G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide [Paperback]

Pablo Hidalgo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2009

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!

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; Original edition (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345516427
• ISBN-13: 978-0345516428
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.4 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

An expert on a variety of genre obsessions, from classic animation to shape-shifting robots, Pablo Hidalgo started writing about fantastic subject matters professionally in 1995 as a freelance author for roleplaying games.

In 2000, he changed careers from a visual effects concept artist and digital compositor in Canada to a full-time Star Wars authority at Lucasfilm Ltd., working with their marketing department. Since then, he has overseen the development of websites, co-authored several books and developed a number of online comic books and strips.

He lives in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good try, but flawed, July 23, 2009

By 

GroundChuck - See all my reviews

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This review is from: G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide (Paperback)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good overview but not as in-depth as one might have hoped, August 9, 2009

By 

Michael A. Weyer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide (Paperback)

Those hoping for a "Transformers Ultimate Guide" style book (one that seperately looks at the Joe cartoons, comics and figures) are out of luck. The bios of the various Joes are good, borrowing more from Marvel with attempts to mix in the cartoon histories as well. That can be tricky due to contradicting viewpoints and focusing more on some characters than others doesn't come off as well. Many might be confused at the different histories depending on how they know Joe and while the artwork is good, it doesn't line up with some of the stories. Still, it's good to get the concise histories of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow and the rundown of the various vehicles used by both sides (including bases like the Pit) is a good addition. I also enjoyed the rundown of missions, most those multi-part epics from the cartoon show but also a couple from the comics. However, the sudden shift to a new "GI Joe Origins" comic is a bit jarring and there's no mention of the movie. So a good in-depth look at the Joes but not quite the overall analysis of the franchise one might expect.

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading but not all-encompassing, September 10, 2011

By 

jaydynomite - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: G.I. Joe vs. Cobra: The Essential Guide (Paperback)

This book covers a limited amount of characters and events in the GI Joe universe, meshing together comic book, cartoon, and file card histories into a cohesive whole. While a great many popular characters are overlooked, several characters have very well-rendered entries. Sadly, the limited focus and range of subjects serve to decrease the value and enjoyment of this work.