G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 1: The Mission That Never Was [Paperback]

Larry Hama (Author), Dan Jurgens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2004

The Real American Hero makes his triumphant return to comics in a top-selling new series! They're all here: the Joes, Cobra, Snake-Eyes, and all your favorites. These all-new stories by legendary G. I. Joe writer Larry Hama are designed to appeal to old fans of the TV show and toys as well as brand new fans of all ages. One of the most successful toy lines in history comes to life on the printed page. (***Additional Text***) It's 1995 and the G.I.. Joe strike force has been officially disbanded... but the JUGGLERS have put together one final mission for the reduced team. It's up to HAWK, DUKE, SNAKE-EYES, SCARLET, STALKER, & GUNH-HO to escort a top secret device to New York City. Danger is waiting for the team, however... the JUGGLERS have tipped COBRA off to the mission. believing that the device can amplify their already threatening BRAINWAVE SCANNER into a weapon capable of controlling the world, COBRA will stop at nothing to obtain it.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Devil's Due Publishing (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582403007
• ISBN-13: 978-1582403007
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars THE JOES LAST MISSION...BUT JUST FOR A BIT, June 22, 2005

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 1: The Mission That Never Was (Paperback)

G.I. Joe Frontline: The Mission that Never Was, tells the story of the final Joe Team mission before the team was disbanded, and, of course, later reinstated. The Joe team is given their final mission by the secretive, high-ranking group of Generals known as the Jugglers. It doesn't seem like much of a Joe mission but they will carry out their orders. They are assigned to escort a new targeting control module for a new rapid pulse particle beam weapon, from Florida to New York. Assigned is a group consisting of Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Gung Ho, Stalker, Duke, and Hawk. But Cobra has been able to place a spy within the Jugglers and she has placed a listening device within the hat of one of the generals and Cobra is made full-aware of the Joe's plan and their whereabouts.

While aboard a train, the Joe's find themselves ambushed by Cobra forces, including Zartan and his Dreadnoks. The Joes manage to fight off the ambush and escape to the Georgia coast where they commandeer a river patrol boat and hug the coast to New York. But again Cobra is a step ahead and they are there to greet the Joes as Destro takes the module and returns to a Cobra base. The Joes launch a mission on the base to retrieve the module, creating a diversion so Snake Eyes can get inside, using Ninja techniques to pretend he is dead. This eventually leads to a one on one one face-off between Snake Eyes and rival Storm Shadow that even Cobra Commander cannot help but watch as the two ninjas battle blow for blow.

This story was written by long-time Joe scribe Larry Hama with art by the always dependable Dan Jurgens. This story reads like an old-fashioned Joe story...small wonder since Hama wrote it. The emphasis is on action and more action, in an attempt to appeal to longtime Joe fans as Devil's Due took over the Joe title. It's a good story but I prefer what Devil's Due has done with Joe in their more recent stories with giving these characters some much needed background and personality. Hama keeps things pacing along but there's not much interplay between the various characters. As a straight action story it's very good. Dan Jurgens isn't as flashy as some of today's younger artists but he always does a solid job. Interesting to compare this early story to the stuff that Devil's Due is doing currently. Call it 3 1/2 stars.

3.0 out of 5 stars A fond return to the original GI Joe run, June 5, 2010

By 

Kid Kyoto (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: G.I. Joe - Frontline Volume 1: The Mission That Never Was (Paperback)

For over 10 years Larry Hama wrote Marvel's GI Joe book, a series that took plastic action figures and with humor, military jargon and heart turned them into very interesting characters. In 2003 Hama revisited the characters with this series.

Set immediately after the last issue of the Marvel book, the GI Joe team is disbanded but a handful of Joes are sent to escort a top-secret targeting system to New York. Cobra meanwhile is not doing much better, after years of scheming Cobra Commander has lost the loyalty of many of his followers and must regularly brainwash them to keep them in line. The two depleted foes meet for one last (?) battle.

The book has all of Hama's hallmarks,good and bad. It spotlights a lot of the fan-favorites - Snake Eyes, Scarlet, Duke, Hawk and Gung-Ho make up the Joe team, Cobra Commander, Destro, Storm Shadow, Zartan and the Baroness are on Cobra's side. There are tense chases, air combat, ninja action and plot twists. But he also includes his two favorite stock characters, the heroic vet and the whinny civilian. In his books no taxpayer will lift a finger to help the GI Joe team but vets will drop everything, risk their lives and sail halfway across the country because a stranger in a uniform asked them to. I understand why he likes to include that but after seeing it dozens of times it gets tiresome.

The art by Dan Jurgens is consistently strong. The last few years of Marvel's GI Joe book were pretty dire, with terrible character designs from Hasbro and exaggerated Image-style art. But Jurgens puts characters back in their classic uniforms and brings a more realistic style.

If this really was the last story of the Marvel GI Joe team I might give it an extra star for nostalgia. But with the news that Hama is once again returning to his classic run this story is much less special than it was. So I recommend buying this if you're a completist or looking for a short but good GI Joe story. However it's hardly essential.