GI Joe Comic Book Prices
Value of G.I. Joe Comics
GI Joe comic book prices are of special interest both to collectors and those who love to read war comics. While the original G.I. Joe was an action figure with a beard and a kung-fu grip, the modern-day incarnation includes a wide variety of characters such as Scarlett, Hawk, Snake-Eyes, and the infamous Cobra Commander.
While the GI Joe series enjoyed great success with Marvel Comics for years, it has since moved on to publishers such as Dark Horse, Devil’s Due and IDW. Thanks to their combined efforts, readers and collectors can enjoy titles ranging from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
G.I. Joe Prices and Titles
G.I. Joe Comics from Ziff-Davis
The first G.I. Joe comic book was published by Ziff-Davis, although it had nothing to do with the modern version of the series. First released in 1950, these G.I. Joe comics took place during the Korean War and were oddly numbered with issue #1 labeled as #10. The first issue is valued at $300 in near mint condition, while the next four books are all valued at $200 apiece.
The first volume of the Ziff-Davis run only lasted for five issues, but Vol. 2 started up in 1951 and ran from issues #6 to #51. The first 12 issues of this volume are valued at $100 each, while the 100-page issue #18 is worth $240. From there, the prices fall back to $100 until issue #42. The rest of the series is priced at $80.
Another comic published around this time was The Yardbirds, a book devoted to the sidekicks of G.I. Joe. Featuring artwork by Bob Oskner, the issue is valued at $120.
G.I. Joe Comics from DC
DC Comics didn’t have a long relationship with G.I. Joe. In 1964, they released two issues of their Showcase comic book that were set in World War II and dealt with G.I. Joe. Showcase #53 and #54 both have a current value of $160.
Custom Comics and Hasbro
In 1967, Custom Comics released a one-shot issue entitled G.I. Joe. It’s current value is estimated to be $35 in near mint condition.
Hasbro, the company responsible for making the G.I. Joe action figures, has also gotten in on the act from time to time. From 1970 until 1975, they published a total of four volumes of G.I. Joe. Volume 2 includes 12 issues, with each valued at $25. All 14 of the Volume 3 issues are also worth $25. The same goes for the 15 issues of Volume 4 and the 12 issues of Volume 5.
G.I. Joe Comics from Marvel
In 1982, Marvel Comics provided some much-needed muscle for the G.I. Joe franchise. With surprisingly deep stories written by Larry Hama, and a willingness to kill off characters (unlike the TV cartoon series), G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was a major success that ran for 155 issues. I recall buying a number of these as a kid, and I was never disappointed by cool villains like Destro and Cobra Commander (not to mention heroic badasses like Snake-Eyes and Gung-Ho).
The first issue of the series is valued at $20, but collectors may also want to keep their eyes peeled for some of these other groundbreaking issues: the first appearance of Destro (#11), the death of multiple heroes (#109), first work by Ron Garney (#110), first appearance of Serpentor (#49), and an issue without any dialogue (#21). It’s interesting to note that prices for the final issues are actually higher, with numerous comics falling in the $16 to $40 range. The final issue, #155, is valued at $70 in near mint condition.
The success of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero caused Marvel to create a spin-off series called G.I. Joe: Special Missions. Lasting for 28 issues, it featured more violence than the original series, as well as villains who happened to be terrorists (in addition to Cobra). Almost all of these issues are valued at either $3 or $4, with the exception being #1A, a re-sketched edition released in 2003 by Mike Zeck and limited to only 99 copies. If you own this one, it’s worth $35 in near mint condition.
G.I. Joe and Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse seems to have licensed every other property, so why not G.I. Joe? They started with a G.I. Joe mini-series in 1995 and then launched a series the following year. The latter only lasted four issues, and each is valued at $3.
Devil’s Due Publishing
2001 saw Devil’s Due gain the rights to G.I. Joe, and they published the first 25 issues of this new series, known as G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, through Image Comics. The most valuable of these issues is #21C, also known as the “Renegar edition.” It has a Graham Crackers tie-in, a foil cover, and is currently valued at $30.
Devil’s Due would take over publishing duties with issue #26, and they would continue to release the comic until it ended with issue #43. The most valuable of these issues in once again tied to Graham Crackers, with an exclusive foil cover raising the value of issue #33D to $25.
Other G.I. Joe titles published by Devil’s Due include G.I. Joe: Master and Apprentice, G.I. Joe: America’s Elite, G.I. Joe: Frontline, G.I. Joe: Declassified, G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, and G.I. Joe: Battle Files.
IDW Publishing
Devil’s Due lost the G.I. Joe licensing rights in 2008, and IDW Publishing swooped in to pick up the property. But instead of continuing where companies like Marvel and Devil’s Due left off, IDW started from scratch and ignored everything that had happened before.
As of this writing, the ongoing series include G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: Cobra II, and G.I. Joe: Origins. A number of mini-series and one-shots have also been released. Cobra Commander was finally killed in the pages of G.I. Joe: Cobra II #12, and that led directly to several new titles starting up (including G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes).
Collectors should pay attention to the following: G.I. Joe #1H with limited edition sketch cover ($45), G.I. Joe: A New Beginning #0C with a Ben Templesmith incentive variant cover ($20), G.I. Joe: Best of Baroness one-shot ($20), G.I. Joe: Cobra #1B with a Howard Chaykin incentive cover, and G.I. Joe: Movie Adaptation convention editions ($10 each).
I was a major fan of war comics as a kid, so it’s a great deal of fun for me to look at the GI Joe comic book prices and see what my collection would be worth today (if I hadn’t thrown them away like a dummy). If you’re thinking about starting up your own collection, you could do a lot worse than this enduring saga of brave men and women engaged in a seemingly endless conflict with the forces of evil. Yo, Joe!