Can Skybound Fix What’s Broken With ‘G.I. Joe’?

With the launch of Void Rivals and Transformers, Skybound Publishing and Hasbro has done something surprising with their Energon Universe. They’ve revitalized a concept that was already remarkably commercially and creatively viable. This week, they will be launching the next phase of this storytelling partnership with Duke, the beginning of their take on G.I. Joe.

G.I. Joe and Transformers are two of the quintessential 1980’s action cartoons, alongside He-Man, ThunderCats, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While the latter has seen almost continuous popularity in cartoons, movies and comics, the former has frankly struggled quite a bit. The three live action films in the franchise saw diminishing returns, with the latest (an origin story starring the most popular Joe Snake Eyes) outright flopping.

Meanwhile, in comics, IDW Publishing saw similar declines with the concept. Though it launched strong with the initial push, each subsequent relaunch generated less and less buzz as well, with only Larry Hama’s continuation of his original Joe stories running through the end of IDW’s time with the franchise. (Hama’s stories will continue with the original numbering, with GI Joe A Real American Hero #301 being released a few weeks ago and #302 last week.)

So what has caused G.I. Joe to lose its shine?

Though I don’t know for sure, there’s definitely a few things that seem obvious. In an era where fatigue with the American military has set in, it’s hard to see wide appeal in a concept that has such oorah nationalism baked in. The writers of G.I. Joe have tried to get away from it for years, with one of the last reboots even openly casting the Joes as an anti-fascist resistance fighting against a fascist Cobra regime that had taken over the US. Even Hama himself has tried that, as seen in the recent printing of G.I. Joe #1, featuring long-lost dialogue. But is that enough?

Where can G.I. Joe fit in today’s age though? I think at this point, the obvious is to minimize the military as a part of the story, and the tie to Transformers can pave the way for that. By operating in a shared universe, boatloads of story possibilities open up. G.I. Joe at its best is often more of a superhero story than it was an army story. The team’s most popular member was pretty much one anyways.

With the Transformers ties, G.I. Joe centers the science fiction/spy story in the core of the concept. The Joes become a group of heroes in the midst of a changed world. That seems to point where the franchise is heading, if Transformers #2 and Duke #1 are any indication, but “how?” is a curious question, and whether it can recapture what G.I. Joe has lost is another.

Regardless, the relaunch has already done what the best relaunches can do — in just a few panels and preview pages, I’m recalling my love for the franchise and its characters. So let’s hope the story can match the tease.