G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #2 Comic Book Review
The Joes have to cut their vacation short after somebody shot up a U.S. research station at the North Pole.
Published August 1982 by Marvel Comics
Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Don Perlin
Inker: Jack Abel
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letters: Jim Novak
Editor: Tom DeFalco
"Panic at the North Pole!"
G.I. Joe doesn’t just fight for freedom over land and air. They also battle for truth and justice over ice and snow! “Wherever there’s ice and snow, G.I. Joe will goooooo!”
Behind a spectacular cover design featuring four of our favorite Joes hiking through a blizzard at the North Pole is a unique issue that follows our team of anti-terrorist military specialists battling a global superpower instead of the boneheads at Cobra.
Released in August of 1982, the second issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is titled “Panic at the North Pole!” Issue #2 strikes a somewhat more serious tone than the rest of the series, or at least a more realistic one. Before shape-shifting Zartan, the dumbass Dreadnoks, Terrordomes, and Serpentor, there were some believable bad guys like the Russians.
Overview
Somebody shot up an American North Pole research station! My mind immediately goes to John Carpenter’s The Thing, where the obvious solution is just to nuke it from orbit, but the idiots in the U.S. Government decide to recall four Joes from some well-earned R&R to investigate instead.
Readers learn about four of the classic Joes and what they do in their off time when they aren’t slaughtering hapless Cobra minions. Stalker likes to photograph animals. Scarlett competes in martial arts competitions. Snake Eyes spends his time in a sensory deprivation chamber, and Breaker, my favorite in this issue, chews gum and plays with computers while ignoring the advances of pretty girls in lab coats.
A peaceful life without gunning down the Crimson Guard or Battle Android Troopers clearly bores all of them to tears. Thankfully, General Flagg dumps them at the North Pole to investigate a nearby Russian research station for clues.
While advancing on foot, the team spots a mysterious man entering the Russian base and leaving. The Joes investigate once he’s gone and discover a secret ultra-low frequency beam transmission device surrounded by a bunch of frozen, dead Russians! Oh no! The Russians are up to no good. It’s hard to believe.
Of course, the station is wired with explosives. Snake Eyes saves everyone. Breaker, who is nothing more than a walking, wireless fax machine that chews gum, radio-teleprints photographs of the station back to General Flagg.
That’s right, kids. Before you could just text someone a snapshot with your iPhone or upload that goofy dancing video to TikTok, you had to wear a 50-pound backpack that radio-teleprints rolls of physical film to a multi-million dollar computer facility. Breaker was ahead of his time, and so were the Russians, as it turns out, who discovered a way to transmit fear and paranoia to the American people in the form of ultra-low frequency beams (the Russians invented Fox News and Facebook!)
The Writing
As the issue progresses, the Joe team survives freezing temperatures and blizzard-like conditions as they confront the mysterious stranger, who turns out to be an assassin named Kwinn. Despite their best efforts, neither side is able to kill each other, and they gain mutual respect. Readers are treated to a particularly callous moment at the end when Kwinn hangs the Russians out to dry at the mercy of Snake Eyes.
G.I. Joe #2 is arguably one of the better issues in the early part of the series, though Marvel must not have printed very many. This issue has always been difficult to collect if one is looking for a “first printing”. My advice is to save the bucks and buy a second print for a few dollars and enjoy a great read and a classic G.I. Joe adventure.
Obviously, the series was nothing more than a glorified advertisement used to sell toys, but early on the number of Joes was limited, which gave the writers more time to focus on the personalities of the core group. I always like to see two of my favorites, Stalker and Breaker, in action (even if Breaker's action is limited to making 1980s phone calls.)
The Artwork
It's hard to follow up the great Herb Trimpe, who penciled the first issue of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero, but Don Perlin, Jack Abel, and Bob Sharen do a good job. It looks and feels like The Thing (without a horrible alien and the severed head spider monster.) Perlin capably handles the storytelling and even drops some funny moments in there, like when Snake Eyes realizes that Kwinn sabotaged his machine gun. I like the bleak, snowy nature of the panels and clever use of color. The ending panels are particularly bad-ass.
Conclusion
Before there were 200 members in G.I. with ninja skills and telepathic superpowers, there were just a handful of soldiers who almost seemed believable. This early issue is a great read because we (fans of G.I. Joe) get to spend some quality time with four of the greats: Scarlett, Stalker, Breaker, and Snake Eyes. We learn about their hobbies and how they work together as a team. Kwinn is a cool character, too. While this issue is a departure from the norm for the series, even though it's only the second issue, it's a great collectible for fans. Highly recommended.
Written by Mark Bussler, 2023
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