The GI Joe: A Real American Hero franchise has been going strong since 1982. As as many people know, I am a fan of that franchise. This entry is not the first one that I’ve written that will deal with that topic, and I certainly don’t think it will be the last one either.
Over the course of the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of participating in some live stream discussions on the Destro is My Spirit Animal YouTube page. To be clear, I was not a guest on those streams. I was someone watching and commenting. Sometimes, my comments were mentioned during the broadcast. Two of those streams were watchalongs where we watched a few episodes of the 1980s cartoon series (the Sunbow version. We don’t talk about the DiC version). Those streams were so enjoyable for me. They even had one of the writers of the series, Michael Charles Hill on the show and we watched his most famous episode, “Cold Slither” with him. If you want to know more about the importance of that particular episode, click here to read about my personal experience.
During one of those streams, the question was asked if we prefer the cartoon series or the comic book. I was in the minority on this one, but I prefer the comic book series. Don’t get me wrong, I love the cartoon. It had, still has, and always will have a very special place in my heart. But, the comic book series that started in 1982 was even better, in my view. I always liked how it was a bit more realistic and told deeper stories. I liked how the characters had more depth than the cartoons. Basically, there was just more to it.
Just over two years ago, Skybound Entertainment acquired the rights to the GI Joe comic books. And when they did that, they did a Kickstarter campaign to help launch the re-publication of the original 155 issues that were written by Larry Hama and published by Marvel Comics between 1982 and 1994. I read most of those books in their original production time. I didn’t start collecting them until around issue 30 or so, but I was able to get caught up pretty quickly. Through my contribution to the Kickstarter, I was able to get PDF copies of the entire Marvel series. I kept saying that I was going to read them, but I never got around to it. Until a few weeks ago.
As I said just a moment ago, I read most of these. But, I never read them all and I didn’t read them from the very beginning. I started this with the “this will be fun” mindset and I’m now fully invested into the series with more enthusiasm than I thought I would have. The first 20 issues flew by so quickly for me. And even knowing the backstories of some of the characters, I was still loving the refresher and seeing how things developed.
Issue 21 of the original series is widely considered one of the best. It was a silent issue, meaning that there was no dialog. It focused on Snake-Eyes (a character that cannot speak) and his rival Storm Shadow. I do not believe that I ever read this one before, but I knew of it. I was always aware of the relationship between those two characters and Arashikage ninja clan. When I saw the page below, I had goosebumps.
The simple reveal of their iconic matching tattoos was such great foreshadowing of things to come. Up until that point, we had no idea of any connection between the two characters, other them both being ninjas and being on opposing sides. I think it speaks to how well written these stories were that I was reading a book from slightly over 40 years ago, already knew the story, and I still had an emotional reaction to it.
Another storyline that I always thought was so great in the comic series was how all of the Crimson Guardsmen of Cobra had plastic surgery to look the same. They also went by the name Fred Broca. Fred VII went on to be the most infamous. I haven’t read up to his storyline yet, but after the death of Fred I, Fred II stepped into Fred I’s life. I remember that from 40 years ago and reading it a few days ago gave me almost the same feeling that the tattoo reveal did.
That issue with Fred II may have been the first one that I read back in the 1980s. I’m not completely sure, but I know that I started somewhere around there.
I’m not going to use this entry to go over every single storyline and every single character. That would be way too time consuming, even for me. Besides that, I’ve only gotten through the first 50 issues. I have a lot more to cover.
As for the GI Joe comic book vs. cartoon argument and which one is considered canon. In my mind, I always went with the comic book version of the story. But now I consider them both to be the actual lore. How is that possible? It’s simple. I’ve also watched the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Trek “Kelvin” movies. I understand the concepts of alternate universes. That’s why it’s completely possible for it to be true that Cobra Commander was a used car salesman who constantly fell on hard times and eventually developed pyramid schemes to help him start to fund a terrorist organization and for it to be completely true that he was a part of an ancient snake race that had super powers. Yes, I do prefer one over the other, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like both.
I am grateful for GI Joe. I’m grateful that I got to read the comic books in the 1980s. I’m grateful that I got to watch the cartoon in the 1980s. I’m grateful that I get to re-read the comic books now. I’m grateful that the cartoon is readily available on YouTube for me to watch whenever I want, and I do watch it from time to time. I’m grateful for the experiences that this fandom has brought me over the past year or so with the Cold Slither album and concert that I attended. I’m grateful for the livestreams that I’ve participated in. The simple things in life that bring you joy can be priceless.
The GI Joe cartoon famously had public service announcements at the end of each episode. They would usually feature some children doing something wrong and one of the GI Joe team members would show up and explain what they were doing wrong and how to fix it. It was often a life lesson about sharing or not judging people. They were truly valuable lessons. And each one would end with the kid saying “Now I know” and the GI Joe member would say “and knowing is half the battle.” I’m going to paraphrase that and say that me knowing how these stories turn out is half of my enjoyment right now, the other half is re-living them. And so far, it’s been a lot of fun.
