1982* G.I. Joe #1 by Marvel Comics is released, beginning the 155-issue run written almost entirely by Larry Hama (except for a few issues he wrote with guest writers); G.I. Joe #1 was also the first comic book to ever be promoted in a television commercial; a total of 24 G.I. Joe Marvel Comic commercials were produced with the last one promoting issue #80

1984  G.I. Joe Yearbook #1 released; in the UK Battle Action Force comics begin using characters that are repaints of toys originally released in the U.S.

1985  G.I. Joe Yearbook #2 released; three Starduster mini-comics are included as promotions in G.I. Joe Action Stars cereal

1986  G.I. Joe Special Missions 28-issue series begins in July and features stand-alone stories; G.I. Joe Yearbook #3 released; Order Of Battle 4-issue series begins in September; G.I. Joe and the Transformers 4-issue mini-series begins in October

1987  G.I. Joe Yearbook #4 released; Marvel UK’s Transformers (Weekly) begins 4-part Action Force story in issues 99 and 101-103 shortly before Action Force #1 is released; Marvel UK’s Action Force (Weekly) 50-issue series begins in March; Marvel UK releases the first of five Action Force specials; Marvel UK releases the first Action Force annual; Blackthorne Publishing releases a 6-issue series beginning in July entitled G.I. Joe 3-D; in addition to the main series a G.I. Joe Annual and one reprint issue is also released; Blackthorne Publishing releases a 3-issue series beginning in December entitled The Official How To Draw G.I. Joe

1988  G.I. Joe European Missions 15-issue series begins in March; European Missions reprints issues of Action Force Monthly published in the U.K.; Marvel UK’s Action Force (Weekly) ends in February with issue #50

1989  G.I. Joe Special Missions series ends with issue #28 in August; G.I. Joe European Missions ends with issue #15 in May; G.I. Joe In 3-D series ends with an annual and reprint issue; in the United Kingdom “Action Force” is changed to “G.I. Joe the Action Force”

1991  In the United Kingdom “G.I. Joe the Action Force” is changed to “G.I. Joe”

1992  Marvel UK releases the last G.I. Joe Annual (formerly G.I. Joe the Action Force); four different mini-comics are included with Battle Corps figures 

1993  The G.I. Joe team appears in Marvel’s Transformers Generation 2 #’s 1 & 2

1994  Marvel G.I. Joe series ends with issue #155; The G.I. Joe team appears in January in Marvel’s Transformers Generation 2 #6; two mini-comics were included in packages of certain Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles toys; the Sgt. Savage mini-comics were illustrated by Joe Kubert of Sgt. Rock fame

1995  G.I. Joe Special #1 released in February (two months after the last issue of the Marvel series); this issue reprints issue #61 of the Marvel series with new artwork by Todd McFarlane; G.I. Joe Extreme first 4-issue series released in December by Dark Horse Comics  

1996  G.I. Joe Extreme second (and last) 4-issue series released in June by Dark Horse Comics

1999  In the spring of 1999 Benchpress Comics announced it had the rights to release two new G.I. Joe titles written by Larry Hama (similar to the Marvel Comics main Joe series and Special Missions series); unfortunately, Larry Hama’s contract negotiations weren’t finalized and Benchpress Comics went bankrupt (and consequently lost the Joe license) before this project came to fruition

2001  A new 43-issue G.I. Joe A Real American Hero series begins by Devil’s Due Publishing and Image Comics; several issues in this series have multiple covers as is the case with most Devil’s Due Publishing G.I. Joe series

2002  Front Line 18-issue series begins in October with a 4-issue story arc by Larry Hama; Battle Files 3-issue series begins in April; the first of 11 different mini-comics are included in toy packages beginning this year; the mini-comics are printed on the inserts advertising the toys

2003  Front Line ends in December with issue #18; G.I. Joe vs. Transformers (Image) 6-issue series begins in July; Transformers: G.I. Joe (Dreamwave) 6-issue series begins in September and is set in a WW II continuity

2004  In January Devil's Due Publishing begins publishing the G.I. Joe title on its own without Image Comics starting with G.I. Joe #26; Master & Apprentice 4-issue series begins in May and focuses on Snake Eyes and his student Kamakura; G.I. Joe vs. Trasformers II (DDP) begins in September; G.I. Joe Reloaded 14-issue series begins in March and is set in an all new continuity; Cobra: Reborn and G.I. Joe: Reborn one-shots are released prior to Reloaded #1 in order to introduce the new continuity; Transformers: G.I. Joe Divided Front (Dreamwave) #1 is released in November; Divided Front was meant to be six issues but Dreamwave lost the license and only #1 was actually released; Hasbro begins including Marvel Comic G.I. Joe reprints as pack-ins in the Comic Book 3-packs (includes 3 figures and a comic) 

2005  The Devil’s Due Publishing main G.I. Joe title ends in June with issue #43; G.I. Joe: America’s Elite begins in June with issue #0 and takes place in continuity one year after the last issue of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #43; Data Desk Handbook one-shot released in October; Master & Apprentice 2 4-issue series begins in February and focuses on Storm Shadow and his student Junko Akita; Snake Eyes: Declassified 6-issue series begins in August; Sigma 6 6-issue series begins in December and is based on the Sigma 6 cartoon

2006  The first of five Special Missions one-shots entitled Special Missions: Manhattan is released in February; G.I. Joe: Declassified 3-issue series begins in June and shows the events leading up to the original Marvel G.I. Joe series #1; Dreadnoks: Declassified 3-issue series begins in November and tells the origin of Zartan and the Dreadnoks; G.I. Joe vs. Transformers The Art of War 5-issue series begins in March

2007  Data Desk Handbook Vol. II 2-issue series begins in October; the last Special Missions one-shot entitled The Enemy is released in September; Storm Shadow 7-issue series begins in May and is written by Larry Hama; G.I. Joe vs. Transformers IV Black Horizon 2-issue series begins in January 

2008  DDP releases a Fire Safety one-shot made possible by a FEMA Grant

* Please note Marvel Comics issues were released three months before the date on the covers. For the purposes of this timeline we have listed the comics in the appropriate year based on the actual month they hit the newsstands. This is why you may have noticed a discrepancy between the date on your comics and the date we have listed them in this timeline.

Reprint issues such as Tales of G.I. Joe, the G.I. Joe Comics Magazine, and trade paperbacks will not be listed here as they do not contribute original content to the G.I. Joe mythos. fake watches