The tagline for G.I. Joe is “The Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe,” and that sets expectations high. T personal story behind me and G.I. Joe is that I’ve been hyped for this book for months now. After reading Aubrey Sitterson’s interviews about the series, I knew he was writing the G.I. Joe series I’ve been looking for. The toys and animated series were some of my favorite things as a child, and this series looked to capture my childhood love of the franchise. After the G.I. Joe: Revolution one-shot hit and succeeded, I was sold on this series hook, line, and sinker. I’ve been clamoring for the first issue ever since. Now it is here, but will the regular series hold my attention? Time to find out as I start my adventure into G.I. Joe #1.

G.I. Joe #1, Let the journey to see if this really is “The Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe” start now.

Let’s just play my hand now: G.I. Joe #1 is fun, pure and simple. To say this book is up my alley is an understatement. I try not to play my hand on my liking a book this early on but, this is worth it. If you grew up with G.I. Joe or have any other favorite toy line or toys, G.I. Joe is the best representation of childhood playtime unleashed. Think classic G.I. Joe cartoon and take it to the next level, that’s the best way to describe this comic. The comic starts out with a robot ninja fight for goodness sake; that’s cool. Aubrey Sitterson’s writing on this book screams, “Hi, I’m having a lot of fun writing this,” and it shows with every page. You can’t help but appreciate a comic that cuts loose embraces the fun of this world.

G.I. Joe is also where you see all the aspects of the Hasbro Universe post-Revolution come to life. From having a Transformer on the G.I. Joe team and in other ways all across the book. Sitterson breathes life into this wonderful world and all the characters that populate it. I find myself liking all the characters at this point, even cooler that Scarlett is the leader and she rocks. Every single character has a moment and from serious to laugh out loud hilarious, there’s a lot to love here. It was a smart idea on Sitterson’s part to make this issue action packed and then letting it breathe to get to know everyone. By the end of the issue, you have a good feel for every character.

Let us not dare forget the sublime art team on G.I. Joe because, wow are they awesome.

I don’t dare forget the artist on this book. Giannis Milogiannis is phenomenal. If you’ve ever seen Milogiannis’ work on Prophet and Old City Blues, you know you’re in for a treat. Giannis is doing some amazing work here. It’s got such life and energy to it and like I said earlier, this truly feels like an old G.I. Joe cartoon in the best way possible. I don’t want to forget the coloring of Lovern Kindzierski either. It’s so bright and wonderful, it compliments Giannis’s work well. Then you get right down to the lettering from Chris Mowry. It’s so splashy and cool and fits the entire atmosphere wonderfully. Sitterson’s script comes to life with this amazing art team. If Sitterson is having fun, this art team is having as much fun as he is.

There is a lot to dive into with this first issue, but in trying to keep this spoiler free, this hits all the right beats of what I dig about this. If you’re even remotely interested in the Hasbro Universe from IDW, this is definitely a must buy. This truly earns “The Crown Jewel of The Hasbro Universe” tagline in the best way possible.