1 hr 1 min
The Return of G.I. Joe in the 21st Century with Josh Blaylock of Devil's Due The Hyper Room
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- Technology
In the early 2000’s the nostalgia wave for 80s pop culture was at an all time high - the return of Classic GI Joe and Generation 1 Transformers to comic book stores around the world signaled that we the kids of the 80s like the kids of the 70s with Star Wars had our own money to spend on these amazing characters in comic, toy and game form.
Alongside GI Joe and Transformers there was Voltron, Thundercats, Battle of the Planets, Micronauts and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe -- the legendary group of super properties from the 1980s were back with creators who grew up with them as little kids and with modern sensibilities.
I had Pat Lee from Dreamwave in The Hyper Room to talk about Transformers so it only makes sense to get Josh Blaylock from Devil's Due to talk about GI JOE.
Josh is the publisher at Devil's Due and we talk about him being a 21 year old comics fan who saw the potential in publishing a GI Joe comic even though no one wanted it - not even the original publisher Marvel Comics who made comics history in the 80s with the landmark series.
On this episode you will learn about:
The challenges Devil's Due faced with working with both Hasbro and Image Comics,
How Bill Jemas the publisher of Marvel Comics pitched a GI Joe vs X-Men crossover and Josh turned him down.
How he reached out to both GI Joe creator Larry Hama and GI Joe cover artist Mike Zeck to re-engage with them on new material.
How he turned down Robert Kirkman’s pitch for a Destro story that Josh thought was too cartoony
And why he created one of the most enduring new GI Joes characters in Kamakura - the disciple of Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow.
What Josh’s Snake-Eyes vs Batman story would have been about.
An incredible run through 80s nostalgia that returned in the early 21st century with Devils Due’s massive line of GI Joe comics, that its inspired the 3rd wave of GI Joe we are in the midst of with the new GI Joe Classified line of Hasbro action figures and the upcoming live action Snake-eyes solo movie starring Henry Golding.
An incredible look back at GI Joe and Image comics through the eyes of Devils Due Publishings - please join me and Josh Blaylock inside The Hyper Room.
The Show Notes:
Devils Due https://www.devilsdue.net/
Devils Due YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQM1vULZed1FM8bpgwukl8g/videos
Image Comics https://imagecomics.com/
IDW https://www.idwpublishing.com/
Larry Hama https://gijoe.fandom.com/wiki/Larry_Hama
Mike Zeck https://www.mikezeck.com/
J. Scott Campbell: https://jscottcampbell.com/
GI Joe at Hasbro https://gijoe.hasbro.com/en-ca
YoJoe.com Devils Due archives: https://www.yojoe.com/comics/devils-due/
Joe Battlelines: http://joebattlelines.com/reviews/comics/devilsdue/index.htm
Pat Lee from Dreamwave inside The Hyper Room http://www.thehyperroom.com/pat-lee-transformers/
In the early 2000’s the nostalgia wave for 80s pop culture was at an all time high - the return of Classic GI Joe and Generation 1 Transformers to comic book stores around the world signaled that we the kids of the 80s like the kids of the 70s with Star Wars had our own money to spend on these amazing characters in comic, toy and game form.
Alongside GI Joe and Transformers there was Voltron, Thundercats, Battle of the Planets, Micronauts and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe -- the legendary group of super properties from the 1980s were back with creators who grew up with them as little kids and with modern sensibilities.
I had Pat Lee from Dreamwave in The Hyper Room to talk about Transformers so it only makes sense to get Josh Blaylock from Devil's Due to talk about GI JOE.
Josh is the publisher at Devil's Due and we talk about him being a 21 year old comics fan who saw the potential in publishing a GI Joe comic even though no one wanted it - not even the original publisher Marvel Comics who made comics history in the 80s with the landmark series.
On this episode you will learn about:
The challenges Devil's Due faced with working with both Hasbro and Image Comics,
How Bill Jemas the publisher of Marvel Comics pitched a GI Joe vs X-Men crossover and Josh turned him down.
How he reached out to both GI Joe creator Larry Hama and GI Joe cover artist Mike Zeck to re-engage with them on new material.
How he turned down Robert Kirkman’s pitch for a Destro story that Josh thought was too cartoony
And why he created one of the most enduring new GI Joes characters in Kamakura - the disciple of Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow.
What Josh’s Snake-Eyes vs Batman story would have been about.
An incredible run through 80s nostalgia that returned in the early 21st century with Devils Due’s massive line of GI Joe comics, that its inspired the 3rd wave of GI Joe we are in the midst of with the new GI Joe Classified line of Hasbro action figures and the upcoming live action Snake-eyes solo movie starring Henry Golding.
An incredible look back at GI Joe and Image comics through the eyes of Devils Due Publishings - please join me and Josh Blaylock inside The Hyper Room.
The Show Notes:
Devils Due https://www.devilsdue.net/
Devils Due YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQM1vULZed1FM8bpgwukl8g/videos
Image Comics https://imagecomics.com/
IDW https://www.idwpublishing.com/
Larry Hama https://gijoe.fandom.com/wiki/Larry_Hama
Mike Zeck https://www.mikezeck.com/
J. Scott Campbell: https://jscottcampbell.com/
GI Joe at Hasbro https://gijoe.hasbro.com/en-ca
YoJoe.com Devils Due archives: https://www.yojoe.com/comics/devils-due/
Joe Battlelines: http://joebattlelines.com/reviews/comics/devilsdue/index.htm
Pat Lee from Dreamwave inside The Hyper Room http://www.thehyperroom.com/pat-lee-transformers/
1 hr 1 min