July 4th Special: Shout! Havoc and Let Slip the Joes of War!

What better way to celebrate the July 4th holiday than with some Real American Heroes: the men and women of G.I. Joe, coming to DVD on July 14, 2009, courtesy of those mad geniuses at the Shout! Factory (read more here). Some of the cartoons on the Season 1.1 set have already been released in Hasbro's DVD Battle Packs, and some Joe fans have been wondering if the new set is worth a double-dip.

Well, we've got our review copy of the set here, so your July 4th present is some comparison shots between the Battle Pack DVDs (on the left) and Shout!'s new set (on the right). Click any image to enlarge:

Boys (and girl)...


...and their toys.


I like piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain. Keep the champagne for yourself, though.


I still want to know how Cobra Commander took a bite out of that chicken leg.


Who doesn't want more of the Baroness? Commies and pinkos, that's who. You some kinda Commie pinko or something?




What? Why yes, I did have a thing for Scarlett when I was a horny 13-year old boy, why do you ask?
Of note in that last pair is that the shot is ever so slightly reframed from the Hasbro set. It's the only instance where I saw something like that happening.

So, is the new set an improvement over the Hasbro DVDs?

Well, the guys certainly seem to think so.

The set also includes some of the famous "Knowing is half the battle" PSAs, and I am positive that someone at Shout! had way too much fun making up the DVD menus for them:

"What to do if you catch on fire." Hah!

You want it. You know you do.

Keep an eye on Toon Zone News for our review of the set, including more attempts to answer the question of why I like G.I. Joe and not The Transformers (because I guess I haven't ticked off the G1 fans enough yet), and the Toon Zone Top 5 ways G.I. Joe was (or is) ahead of the curve.

To all our red-blooded American readers: have a happy and safe July 4th holiday!