Daily Comic Book Mission #029: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1

Alright, is everyone ready for your Daily Comic Book Mission? I'm sticking with the G.I. Joe theme today as I'm putting together some thoughts and ideas for the next ComicBook.beer podcast, which I'm planning to be on the first 21 issues of G.I. Joe.

And today’s Daily Comic Book Mission’s suggested mandatory reading is G.I. Joe issue number one from June of 1982.

Check it out. Before I get started here, I got some news. I broke ground today on my next book, my 1980s nostalgia book. I don’t have a title for it yet, but it’s basically like a warm blanket of 1980s nostalgia for those of us who just need to go back in time because the future sucks.

And though I don’t really have any writing that’s ready to read yet, I did assemble a timeline here of important events from each year in the 1980s.

If there’s any doubt about why the 80s were the best decade, let me read this off to you:

1980 — The Empire Strikes Back
1981 — MTV
1982 — Duran Duran’s Rio (one of the best albums of all time), also G.I. Joe
1983 — Return of the Jedi
1984 — Transformers
1985 — The Nintendo Entertainment System
1986 — The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
1987 — Predator, RoboCop, and Appetite for Destruction
That one year alone wipes out the entire 21st century
1988 — Die Hard
1989 — the power of blast processing, the Sega Genesis

The book is still a ways off, but you’re going to like it. I have a lot of things to say about the 1980s because I really miss them.

Let’s take it back to June 1982. This issue is titled Operation: Lady Doomsday. This is the first time we get to meet the new G.I. Joes, because G.I. Joe existed in the 60s and 70s as larger figures. Then Star Wars popularized the smaller action figure scale, and the new G.I. Joe toys followed that size. So this issue is basically a giant ad for the toys, but it’s also just a great comic book.

It’s written by Larry Hama, who is still writing G.I. Joe to this day. Illustrated by Herb Trimpe, of Shogun Warriors fame. Bob McLeod does inking, Jim Novak letters, Glynis Wein colors, Tom DeFalco is editor, and Jim Shooter is editor-in-chief.

This issue starts off pretty strong. Cobra kidnaps Dr. Burkhart from an Amtrak train. She’s developed some sort of super weapon, and the Baroness jumps off a moving train with her and gets picked up by a helicopter. Then we meet the G.I. Joes for the first time: Hawk, Grand Slam, Short-Fuse, Flash, Grunt, Breaker, Rock and Roll, Zap, Scarlett, Steeler (my man from Pittsburgh), Clutch, Stalker, and Snake Eyes.

If you look closely at the bottom panel of the computer readout, you can see a partially hidden name, “Shooter.” I suspect that’s a nod to editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.

G.I. Joe goes to save Dr. Burkhart, who’s being held hostage on Cobra Island. For the first time we see Cobra soldiers and Cobra Commander. G.I. Joe lands on the beach, shoots everything up, blows things up, it’s a great, action-packed issue right from the start. It makes you want to go out and buy the toys. There’s the MOBAT tank, I had that. Rock and Roll jumping the G.I. Joe bike over Cobra soldiers. There’s the Humvee-type vehicle, and that giant towable gun.

It’s just awesome. A fun introduction to G.I. Joe, the characters, and the enemies. Herb Trimpe is a great artist, and Larry Hama does a great job on the writing.

There are also some special features, the “pit,” the underground base. There are technical schematics and even a short backup story called Hot Potato. This issue cost $1.50 back in the day, so it was a larger-than-usual issue.

The original first printing is expensive now if you want it in good condition, but there are plenty of reprints. You can find it in the G.I. Joe Compendium, IDW reprints, Tales of G.I. Joe, and even small pocket-sized editions. You can probably even find it at your local library.

Take it back to the 80s—the best decade. A decade we all need to hop into a virtual DeLorean and stay there. Honestly, if humanity had just stopped inventing things after 1989, after blast processing and the Sega Genesis, we’d be fine. We didn’t need anything else. We definitely didn’t need the iPhone.

But here we are in our terrible future.

Maybe if you pour a beer into your Sega Genesis it’ll teleport you back to the 1980s. If that worked, I would’ve done it by now. Anyway, I’m rambling.

You’ve got some reading to do, and I’ll keep you posted on the book progress.

G.I. Joe issue number one is your daily comic book mission.

Happy reading.