Fear Net recently had a chance to talk with Max Brooks about his upcoming World War Z movie, but in their interview, Brooks elaborated on GI Joe Hearts and Minds by IDW. Brooks is going for the three dimensional, realistic approach to the title, something he shares in common with GI Joe Cobra[ writers Christos Gage and Mike Costa. Here’s what he had to say on Hearts & Minds:
What are you working on right now?Recorded Attacks just came out, so that’s been doing great. Amazing. My next project, which comes out in May, is a comic book series for GI Joe. That was announced here. GI Joe: Hearts and Minds. And that’s not like your typical GI Joe.
Can we expect something darker, edgier?
I don’t know if it’s darker. I can’t compare to the other GI Joe series but I can tell you that it is certainly more human and that these people have very human problems and they deal with very human issues. It’s certainly more three-dimensional I think. I don’t know if it’s more three-dimensional than the GI Joe series that are running now, but a lot more than the ones I grew up with. And it’s not a linear story. It’s more of a collection of interviews. It’s more like a day in the life or an up-close-and-personal of a Joe or a Cobra.
Are there supernatural or horror elements in this or is it a straight war book?
It’s similar to World War Z in that I took a very fantastic subject and I tried to make it as human and as real as possible. I’ve done the same thing with Hearts and Minds. I took a sort of fantastic, 1980s, pseudo-violent kind of series – harmless violent, no one ever dies – and made it much more realistic and much more accessible. I mean, I can tell you that we deal with issues like racism, we deal with science versus religion, we deal with medical ethics, medical malpractice, we deal with unemployment and the moral destruction of unemployment, destruction of the male ego… so these are the kinds of things that we do.
Are you excited for Brooks upcoming entries into the GI Joe mythos? Share your thoughts by clicking the discuss button!
Shin Densetsu says
More On GI Joe Hearts And Minds With Max Brooks - GI Joe News
RATFINK says
OoOoO MAN o man i am stoked! WWZ was on of the best books i have ever read
sparhawk says
Very nice. I liked WWZ. Everyone should have a ZOmbie Plan.
williamzombie says
Awesome Hisstank is picking up news from FEARnet! I work at FEARnet!
: )
Deathsynger says
I always hate it when someone says they are going to deal with human issues. It bugs me, I don't want to read about GI Joe member having issues. It's nice to have small things pop up to show they are human. But GI Joe to me seems to be about things that are bigger than just one person. I don't want a soap opera...
joecrazy says
seyms says
What writer wants to get stuck doing mindless action? It would become boring after a short while.
ChaplainAsst says
Read World War Z. Max Brooks is truly genius at both understanding how to tell a story, even one that is kind of ludicrous, and making it both feel real and meaningful. His style in this book was first person narrative, so I would expect sort of an interview/inner-dialog story. WWZ was quite action packed - even from this perspective - so don't fear.
lpburk2 says
"we deal with issues like racism, we deal with science versus religion, we deal with medical ethics, medical malpractice, we deal with unemployment and the moral destruction of unemployment"
Well, my enthusiasm has just tapered off somewhat. In the same vein as World War Z, it looks like Brooks just can't help injecting his left-wing nonsense into everything.
Trooper13 says
I'm pretty stoked for this. I think the fact that it'll be stand alone stories dealing with the specific characters in each issue is a great format for this type of story. I don't think I'd want this level of character depth in the core book, as I don't think it would work well with the extremely large cast Joe has. If this goes well I think it'd be nice to have him come back maybe a few books a year when he finds a story he wants to tell. The fact that we're getting an upclose and personal look at Firefly and Major Bludd is just too cool.
Keep reading: Max Brooks Talks More GI JOE Hearts And Minds - Page 2
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