GI Joe: Classified is a Young Adult novel series by Kelly Skorvon that is a High School AU of G.I. Joe. The first volume was released on July 26, 2022.Stanislaw (AKA Stan) Migda is a 8th grader from Chicago who comes with his mother to the town of Springfield owned by DeCobray Industries.
Stanislaw is immediately off-put by the overly controlling nature of the corporation and their insistence that every student wear their Lyre devices at all time.After finding out his assigned peer counselors are a pair of violent bullies, Stan joins up with Scarlet and Zoro-me to fight a teenager-run resistance against the DeCobray corporation.
After investigating the disappearance of a couple of students, they soon find the company is the front for something much-much darker than just corporate malfeasance. The DeCobray corporation is a front for a terrorist organization known as Cobra. A power that is only now preparing to make their move against the world of the world.
Books in the series include:
- GI Joe: Classified
- GI Joe: Classified: Revenge of the Ninja
This series contains the following tropes:
- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: The Baroness and Michel are agents of Cobra despite being tenth graders with much of the town terrified of them. They also are in charge of their fellow students as peer mentors.
- Age Lift: Scarlet, Zoro-Me (Snake Eyes), the Baroness, and Tommy (Storm Shadow) are all high schoolers.
- Augmented Reality: The Lyre devices are designed to manipulate perception so that Cobra can control people. In practice, they serve as this combined with cellphones.
- Bad Boss: Cobra Commander blows up the head of one of his soldiers for entering his room without knocking.
- Company Town: Springfield is owned almost entirely by DeCobray Industries and almost the entirety of the town is employed by them.
- Covert Group with Mundane Front: Cobra has DeCobray Industries as their front in Springfield.
- Fille Fatale: The Baroness is the queen of the high school but not quite old enough to be a Femme Fatale.
- High School AU: The series is about the "Average Joes" school club attempting to work against the Cobra organization.
- I Let You Win: Cobra Commander could easily shut down the Average Joes or have them killed at any time but is genuinely amused by their efforts against him.
- Kid Detective: The Average Joe school club is full of these as they try to work against Cobra.
- La Résistance: The Average Joes think they're the only people opposing Cobra. Until they find out Anti-Venom exist as an organization opposed to them.
- Mad Scientist: Zartan is one of these in this continuity, being a Composite Character with Doctor Mindbender. He's also the high school principle.
- Megacorp: Decobray Industries is described as the largest tech company in the world.
- Pass the Popcorn: Cobra Commander actually eats a bowl of it while watching the Average Joes run rings around Zartan during hi planned execution of them.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: Stan is the only member of the Average Joes without computer hacking skills or ninjitsu.
- Would Hurt a Child: Zartan is perfectly happy to kill five children and the Average Joes to help with his experiments.
