GI Joe

I think the record will show that I'm a pretty big fan of Hasbro's cartoons from the '80s, and one of the things I love most about them is how great the soundtracks are. Not just the theme songs, but the incidental music that provides the background for Jem and the Holograms, or that smooth jazz version of the GI Joe theme that plays under the closing credits. Heck, even in the years before More Than Meets The Eye came along and made me stop hating the Transformers, I still had to admit that the music was pretty great. The only problem is that I can't listen to it whenever I want, but now, it looks like that problem might be coming to an end. Composer Robert J. Walsh has confirmed that he's remastering the soundtracks for the Hasbro shows, with plans for Sony to release high-end versions that will include new footage and artwork, too.

If you've spent a lot of time in comic book stores over the past 20 years or so, there's a pretty good chance you've found yourself playing a collectible card game at some point. I've personally shuffled off plenty of my cash to Wizards of the Coast in my younger days, looking for the best enchantments and creatures (and I'm not going to lie, I still have a stack of Bulbasaurs sitting on my desk right now), but there's one thing that every CCG I've ever played has suffered from a distinct lack of: Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, arms dealer to the sinister forces Cobra, an evil organization that wants to rule the world. Apparently, I'm not the only one who noticed that, but now someone has stepped up to fix the problem. HISSTank.com has unveiled "Battleground," a fan-made card set that pits the Joes against Cobra using the rules of Magic: The Gathering.

The one thing that I've always said about Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe is that it feels like a comic that shouldn't be allowed to happen. From the zero issue that came out on Free Comic Book Day and gave us Snake-Eyes stabbing Cobra Commander in the heart while Cobra Commander blew his face off, it felt like we were dealing with something that went way beyond a crossover between toy properties, and ended up somewhere that was equal parts subversive and surreal. Now, it seems like reality is finally catching up with us. When Transformers vs. GI Joe #13 hits shelves in June, it'll be an extra-sized 48-page final issue that ends the series --- and possibly the entire universe.

If you've been reading Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. GI Joe, then it will not surprise you for even a second that there is a scene in the next issue where Duke stands in front of a gigantic American flag, Patton-style, and has a very serious discussion about jet-hook-fu, the art of battling giant killer robots with a jetpack and a grappling hook. And if you haven't been reading Transformers vs. GI Joe, well, in the next issue, there's a scene where Duke has a very serious discussion about jet-hook-fu, the art of battling giant killer robots with a jetpack and a grappling hook. I don't think there's any better way to get you on board than that. Check out a preview.

Valentine's Day weekend is upon us, and love, bad chocolate, and expensive restaurant reservations are everywhere you look. To mark the occasion, we've compiled a list of the 30 greatest couples in comics. These are the romantic pairings whose stories inspire us to believe in the power of love, and whose devotion to each other may provide a model for how to woo your own beloved when they're cloned, or possessed by evil forces, or you forget their birthday or whatever.

For those of you who don't keep up with astronomical milestones, today is The Winter Solstice! It's the longest night of the year, and it's an event that's influenced winter celebrations in cultures all across the world. In ancient Rome, for instance, it gave rise to Saturnalia and the tradition of exchanging presents in the middle of winter that continues to this day. And in Scotland, it's a time to get together with your family to honor the hot pink Cthulhu monster that lives in your basement with a human sacrifice. Or at least, that's what I've learned from watching G.I. Joe. Okay, okay, so maybe that particular tradition is limited solely to one James McCullen XXIV, better known to America's daring, highly trained special missions force as Cobra's resident international arms dealer, Destro. Then again, considering that the only other major fact I know about Scotland is that there's a secret castle for teen wizards somewhere up there, it seems pretty plausible that this just some local custom.

Next March, IDW is launching an event called Deviations, a set of one-shots that take five of their licensed comics - Ghostbusters, Transformers, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The X-Files - and ask what if - er, what would happen if things had worked out just a little differently? In the case of America's daring, highly trained special missions force, that means a universe where GI Joe failed, and Cobra Commander took over the world. That's the bad news. The good news is that since ruling a world terrified into submission is actually pretty boring, Cobra Commander is reassembling the team so that he has someone to fight again. To find out more, I spoke to writer Paul Allor and artist Corey Lewis about how they approached the story and what it's like to live in a world run by Cobra - and got a look at some of Lewis's designs for a post-apocalyptic Cobra Commander and the sensational character find of 2016, Hawaiian Style Snake Eyes.

Street Fighter x GI Joe is not a comic that requires a whole lot of explanation. There's a good chance that you know if you're going to be into this book just by reading that title, with all the promise of hard-hitting punchouts between World Warriors, Special Missions Forces and the terrorist organization known as Cobra that comes with it. But there are a whole lot of questions that go along with that title, and chief among them is just who's going to be matched up. To find out, ComicsAlliance spoke exclusively to writer Aubrey Sitterson about the origins of the project, why he chose to structure it as a tournament between 16 characters from both franchises, and to take an in-depth look at the entire roster of the upcoming crossover!

Although cosplay has been present for decades within the comics, anime, and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, social media has played an integral role in the thriving communities of costuming that exist, such as Cosplay.com and the Superhero Costuming Forum. Over the years, the cosplay community has evolved into a creative outlet for many fans to establish and showcase some impressive feats of homemade disguise, craftsmanship, and sartorial superheroics at conventions. In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

Good news for people who enjoy watching fights that employ both chi-powered fireballs and telepathic control of crocodiles: At Comic-Con International in San Diego, Capcom announced that the Street Fighter series of video games is going to cross over with GI Joe in the form of a six-issue miniseries from IDW.