G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #21 - Video Review by ComicBook.beer

Welcome back to ComicBook.beer where today I’m taking a look at one of the most influential comic books of all time. The most unusual G.I. Joe story ever. Why, it’s G.I. Joe issue number 21 from March of 1984, the famous Silent Interlude issue that doesn’t feature a word of dialogue and no sound effects, which was very unusual for American comic books in the 1980s.

This is just a badass comic book with brilliant storyboarding and a master class in storytelling with pictures. Just look at it. Every panel is remarkable, and here’s the creative team here.

Larry Hama doing his best. This is probably the best issue of G.I. Joe, I think at least. It’s just incredible. Storm Shadow flies in with Scarlett. And not that she needs saving, but Snake Eyes is going to save her anyway, or at least, you know, die trying. Beautiful storyboarding in this issue.

Look how happy these kids are with that new bike too. Look at that. Pretty sweet ride.

Snake Eyes lands. Destro is scowling.

Brilliant. Brilliant page layout. Every shot is incredible in this. I know they’ve sort of played out the whole Silent Interlude thing by now. There’s like all these different Silent Interlude spin-offs and whatnot, but they’re just not the same. This is just awesome.

If you were a fan of G.I. Joe back in the day, this made you immediately want to run out and buy Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow and Destro and all these characters. So cool. Storm Shadow just starts throwing the Cobra soldiers over the edge.

Not a word of dialogue. The whole story is just told through pictures.

Here’s Storm Shadow and his ninjas. Let’s get to my favorite shot. Where is it? Where is it? It’s right here. That’ll all right.

Snake Eyes is knocking out the ninjas one by one. This one shows up, he thinks he’s all fancy.

Snake Eyes throws a grenade in his face. And this is my favorite shot. I love that. Just boom. But there’s no sound effect because it’s the Silent Interlude issue.

Should I give away how it ends? Probably not because you need to go read this, and it’s been re-released a bunch of times over the years.

You can find this in numerous G.I. Joe collections, and I think I have a special edition hardcover version of this. If you like comic books, even if you’re not into G.I. Joe or 1980s toys and comics, just take a look at the post box, the pit. I always love the letter section in books.

This is just an incredible example of how to tell a story with pictures. The art is great, the characters are great, the action is great. Every single thing about this issue is great, which is why it’s one of the best comic books ever made.

And that’s why it’s your daily comic book mission. That’s why I’m here talking about it again on ComicBook.beer.

G.I. Joe issue 21? Highly recommended. He’s just so badass.