Hiatus

I apologize for the lack of updates. My wife and I just had a baby so free time has been a little tough to come by of late. With any luck, we'll return to something resembling a regular schedule before too long.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #9 (March 1983)

The Diplomat

Credits: Steven Grant (writer), Mike Vosburg (artist), Chic Stone (inker), Janice Chiang (letterer), Andy Yanchus (colorist), Denny O’Neil (editor)

Feature Characters: Breaker, Clutch, Grunt, Hawk, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Stalker

Supporting Characters: None

Villains: Cobra Commander, Cobra troops, Cobra frogmen (first and only appearance, not to be confused with the Cobra frogmen code named Eels that first appear in G.I. Joe #47), Cobra operatives (an airline pilot and a hotel desk clerk, first and only appearance for both), Derek Sutherland (an arms dealer, first appearance, killed in this story), Brian Hassell (first and only appearance, an undercover Cobra agent working as a State Department diplomat)

Other Characters: Ambassador of Al-Awali (first and only appearance)

Story: After learning of a Cobra assassination attempt on US ambassador Brian Hassell, the G.I. Joe team is assigned to protect the ambassador and gather more intelligence on Cobra's plans. Clutch and Scarlett escort Hassell to peace talks with the nation of Al-Alawi while Stalker and Snake Eyes follow a trail of clues to learn that Hassell is actually a deep cover Cobra agent with plans to assassinate the Al-Alawi ambassador and destroy US credibility in the Middle East.

Review: This is the second issue in a row that Larry Hama doesn't write. However, Hama will write the next ten issues before taking another break. Beginning this issue, Mike Vosburg handles the artwork and will continue to do so until issue #20. Vosburg's artwork has a bit of a cartoony, simplistic feel to it but still manages to tell the story well. Speaking of the story, this issue's narrative is fun, rather fast-paced, and akin to an action film which isn't a genre out of place when dealing with a counter-terrorist group.

I liked Cobra Commander's plan of essentially screwing with the G.I. Joe team with the likely possibility of scoring an assassination and its ensuing chaos. He apparently knew that Hassell might fail and doesn't care. The unpredictability of the Commander makes him pretty damn dangerous, which is something we'll see quite often as the series progresses.

This issue establishes that Cobra placed an operative in the US State Department. If there's an operative there, where else could Cobra possibly be hiding within the US government? FBI? CIA? Congress? That's a rather scary prospect and one that later issues would only touch on for the most part. To me, Cobra is a much more fearsome adversary working from within. However, Hasbro wouldn't have been able to sell very many toys of guys in business suits.

James McFadden brings up a really good point in his review. He puts forth that the death of Derek Sutherland creates the vacuum that Destro will fill later on as Cobra's arms supplier. That's an interesting take on the situation -- one definitely worthy of a No Prize (a non-award given out by Marvel for explaining continuity errors in their comics).

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #8 (February 1983)

Code Name: Sea-Strike!

Credits: Herb Trimpe (writer/artist/inker), Rick Parker (letterer), Christie Scheele (colorist), Denny O’Neil (editor)

Feature Characters: Breaker, Clutch, Flash, Grand Slam, Grunt, Hawk, Rock ‘N Roll, Scarlett, Short-Fuze, Snake Eyes, Stalker, Steeler, Zap

Flash, Rock 'N Roll, Short-Fuze, and Zap appear next in G.I. Joe #10. Grand Slam and Steeler appear next in G.I. Joe #11.

Supporting Characters: None

Villains: Cobra Commander, the Baroness (appears next in G.I. Joe #10), Cobra troops (one identified as S.E.A. Legs Leader One)

Story: Cobra attempts to attack a space shuttle mission that will put a satellite into orbit capable of destroying Cobra’s network of undersea bases. The entire G.I. Joe team is assigned to defend Cape Canaveral.

Reagan-era Goodness: Before the mission begins, Hawk channels Phil Esterhaus when he tells everyone, “Let’s be careful out there.” For those of you who didn’t grow up in the 1980s, Phil Esterhaus said this every week on the cop show Hill Street Blues.

Review: This is the first issue where Larry Hama doesn’t write the story in some capacity. Instead, this issue is handled by artist and occasional co-writer, Herb Trimpe. What follows is a departure from the somewhat realistic aspects of Hama’s stories into cartoon territory. Cartoon territory isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it is a bit jarring to go from the ripped-from-the-headlines US-Soviet tension of the past two issues to a paper-thin plot featuring two-dimensional villains using odd vehicles/devices never seen before and, what the hey, a space shuttle flight.

Speaking of the shuttle flight, I find it incredibly unlikely that members of the G.I. Joe team would even be mission specialists on a shuttle flight. While we’ve seen a couple of the Joes in action as capable pilots, we’ve seen nothing to indicate the level of training necessary for a space mission. I don’t buy it. Incidentally, the G.I. Joe team would return to space in issue #65 using their own space shuttle ( another can o’worms unto itself).

Cobra’s plan here, to circle the planet with warheads, is rather ambitious as is Cobra Commander’s claim that it’s the first step “in ruling the cosmos itself.” Again, this is the sort of thing that would become rather common on the cartoon a couple of years later. Some of the more strident fans claim that since this issue wasn’t written by Larry Hama, it doesn’t count as part of the greater Joe canon. The events of this issue aren’t ever referred to again so I’m not going to freak out about it.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #7 (January 1983)

Walls of Death!

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Herb Trimpe (co-writer/artist), Chic Stone (inker), Jim Novak (letterer), Christie Scheele (colorist), Denny O’Neil (editor)

Feature Characters: Breaker, Clutch, Flash, Hawk, Scarlett, Stalker, Steeler

Supporting Characters: None

Guest Appearances: Colonel Brekhov, Daina, Horrorshow, Schrage, Stormavik (all appear next in G.I. Joe Yearbook #2)

Villains: Cobra Commander, Cobra commandos (Copperhead and Rattler named, both die in this story; Copperhead not to be confused with the character introduced in G.I. Joe Yearbook #1), Cobra troops (one impersonates Cobra Commander)

Story: The G.I. Joe team joins forces with the October Guard to retrieve the top-secret aircraft stolen by Cobra. Though victorious, Hawk reveals to the team they were merely a decoy to distract Cobra from the actual retrieval mission.

Reagan-era Goodness: Aside from the obvious US-USSR stuff, Breaker jokes about giving the Shah back upon encountering an Iranian border patrol. The Shah, of course, was overthrown in 1980 and fled to the US in exile.

Review: This story immediately follows issue #6 and is a reasonably strong follow-up. G.I. Joe and the October Guard team up only out of convenience, not because they’re willing to throw out their Cold War-honed ideologies. While everyone else recognizes the alliance for the uneasy matter that it is, Scarlett loudly bristles at the idea of working with “these lousy Reds.” And of course, once it’s clear they have the upper hand, the October Guard turns on the G.I. Joe team.

Cobra bases themselves in Iran, which was already considered a hotbed of terrorist activity at the time with the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini and the hostage crisis of 1980. However, their bunker is rife with ridiculous booby traps like giant falling walls of stone, flooding tunnels, and a pit of King Cobras, better found in Raiders of the Lost Ark (someone even mentions Steven Spielberg when they encounter the snakes). This is easily the weakest part of the story but it’s brief, thankfully.

Cobra Commander has shown himself to be fairly crafty so far and this issue is no exception. At some point, he has one of his troops impersonate him. This is telegraphed as “Operation Doppelganger” with the Commander saying “it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.” Off-hand, I don't recall how often this trick was used but it was never overdone a la Doctor Doom in the pages of Fantastic Four.

The story ends with Hawk revealing the team's true purpose as a decoy. It's quite clear that he's just as pissed off as the Joes. He doesn't want to be the bad guy but orders are orders. This is the first time we see Hawk in a position like this, unfortunately it won't be the last.

Another Commercial Break

Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. It's been crazy this past week. I'm at the Farpoint convention this weekend and probably won't have time to post the entry for issue #7. However, I can leave you with this commercial for the first line of G.I. Joe action figures back in 1982.



As a kid, I loved how this ad introduced me to the characters (the comic commercial only mentioned Hawk). However, with 25 years of hindsight under my belt, I'm a little embarrassed about this commercial and its pedestrian production values. Sure, there was some recycling of the comic spot but then it segues into lazy zooms of action figures.

I'm also a little embarrassed to say that I have every single one of these figures in my possession.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #6 (December 1982)

To Fail is to Conquer... to Succeed is to Die!

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Herb Trimpe (co-writer/artist), Jack Abel (inker), Jim Novak (letterer), Christie Scheele (colorist), Tom DeFalco (editor)

Feature Characters: Breaker, Clutch, Flash, Grand Slam, Grunt, Hawk, Rock ‘N Roll, Scarlett, Short-Fuze, Snake Eyes, Stalker, Steeler, Zap

Supporting Characters: General Flagg (behind the scenes, appears next in G.I. Joe #11)

Guest Appearances (first appearance for all): Colonel Brekhov, Horrorshow, Schrage, Stormavik (real names never revealed), Daina (Daina L. Janack, full name revealed in G.I. Joe Volume 2 #28, with the others as the Oktober Guard)

Villains: Cobra Commander, Cobra troops

Other Characters (first appearance for all): Ahmed (leader of an Afghan rebel tribe), a CIA agent (liaison between the G.I. Joe team and the Afghan rebels; both appear next in G.I. Joe Special Missions #9)

Character Notes: Although the entire team appears at various points in this story, only Breaker, Clutch, Flash, Hawk, Scarlett, Stalker, and Steeler figure significantly.

During Hawk's briefing, Grand Slam is specifically named as part of the mission team. However, Flash is named later. The next issue makes it clear that this is indeed Flash and not Grand Slam.

Story: A G.I. Joe team is sent to retrieve a top-secret Soviet aircraft that crash-landed in Afghanistan. However, the Soviet Union has sent their special operations unit, the Oktober Guard, to retrieve the aircraft as well. The two teams battle briefly before they are captured by Cobra.

Reagan-era Goodness: Most of this story takes place in Afghanistan after the Soviet Union illegally annexed it.

Review: Where to begin on this one? For starters, Larry Hama and Herb Trimpe throw the standard "go get it" mission into the political hotbed that was Afghanistan. Also included are a tribe of Afghan rebels (they certainly weren't the Taliban since they tolerated Scarlett's presence) and a CIA liaison. For folks not around at the time, the CIA was helping the locals wage war against the Soviets with hopes of knocking the Communist influence back over the Iron Curtain.

The invention of the Oktober Guard only makes sense though I'm curious as to why the team remained so small over the years. Still, the Soviet equivalent of G.I. Joe is a neat thing to see and would recur every so often. Originally, the team was to be named the Pravda Patrol and were to appear in issue #3. You can learn more about this here.

At the time the issue came out, there was a bit of controversy regarding Hawk's secret communication with Cobra. The good colonel reveals just what was going on at the end of the next issue.

This was a reasonably strong beginning to one of G.I. Joe's first multi-part stories. I remember being blown away by the second part, but we'll tackle that next time.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #5 (November 1982)

"Tanks" for the Memories...

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Don Perlin (artist), Jon D'Agostino and Mike Esposito (inkers), Jim Novak (letterer), Stan Goldberg (colorist), Tom DeFalco (editor)

Feature Characters: Breaker, Clutch, Scarlett, Steeler

Supporting Characters: General Flagg, General Austin (appears next in G.I. Joe #33)

Cameo Appearances: Snake Eyes, Stalker (along with Scarlett as Cobra Commander's wooden machine gun targets)

Villains: Cobra Commander (last seen in G.I. Joe #3), the Baroness (last seen in G.I. Joe #1, appears next in G.I. Joe #8), Cobra troops (some possibly last seen in G.I. Joe #3), Cobra undercover agents (an airport gate attendant; a skycap; a taxi driver; a doorman named Hollis; Mrs. Hood; and the Springfield Drum and Bugle Corps, first and only appearance for all)

Story: G.I. Joe's MOBAT (Multi-Ordnance Battle Tank) is rolled out during an Armed Forces Day parade in New York City and tangles with Cobra during an attempt to steal the tank.

Reagan-era Goodness: Scarlett asks about plugging a Pac-Man cartridge into the MOBAT's computer system before declaring that disco is dead.

Review: This was quite the fun story that didn't lose much in the aging process. The only part I wasn't too thrilled about was the hefty amount of technobabble in the beginning where a number of the MOBAT's systems are discussed. Sure, Scarlett's humor was used to counterbalance the tech-heavy dialogue but it still came off as awkward. Of course, just about all the equipment mentioned played some part in the story so I'm guessing Larry Hama didn't want things to seem too contrived during the action. In any case, moving on...

While I like the idea of an ammo-less tank fighting a battle in New York City, the idea of driving a top secret tank around in a parade without the means to defend itself strikes me as a tad daft. The intent was to show the tank as looking as inconspicuous as the next tank and the utmost security precautions were taken, but it still came across as an unnecessary risk to not equip the MOBAT with a few shells or some bullets for the machine gun. This point is brought up in the story with the answer being that they couldn't risk hurting civilians. Maybe my opinion is a bit tainted with post-9/11 skepticism, but I still think the reasoning was a little iffy here.

The first mention of Springfield is made in this story. A more concrete connection between the town and Cobra will be forthcoming in issue #10.