Date: January 1984 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2014 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, Rick Parker, George Roussos Notable Notes: The Joes trick Cobra into attacking a fake base! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: December 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2014 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, Edward Norton, George Roussos Notable Notes: Joes and Cobra invade Coney Island!
Have you ever encountered an old, abandoned amusement park? I have, once, in Guam! I remember seeing it from the highway – all the rides overgrown with tropical vegetation. It was downright spooky! I did think it would be fun to play hide-n-seek or some sort of war game in though. Can you imagine how fun that’d be – running around and hiding amongst all the old rides and game booths! I’ve haven’t thought of that old amusement park in a long, long time – but this issue reminded me of it because both the G.I. Joes and Cobra head to a famous amusement park to carry out their plans.
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Date: November 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, Joe Rosen, G. Roussos Notable Notes: Cobra fugitives get lots of help!
I commute to work on a bus nearly every day. It is nice because I can read, or surf the internet or just take a nap. But sometimes, in the back of my mind, there is a little bit of worry that something crazy is going to happen. You know, something like the driver getting us in a big crash, or even worse – the bus gets hi-jacked like in the movie “Speed”! This issue has a scene where a bus gets taken over by one of the Cobras, and as you can see from the cover it makes the ladies cry – now how sad is that! Plus, now I’m going to have nightmares about my own bus getting attacked by some crazy para-military group – sheesh!
Date: October 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, Joe Rosen, Andy Yanchus Notable Notes: 1st appearances of Cover Girl and Trip-Wire!
I loved the 3 3/4 inch G.I. Joe figures when they first came out in the early 1980s – and I collected many of the first ones, along with some of their awesome vehicles. Because I had those toys, this issue was more fun for me. I got to see The Wolverine missile launcher, the motorcycle with machine gun side-car and the jeep with the gun on top! Loads of fun, and it helped me to re-live a bit of my childhood. That’s a sign of a good comic book… isn’t it?
Date: September 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, Rick Parker, Andy Yanchus and Denny O’Neil Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Major Bludd!
I remember growing up during the 1980s and all the stereotypes surrounding Central and South America: full of drug lords, guerrilla warriors and corrupt leaders. There seemed to be a bunch of movies, books and comics that played off those stereotypes too – some to great acclaim. Here is an issue that, regardless of the stereotypes, is still a great read!
Date: August 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Mike Vosburg, Jon D’Agostino, J. Rosen and C. Scheele Notable Notes: 1st full appearance of Destro!
My collection of comics from the early ’80s has many holes in it, and sadly G.I. Joe is one of the titles that suffers greatly. After reviewing G.I. Joe #5 I found that this was the next issue I had – effectively skipping 9 issues! That sucks, especially since I realized that I’ve missed out on the little teaser appearances of one of my favorite G.I. Joe toys: Destro! Oh well, at least I have this book where he makes his first full appearance, and the story is actually pretty good too!
Date: November 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3 – $25 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Other Artists: Don Perlin, Jon D’Agostino & Mike Esposito, Jim Novak, Stan Goldberg Notable Notes: Cobra tries to steal a tank!
Have you ever seen a parade with a tank in it? I don’t think I have. All the parades I’ve been to have the boring military vehicles – like the troop carriers, the ambulances, the fire trucks and such. I would totally love to see a state-of-the-art tank roll down the road in front of me! Oh well, here is a story where that exact scenario happens. I didn’t see them throwing any candy though!
Date: October 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3 – $25 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Postbox: The Pit!” letters page and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Other Artists: Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel & Jon D’Agostino, Diana Albers, George Roussos Notable Notes: The Joes foil a nuclear bomb plot!
After reading a review of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #1 over at Comics Bronze Age I was in the mood to read me some G.I. Joe comic books! I had forgotten (or, more likely, didn’t realize) that these books reflected the right-leaning political sentiments of the day. I had to smile at the contents, but it was a great walk down nostalgia’s lane as I recalled not only one of my favorite comic books of my childhood but also my some of my favorite toys!
Date: September 1982 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $3.00 – $25.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads and Bullpen Bulletins Writer: Larry Hama Artists: Herb Trimpe, J. Abel & J. D’Agostino, Diana Albers, George Roussos Notable Notes: A giant robot attacks the Joes’ compound!
As a kid I loved playing with the G.I. Joe toys. In fact, the first one I had was the 12″ variety, with the “look-through” eye and stubbly beard. I remember when the 4″ action figures came out, and I was blown away by how cool they were! Of course it didn’t take long for the G.I. Joe marketing machine to kick in and a comic book of the popular brand to appear in Marvel’s line-up. I have fond memories of reading these comics, and it was those tugging heart strings that made me want to re-read them. Here’s how it stood the test of time.
