Heart-Wrencher

Heart-Wrencher burst onto the scene in 2003 as part of Devil's Due Publishing's Modern Age take on the G.I. Joe universe, debuting in the pages of G.I. Joe #24 under the creative hands of Josh Blaylock, Brandon Jerwa, and Tim Seeley. With only six catalogued appearances spread across G.I. Joe and G.I. Joe: Frontline, this is a rare, blink-and-you'll-miss-it figure from a bold era of indie-published Joe storytelling — which makes tracking them down all the more rewarding for the dedicated collector. The company Heart-Wrencher keeps is genuinely impressive: sharing pages with legends like Snake-Eyes, Destro, Shana O'Hara, Conrad S. Hauser, and Dashiell R. Faireborn speaks to a character dropped right into the thick of the action. Short-lived but surrounded by icons, Heart-Wrencher is exactly the kind of deep-cut discovery that reminds you why hunting through back issues is always worth it.