Heads up! #ICYMI, After Action Report: Command Files vol one is LIVE on Kickstarter! Check it out –

After Action Report: Command Files Volume #1: Unofficial G.I. Joe Character Guide 

by Greg Agustin with Josh Eggebeen

This first volume of COMMAND FILES is a visual character guide book that features roughly half of all the G.I. Joe Team characters that were toys (scroll down to see the list).  Cobra and affiliated characters are not covered.  The second volume is a planned Kickstarter project for Summer 2023 (featuring the remaining number of G.I. Joe Team characters).  A third volume is planned for 2024 which will cover COBRA & affiliates.

Each character entry will have an extensive list of data points and pictures based upon the original file card dossiers with examples of that character’s appearance in many different media, including cartoons, comics & movies.

★★★ How the idea of this book got started?

“I’ve always wondered why it was that G.I. JOE never received the ‘Ultimate Guide’ treatment like his Hasbro sibling Transformers or Star Wars or superhero teams like the X-Men, Avengers, and the Justice League. As a little personal pet project, I began concepting profile pages and sharing them routinely on my Instagram @g_unit2472. My first “Character Encyclopedia design concept” was of Gung-Ho on February 15, 2013″ (from Greg Agustin). 

In the fall 2022, Greg approached author Josh Eggebeen just after After Action Report Volume #2 Devil’s Due 2001-2008 + More Kickstarter had successfully finished with his “Encyclopedia” project. It was a slam dunk partnership from the first moment of connection.  Greg and Josh bonded over the shared love of G.I. Joe and making books which is the basis of the partnership.  And so COMMAND FILES became a reality.

The AFTER ACTION REPORT series began as G.I. Joe Comic Guide books, but from the beginning was intended to be a banner for all kinds of guide books (hence the title being past tense).  Though COMMAND FILES Volume #1 is the first AAR guide book to deal with more than just comics, it still retains the “give the fans a lot of information” goal and reaches beyond the comic fans.

★★★ Who are these Guys?

★★★ ABOUT AFTER ACTION REPORT BOOK SERIES

In 2020, with co-writer Roger Taft, Josh started the AFTER ACTION REPORT book series – the first three volumes are Comic Guide Books covering G.I. Joe from 1982 to 2022.  Each book is 144 pages and crammed full of amazing information about G.I. Joe comics. All three were successful Kickstarter campaigns, published and printed very close to schedule. AAR series books are designed to be adapted to anything reporting on the past and beyond.  Josh’s participation in COMMAND FILES consists of most everything outside of the character page creation. Greg is the designer of the character pages.

★★★ Why make this book?

The Joe community needs an all inclusive G.I. Joe character guide book. Lots of G.I. Joe toy guide books plus preproduction and art have been successful in bringing new information to the Joe fans.

The Joe characters of A Real American Hero have become legendary evergreen type characters that will never go away.  Today there are nearly 300 individual Joes, Cobras and affiliate characters to keep track of.  That is over 40 years of stories & toys.  So Greg & Josh, with their COMMAND FILES, intend to fill this gap in the community of books. 

★★★ What is included in COMMAND FILES?

In the tradition of Marvel’s G.I. Joe ARAH ORDER OF BATTLE,  Devil’s Due BATTLE FILES and Devil’s Due DATA DESK HANDBOOK, AFTER ACTION REPORT: COMMAND FILES AN UNOFFICIAL G.I. JOE CHARACTER GUIDE VOLUME 1 features over 100 dossiers that contain nostalgic G.I. JOEs from the toy packaging file cards, comic books, movies and cartoons, faithfully transcribing the backgrounds and service records from classic action figure File Cards.  Military specialties are updated to reflect today’s Special Ops classifications and then quantified into brand new “Operator Proficiency Ratings”  for each character.  

CHARACTER LIST of AAR: COMMAND FILES VOLUME 1

• “A-TEAMS” grouped by operational detachments

COMMAND: Joseph Colton, Hawk

ALPHA: Breaker, Duke, Flash, Grunt, Rock ‘n Roll, Short-Fuze, Scarlett, Snake-Eyes, Stalker, Zap

BRAVO: Airborne (Talltree), Barbecue, Beach Head, Clutch, Doc (Carl Greer), Footloose, Grand Slam, Leatherneck, Mainframe, Sci-Fi, Steeler

CHARLIE: Blizzard, Bushido, Frostbite, Iceberg, Snow Job, Snow Storm, Sub-Zero, Whiteout, Cold Front, Dee-Jay, Ice Storm, Windchill

DELTA: Ambush, Crankcase, Dusty, Flint, Hacker, Mutt (and Junkyard), Lady Jaye, Spirit, Stretcher, Tollbooth, Rapid-Fire, Dial Tone (Jill Morelli) 

ECHO: Alpine, Backblast, Hard Drive, Hit & Run, Long Range (Fritz), Low-Light, Mirage, Quick Kick, Med-Alert, Sideswipe

FOXTROT: Airborne (Six), Airwave, Altitude, Barrel Roll, Drop Zone, Free Fall, Hi-Tech, Ripcord, Skydive, Static Line

INDIA: Bazooka, Big Brawler, Claymore, Dial-Tone (Jack Morelli), Lifeline, Outback, Pathfinder, Recondo, Scoop, Roadblock, Tripwire, Wreckage

KILO: Bombstrike, Crazylegs, Falcon, Gung-Ho, Lightfoot, Muskrat, Psyche-Out, Recoil, Repeater, Sneak Peek, Spearhead, Tunnel Rat

SIERRA: Deep Six, Depth Charge, Torpedo, Shipwreck, Tracker, Wet-Suit, Link, Night Fox, Wet Down

TACTICAL OPS: Airtight, Doc (Carla Greer), Captain Grid-Iron, Long Range (Garcia), Major Altitude, Shooter,  Sgt. Slaughter, Sparks, Topside, Sgt. Stone, Major Storm, Super Trooper, The Fridge

★★★ The Bookmark

The 40th Anniversary of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero was celebrated in 2022.  This metal bookmark commemorates this event.  It has a nice weight to it and did U catch that – it is METAL!!!

On the front, an image of Grunt from the Marvel comics.  On the back, a brief description of the history of his appearance on the comics cover. 

★★★ COMMAND FILES 8×11″ Print of A-Teams Location Map:

This is a Reward or Add-On. What it contains is an infographic-type breakdown of where Joes are deployed around the world by teams.  This graphic also serves as an example of how characters are organized and grouped in COMMAND FILES.

★★★ The Exclusive AAR Bag Combo:

Ok Joe Fans! This is a limited exclusive, only 30 bags are available for backers.  The  Bag style is a high end item for collectors (see below for specs & mock up picture) that comes with the AAR Logo embroidered on its side. This is perfect for taking all of your amazing AAR books with you (and laptops).  The shipping on this one is higher due to weight and box size. 

Contents Included in the bag: 

• 1 Command Files Volume #1 Book
• 1 40th Anniversary G.I. Joe A Real American Hero Bookmark 
• 1 Command Files 8×11 A-Teams Location Map print. 
• PLUS lots of goodies from previous AAR Kickstarters like prints, dogtag, etc. 

Here are the Bag specs:

• Bag Size  15″W x 11.50″H x 4.50″D
• Material: Distressed Leather
• Item weight: 5.74 pounds
• Box weight:  9 pounds
• Box size: 14″ x 18″ x 19″

★★★ The Time Frame:

Greg Agustin had been cranking out profile pages for over decade, so the majority of the book is completed for the character page designs. The conversion to a printed book is where the majority of the work is taking place.

As of the start of this Kickstarter the book is about 75% COMPLETED.

The goals for completion are:

May 1st, 2023 Funds from successful Kickstarter arrive (estimated)

May 1st, 2023 95% of the book is completed.  Final editing & printer proof reviews begin.

June 1st, 2023 COMMAND FILES is sent to the printer. 

September Book arrival in hand, quality check and packaging to backers

October ESTIMATED in hand of backers

★★★ Book Specs:

COMMAND FILES VOLUME #1 will be a fully colored book printed on 100# paper in a Soft Cover Perfect Binding format with a visible spine.

Size: 8.5×11

Binding: Perfect Binding (Softcover)

Paper Quality: 100# paper (Subject to change)

Pages: 144

And later in 2023 expect!!!!

★★★ COMMAND FILES VOL 2.  COMING SOON

And the ever important list of characters that will appear in COMMAND FILES VOLUME #2.  The Kickstarter for Volume #2 is planned for May or June 2023 with in-hand delivery to backers in December 2023.  This Volume is near complete but does require more work to complete then Volume #1.  And should be completed by July 2023.

Character List

“SUPPORT ELEMENTS” – Air Operations, Armor, Artillery, Ninjas, and more…

COMMAND: General Flagg III, Colonel Courage, Payload, Admiral Keel-Haul

MISSION SUPPORT ACTIVITY: Chuckles, Faces, Helix, Jinx, Kamakura, Sure-Fire

EMERGENCY CHEMICAL OPERATIONS (ECO): Blast-Off, Blowtorch, Charbroil, Clean Sweep, Ice Cream Soldier, Ozone

AIR OPERATIONS: Ace, Ghostrider, Slip-Stream, Air Raid, Dogfight, Fail-Safe, Freestyle, Skystriker, Tomahawk, Lift-Ticket, Wild Bill, Windmill, Updraft, Sightline

BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM: Steel Brigade Trooper, Backstop, Cover Girl, Cross-Country, Downtown, Fast-Draw, Heavy Metal, Hot Seat, Rampart, Salvo, Skidmark, Starduster, Wildcard, Armadillo, Barrage, Cannonball, Cloudburst, Crossfire, Dart, Effects, Kickstart, Lifeline (Scott), Red Spot, Rollbar, Rumbler, Side Track, Steam-Roller, Switch Gears, Thunderwing

FIRETEAMS: Barricade, Big Lob, Cross Hair, Hardball, Heavy Duty, Double Blast, Mouse, Rampage, Red Zone, Rollbar (Wiliston), Sidetrack

DIRECT ENGAGEMENT FORCE (DEF): Bulletproof, Bullhorn, Cutter, Hollow Point, Law & Order, Mace, Shockwave, Wide Scope, Checkpoint, Long Arm, Rook, Sandstorm

OPERATIONS RESEARCH: Avalanche, Blaster, Blocker, Dodger, Knockdown, Maverick, G.I. Jane, Gears, Trakker

SPACE OPERATIONS: Countdown, Hardtop, Spaceshot, Robo-Joe

PARTNER FORCES: Big Bear, Big Ben, Budo, Skymate, Mercer, Red Dog, Taurus, Kwinn, Dojo, Nunchuk, T’Jbang, Ashiko, Banzai, Blind Master, Stilletto, T’Ginzu, Tiger Claw

OKTOBER GUARD: Brekhov, Col., Daina, Dragonsky, Horror Show, Iron Bear, Red Star, Shrage, Stormavik, Lt. Gorky, Lt. Zubenkov

Bonus: New characters that aren’t toys…yet: Dawn Moreno, Multo, Sherlock, Caseload, Bottom Line, Black Hat, Mongoose (all IDW comics creations)

YOJOE!

Risks and challenges

SHIPPING & IMPORTING: Shipping is proving not to cooperate with schedules for small shippers in this new modern post covid shipping world. Delays at ports and with freight companies are common and will likely affect Command Files. Rising Sun Publishing and Josh Eggebeen have gained a lot of experience recently in getting books through the complicated shipping process. But delays do happen that are unavoidable. As authors Greg & Josh will get the book finished by May 1st. Any unexpected delays hitting this date would be due to external circumstances. The artwork has potential issues regarding the artists approval which may cause the need for financial payments, an expected cost factored into the overall goal of the Command Files. This may cause pages to be adjusted on their images. Command Files will appeal to a very broad group of fans including all G.I. Joe toy collectors and many fans of other franchises. In order to accommodate this larger audience AAR is going to have a larger initial print run for the book which equals a larger printing expense which then equals a higher goal for the project.