Dark Horse Comics, known for publishing such outstanding comics as Star Wars: Dark Empire, The Ghost in the Shell, and Concrete, will launch a new monthly GI JOE comic book this December. This new series will be written by Mike W. Barr, best known for his work on Mantra and Batman: Son of the Demon, and will be pencilled by Tatsuya Ishida. Ishida is currently pencilling Dark Horse's Godzilla. Scott Reed, whose work has appeared in Godzilla and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, will ink the series. To emphasize that this new launch is not the old GI JOE Sin City creator Frank Miller provides the cover to the first issue.

The fundamental fact about the new GI JOE is that it truly is new. "None of the old continuity has survived," says Mike Barr. "We're starting over with an entirely clean slate." That "clean slate" includes all-new characters and settings, freely adapted from Sunbow Productions' new animated series, scheduled to debut this fall. At the same time, Kenner will be debuting the new line of toys.

The new storyline takes place in a new century. It is the year 2010. Military bases, high-tech manufacturing plants, and research facilities across America have fallen victim to quick and savage sabotage. The culprits are a group of super terrorists known as S.K.A.R.(TM) (Soldiers of Kaos, Anarchy, and Ruin(TM)), whose singleminded goal is total world domination.

"The forces of order and peace have to respond quickly," says Dark Horse editor Robert Conte, "by assembling a crack team of highly trained soldiers and specialists. Each member of the team has extraordinary skills and physical abilities, and only the best are accepted. Their code name is GI JOE." GI JOE #1 arrives in direct-market comic-book shops on December 19, 1995.