G.I. Joe: Special Missions #6 - Video Review by 80s Comics

Welcome back to 80s comics. Do you know what day it is. That is right. It is Yo-Joe-Tober. Every day around here is Yo-Joe-Tober. Take a trip with me back to 1987 when the question was not do you want to hang out and read G I Joe. The question was do you want to hang out and read more G I Joe. The answer is always yes. Which is why they gave us more G I Joe with G I Joe Special Missions. Let us take a look at issue number six from August of 1987. It is incredible and now you know that knowing is half the battle. The other half is stuff you do not know. Fighting for freedom over rocks and tundra. G I Joe is there in G I Joe Special Missions issue number six from August of 1987. A very cool cover design. Unusual cover design for the G I Joe series. This issue is titled Evasion and here is the creative team, Larry Hama, Herb Trimpe and the rest of the crew.

Herb Trimpe is also the artist of one of my new favorite series, Shogun Warriors. Mighty robots, mighty explosions. There are no mighty robots here but we do have plenty of explosions in G I Joe Special Missions. This issue takes place right after G I Joe issue 61. So if you are confused as to how the team got captured and ended up in Borovia, you need to read G I Joe 61. But this is actually a better comic book. Special Mission 6 is really good and I typically like the Special Missions series because they are standalone stories. Even though this one fits into the larger narrative, it is still more or less a standalone story that stars the G I Joe character Outback. They do not tend to use Outback a whole lot so it is pretty cool. Outback is the survivalist and the rest of the Joes are getting roughed up by the Borovians. There is Stalker, Snow Job, Quick Kick getting hauled off in a truck while Outback is left behind.

They run past Outback and this means that Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ripped off G I Joe Special Missions issue number six. And now that I have posted this on the internet, it must be true. It is definitely true. I choose to believe it is true.

Outback wears a bandana well. He looks sufficiently crazy. Outback is smarter than a bunch of rats and smarter than the Borovians. So he escapes and pulls an old Snake Eyes move here. Actually this has a bit of a James Bond feel to it. Like The Living Daylights, one of my favorite James Bond films. Totally underrated. If you have not seen that one, check it out. Timothy Dalton in his prime and a great Bond film. Awesome soundtrack from A Ha and just a pretty badass movie all around. If this was a Star Wars comic book, they would make an entire action figure based on this one panel. They cover Outback’s survival t shirt with a jacket and give him a fight but he looks like a sailor. He looks great. Giving Shipwreck a run for his money.

I think they are trying to make fun of the Soviet Union hot onion pie. That sounds good. Nothing about that sounds bad. I love Herb Trimpe’s art style and think it is perfect for G I Joe. He illustrated the first issue of G I Joe and numerous others. The vehicles look really cool. The action and storyboarding is intense. It is really good as Outback escapes Borovia because he has to alert the rest of the Joes and the American consulate as to the location and the incident that took place in issue 61.

Because obviously they are going to rescue the Joes. You cannot lose any Joes because that means you have to throw away your action figures. You do not want to do that. It is a lot of fun to watch Outback survive in his survivalist t shirt. He is actually a pretty cool character because he outwits the idiotic Borovians using a bunch of dead chickens. And then wearing no clothing he hijacks a helicopter. You have to admit that is pretty cool. He smashes the controls, jumps out, and it is a lot of fun.

This is a good standalone issue even if it is not really a standalone issue. You can dive into this one if you are not that familiar with the series and have a good time reading about G I Joe and how much they kick ass and how awesome the Cold War was, or at least how much fun we remember it as being. Not the way it really was, but the way it was portrayed in 1980s comic books and Rocky movies at least. G I Joe.

Special Missions issue number six is highly recommended by 80scomics dot com. Of course it is. So is the entire G I Joe series. You might want to get these two back to back actually. And while you are at it, if you enjoyed the artwork, pick up the Shogun Warriors series which is wonderful in every way that anything can be wonderful.

G I Joe Special Mission Six. Wasn’t that fun. You know they gave us G I Joe and the Transformers. Which means I am automatically waiting for G I Joe and the Shogun Warriors. Would that not be the greatest thing ever. It is never too late Marvel. Get on it. Dangard Ace and Raydeen versus Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. You would sell like 30 copies of that. Two of them to me. You have to have one to frame. That just sounds so amazing.