G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide
by Pablo Hidalgo
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Book Summary Information
Author: Pablo HidalgoEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-07-07
ISBN: 0345516427
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide
Book Review: Good try, but flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
At first glance, this book looks like the perfect reference to the world of GIJoe: A Real American Hero. Unfortunately, though it is a worthy effort at such a volume, it suffers from some rather serious flaws.
First, and definitely worst, is an attempt to integrate the various disparate GIJoe continuities (prior to Rise of Cobra) into one. This sounds like a good idea, and sometimes works well, such as mentioning the 1970s career of Joseph Colton (the "Original Joe") leading a civilian group called the "Adventure Team," apparently based on the 1970s Adventure Team toys. And, sometimes, seemingly contradictory elements are melded together more flawlessly than might be expected. For example, Bazooka was described in the comic and toyline as "decisive and quick-witted," but was a ludicrous moron in the TV series; here, it says his manner of speech makes him seem stupid and causes others to underestimate him, but he's really quite smart.
The Marvel and Devil's Due continuities work quite well together, since Devil's Due published a continuation of the Marvel series set about a decade later. The trouble comes from trying to integrate these with the 1980s cartoon and the totally unrelated Sigma Six series, as well as the early 2000s Valor vs Venom and Spy Troops series of figures. For example, the bio of Lt Falcon, who was a screw-up in the cartoon, mentions his addiction to a Cobra-produced drug from a later episode of the DiC cartoon (the series that took place after the movie); this is completely incompatible with the noble character as he appeared in the comic. Cobra Commander's biography gives his Marvel origin as a disgruntled former used car salesman, but mentions his Cobra-La origin from the animated movie as a separately-circulated story. This seems like a good way to handle it, except that Roadblock's bio treats GIJoe: The Movie as fact, and specifically refers to Cobra Commander's further mutation from the movie, which simply cannot be made to jive with the more realistic comic version (who has always been 100% human).
Possibly silliest, and most confusing, are the attempts to integrate totally unrelated series that happened to share a name. GIJoe: Sigma Six is referred to as a scaled-down version of the team, but most references seem to place it somewhere in the second year of the Devil's Due series. Valor vs Venom, which didn't even warrant a comic or TV series, appears to take place just prior. It's confusing, and most entries indicate a timeline was worked out to reconcile all this, only it's not anywhere in the book, and some of the entries make little sense (even to GIJoe geeks) without such a reference.
Second, the choices as to who and what are covered in detail are sometimes confusing. There are a few strange omissions. For instance, why would Short-Fuze, a minor character who largely went unused during the entire series, warrant a bio entry as opposed to, say, Airborne, a fan favorite of some importance on the team, or even a character like Shooter, whose importance to the GIJoe origin story only appeared in a later comic? Why give Crystal Ball, widely acknowledged as of trivial importance, an entry but not Croc Master? Why list William "The Refrigerator" Perry (who was only released as a mail-away figure) in the complete roster of Joes, but not mention Sergeant Slaughter? (I can't stand Sergeant Slaughter, but the figure was in continuous production for the longest of any GIJoe, and he played a huge role in the cartoon.) For that matter, why is there no complete roster for Cobras?
Third, there are no artwork credits anywhere in the book. Given how heavily this work rests on reproduced comic book covers and images, this is a shame. There are some beautiful images here, and these talented artists deserve at least the mention of their names on an appendix page. For that matter, there's no "real world" information at all. This wouldn't have to be in-depth, and would be more useful than the "bonus material" of two previously-published short stories from IDW Publishing's new GIJoe comics.
Perhaps I've spoken at too much length about the flaws, though. If you're a GIJoe fan wanting a quick reference guide, or even a novice wanting a basic "roadmap" of what's come before, this book is well worth picking up. The pros of this book do indeed outweigh the cons. Just don't expect it to be the perfect, complete guide that the title "The Essential Guide" would indicate.
Summary of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide
TOP SECRET: A LOOK BACK AT THE NEED-TO-KNOW HISTORY BEHIND THE EPIC CLASH BETWEEN G.I. JOE AND COBRA?AND THE ORIGINS OF A HEROIC TEAM THAT BECAME THE ULTIMATE NAME IN ACTION!Be advised: This file contains classified, eyes-only intelligence regarding G.I. JOE, a highly trained, covert, special operations unit composed of men and women from around the globe. The information contained herein is the result of an extensive background investigation conducted by a special operative. The research compiled in this dossier charts the G.I. JOE team?s tremendous pursuit to bring down the nefarious world organization, COBRA, led by the ruthless Cobra Commander. These documents detail all the pertinent data regarding said subjects, including
? the origin of G.I. Joe a.k.a. U.S. armed forces serviceman, Joseph Colton
? the formation of Special Counter-Terrorist Group Delta?the elite squad ultimately known as unit G.I. JOE
? comprehensive G.I. JOE vehicles and weapons inventory
? complete profiles of team G. I. JOE personnel, including Hawk, Duke, Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, Flint, Gung-Ho, and Heavy Duty, as well as threat dossiers of enemy combatants from Cobra Commander and Destro to the Baroness and Dr. Mindbender
? mission report roundup on some of the most dangerous and daring missions, including the Weather Dominator, the Pyramid of Darkness, the COBRA civil war, the first mission?Operation: Lady Doomsday?and others
? previews from IDW?s comic book G.I. JOE: A New Beginning along with a cover gallery of the hot new G.I. JOE comic books
No other resource exists that is as authoritative or informative. Share this file only with those granted full security clearance by G.I. JOE.
Yo, JOE!
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