Devil's Due Publishing has announced that G.I. Joe issues #40 and #41 have sold out at the wholesale level.  Just two more issues of the original Devil's Due Joe series remain:  #42 shipping in May and #43 in June, before the debut of the new G.I. Joe: America's Elite series.  Both #42 and #43, which contain the 'Rise of the Red Shadows' storyline, will be double-size, 42-page issues with a cover price of $4.50.

The final two issues of the original Devil's Due series are key, since not all the characters from the Joe team or COBRA will make it through to the new G.I. Joe America's Elite title.  America's Elite will be written by Joe Casey and illustrated by Stephano Caselli.  It debuts in late June with the promotionally priced (just 25 cents) G.I. Joe: America's Elite #0.  Issue #1 of the new series follows in July and Devil's Due is planning some major retailer-focused promotional activities and incentives for the launch of the new series, the details of which will be released in the next few weeks.

As the new G.I. Joe: America's Elite comic series establishes itself, the all-American G.I. hero will make his return to Saturday morning in a brand new animated series, G.I. Joe Sigma Six, which debuts in September on 4Kids TV, the Saturday morning animated block carried by the Fox Network. 

Hasbro is also launching a new line of larger 8-inch G.I. Joe Sigma Six Action Figures in the fall and the promotion of the new toy line and the television exposure of the new animated series (see 'G.I. Joe Animated Series on 4Kids Block') should give the property a major boost.