G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #177
Written by Larry Hama
Pencils by Ron Frenz
Inks by Sal Buscema
Colors by J. Brown
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Covers by Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema, Herb Trimpe, and Larry Hama
IDW Publishing
Release Date: April 18, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Reading G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #177 made me feel like a kid again. And it’ll do the same for you. Yes, comics have come a VERY long way since the days when the G.I. Joe comics were first being published, but the creative team has realized that and updated their execution to make the perfect blend of past and present.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation #3
Official Movie Prequel
Written by John Barber
Art by Salvador Navarro and Atilio Rojo
Colors by Esther Sanz
Letters by Shawn Lee
Cover by Salvador Navarro
IDW Publishing
Release Date: March 28th, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Joe fans, you’re in for a treat! G.I. Joe Retaliation #3 is chock full of a story you’d never expect to read. And, it begs a LOT of questions about G.I. Joe Retaliation. I can honestly say, that reading this comic is getting me more excited for the movie.

Writer John Barber throws a wrench into the plan here. Normally movie prequels are stories like the 5 minutes leading up to the first scene or just some generic stories about the characters that appear in the film. But this book is a lot different. It’s actually really interesting to read and, as I stated earlier, is getting me more excited for G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation #2
Official Movie Prequel
Written by John Barber
Art by Salvador Navarro and Atilio Rojo
Colors by Esther Sanz
Letters by Chris Mowry
Covers by Salvador Navarro
IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 29, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

With just four months to go until this summer’s biggest blockbuster (sorry, Avengers), it’s time to start getting EXCITED!!! And G.I. Joe: Retaliation #2 will get you excited. Although, I’m afraid that for the spoiler-free, this might come with a bit of a caution sign.

Writer John Barber does a fantastic job of giving you, largely, Roadblock’s origin. And an extra kudos for throwing in some great classic Roadblock traits and HEY! in this issue, you can LITERALLY smell what The Rock is cookin’!

G.I. Joe: Retaliation #1
Official Movie Prequel
Written by John Barber
Art by Salvador Navarro
Colors by Esther Sans
Letters by Chris Mowry
Covers by Salavador Navarro
IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 15, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Even though many movie tie-ins are generally not thought of too highly or are dismissed by most retailers, there are exceptions to that rule and G.I. Joe: Retaliation #1: Official Movie Prequel is one of them. Why? Let me explain.

John Barber gives us exactly what we want in this comic: an awesome summer movie in comic form. It’s everything you want to see in a G.I. Joe movie — ninjas, gun fights, action, conflict, drama, and more.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #1
Written by John Barber
Interior Art by Andrew Griffith
Cover by Marcelo Matere
Colors by Josh Perez
Letters By Shawn Lee
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 25, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #1 is the second ongoing Transformers series that IDW has begun this month. RID is a companion series to Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. MTMTE focuses on Rodimus and his crew as they search for the Knights of Cybertron. RID focuses on the Transformers left on Cybertron.

Centuries of war between the Autobots and Decepticons have ravaged the planet. The planet is actually attacking them on occasion. The Autobots have established themselves as the authority on Cybertron. The Decepticons govern themselves and they also police the non-affiliated indigenous lifeforms, or Nails. All Decepticons have had Inhibitor/Deterrence chips implanted in their heads as a means of controlling them. Bumblebee is the leader of the Autobots, Ratbat is the leader of the Decepticons, and Metalhawk is the spokesperson for the Nails.