Larry Hama Talks About G.I.Joe's Storm Shadow

[JayC]

http://comicnewsi.com/article.php?catid=159&itemid=9495

[punishment-101]

good stuff, always glad to read Hama's Joe stuff.

[revsears]

the comics are really improving. I'm looking forward to this a bunch, and as much as i love solo stuff i do hope some ninja issues are addressed like the new arashakagne clan jerwa setup in m and a 2 (and casey destroyed...) and some other ones.

 

The last issue of elite was the best ddp has put out to date i really hope it brings some readers back for another try.

[BrotherShane]

Can't wait!

[Riker]

Awesome... I can't wait!

 

Hama is the joe king!

[KamenDreda]

Yeah... I don't really get the whole Hama worshiping thing... I never thought he was that great of a writer.

[gscbr]

Yeah... I don't really get the whole Hama worshiping thing... I never thought he was that great of a writer.

I agree. he created great characters and had great ideas, but his execution wasn't any less soap-operish than Devils Due's execution--they simply lack his skill in characterization.

[obiwanjacoby]

Yeah... I don't really get the whole Hama worshiping thing... I never thought he was that great of a writer.

 

Compared to. . .whom?

 

-PJ

[ronin]

Yeah... I don't really get the whole Hama worshiping thing... I never thought he was that great of a writer.

 

 

Yeah... I don't really get the whole Hama worshiping thing... I never thought he was that great of a writer.

I agree. he created great characters and had great ideas, but his execution wasn't any less soap-operish than Devils Due's execution--they simply lack his skill in characterization.

 

Thank the lord that someone other than myself thinks the same. I don't mean to take away anything from the man's work but all too often, I talk with others who put him on such an pedestal. They love to base it on only certain limited storyarcs (from issues xx-xx).

 

I like to look at someone's entire body of work before shouting their praises. This man made some absolutely great characters along with nice detail and judicious use of military terminology. However, what he produced was military fantasy. He is no Clancy. Neither I am but at least I will admit it. LOL.

[obiwanjacoby]

He is no Clancy.

 

Wow, no love for Larry here. @hmmm@

 

Just keep in mind that he didn't have the connections that Tom Clancy did, nor was he allowed to write with 100% freedom because he was forced to feature the newest toys. Not too fair of a comparison at all you guys.

 

Did you read any of his stint on Wolverine? Did you read what Chris Clairmont thought of Hama's treatment of the character? He said it was second only to his own!

 

And again, I'd like to ask, "He wasn't that great of a writer compared to. . .who?" Please cite the same-old story arcs brought up by these so-called blind Hama worshippers, and I'll match you piece-for-piece!

 

Did you read any of the Joe Annuals?

 

Did you read Hama's run on Special Missions? The preview from ARAH #50 alone would have given Clancy himself a run for his money!

 

You realize Larry Hama proliferated the Wally Wood oldskool technique. . .right?

 

http://joeljohnson.com/archives/2006/08/wally_woods_22.html.

 

Are you aware that one of the biggest "Hama worshippers" out there is Mark Bellomo, who just happens to be a frickin' Hemingway scholar himself?

 

To top it all off, without Hama's writing there would never be a 25th anniversary collection.

 

Enjoy your Joes.

 

-PJ

[JayC]

I have to agree, There are alot of good issues in the Marvel Run, now at the end it got kinda erhh but then so did everything GIJoe at that time. His recent work on Declassified was great to. Not putting down any one else's work on GIJoe, but Hama is king when it comes to writing GIJoe.

[ronin]

He is no Clancy.

 

Wow, no love for Larry here. @hmmm@

....-PJ

 

PJ,

 

Quite the opposite, I think that my opinion was seriously misconstrued. You might want to re-read it and review my statement and compliments of the man. His work done on Wolverine, the Joe Annals and the opinions from others were the types of things that I know of and was talking about when I made the mention of taking his entire body of work into account.

 

My issue is with those who choose to limit Larry's contribution based on a certain run of issues (not you).

 

Larry had an immense impact on the 80s Joe mythos but please understand that the concept of GI Joe is bigger than Hama and existed for decades before he worked on the comic run. If you think I am joking, why don't you rent The Story Of GI Joe starring Burgess Meredith from 1945. Granted it is not the Joe mythos that you hold dear but it is the concept that I am referring to.

 

It is a testament to the timelessness and appeal of the concept of GI Joe that Burgess starred in a GI Joe movie and nearly fifty years later was able to voice a part in the Joe movie as Golobulus.

 

I have been a long time fan and collector of the Joes (even before their reincarnation in the 80s). I was collecting Joes (the 12 inch variety, AT) before Larry was involved and will continue to do so even though he isn't directly involved in the primary property.

 

By the way, you might want to seriously consider giving the cartoon series and toy lines due credit for keeping Joe alive for 25 years as well. For many people (who weren't comic fans), that was their introduction to GI Joe and that was how they best remember it. The voices of the cartoons and packaging of the toys was what sparked their interest and fondness into Joe, not Hama's writing.

 

To give sole credit for the 25th Anniversary Collection to Hama is not accurate because there were many others who worked and continue to work on the 80s Joe property and related toy lines.

 

It is good to sometimes take a step back and appreciate GI Joe (not just the 80s mythos), there is a hell of a lot more to love. You just might like it.

[Doom Saber]

He is no Clancy.

 

Wow, no love for Larry here. @hmmm@

....-PJ

 

PJ,

 

Quite the opposite, I think that my opinion was seriously misconstrued. You might want to re-read it and review my statement and compliments of the man. His work done on Wolverine, the Joe Annals and the opinions from others were the types of things that I know of and was talking about when I made the mention of taking his entire body of work into account.

 

My issue is with those who choose to limit Larry's contribution based on a certain run of issues (not you).

 

Larry had an immense impact on the 80s Joe mythos but please understand that the concept of GI Joe is bigger than Hama and existed for decades before he worked on the comic run. If you think I am joking, why don't you rent The Story Of GI Joe starring Burgess Meredith from 1945. Granted it is not the Joe mythos that you hold dear but it is the concept that I am referring to.

 

It is a testament to the timelessness and appeal of the concept of GI Joe that Burgess starred in a GI Joe movie and nearly fifty years later was able to voice a part in the Joe movie as Golobulus.

 

I have been a long time fan and collector of the Joes (even before their reincarnation in the 80s). I was collecting Joes (the 12 inch variety, AT) before Larry was involved and will continue to do so even though he isn't directly involved in the primary property.

 

By the way, you might want to seriously consider giving the cartoon series and toy lines due credit for keeping Joe alive for 25 years as well. For many people (who weren't comic fans), that was their introduction to GI Joe and that was how they best remember it. The voices of the cartoons and packaging of the toys was what sparked their interest and fondness into Joe, not Hama's writing.

 

To give sole credit for the 25th Anniversary Collection to Hama is not accurate because there were many others who worked and continue to work on the 80s Joe property and related toy lines.

 

It is good to sometimes take a step back and appreciate GI Joe (not just the 80s mythos), there is a hell of a lot more to love. You just might like it.

 

 

You DO know that Hama created Cobra (he based it off of some Nick Fury villain team at the time) and written all the bio cards for RAH? I read this on some toy magainze that was released last year. I guess that what pj means about Hama. Without Hama, there will be no Cobra and Snakeeyes wouldn't be an overrated Ninja.

[ronin]

You DO know that Hama created Cobra (he based it off of some Nick Fury villain team at the time) and written all the bio cards for RAH? I read this on some toy magainze that was released last year. I guess that what pj means about Hama. Without Hama, there will be no Cobra and Snakeeyes wouldn't be an overrated Ninja.

 

DS,

 

To be accurate, he admits to writing the majority of the filecards but not all of them. Matter of fact, I believe that he specifically cited Crystall Ball's in a prior interview as an example of one he did not.

[obiwanjacoby]

Quite the opposite, I think that my opinion was seriously misconstrued. You might want to re-read it and review my statement and compliments of the man.

 

Excuse me? You hitched your cart to a series of quotes above, one of which. . .

 

Yeah... I don't really get the whole Hama worshiping thing... I never thought he was that great of a writer.

 

. . .you C&P'd and quoted directly yourself.

 

Thank the lord that someone other than myself thinks the same. I don't mean to take away anything from the man's work but all too often, I talk with others who put him on such an pedestal. They love to base it on only certain limited storyarcs (from issues xx-xx).

 

You didn't mean to take away from the man's work. . .and then you up & do just that. Take some responsibility for what you post. If you meant to take back your statements (as you seem to be doing), why not do just that instead of passing blame and saying I misconstrued you? The quotes are plain. You were throwing in with the crowd.

 

I like to look at someone's entire body of work before shouting their praises. This man made some absolutely great characters along with nice detail and judicious use of military terminology. However, what he produced was military fantasy. He is no Clancy. Neither I am but at least I will admit it. LOL.

What I want to know is, were you saying here that Hama's Joe work is military fantasy, whereas Clancy's fiction was not? Have you been watching C-SPAN recently? Oh, and I hate to pile on more reasons why the comparison is invalid, but they're two totally different entertainment mediums that you're comparing. Why don't you compare him with another comic writer. . .like I've been asking the whole time?

 

His work done on Wolverine, the Joe Annals and the opinions from others were the types of things that I know of and was talking about when I made the mention of taking his entire body of work into account.

 

OH! Well, too bad I had to mention them for you, huh? Why didn't you just do that to begin with? We can't read your mind, just what you wrote verbatum. . .which of course, mentioned nothing about Wolverine, the annuals, etc. at the time.

 

My issue is with those who choose to limit Larry's contribution based on a certain run of issues (not you).

Great. Let's hear 'em then! Who are these crazy people anyway? I'm waiting.

 

Larry had an immense impact on the 80s Joe mythos but please understand that the concept of GI Joe is bigger than Hama and existed for decades before he worked on the comic run. If you think I am joking, why don't you rent The Story Of GI Joe starring Burgess Meredith from 1945. Granted it is not the Joe mythos that you hold dear but it is the concept that I am referring to.

 

Oh, a diversion. Very clever. This is the ARAH board, where since 1982, GIJoes have had "a soul" packaged on every individual card. Your fully poseable art-mannequin everyman is indeed iconic, but you and I both know that isn't what I was talking about.

 

It is a testament to the timelessness and appeal of the concept of GI Joe that Burgess starred in a GI Joe movie and nearly fifty years later was able to voice a part in the Joe movie as Golobulus.

Oh, WOW. . .that--oh man that was pure lawyering brilliance. Kudos. This one's getting archived. My hat's off to you.

 

To give sole credit for the 25th Anniversary Collection to Hama is not accurate because there were many others who worked and continue to work on the 80s Joe property and related toy lines.

 

See above. Without the filecard that Hama put into each figure and the comic, there never would have been a Sunbow toon and the figures would have never made it past a year or two. Heck, there never would have been a Cobra enemy.

 

It is good to sometimes take a step back and appreciate GI Joe (not just the 80s mythos), there is a hell of a lot more to love. You just might like it.

 

Yah, sorry I tried to pigeonhole you and all. I guess to be fair according to your standard, I should have lumped in AT, Super-Joe w/the 1-2 punch, Sgt. Savage, and Extreme at the same time. . .given your reasoning. Right? @loll@

 

As they say, when you're losing. . .move the goal-posts, amirite? And you sure did a swell job there, the problem is that you still overlooked a few of my points above, and you're still being purposefully vague. Please name the specifics I asked for. Answering my other questions might help as well.

 

-PJ

[Riker]

Come on guys... this guy is the man!

 

[ronin]

PJ,

 

Looking at the tone of your responses, it seems that my post touched quite a nerve. Every Joe fan does not think like you. I am entitled to my own opinion.

 

Frankly, I don't have to recount or drudge up past debates from other boards for you or anyone.

 

In your original post, you said there was no love for Larry here. I never said that. Do I think he made some great characters? Yes. Do I think he created some good story arcs? Of course. Do I think he made judicious use of military terminology which bolstered the detail of his writing? Yes.

 

Do I share your opinion on him? Probably not.

 

Will I buy the Storm Shadow series when it is released? Depends on how I feel the first few issues go.

 

As I mentioned prior, I am entitled to my own opinion. You don't have to like it.

 

We will agree to disagree and leave it at that. Have a good day.