Chris Mooneyham Goes Vintage Joe for G.I. JOE/TOMB RAIDER #1 Variants

Yo, Skybound knows exactly what kind of trap it is setting for collectors right now. Putting Lara Croft on the same battlefield as G.I. Joe was already enough to make the crossover crowd start throwing money at the screen, but now Chris Mooneyham is bringing a full-on Vintage Joe treatment to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero/Tomb Raider #1. My wallet just looked at me like, ‘Bro, seriously? Again?’

The one-shot hits October 7 from Skybound and Image Comics in collaboration with Hasbro and Crystal Dynamics. The creative squad includes writer Larry Hama, artists Chris Mooneyham and Elena Casagrande, colorist Alex Guimarães and letterer Pat Brosseau. That lineup already has enough muscle to make this more than a gimmick before we even get into the covers.

Mooneyham’s variants tap directly into classic G.I. Joe presentation while folding Tomb Raider into the mix, and that is why the concept works. Lara Croft does not need some goofy excuse to fit into this world. She raids tombs, survives firefights, solves ancient mysteries and treats death traps like somebody else treats a treadmill. Put her next to the Joes and the weirdest thing is how natural the crossover starts feeling.

The vintage angle is also dangerous as hell for collectors because G.I. Joe fans have decades of visual language burned into their brains. Cardbacks, file cards, package art, vehicles, character poses, all that stuff carries an immediate emotional hit. When an artist understands that language instead of just slapping a retro filter over modern art, nostalgia becomes part of the storytelling.

That is where Mooneyham’s approach gets interesting. The covers are not simply saying, ‘Hey, remember old toys?’ They are selling Lara as if she has always belonged somewhere in that ridiculous, wonderful ecosystem of ninjas, commandos, spies, terrorists, secret bases and vehicles that would absolutely violate several international treaties. Honestly, Tomb Raider may be one of the few franchises capable of walking into G.I. Joe and making the room seem slightly more normal.

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Having Larry Hama involved is the other piece that gives the crossover credibility. Hama does not need anybody explaining how G.I. Joe works. He helped define the personalities, relationships and military-adventure language that turned the property into something generations of readers still care about. Lara entering that world under his watch gives the concept an anchor beyond the obvious marketing appeal.

And then you have Elena Casagrande, Alex Guimarães and Pat Brosseau helping build the actual comic around the collision. That matters because a killer cover can get issue #1 into somebody’s hand, but the sequential storytelling has to make them glad they opened it. A crossover this loud needs clarity when the action starts flying or it becomes a bunch of cool characters elbowing each other for panel space.

Skybound has already been building momentum around Lara’s arrival in the G.I. Joe universe, and these variants push the event deeper into collector territory. You tell yourself you only need the cover you like best. Then another one shows up. Then somebody says ‘Vintage Joe.’ Next thing you know, your pull list has become a hostage negotiation.

But I will give them this: if you are going to play the nostalgia game, play it with people who understand why the original stuff mattered. Mooneyham’s variants recognize that collectors are responding to design history, not simply age. There is a difference between retro and authentic, and G.I. Joe fans can smell fake vintage from across the damn comic shop.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero/Tomb Raider #1 hits comic shops October 7, 2026. If you collect Joe, love Tomb Raider or just enjoy watching two adventure franchises discover they have way more shared DNA than anybody expected, keep this one on the radar. Just do not blame me when that ‘one copy’ turns into three.