G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero: My Atypical Introduction to Comic Books
As I've begun the exercise of writing this blog, I've noticed that my path to becoming an uber-nerd has been somewhat atypical compared to others who share my interests. It seems as though my first experiences with all things geeky tended to differ from the norm. As we've already covered, my first video game obsession wasn't a Nintendo game, like most kids my age, it was a PC adventure game. My first RPG wasn't D&D but a gritty vigilante game derived from (at the time) an obscure comic book. Speaking of comic books, like most everything else I've covered so far in this blog, the first comic book I really got into was also unusual. Instead of your standard superhero fare such as Superman, Batman or Spider-Man, the first comic book I really got into was G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
Before we get into that, let me provide you with a little background. When I was younger, my mother was concerned about some of the content in superhero comics so she only wanted me to read books that were a little more geared towards younger kids like Archie and Jughead, Casper or Richie Rich (I hated that pompous little bastard). Since I was still allowed to watch the old Spider-Man cartoon from the 1960s or Adam West's live-action Batman series, my life wasn't totally devoid of Caped Crusaders and Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawlers. Despite my constant pestering of my mom to buy me comic books containing those heroes, she wouldn't relent, so I was stuck reading about the goings on in Riverdale, much to my consternation. Fortunately, one Christmas morning in the early 80s, my brother and I received the trade paperback of Marvel Comics' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - The Trojan Gambit as a gift. I guess my mom figured that since we played with the toys, the comic book wouldn't corrupt us too much. I loved that book and must've read it hundreds of times. As someone who played with the toys and watched the cartoon, it was a natural fit with me and, with my mom's blessing of course, I started to purchase the monthly comic with my allowance.
Unfortunately, I long ago got rid of (or lost) my collection of those comics, however, in recent years the licence was picked up by the publisher IDW, who started to reprint all of the old Marvel issues in trade paperback form. Needless to say, I was all over that like stink on a monkey. It had been decades since I'd read a G.I. Joe comic and I wasn't sure what to expect, considering that it was a comic based on a 1980s toy-line. I was honestly, pleasantly surprised by the depth of the series. What was intended as a vehicle to sell toys, actually dealt with a lot of heavy stuff that I, obviously, didn't pick up on as a kid. The series was written by Larry Hama (who has turned into one of my favorite comic writers, by the way) who had some unique insights into the series as he actually served in the Vietnam War. This experience was likely the reason why many of the characters involved in the series had some connection with that particular war. Hama was also of Japanese descent and studied martial arts extensively in his youth, which likely also led to his focus on the more martial-arts-leaning characters like Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow.
Hama's subject-matter knowledge really informed his writing, which gave it a certain authenticity that you don't normally find in comic books. It also allowed him to delve a lot of topics that weren't commonplace in a comic book meant for kids. While the plots for the book often drifted into comic book outlandishness (Cobra setting off a massive explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in order to raise the ocean surface so it can create it's own sovereign state, for example), the series also dealt with heavier issues like the impact that war can have on the soul of a man, patricide, political/international intrigue, the impact of domestic military action, and of course the spread of communism (it was the height of the Cold War after all). As an adult, the issues Hama delved into back in the day really gave me a new appreciation for the series, which has vaulted to the top of my list of favorite comic series.
My recent experience with the series has shown me that not only can something be as good as you remember, sometimes it can be even better.
P.S. For those feeling nostalgia pains, IDW has also picked up the rights to a bunch of old 80s and 90s properties, such as Transformers, TMNT, M.A.S.K. and many others. They're definitely worth checking out if you're into comics or if you're thinking of jumping into the medium.
Before we get into that, let me provide you with a little background. When I was younger, my mother was concerned about some of the content in superhero comics so she only wanted me to read books that were a little more geared towards younger kids like Archie and Jughead, Casper or Richie Rich (I hated that pompous little bastard). Since I was still allowed to watch the old Spider-Man cartoon from the 1960s or Adam West's live-action Batman series, my life wasn't totally devoid of Caped Crusaders and Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawlers. Despite my constant pestering of my mom to buy me comic books containing those heroes, she wouldn't relent, so I was stuck reading about the goings on in Riverdale, much to my consternation. Fortunately, one Christmas morning in the early 80s, my brother and I received the trade paperback of Marvel Comics' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - The Trojan Gambit as a gift. I guess my mom figured that since we played with the toys, the comic book wouldn't corrupt us too much. I loved that book and must've read it hundreds of times. As someone who played with the toys and watched the cartoon, it was a natural fit with me and, with my mom's blessing of course, I started to purchase the monthly comic with my allowance.
Unfortunately, I long ago got rid of (or lost) my collection of those comics, however, in recent years the licence was picked up by the publisher IDW, who started to reprint all of the old Marvel issues in trade paperback form. Needless to say, I was all over that like stink on a monkey. It had been decades since I'd read a G.I. Joe comic and I wasn't sure what to expect, considering that it was a comic based on a 1980s toy-line. I was honestly, pleasantly surprised by the depth of the series. What was intended as a vehicle to sell toys, actually dealt with a lot of heavy stuff that I, obviously, didn't pick up on as a kid. The series was written by Larry Hama (who has turned into one of my favorite comic writers, by the way) who had some unique insights into the series as he actually served in the Vietnam War. This experience was likely the reason why many of the characters involved in the series had some connection with that particular war. Hama was also of Japanese descent and studied martial arts extensively in his youth, which likely also led to his focus on the more martial-arts-leaning characters like Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow.
Hama's subject-matter knowledge really informed his writing, which gave it a certain authenticity that you don't normally find in comic books. It also allowed him to delve a lot of topics that weren't commonplace in a comic book meant for kids. While the plots for the book often drifted into comic book outlandishness (Cobra setting off a massive explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in order to raise the ocean surface so it can create it's own sovereign state, for example), the series also dealt with heavier issues like the impact that war can have on the soul of a man, patricide, political/international intrigue, the impact of domestic military action, and of course the spread of communism (it was the height of the Cold War after all). As an adult, the issues Hama delved into back in the day really gave me a new appreciation for the series, which has vaulted to the top of my list of favorite comic series.
My recent experience with the series has shown me that not only can something be as good as you remember, sometimes it can be even better.
P.S. For those feeling nostalgia pains, IDW has also picked up the rights to a bunch of old 80s and 90s properties, such as Transformers, TMNT, M.A.S.K. and many others. They're definitely worth checking out if you're into comics or if you're thinking of jumping into the medium.
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