G.I. Joe: Special Missions #5 - Video Review by 80s Comics

Yo Joe, are you ready to fight for freedom over land and air. If so, then you are ready for G I Joe Special Missions issue number five. I was going in order but I jumped ahead one because look at it. I am a sucker for the jet issues like G I Joe A Real American Hero number 34, but this one has the Cobra Night Raven, not the Rattler. So it is a different book. This one is not as good but hang in there because it is still a worthy read and you should add this to your 1980s comic collection at once from June of 1987.

It is a great intro page. Showdown. I love the cover. Cobra Night Raven blowing up the Sky Striker. Ace is ejecting because we cannot lose Ace. Ace is too important. My camera just moved. That is how important Ace is. Even the camera cares. There is a close up of the Night Raven. It is one of my favorite G I Joe toys. I was fortunate to have the Night Raven and the hydrofoil. The hydrofoil. Cannot speak. The Cobra Hydrofoil, two of my favorites.

The Night Raven came with the Stratoviper, who is the specially enhanced Cobra pilot. No normal Cobra soldier could pilot the Night Raven. The Stratoviper was modified somehow, genetically. Maybe his brain was made of plastic. Somehow, the guy was modified to withstand like a thousand G forces or something like that. Anyway, he is a real asshole, so keep that in mind because it plays into the storyline here.

As it starts off with the Night Raven, a bunch of the Cobra ground crew is admiring it. But they get too close and here is the Stratoviper, who is a jerk and treats his ground crew poorly. Keep that in mind because there is a life lesson here in this G I Joe issue of Special Missions. It is a great shot there. It has a real Top Gun influence, which of course I appreciate. Who does not appreciate Top Gun? Cobra maybe. Maybe Cobra is the bad guys, but I think even they appreciate Top Gun.

All right, now here is the G I Joe X-30, the one with the backwards wings. I had that one too. Never had a Sky Striker but I had the X 30. I think it was way cheaper. Anyway, the Sky Striker came with Ace. The X-30 came with Slipstream if I am not mistaken. Slipstream is the main character in this issue but pay attention to this. This is very important.

Remember just a few moments ago, like two pages ago, the Stratoviper was treating the Cobra ground crew like dirt and berating them and kicked one guy in the head. Slipstream hands the G I Joe ground crew a Transformer because it is his son’s birthday or something, or he is in the hospital. Anyway, the Joes treat their ground crew with respect, and that plays an important role later in the book.

Slipstream gets the guy a Transformer and says it is Jetfire, but does that look like Jetfire to you? No. That is clearly Megatron. It is like they changed the wording afterwards. Maybe Jetfire was just released. Jetfire is pretty awesome. It is like a Veritech fighter that turns into a Transformer.

All right, so let us get to the storyline here. The Stratoviper is doing strategic reconnaissance over Florida, and for some reason the Joes do not just shoot him down automatically. I do not understand that part at all. It makes no sense. They are like, do not fire until fired upon. This is Cobra. Are they not battling the entire way. It is all they do. G I Joe fights Cobra. It is like Tom chasing Jerry. It is the same thing. Hey, Galaxy Rangers.

In order to get the Stratoviper to shoot at the Joes, Ace flies in front of him and is flying like a jerk and waggling his jet tail. And obviously Cobra shoots him in the ass. Have you not met Cobra before. Ace, you are one of the oldest characters. You should know this. They are going to shoot at you. But now the conflict is on in the shadow of the Thrashing advertisement because it is the 80s.

To make a long story short, we get some pretty good air combat, a battle between Slipstream and the Stratoviper for the most part since Ace was shot down. And the Joe crew comes out to save Ace because the G I Joe team treats their ground crew with respect. And you can probably imagine what happens to the Stratoviper.

But I do want you to pay attention to the artwork here as well. It is really nice. This one is done by Herb Trimpe. He did a lot of work on the Transformers series too. So you would think Herb would know which Transformer was which. I want to point out this shot in particular. I do like that one. Also, did you catch the obvious Top Gun reference earlier in the book. They fly inverted, but he is not giving them the finger, though it is well illustrated. Not as good as issue 34. It is like comparing everything to G I Joe 21. G I Joe 21 wins every time, just like Snake Eyes.

And there is a big life lesson in this particular issue, which is treat your ground crew with respect because otherwise it may come back to haunt you if you kick your ground crew in the head.

So I think I need to give a special salute to the G I Joe ground crew to make sure they keep the Joes over land and air. I think it is time that we crack a beer while reviewing G I Joe comic books. But just in case we spill a little bit, I have to cover the G I Joe Special Missions, which is precious. I have to cover this with something far less important. Got just the thing.

Do we really care if a bunch of Ewoks drown in beer? We do not. It would be a good thing. Cheers to you, G I Joe, fighting for freedom over land and air. I should have kept that comic book there. Now I am nervous. Being really careful. It is okay, I have experience.

Drinking beer for freedom over land and air has never tasted so good. G I Joe Special Missions issue number five. What is on the back cover. I forgot to look. Laser tag. I loved laser tag. Everybody loved laser tag. For that short time when laser tag was a thing, it was a great thing. Running around the yard trying to shoot each other, never hitting each other, but still having fun attempting because you could just turn your back on them or cover it with your hand. No, you did not hit me even though you are standing three feet away.

80scomics dot com. This one is highly recommended for fans of G I Joe and the cool vehicles like the Night Raven, the Sky Striker. We had a G I Joe Tomahawk sighting in there. And the X 30. To freedom over land and air. Yeah, freedom goes down smooth.