gi joe covers: issues 26 + 27

it was always a thrill checking underneath the old blotter that sat in the last booth (secret drop off spot) of my grandmother's candy store. she'd generously set aside each and every issue of the books i loved as they were released. the treasures included issues of the official handbook of the marvel universe, transformers, and most importantly, gi joe. as a kid, i'd check under that blotter religiously when i walked into the store, always sure to find some piece of 4-color gold.

as much as i loved comics and toys and animation as a child, it was the comics that had toys that had an animated series that spoke (yelled) the loudest to me. and none of those properties was more exciting than gi joe. the basic concept of military superheroes who fought a "ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world" was too much for my adolescent brain to handle. the endless hours spent reading those comics, playing with those toys and watching those animated episodes (sometimes simultaneously) had a profound effect on my imagination.

so why the sappy backstory? to illustrate what an amazingly big deal it is to me that i had the opportunity to create two covers for IDW's current ongoing gi joe series.

through a bit of misfortune on the part of trevor hutchinson, (whose laptop was hijacked, preventing him from finishing the series of five interlocking covers that he had started) i received a call from IDW's carlos guzman (with a referral from trev...thanks!) asking me to complete the series of retailer incentive covers with illustrations for issues 26 (january 2011) and 27 (february 2011). it made the deal all that much sweeter that i was allowed to draw snake eyes, my all-time favoritest 'joe.

i'm so thankful for the opportunity to revisit something that meant (means) so much to me.

yo, joe!

© 2010 IDW Publishing