Classic GI Joe: Reviewing the First Volume of IDW's Reprints.

Today I gush..... about G.I. Joe.  Not so much the Sunbow animated series, the movies, or the original toys, but the Comic series started by Larry Hama at Marvel that debuted in June 1982.  Sitting next to me is the first volume of IDW's releasing the Marvel run.  Before IDW got the rights to publish G.I. Joe books the properties had been published at a few other houses since leaving Marvel.  IDW has since reprinted most of the stories, but I'm displeased that the stories from Devil's Due and Image got "disavowed" from continuity.

I'll get into those in good time, but today, I'm writing about Classic G.I. Joe Volume #1.  If I remember correctly, 1982 was when Hasbro started producing 3 3/4".  A character would later be created as the original "Joe", but one of the driving motivations between this line was to see G.I. Joe as an elite military unit rather than an individual.  At Marvel Comics, Larry Hama was tasked to lead the creation of a comic series that would act as a companion to the toy line.  Hama himself, is a Vietnam veteran and could provide insight into details of protocol, equipment, and procedure.  These volumes are evenly divided to contain about 10 issues each, so you can get a few adventures in one trade and maybe get a story that straddles a pair of volumes.  The series opens with a one-shot where a nuclear physicist is kidnapped by a terrorist organization and is taken to their island.  The scientist  and was on her way to testify before Congress about how was supposedly unaware that she had been working on a "Doomsday Project".  When she's taken, you first see the elite squad that will be sent to her rescue. They're not to enthusiastic about saving someone with such a negative reputation, but those are the orders.  Something I really like about these early books is that the soldier's dress code was primarily much more uniform.  The exceptions were Snake-Eyes (a ninja who endured disfiguring injuries during a prior mission) and Scarlett (another martial arts specialist who grew up in a family that ran a karate school).  In some ways it can be seen as sexist that it took a few years to have more female Joes.  In other ways it could be seen as progressive, given that until recently, female soldiers hadn't graduated into the US military elite forces like the rangers and SEALS.

Some of the other stories in this volume deal with Cobra cells that had been established in the U.S. and a militia that Cobra had been supporting.  There are also missions that take the Joes abroad.  Sometimes, they are protecting diplomats and foreign leaders.  There's also a continuing rivalry with their Soviet counterparts,  (the Oktober Guard).  Current events of the time play a big role in the book.  Cold War tension can be found as sometimes the G.I. Joe team and the October Guard would work together and other times they'd be in competition for a certain goal.  There's also a lot of wonder in NASA's space shuttle program (it's interesting to see how how much optimism there was in these shuttles before that sobering day in 1986).

Something that I'd like to emphasize in looking back at these early stories is that I like seeing the series at its essence before there were characters with big personalities and outlandish appearances.  I like Roadblock, but in my opinion, he's not as awesome as Stalker.  Stalker's one of my favorite G.I. Joe characters.  I'm not entirely sure why he didn't get much attention in the animated series or any of the movies.

I'd suggest these classics to people who grew up with G.I. Joes in your comics, on your TV, or mixed into your toys.  I view this series as an 80's Marvel counterpart to the stories of Sgt. Rock that Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert created at DC in 1959.