was portrayed as a lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, inarticulate, buffoon." This portrayal "was of course another attempt to solidify the intellectual inferiority of the black race through popular culture." However, in
10200-475: The covers of five Hulk annuals (1969, 1971–72, 1976–77, titled King-Size Special! The Incredible Hulk except for #4, The Incredible Hulk Special ), and both penciled and inked the 39-page feature story of The Incredible Hulk Annual #12 (Aug. 1983). Under the Marvel Method of writer-artist collaboration, Trimpe, like other Marvel artists of the time, was uncredited co-plotter of most of his stories,
10336-466: The creation of the new characters or new ideas. I didn't want to be. The concept of the Hulkbusters, however, was my idea. I did [the schematic diagram of the base]. I also designed the unit emblem, which was an "H" being shattered by a lightning bolt. You remember, "Thunderbolt" was [antagonist] General Ross ' nickname. [The aerial-view design of the base as a peace symbol was used] purposefully as
10472-529: The debut appearances of iconic characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman , the Flash , Captain Marvel , Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk , Iron Man , Captain America and the Mighty Thor are regarded as priceless treasures within the comic book world. Many early iterations of black characters in comics "became variations on the 'single stereotypical image of Sambo'." Sambo was closely related to
10608-695: The eight-page story "The Death and Life of the Abomination" in Marvel's King-Size Hulk #1 (July 2008). In December 2009, Trimpe, a Bugatti airplane enthusiast and member of the Bugatti Aircraft Association, published the eight-page comic book Firehawks , in which the Bugatti 100P plays a major role. This was followed by a second Firehawks comic, the 24-page Firehawks 2: Breath of the Dragon . Trimpe's last convention appearance
10744-420: The eradication of Asian invaders." There was "a constant relay race in which one Asian culture merely handed off the baton of hatred to another with no perceptible changes in the manner in which the characters would be portrayed." "The only specific depiction of a Hispanic superhero did not end well. In 1975, Marvel gave us Hector Ayala (a.k.a. The White Tiger)." "Although he fought for several years alongside
10880-413: The extent of promulgating a code, nor did it last long. The UK has also established a healthy market in the reprinting and repackaging of material, notably material originating in the US. The lack of reliable supplies of American comic books led to a variety of black-and-white reprints, including Marvel's monster comics of the 1950s, Fawcett's Captain Marvel , and other characters such as Sheena , Mandrake
11016-512: The female characters, including those that were created as recurring characters in the comics. Many readers praised the series for its attention to detail and realism in the area of military tactics and procedures. Much of this was due to Hama's military experience (he was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Vietnam war), but he also did a large amount of research in order to be as up-to-date as possible. He frequented Sky Books,
11152-501: The first appearance of Spider-Man took place in Amazing Fantasy #15. New characters were frequently introduced in this manner, waiting for an established audience before launching their own titles. Consequently, comics featuring the debut appearance of a significant character can sometimes be even more challenging to locate than the inaugural issue of that character's standalone series. Some rare comic books include copies of
11288-508: The first appearance of Superman , both sold privately through online dealer ComicConnect.com in 2010, and Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman , via public auction. Updating the above price obtained for Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman , the highest sale on record for this book is $ 3.2 million, for a 9.0 copy. Misprints, promotional comic-dealer incentive printings, and issues with exceptionally low distribution tend to possess scarcity value in
11424-567: The first fifteen issues of G.I. Joe on a higher quality paper stock than that used for the main comic. Four Yearbooks (1985–1988) also collected some previous stories, summarized events, and published new stories that tied into the main title, aside from the first Yearbook , which re-printed the seminal first issue. The series was also translated into several languages, including German , Spanish , Portuguese , Polish , French (Canada) , Swedish , Norwegian , Finnish , Danish , Japanese , Arabic , and Indonesian . G.I. Joe European Missions
11560-687: The hardcover G.I. JOE: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 , intending to reprint all the stories in reading order. IDW also revived the original G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero continuity, as an ongoing series in 2010, with a special #155½ issue released on Free Comic Book Day . Following with issue #156 onwards in July 2010 with every issue in the series written by Larry Hama, this lasted until December 2022, concluding with issue 300. The series resumed once again with issue #301 under new license holder Skybound Entertainment in November 2023. Comic book A comic book , comic-magazine or simply ' comic' ,
11696-590: The hugely popular football based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers . The stock media phrase "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff" is often used by football writers, commentators and fans when describing displays of great skill, or surprising results that go against the odds, in reference to the dramatic storylines that were the strip's trademark. Other comic books such as Eagle , Valiant , Warrior , Viz and 2000 AD also flourished. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in
11832-426: The industry's continued growth. The 1970s saw the advent of specialty comic book stores . Initially, comic books were marketed by publishers to children because comic books were perceived as children's entertainment. However, with increasing recognition of comics as an art form and the growing pop culture presence of comic book conventions , they are now embraced by many adults. Comic book collectors often exhibit
11968-471: The influence of the Francophone "Franco-Belgian" comics but have their own distinct style. Although Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884) was aimed at an adult market, publishers quickly targeted a younger demographic, which has led to most publications being for children and has created an association in the public's mind of comics as somewhat juvenile. The Guardian refers to Ally Sloper as "one of
12104-608: The issues he wrote, with most pages having four to six panels. He worked very closely with the artists in plotting the book, and wrote the series spontaneously, never knowing how an issue would end until he got to the last page. In the first issue, it is revealed that the team’s official moniker is Special Counter-Terrorist Unit Delta . G.I. Joe featured an ensemble cast , with the original thirteen characters being Hawk , Stalker , Breaker , Clutch , Scarlett , Snake Eyes , Rock ‘n Roll , Steeler , Grand Slam , Flash , Short-Fuze , Grunt , and Zap . This reflected their origins in
12240-405: The language, pictures can form valid narrative as easily and functionally as words – and, at times, without them ... such as the lauded GI. Joe [ sic ] "Silent Interlude" #21. It does at least prove, as if there were any doubt, the viability of visual narrative. An early issue that attracted much attention, both positive and negative, was G.I. Joe #21, titled "Silent Interlude", which
12376-437: The likes of much more popular heroes such as Spider-Man and Daredevil, he only lasted six years before sales of comics featuring him got so bad that Marvel had him retire. The most famous Hispanic character is Bane, a villain from Batman." The Native American representation in comic books "can be summed up in the noble savage stereotype" " a recurring theme...urged American indians to abandon their traditional hostility towards
12512-601: The market had changed completely. When I first started doing store signings, there were lines around the block and it was all 10-year-old boys. The last time I did a story signing in New York City, everybody was over 30, and two of the guys who showed up were mailmen who had skipped off their routes to get their books signed. The final issue featured a stand-alone story titled "A Letter from Snake Eyes". Narrating from his perspective, Snake Eyes tells his story through recollections of his many comrades-in-arms who have died over
12648-501: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". In 1905 G.W. Dillingham Company published 24 select strips by the cartoonist Gustave Verbeek in an anthology book called 'The Incredible Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo'. The introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 's Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry and ushered in the Golden Age of Comic Books . The Golden Age originated
12784-556: The name Foolbert Sturgeon, has been credited as the first underground comix; while R. Crumb and the crew of cartoonists who worked on Zap Comix popularized the form. The rise of comic book specialty stores in the late 1970s created and paralleled a dedicated market for "independent" or " alternative comics " in the US. The first such comics included the anthology series Star Reach , published by comic book writer Mike Friedrich from 1974 to 1979, and Harvey Pekar 's American Splendor , which continued sporadic publication into
12920-471: The new figures to have a back story. In 1981, Hasbro CEO Stephen Hassenfeld and Marvel Comics President Jim Galton met by coincidence at a charity fundraiser and Hassenfeld shared Hasbro's plans for the G.I. Joe relaunch. Galton offered Marvel's services as creative consultants, and Hassenfeld agreed to allow Marvel attempt to design a concept for G.I. Joe. Coincidentally Larry Hama, then an editor at Marvel, had begun to design characters and background for
13056-423: The office and show my work to Sol Brodsky , who was Stan [Lee]'s right-hand man at the time. . . . I was just preparing to put some material together and go to DC and Charlton when I got a call from Sol Brodsky, who was production chief. He said they needed somebody on staff in the production department to run the new photostat machine they had just bought, and to do some production work. I would primarily run
13192-408: The original artwork pages from comic books, which are perhaps the most rarefied items in the realm of comic book collecting. These pages hold unparalleled scarcity due to the fact that there exists only one unique page of artwork for every page that was printed and published. The creation of these original artwork pages involves a collaborative effort: a writer crafts the story, a pencil artist designs
13328-402: The packaging for the action figures. The file cards themselves became a selling point for the toy line, and appealed to both children and adults. Hama noted that: ... it has to be read on two levels ... A ten-year-old kid has to be able to read it and think it's absolutely straight [but] there should be a joke in there for the adult. One of the factors that helped sell G.I. Joe [figures] was that
13464-499: The popular and widely understood negative tropes used for decades in American mass culture...". However, they were not accomplishing this agenda within all of their comics. In the comic series Captain Marvel Adventures , there was a character named Steamboat who embodied a collection of highly negative stereotypes prevalent during that period. The Writers' War Board did not request any alterations to this character despite
13600-428: The pornographic and even more obscure " Tijuana bibles ". Underground comics were almost never sold at newsstands, but rather in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, as well as by mail order . The underground comics encouraged creators to publish their work independently so that they would have full ownership rights to their characters. Frank Stack 's The Adventures of Jesus , published under
13736-736: The positioning of panels. These characteristics are crucial for effectively conveying the content and messages within the comic book. Key components of comic books encompass panels, speech bubbles (also known as balloons), text lines, and characters. Speech balloons generally take the form of convex containers that hold character dialogue and are connected to the character via a tail element. The tail comprises an origin, path, tip, and directional point. The creation of comic books involves several essential steps: writing, drawing, and coloring. Various technological tools and methods are employed to craft comic books, incorporating concepts such as directions, axes, data, and metrics. Following these formatting guidelines,
13872-554: The problematic portrayal. The removal of Steamboat from the series only came about due to the persistent advocacy of a black youth group based in New York City." Originally their request was refused by individuals working on the comic stating, " Captain Marvel Adventures included many kinds of caricatures 'for the sake of humor'." The black youth group responded with "this is not the Negro race, but your one-and-a-half millions readers will think it so." Afterwards, Steamboat disappeared from
14008-488: The process unfolds with writing, drawing, and coloring. In the United States, the term "comic book", is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks while " graphic novel " is the term used for standalone books. Comics as a print medium have existed in the United States since the printing of The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck in 1842 in hardcover, making it the first known American prototype comic book. Proto-comics periodicals began appearing early in
14144-501: The results of this meeting, Hasbro contracted Marvel to produce a comic book series featuring the toys. The first issue was published in June 1982, containing two stories, both of which were written by Hama. The first story, "Operation: Lady Doomsday", was drawn by Herb Trimpe , who drew most of the early issues and also wrote issue #9, and the second story, "Hot Potato", was drawn by Don Perlin . This issue introduced many basic concepts of
14280-443: The run, with Dave Cockrum providing pencils on several issues. Spinning out of G.I. Joe #50 and set in the same continuity, the series presented more intense violence and a more ambiguous morality than the main title, and the Joes faced enemies who were not related to Cobra. Each issue usually featured a stand-alone mission focusing on a small group of Joes. Two mini-series were also produced. The first, G.I. Joe: Order of Battle ,
14416-421: The salesmen who sold it to retailers used the dossiers as a selling point. Hama tended to base the personalities of the characters on people that he knew, and he credits this technique for the realism of his characterization. He later said that "events and continuity never meant anything to me. The important thing was the characters". Initially, the response to the new comic book was muted due to its low status as
14552-452: The same for Asian people. However, "Japanese and Filipino characters were visually indistinguishable. Both groups have grotesque buckteeth, tattered clothing, and bright yellow skin." "Publishers depicted America's Asian allies through derogatory images and language honed over the preceding decades." Asian characters were previously portrayed as, "ghastly yellow demons". During WWII, "[every] major superhero worth his spandex devoted himself to
14688-455: The same treatment. "By the time the United States entered WWII, negative perceptions of Chinese were an established part of mass culture...." However, concerned that the Japanese could use America's anti-Chinese material as propaganda they began "to present a more positive image of America's Chinese allies..." Just as they tried to show better representation for Black people in comics they did
14824-551: The sequential panels on the page, an ink artist goes over the pencil with pen and ink, a letterer provides the dialogue and narration through hand-lettering, and finally, a colorist adds color as the final touch before the pages are sent to the printer. When the printer returns the original artwork pages, they are typically returned to the artists themselves. These artists sometimes opt to sell these pages at comic book conventions, in galleries, and at art shows centered around comic book art. The original pages from DC and Marvel, featuring
14960-419: The series' most enduring and influential issues. Issue #21 has been recognized as a modern comic classic, and has become a prime example of comics' visual storytelling power. Comic book artist and theorist Scott McCloud (author of Understanding Comics ) describes "Silent Interlude" as "... a kind of watershed moment for cartoonists of [our] generation. Everyone remembers it. All these things came out of it. It
15096-452: The status of fine art . During the 1970s the " small press " culture grew and diversified. By the 1980s, several independent publishers – such as Pacific , Eclipse , First , Comico , and Fantagraphics – had started releasing a wide range of styles and formats—from color-superhero, detective , and science-fiction comic books to black-and-white magazine-format stories of Latin American magical realism . A number of small publishers in
15232-750: The switch from traditional print manhwa to online webtoons thanks to better pay and more freedom than traditional print manhwa. The webtoon format has also expanded to other countries outside of Korea like China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Western countries. Major webtoon distributors include Lezhin , Naver , and Kakao . France and Belgium have a long tradition in comics and comic books, often called BDs (an abbreviation of bandes dessinées , meaning literally "drawn strips") in French, and strips in Dutch or Flemish . Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch show
15368-406: The term " graphic novel ". Precursors of the form existed by the 1920s, which saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition by Belgian Frans Masereel , American Lynd Ward and others, including Stan Lee. In 1947, Fawcett Publications published "Comics Novel No. 1", as the first in an intended series of these "comics novels". The story in the first issue was "Anarcho, Dictator of Death",
15504-416: The time that were in [particular] issues and that was the end of them." Trimpe co-created nearly all of the characters introduced during his run on The Incredible Hulk , with Wolverine being a rare exception. He said that he devised the military unit the Hulkbusters, which became a regular element of The Incredible Hulk : [The series' writers] came up with the major concepts. I was not involved much with
15640-528: The unpublished work. Hasbro used television advertising to publicize the series, and when the first one aired in 1982 featuring G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1, it was the first time a commercial had ever been used to promote a comic book. Since the commercials were technically promoting the comic books rather than the toys, they allowed Hasbro to circumvent television regulations mandating that toy commercials could not contain more than ten seconds of animation. By not showcasing any characters and toys outside of
15776-496: The unreleased Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 from 1939. Eight copies, plus one without a cover, emerged in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. The "Pay Copy" of this book sold for $ 43,125 in a 2005 Heritage auction. The most valuable American comics have combined rarity and quality with the first appearances of popular and enduring characters. Four comic books have sold for over US$ 1 million as of December 2010 , including two examples of Action Comics #1,
15912-584: The way for mature and "darker and edgier" comic books and jump start the Modern Age of Comics . Writers included Alan Moore , famous for his V for Vendetta , From Hell , Watchmen , Marvelman , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ; Neil Gaiman with The Sandman mythos and Books of Magic ; Warren Ellis , creator of Transmetropolitan and Planetary ; and others such as Mark Millar , creator of Wanted and Kick-Ass . The comic book series John Constantine, Hellblazer , which
16048-417: The word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. Dōjinshi ( 同人誌 , fan magazine ) , fan-made Japanese comics, operate in a far larger market in Japan than the American "underground comix" market; the largest dōjinshi fair, Comiket , attracts 500,000 visitors twice a year. Manhwa (만화) are comic books or graphic novels originating from South Korea . The term manhwa
16184-609: The world's first iconic cartoon characters", and "as famous in Victorian Britain as Dennis the Menace would be a century later." British comics in the early 20th century typically evolved from illustrated penny dreadfuls of the Victorian era (featuring Sweeney Todd , Dick Turpin and Varney the Vampire ). First published in the 1830s, penny dreadfuls were "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for
16320-514: The years. Shortly after the final issue, G.I. Joe Special #1 was released in February 1995, containing alternate art for issue #61 by Todd McFarlane . McFarlane was the original penciller for issue #61, but his artwork had been rejected by Larry Hama as unacceptable, and so Marshall Rogers was brought in to pencil the final published version. In the years following, McFarlane became a superstar comic artist, and Marvel eventually decided to print
16456-457: The young." The two most popular British comic books, The Beano and The Dandy , were first published by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million. Explaining the enormous popularity of comics in the UK during this period, Anita O'Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum, states: "When comics like the Beano and Dandy were invented back in
16592-440: Was Marvel's top-selling subscription title in 1985, and was receiving 1200 fan letters per week by 1987. The series has been credited with bringing in a new generation of comic book readers, since many children were introduced to the comic book medium through G.I. Joe , and later went on to read other comics. The comic book has been re-printed several times, and also translated in multiple languages. In addition to direct spin-offs of
16728-465: Was a 4-issue mini-series running from December 1986 to March 1987, reprinting the data found on the action figures' file cards with some edits. Written by Hama, with all-new artwork by Trimpe, the first two issues featured G.I. Joe members, while the third issue focused on the members of Cobra Command , and the fourth highlighted the vehicles and equipment used by both organizations. A trade-paperback edition, which included material from all four issues,
16864-531: Was a good flow there, but it was too [much like] EC [Comics] for Stan. I loved EC, the dark atmosphere and clean lines of it. . . . But it wasn't right for Marvel." As a Marvel mainstay, Trimpe would draw nearly every starring character, including Captain America ( Captain America #184 and 291), the Fantastic Four ( Fantastic Four Annual #25–26 in 1992–1993; Fantastic Four Unlimited #1–12 in 1993–1995), Iron Man ( Iron Man #39, 82–85, and 93–94 in
17000-451: Was actually sort of a genius) named Bob Pruprish, realized that a comic book was protected under the first amendment, and there couldn't be restrictions based on how you advertised for a publication. Between the toy line, comic books, commercials and subsequent cartoon series, Hasbro's marketing plan was highly successful and eventually became an industry standard, an early example of a practice that would years later be described by Jenkins as
17136-643: Was at the April 2015 East Coast Comicon in Secaucus, New Jersey . Sometime between 1969 and 1971, Trimpe was divorced from his first wife. In late 1972, Trimpe married Marvel Comics editorial assistant and writer Linda Fite , with whom he had three children. He later was married to Patricia, who survived him after his death. Trimpe's son, Alexander Spurlock "Alex" Trimpe, who co-pencilled RoboCop #11 (Jan. 1991), The Mighty Thor Annual #16 (1991), and Fantastic Four Unlimited #3 (Sept. 1993) with his father,
17272-403: Was considered a runaway success. Through the years, the comic book series chronicled the adventures of G.I. Joe and Cobra, using a consistent storyline. In the early 1990s, however, it began to drop in quality, and was canceled by Marvel in 1994 with issue #155 due to low sales. Hasbro canceled the A Real American Hero toy line in the same year. Between the lack of new toys and the cancellation of
17408-547: Was kind of my favorite, and I liked to draw that kind of thing. And I also liked ... Plastic Man . ... I loved comics since I was a little kid, but I was actually more interested in syndicating a comic strip than working in comics." As well, "I was a really big fan of EC Comics and [artist] Jack Davis ." Trimpe commuted to New York City for three years to attend the School of Visual Arts . There, Trimpe recalled in 2002, instructor and longtime comics artist Tom Gill needed
17544-484: Was like 9/11". The issue would eventually be ranked #44 in Wizard Magazine's listing of the "100 Best Single Issues Since You Were Born", and #6 on io9 's "10 Issues of Ongoing Comics that Prove Single Issues Can Be Great". In 1985, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero spawned an annual publication called G.I. Joe: Yearbook. G.I. Joe: Yearbook differed from the typical comic book annual publication in that it
17680-402: Was more like a magazine. Each issue contained articles about the animated TV program, a summary of the comic book's plot to date, and one or two original stories written by Larry Hama. G.I. Joe: Yearbook ran until 1988. In 1986, the success of A Real American Hero lead Marvel to produce a second title: G.I. Joe: Special Missions which lasted 28 issues. Herb Trimpe was the artist for most of
17816-534: Was producing, however the comic book was not directly influenced by the toy products. Of the Hasbro/Marvel relationship, Hama observed that the toy company did not demand the book to be written a certain way: We're the final word on what happens with the book. Hasbro has been extremely open about it, [and] I don't write this as a kiddie book. I don't write G.I. Joe any differently from the way I write Wolverine . Hama wrote out page-by-page plots for all of
17952-628: Was published in 1987. The second, G.I. Joe and the Transformers , was a 4-issue mini-series running from January to April 1987. The story had the Joes and the Autobots joining forces to stop the Decepticons and Cobra from destroying the world. A trade paperback later collected all four issues. The first 37 issues of the main series were released in 13 digests titled G.I. Joe Comic Magazine . Subsequently, Tales of G.I. Joe reprinted
18088-471: Was published monthly from June 1988 until August 1989. The European Missions series are all reprints of Action Force Monthly , which was published in the UK. Unlike the weekly Action Force series, these were all original stories, never before seen in the U.S. They were not written by Larry Hama. In July 2001, Devil's Due Publishing acquired the rights to G.I. Joe and began publication of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Vol. 2 . Originally intended to be
18224-422: Was released in the U.S. in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips , which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone. The largest comic book market
18360-484: Was told entirely without words or sound effects. In a 1987 interview, Hama explained that the motivation for the story was that he "... wanted to see if [he] could do a story that was a real, complete story - beginning, middle, end, conflict, characterization, action, solid resolution—without balloons or captions or sound effects". At first, the issue was controversial; some readers felt cheated that it had no words and could be "read" so quickly, but it eventually became one of
18496-422: Was written for most of its 155-issue run by comic book writer, artist, and editor Larry Hama , and was notable for its realistic, character-based storytelling style, unusual for a toy comic at the time. Hama wrote the series spontaneously, never knowing how a story would end until it was finished, but worked closely with the artists, giving them sketches of the characters and major scenes. While most stories involved
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