Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Image, Marvel Comics | Tagged: gi joe, larry hama, skybound

Larry Hama Fixes The GI Joe Dialogue That Marvel Mangled

Next month Image/Skybound will reprint the first issue of GI Joe: A Real American Hero #1 from 1983 restoring Larry Hama's original dialogue

On the 15th of November, Image Comics/Skybound will reprint the very first issue of GI Joe: A Real American Hero #1, as originally published by Marvel Comics way back in September 1983, over forty years ago. Well, almost as published. The solicitation states, "Celebrate the return of G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO with the definitive edition of its historic first issue! This issue restores Larry Hama's original, unedited dialogue, which has never before seen print!" Which original dialogue?

Larry Hama posted a little to Facebook, saying, "Sincere thanks to Skybound for allowing me to restore Hawk's original speech to the Joes in ARAH #1, in their new special reprint. This has stuck in my craw for decades…  This was the reason I never rewrote any script that passed through my editorial office. Always gave the writers the option to rewrite themselves. Same thing with the art. I always hated it when I saw redrawn heads that weren't even close to the original style. I think this a courtesy rarely extended these days."

This was the way Marvel Comics published it.

And this is the restoration.

The original had Hawk saying, of their job, "We're soldiers. Our job is to follow orders… to do the impossible —  and make it look easy." But Larry Hama wrote it as "We're soldiers. Our job is to do the unthinkable and be forgotten." And now it has been restored. This is how Image Comics and Skybound promoted the reissue:

 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 Larry Hama Cut, a special reprint of the iconic first issue featuring Larry Hama's original, unaltered scripting in a key moment that was changed in limited instances for the final printed edition. This is your first chance EVER to discover the very first G.I. Joe comic book exactly as Hama intended.

"We're so thrilled to be publishing this historic series," said Alex Antone, Editorial Director at Skybound. "300 issues by a single author is a feat that may never be accomplished again, and to be able to go back and fix something that Larry's been holding onto since the very beginning…it's just such a cool moment for the franchise and the fans."

"Several years ago, a fan at SDCC asked me how long Larry Hama would be writing G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO comics," recalled Michael Kelly, VP of Global Publishing at Hasbro. "My response was the only appropriate answer for someone in my position: 'for as long as Larry wants to keep writing them.' It's exciting to be continuing this journey that started back in 1982, and I'm grateful to the great team at Skybound for helping me keep that promise."

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