G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freePinning down 'G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #12 (IDW)' as a single, unambiguous comic is complicated by IDW's publishing history: the Larry Hama continuation of A Real American Hero began its numbering at #155½ and has no standalone issue #12, while IDW simultaneously ran a separate rebooted continuity (G.I. Joe Season 1, written by Chuck Dixon) that does carry a #12. If the issue in question is IDW's rebooted Season 1 #12, it falls near the close of Chuck Dixon's opening arc in IDW's brand-new Joe universe — a continuity that deliberately started fresh, giving IDW access to characters from any era of the Hasbro toyline rather than continuing Hama's Marvel thread. That structural choice distinguished IDW's main G.I. Joe line from the concurrent Hama ARAH revival and shaped the entire editorial landscape of IDW's Joe line through 2013.
In "The Death of Snake Eyes Part 1," the aftermath of a brutal ambush leaves Snake Eyes presumed dead, forcing his comrades to devise a desperate plan. With Snake Eyes' identity at risk, Sean steps into the role, traveling to the fallen warrior’s cabin with Scarlett while a covert operation unfolds to maintain the illusion. The tension mounts as Cobra closes in, and a tragic turn at the Collins family home sets the stage for a reckoning—cover by Antonio Fuso, written by Larry Hama and illustrated by S. L. Gallant.
In the heart of Olliestan, the G.I. Joe team uncovers a shocking alliance between Cobra, the Blue Ninjas, and the Red Shadows, all secretly building a colossal robotic weapon. Meanwhile, Serpentor proves his might in a brutal test, dismantling three Joe tanks with the power of Project Mongoose’s towering machine, while in Japan, Storm Shadow, Raymond, and Granny Demon strike at a Blue Ninja stronghold.
In the heat of battle, Throwdown boards the colossal robot as Serpentor commands its return to the Pit. With a desperate move, Snake Eyes lunges at Serpentor, sacrificing himself with a live grenade—ending the threat but leaving Throwdown to face the wreckage. Severely burned, he takes up Snake Eyes’ discarded mask, a silent vow to carry on.
In the aftermath of a brutal ambush, Sean must step into the shadows of a fallen legend—assuming the identity of Snake Eyes to protect the team. With Scarlett at his side and Cobra closing in, he faces a deadly test of loyalty and survival, all while the ghosts of the past threaten to unravel everything.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
IDW Publishing acquired the G.I. Joe comics license after Devil's Due Publications lost it in January 2008, with the handoff publicly announced on May 29 of that year. IDW then launched two parallel but editorially distinct tracks: a rebooted IDW-continuity series (simply titled G.I. Joe, written by Chuck Dixon) that debuted in January 2009 and eventually reached a Season 1 of 28 issues, and a separate Hama-written continuation of Marvel's original A Real American Hero storyline beginning in May 2010 with a Free Comic Book Day issue numbered #155½. The Classic G.I. Joe TPB line, also published by IDW beginning in January 2009, reprinted the original Marvel run in collected volumes; its twelfth volume (August 2011) collected Marvel issues #111–123 and was the first trade paperback collection of that particular stretch of the Marvel run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- IDW's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Larry Hama continuation) has NO issue #12 — its numbering begins at #155½ (Free Comic Book Day, May 2010) and continues from #156 onward, picking up directly where Marvel's 1994 series concluded.
- IDW simultaneously published a fully rebooted G.I. Joe (Season 1) series written by Chuck Dixon, starting in January 2009 with its own #1; this series does have a #12 and ran for 28 issues + 1 Special.
- IDW's approach to the rebooted continuity gave creators access to characters from any era of the Hasbro G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, unlike the Hama continuation which was bound to its Marvel-established canon.
- Classic G.I. Joe TPB Vol. 12 (IDW, August 2011, ISBN 1600109721) reprints Marvel's original ARAH issues #111–123 — marking the first time that run of Marvel issues was collected in trade paperback format.
- Classic G.I. Joe Vol. 12 (the TPB reprint) features art by Herb Trimpe, John Statema, Rod Whigham, and Andrew Wildman, all with writing by Larry Hama — the original Marvel creative team.
- The IDW Season 1 G.I. Joe series ended and fed into the Cobra Civil War crossover event; G.I. Joe: Cobra II #12 (a related IDW series in the rebooted continuity) was the issue in which the original Cobra Commander was killed, a landmark narrative moment that ended all three original IDW ongoing series and triggered the Cobra Civil War storyline.
- Larry Hama's IDW ARAH continuation ran from 2010 to 2022, concluding at #300, after which the license passed to Skybound Entertainment, which resumed the series with #301 in November 2023 — still with Hama as writer.
- The IDW ARAH series ignored the Devil's Due Publishing continuation (which had ended with G.I. Joe: America's Elite #36 in 2008), restoring Hama's original Marvel storyline as the sole canonical sequel per Hasbro's own stated position.
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Key issues in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
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