This past Sunday, Mr. Adam Riches shared a fantastic post detailing his work on the G.I.Joe Collectors Club FSS 8 offering, Payload. The gorgeous card art immediately caught the eye of G.I.Joe fans just about everywhere.
The backstory on how this came about is awesome, so make sure to check it out below –
Ok fellow G.I. Joe fanatics, as the latest shipment of FSS 8.0 is officially hitting mail boxes, it looks like I can FINALLY share with you one of my absolute favorite pieces of G.I. Joe card art I’ve had the honor of illustrating, The Defiant Shuttle Pilot, Payload!
This one is a serious point of pride for me. Working on G.I. Joe for the last 6 years has been an exceptionally gratifying and personal experience, as I care so deeply about this brand and its characters, as a fan, first and foremost. Because of that, whenever possible, I try to approach the art in a way that I would want to see as a fan. And never more was that the case than here.
The packaging art that always spoke to me the most were the ones that gave context more than just a guy standing in front of an explosion, whether that was Alpine climbing a mountain, Stalker paddling his kayak, or Tunnel Rat…tunneling? The illustrations gave those characters a distinction of added value in my mind. I’ve tried to incorporate little bits of that whenever I could over the years, for example Keel Haul standing on a piece of the USS Flagg, but trying to create dynamic imagery within that 3.5 x 6.5” spot on the card back can be spatially limiting, and that simply wasn’t going to work here, I didn’t just need more space, I needed outer space! So when it came time to design Payload’s packaging art, I knew what had to be done…I just didn’t think it would get approved.
But thanks to the creative freedom afforded to me by Lanny Lathem, and Hasbro, it did! I got to do something I’d been dreaming of since 2012, and break the format! Because of that, this is the ONLY modern era single card figure of its kind not to be featured on an explosion back card, and instead, put Payload where he rightfully belongs, in the stars! Of course, I didn’t want him just floating out there in the void without some action, so I alluded to the iconic Joe explosion back by drawing a nebula vaguely in its shape. 
I’m so thrilled that I got to do this, and hope that it will hold a special place in your G.I. Joe collections for years to come! Yo Joe!
I’m beyond excited for Adam, as you can definitely feel his love for G.I.Joe through his words and artwork. Did you add Payload to your collection? If not, do you plan to? I know I do, that artwork is too awesome to pass up!
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