Years previously, G.I. Joe was formed as an elite anti-terrorism task force, protecting the United States against the forces of the totalitarian organisation, Cobra; but in the two years since Cobra's collapse, G.I. Joe have been deemed unneeded, and quietly mothballed.
Then their world got a whole lot bigger.
In the aftermath of the Revolution, G.I. Joe are back, and ready to defend the Earth from Dire Wraiths, Decepticons, and other villains. Armed with new Cybertronian weapons and a worldwide mandate, the Joes are no longer just real American heroes — they're real Earth heroes! To this end, they'll be solving problems across the planet, and recruiting team members from outside the USA... like, er, Skywarp!?
The first G.I. Joe comic in their IDW continuity published since the creation of the Hasbro Comic Universe, G.I. Joe vol. 5 takes a more aspirational and cartoony approach to the franchise than its predecessors, closer to the tone of the classic G.I. Joe cartoon. The series stars the main teamnote , and stands alongside Optimus Primenote , Revolutionariesnote , and ROMnote .
Illustrated by Giannis Milonogiannis (All-New Ultimates, Bebop and Rocksteady Destroy Everything) and written by Aubrey Sitterson (G.I. Joe vs. Street Fighter), the series is being pitched as the "Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe" — a statement of their intent to breathe new life into one of Hasbro's oldest home-grown franchises.
The series was set to conclude in August 2017 with issue #9, before it relaunched post-First Strike as Scarlett's Strike Force, set to debut in November of 2017. However, demand for Scarlett's Strike Force, as per IDW, was so low that the series was canceled before the first issue was published, ending at 3 issues and a brief backup story in Transformers: Unicron #2.
Tropes:
- Ascended Extra: Rock'n'Roll and Quick Kick never really had much prominence before this; notably, Rock'n'Roll hasn't historically been a very prominent Joe despite being one of the first Real American Hero characters, something that this series aims to rectify.
- The Dreadnoks assembled by Crystal Ball include lesser-known members Zanzibar, Burn Out and Crusher.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Quick Kick considers himself to be the greatest martial artist on Earth, better than Snake Eyes (because he doesn't need a gun).
He may well be right: he deliberately gets himself drunk during a fight with the Dreadnok Crusher just to make himself worse at fighting. - Awesomeness by Analysis: Helix's standard ability.
- Bald of Authority: This time around, Roadblock is the field leader of the Joes.
- Barrier Warrior: Doc Junior uses a portable energy shield in combat.
- Beneath the Earth: Crystal Ball tries to intimidate the Joe team with talk of "the horrors down below". Turns out he's talking about the "Fatal Fluffies".
- Big Good: Scarlett is the team's overall leader this time around; a necessity, as the traditional leaders (such as Hawk, Duke, Joe Colton, and Flint) have variously been made to step down, been replaced by alien shapeshifters, or are busy dealing with Cybertronians.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The Mongolian civilians that Crystal Ball controls.
- The Brute: Skywarp, by virtue of being a giant frickin' robot. Just calling him in is enough to convince the Red Shadows to surrender.
- Continuity Nod:
- G.I. Joe have taken up shop in the abandoned Decepticon starship ''Nemesis'', rechristened the "Lemuria".
- The Joes are still dealing with their organisation being infiltrated by Dire Wraiths.
- The Red Shadows are working with Doctor X.
- Energy Weapon: As part of the new Hasbro Universe, all the Joes have switched to being armed with Cybertronian laser guns.
- Genre Shift: A deliberate choice to move from relatively realistic military sci-fi to cartoonier, more fantastical science fiction — in part a choice of tone to distinguish it from the previous series, and in part a necessity of G.I. Joe existing in a world of Dire Wraiths and Cybertronians.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Doc Jr. is half Dire Wraith.
- Lethal Chef: With Roadblock acting as Joe field leader, Shipwreck takes over as head of catering... but only serves deeply unpleasant seaweed-based vegitarian food.
- Manipulative Bastard: Crystal Ball successfully convinces large numbers of Mongolians to rise up in revolution... though his hypnotic powers surely help.
- Master of Disguise: Zandar and Zarana, disguised as the Mongolians Ying and Yong; it's not clear if they have Voluntary Shapeshifting as Zartan does.
- The Medic: Two of them — the field medic Doc (junior), and her father Doc (senior) at the base.
- My Greatest Failure: Rock'n'Roll shooting Grand Slam after mistaking him for a Dire Wraith. He survives, but in a wheelchair, and this just means that Rock is constantly reminded of what he did.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Doc Sr. is, apparently, a Dire Wraith who didn't want to be part of their invasion.
- Pitiful Worms: Skywarp frequently refers to the Joes as "insects".
- The Remnant: Cobra broke up years before the start of this series, but pockets are still around, including Crystal Ball and the Dreadnoks, the anarchists in Greece, and the captured Baroness.
- Sword and Gun: Snake Eyes' standard weapon set, and part of why the Bare-Fisted Monk Quick Kick thinks of himself as a better fighter.
- They Look Like Us Now: Modus operandi of the Dire Wraiths; a subplot in the book focuses on the Joes' attempts to find a way of properly detecting them. Joe Colton and Wild Bill had fallen victim to this prior to Revolution. As had Doc I.
- Token Evil Teammate: Skywarp, who the author has described as "the team's Vegeta".
- Underwater Base: The Lemuria, the Joes' new headquarters.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Crystal Ball gives warning about "the horrors beneath the Earth".
- Walking Shirtless Scene:
- Gung-Ho. Lampshaded when he has to wear a shirt as part of a disguise, as he complains about his chest feeling too tight.
- Averted with Quick Kick, who's been redesigned to have a less stereotypical and more practical martial arts outfit.
- You Don't Look Like You: Crusher is, confusingly, modelled on one of his fellow Dreadnok Gnawgahyde's toys.
