The History Of G.I. Joe

by Todd Matthy

In June 2008, an era in comics will come to an end. Devils Due Studios will release their final issue of “GI Joe: America’s Elite” concluding not only the “World War III” storyline, but the saga begun by Larry Hama over twenty-five years ago. The “World War III” story (so far) is an excellent swan song, it’s still sad to see the Larry Hama-timeline reach its conclusion. So lets take a look back at GI Joe through several key characters that made it one of the most popular titles of the 1980’s and beyond.

Genesis

Before one learns about the key characters of GI Joe, lets take a look at how the characters began. Before Hasbro even considered reviving GI Joe as “A Real American Hero”. Larry Hama, a then young employee at Marvel Comics who edited titles like Crazy and appeared in an episode of the TV series M.A.S.H, was already planting seeds for what would become the legendary series.
In 1981, Larry noticing a lack of military based comic books pitched one to Marvel. The book was titled Fury Force featuring Nick Fury’s son leading a special branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. against threats to America with superior technology. The stars would be Sgt. Fury, Spook, Lilah Gaul, Louie Louie, and several others. These characters were the prototypes for Hawk, Snake Eyes, Scarlet, Stalker, Rock N Roll, and Breaker. The team’s headquarters was located under a motor pool. The pitch was turned down.
Little did Larry know at the same time Hasbro Toys was creating a series of action figures to revive the GI Joe brand. Inspired by the success of Star Wars, Hasbro contacted Marvel Comics and asked them if they would be willing to produce a comic book to promote the new GI Joe line. Due to their successes with licenses before... Marvel agreed. There was only one problem, Hasbro had no characters, only concepts. It was up to Marvel to develop the story and the characters for the toys.
Marvel assigned Larry Hama the task of developing the story and the biographies for the characters. The concept behind GI Joe was eerily similar to the Fury Force concept Larry pitched, so with a few minor adjustments was able to recycle his old concept into GI Joe. The next step was finding a suitable enemy for this band of heroes. Archie Goodwin assisted Larry by creating the idea of Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization, determined to rule the world. The rest is history.
In June 1982 GI Joe # 1 hit newsstands featuring two stories, Operation: Lady Doomsday and Hot Potato. Operation Lady Doomsday introduced the Joes, their technology, and gave each character a moment to show off aspects of their personality. Cobra Commander and the Baroness, modeled on Patty Hearst, were introduced as the leaders of Cobra.
To make the characters “three dimensional” Larry decided to
assign each character a role model and injected aspects of the
role model’s personalities into the characters. Larry Hama told
Metal Machine that “the plots of the comics never interested
him at all” and “they were only the frame work to hang the
characters on.” Clearly Larry had a favorite set of characters
to base stories around. However, the book was still a ‘toy
comic’ and Larry faced the difficult task of showcasing the
latest toys in the comic. “Characters like Duke, Sgt. Slaughter,
and the Fridge were sort of pushed on me and never made any
inroads into my personal fantasy cortex. Whereas Snake Eyes,
Scarlett, and Storm Shadow have taken up residence there.”
He told us. The following article will be a dissection of some
of the best most developed characters in the GI Joe comic
book.
The centerpiece of the series was Snake Eyes. A mysterious
silent commando, whose past connections with other
characters was revealed over the in bits and pieces to both
the readers and Larry Hama. “I never had a plan” and “never
knew what would happen on page 22.” Snake Eyes shared
a romance with Scarlett, the first woman on the team. He fell
for Scarlett by confiding in her without fear of judgment. He lost his voice and mutilated his face rescuing Scarlett from a blazing helicopter. The drive of Snake Eyes however was his connection to his enemy/best friend, Storm Shadow.
Issue 21, the infamous silent issue introduced Storm Shadow, Cobra’s ninja who bore a hexagram similar to Snake Eyes. Issues 26-27 would reveal their mutual past as soldiers during the Vietnam War. Storm Shadow considered him a brother they would do anything for each other. When Snake Eyes lost his good luck charm, a photo of his twin sister, in a firefight, Storm Shadow jumped into the fire to save it. Unfortunately a stray bullet hit the photo in the middle of his sister’s forehead. The bullet was a grim foreshadowing of his family’s death via car crash, ironically on their way to pick him up.
                                       With no one else to turn to, Snake-Eye’s went to live with Storm
                                        Shadow and was welcomed into his clan, the Arashikage. The clan’s
                                        head was Storm Shadow’s uncle the Hard Master, who not only
                                        embraced Snake Eyes, favored him. Unfortunately he was killed by
                                        one of Storm Shadows arrows. Storm Shadow
                                        vanished and Snake Eyes followed to bring him to justice. After a
                                        battle atop a train Storm Shadow revealed that he worked for Cobra
                                        to discover the true murderer of his uncle, who got away in a Cobra
                                        helicopter.

                                        Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow’s past introduced another character
                                        to the mythology, Vietnam. Vietnam was the unofficial beginning of the
                                        GI Joe saga due to so many characters roots in the conflict. For
                                        example the Baroness first met Snake Eyes and Destro in Vietnam.
                                        Her brother was murdered by Vietcong and was discovered by
                                        Snake Eyes. For years she blamed the silent one for her brothers
                                        death. Destro too witnessed the murder and cleared Snake-Eye’s
                                        name.

                                       The specter of Vietnam would haunt the supporting cast as well. The
                                       most powerful story is Fred II or Wade Collins, a member of Snake Eyes, Stalker, and Storm Shadow’s platoon. Wade was abandoned for dead in Vietnam, he survived and taken prisoner. He was released and welcomed home not as a hero but a disgrace. Hippies spat on Wade, calling him a ‘baby killer’ and denied work by employers. After losing his home and dignity Cobra approached him with promises of a better life. Cobra’s message appealed to him so he had his face surgically altered, becoming a Crimson Guardsman, replacing a dead Crimson Guardsman as the husband and father of a family. Wade Collins’s story is the story of the disrespect shown to Vietnam Veterans. The disgraceful treatment pushed Wade into Cobra’s arms, renewing his sense of purpose in exchange for his loyalty and [some say] his soul. Fortunately for Wade, Snake Eyes and Stalker helped him quit Cobra and show him his family loved him no matter what. A happy ending that unfortunately didn’t come for many veterans. One veteran’s Vietnam experience would inadvertently give birth to one of the most notorious villains of all time.
Snake Eyes’s family was killed by a drunk driver who, ironically, was a Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress syndrome. The soldier did multiple tours so his brother wouldn’t be drafted. The brother was the man who became Cobra Commander.
Cobra Commander’s story was a story of disillusionment in the American Dream. Before creating Cobra, he was, of all things, a used car salesman. Larry Hama felt, “Car salesmen, real estate developers, dentists, accountants, and IRS people have been under-utilized as villains”. When his business failed and his brother died, the Commander declares that, “big business and big government are out to stamp out the little guy” and took his son, Billy, and ditched his wife. Through a series of pyramid schemes he rebuilt a bankrupt town called Springfield and formed his own militia.
Cobra Commander shows both the positive and negative side of the American Dream. Cobra Commander, through perseverance became a leader and success, the epicenter of the American Dream. The dark side of the American Dream was shown through his motives and methods. Vengefully motivated success leads to megalomania and paranoia, as personified by Cobra Commander. His paranoia was so great that he tortured his own son. Issue 55 though offered the Commander, a form of redemption. When he learnt Billy was in a coma, he went to the boys aid and tearfully admonished himself for neglecting him. From issues 58-61, Cobra Commander took refuge with a Crimson Guardsman designated Fred VII. Together they brought Billy out of his coma and gave him a prosthetic leg. After Billy’s recovery, Cobra Commander decided to dedicate his life to Billy’s recovery instead of reclaiming Cobra. Fred VII shot and killed the Commander and assumed his identity. “I was told by Hasbro to kill off Cobra Commander to match the continuity in the Cobra-La movie. I objected. They insisted. Sales dropped drastically.” Larry Hama explained.
In issue 98, the Commander returned more sadistic then ever. Billy tries to appeal to his humanity but is answered by laughter. His father would hauntingly state his humanity, “was killed long ago…when my own son tried to kill me!” Cobra Commander became more dangerous and inhuman than ever, putting him in conflict with Billy. The father/son conflict ended in Devils Due’s World War III when the Commander shot Billy. Cobra Commanders ego driven madness was offset by his calm and calculating arms dealer, Destro.
Destro, the man in the silver mask, was the first Cobra, other then the Commander and the Baroness, that was “three- dimensional.” The hints at a romance between Destro and the Baroness were firmly planted in his first appearance. Destro expanded the Baroness’s character, putting her loyalty in a compromising position. Destro’s loyalties were to himself. Destro used the Baroness to drive a wedge in her loyalty to Cobra Commander. The Commander and Destro clashed as often as Cobra did with the Joes. Destro participated in a plot to assassinate Cobra Commander. Unbeknownst to him the assassin was the Commander’s son, Billy. He intervened so the boy didn’t commit patricide in issue 33 inadvertently displaying and showing his loyalty. He aided the Joes in issue 57, after Serpentor usurped Cobra Commander by giving Lady Jaye and Flint the top secret plans to Cobra’s latest weapon, the Terrordrome.

The richness of these characters (and so many others not mentioned) made Marvel’s GI Joe one of the greatest comic books of all time. The series following was so strong that an independent company called Devils Due was granted the license to create a new comic book. Rather then start over, Devils Due picked up the story where Larry Hama left off, dedicating the first issue to him. Now in 2008, the license has expired, but the company is going out with a bang. The World War III storyline will conclude the story begun by Larry Hama in 1982. Can the conclusion live up to the momentum behind it, we’ll find out in June. But, fear not... GI Joe will return in a new series published by IDW, and rumor has it Larry Hama will play a part in the series.
As for Larry Hama, he went on to write a little title called Wolverine for a few years and has now made his way into film. His movie, “All Ages Night” is due to be released this year. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/allagesnight. We thank Hasbro, Marvel, the Devils Due Crew, and of course Larry Hama for the incredible story that was GI Joe. It looks like the story will end with a bang. As for IDW, you have a tough act to follow...best of luck to you. So one last time, Yo Joe!
The author would like to acknowledge the following sources:
Yojoe.com- The Essential GI Joe site
Joeguide.com- The Place for behind the scenes information on the cartoon, along with old Larry Hama interviews.
Christopher Irving’s wonderful article, “The Swivel-Arm Battle-Grip Revolution. How GI Joe Recruited a New Generation of Comic Book readers” in Back Issue 16.
And of course…Larry Hama himself.

To see images of the G.I. Joe movie, currently being filmed, click here