Oops they did it again! Skybound did another stealth reveal in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #330, where Tomb Raider star Lara Croft made a previously unannounced appearance in the first-ever crossover between the two franchises.
That turns out to be a lead-in to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero/Tomb Raider, a five-issue series by writer Kyle Higgins, artist Elena Casagrande, colorist Alex Guimarães, and letterer Pat Brousseau, which will debut on October 7, 2026 with a main cover by Casagrande and Guimarães, an open-to-order variant and foil cover by Stjepan Sejic, a 1:25 “Classic Joe” variant by Chris Mooneyham, a 1:50 variant by Leirix, and a 1:100 variant by Lorenzo Tammetta and Mike Spicer, as well as a blank sketch variant.
The crossover is one of companies as well as characters: G.I. Joe is a Hasbro property, while Tomb Raider is owned by the Embracer Group, which is also the parent company of Dark Horse. Embracer plans to move Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings into a separate holding company, Fellowship Entertainment, in 2027 (see “Embracer Group Will Spin Off ‘LOTR’ and ‘Tomb Raider’ IPs“). Dark Horse Comics will also be part of that unit. Dark Horse publishes Tomb Raider comics and launched the four-issue miniseries Tomb Raider: Sacred Artifacts, by Casey Gilly and Taurin Clarke, in January 2026.
“Tomb Raider meets G.I. Joe. Lost artifact, a Destro plot, and a joint infiltration mission to Cobra Island – theappeal of a story like this should be obvious,” Higgins said in a statement accompanying the announcement.” We’re taking some really fun swings with both brands–and there are definitely some deep cuts for G.I. JOE fans!”
Skybound pulled a similar stunt in 2023, when the Transformer Jetfire appeared on the last page of Void Rivals #1, launching the shared universe that includes the original Void Rivals, Transformers, and G.I. Joe (see “‘Stealth Launch’“). That, too, came as a surprise to readers.
Meanwhile, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #330 has sold out at the distributor level and a second printing, with a new cover by Chris Mooneyham that puts Croft front and center, will be released on August 12, 2026.
A Tomb Raider live-action series is in the works from Amazon Prime (see “‘Tomb Raider’ Starts Filming“).
Click Gallery below for covers and interiors!
Source: ICV2
