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shanecdavis · Last edited by shanecdavis on Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:54 am; edited 2 times in total

In honor of 2012 being the 30th Anniversary of the Marvel G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic that we all know and love, we will be holding a reading marathon. Each week we will read 5 issues and then post our thoughts here. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate, even if you aren't able to actually read the issues. Please share any experiences you had when you first read these issues, whether it be as a kid, or picking these up later as a teen or adult. If you missed out on the previous weeks, you can find the URLs at the bottom of this post.

WEEK 11 - Marvel G.I. Joe: ARAH #51-55

Optional reading - Marvel Special Missions 1-2

NOTE: There is also Marvel Order of Battle #1-3 and Marvel G.I. Joe and the Transformers #1 that came out the same time period, but since they do not offer any stories tied into the ARAHverse they are only being noted. If you would like to include them as optional reading this week though, that is fine.

COVERS

Marvel #51 - Thunder Machine

Marvel #52 - Snap Decisions

Marvel #53 - Pit-Fall

Marvel #54 - Launch Base

Marvel #55 - Unmaskings

OPTIONAL COVERS

Marvel Special Missions #1 - That Sinking Feeling

Marvel Special Missions #2 - Words of Honor

HIGHLIGHTS:
* First appearance of Cross Country, Thunder, Tollbooth, Zandar, Admiral Dyson, General Hollingsworth, General Ryan, Dial Tone, Slipstream
* Death of Admiral Dyson, General Ryan
* Zarana and Zandar help Zartan escape from the PIT
* Storm Shadow explains how he used the Sleeping Phoenix technique to survive being shot by Baroness
* First hint of relationship between Flint and Lady Jaye
* COBRA Commander and Destro revealed to have survived the destruction of the PIT
* COBRA sells first Terror Drome
* Grunt retires from the team
* First introduction of COBRA Consulate building in New York
* Billy is revealed to have survived the car explosion in #43

PREVIOUS WEEKS
WEEK 10 - Marvel #46-50
WEEK 9 - Marvel #41-45, Marvel Yearbook #1
WEEK 8 - Marvel #36-40, Hasbro #36 1/2
WEEK 7 - Marvel #31-35, Marvel Yearbook #1, Hasbro #32 1/2
WEEK 6 - Marvel #26-30, DDP Snake Eyes: Declassified 1-6
WEEK 5 - Marvel #21-25, DDP Snake Eyes: Declassified Trade, Hasbro #21B
WEEK 4 - Marvel #16-20
WEEK 3 - Marvel #11-15
WEEK 2 - Marvel #6-10
WEEK 1 - Marvel #1-5, DDP G.I. Joe: Declassified 1-3

Pictures courtesy of Antarctica's website - http://www.yojoe.com/comics/index.shtml#Marvel

Torpedo · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:02 am Post subject:

I preordered the G.I. Joe Yearbook trade paperback from DCBS. However, because of their fluky shipping schedule, any comics or books that came out on Wednesday, February 29th were held over with the March shipping books. This means the book won't ship for me until the end of this month and I probably won't get it until well into April, long after we've covered the Yearbook material in this read-athon.

*grumblegrumblehatehate*
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Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

this week will be fun. Yearbook 3 is one of my favorites, and i remember vividly the day I got issue 54. It was the first comic I bought with my own money. After church one Sunday I got a small slurpy and the comic at the 7-11 on the way home.
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Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

Thunder Machine, introduces guess what the Thunder Machine, the swampfire, Zandar, Toll Booth, Cross Country and the HAVOC. The Z twins take it to the Joe's to rescue Zartan in the PIT. This is a shining moment for the Dreadnoks and it's the Z twins that do it Sad

They seem to do well until the Joe's realize they stole a communicator that they can trace. I thought this issue was O.K. the best part for me was to see that Storm Shadow had hid in the Swampfire and snuck out to get into the PIT to set up the next issue.
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ER · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:13 pm Post subject:

Looking forward to this week as well!

Yearbook #3, though, came out the same month as #57 and should be included with next week's reading. In fact, the YB3 story, "Hush Job" is a direct continuation of the events in #56 so you'll want to read it between issues #56 and #57.
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

shanecdavis · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:53 pm Post subject:

Argh!! I don't know how I keep messing up the Yearbooks! Thanks for the correction, ER. It didn't seem right that there was so much this week. Should have gone with that thought.

ER · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:52 pm Post subject:

No worries Shane - you're doing a great job getting the ball rolling on the marathon each week - thanks for all your effort!

By the way, I've updated my site to include my collection of Special Missions, Yearbooks, a 1987 "Order of Battle" trade and more. Also I added some ads from #31-33 (Go-Bots, MASS Device VHS tape and some more fun stuff)

www.hamaverse.weebly.com
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

For my birthday my wife got me the 16 issues of Nth Man, Bucky O'Hare the graphic novel and the animated series. It was a Hama Birthday. Wink

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shanecdavis · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:19 am Post subject:

Marvel #51 - Thunder Machine

If the last panel of #50 wasn't a big enough indication that I wasn't going to like #51 very much, the cover for #51 was. To this point, any issue that had Dreadnoks on the cover I haven't enjoyed, and this one certainly was no exception. I've already added my disdain for the concept of the Z twins, so I will refrain from going on and on about them. There are two things that I did like about them though. In Zarana, in a roundabout way it did give COBRA a second credible female character, so as much as I didn't like the concept of her I did come to accept her. Putting her on the level with Baroness though was laughable and only worked by dumbing down Baroness to make it somewhat realistic. There are so many other ways Hasbro could have introduced another female COBRA that would have been so much better, but now I'm getting into what I said I wouldn't do.

Zandar, for all his un-usefulness, actually is what I wish Zartan was. Zandar is exactly what you want in a master of disguise. He has a forgettable persona, which is vital. Ironically, so forgettable is he that Mr. Hama totally forgot he existed too! I've said this for years, but I was really hoping the IDWverse Zartan would have been modeled after Lazlo Soot, the assassin portrayed in the movie Smokin' Aces. Now he is badass!

The other problem I have with this issue, besides it being centered on the Z twins and the Dreads, was Tommy. When I first read this issue, I thought he was going along with them because he knew they could lead him to Zartan. He escapes in the elevator and then......and then.......WTF??? I was hoping for a confrontation between him and Zartan, but instead I got nothing. Zartan was liberated and Tommy wasn't seen again. Of course the next issue would explain everything, even though that scene in of itself was weird, but for a month I wasn't a happy camper. Yet another weak story centered on the Z crew and no resolve to basically the biggest reveal of the mythos - Zartan as Hard Master's killer.

One of the rare things I liked about the issue was the Thunder Machine, and FINALLY seeing Thunder. The rest was just garbage, especially the HAVOC. Mr. Hama would make Cross Country a more like-able character, but the HAVOC continued the trend of Hasbro coming up with incredibly stupid ideas of vehicles for a unit that was supposed to be Top Secret. Oh wait, that was only in the comic. The toy vehicles came with about 235 'G.I. Joe' stickers, just so there was no doubt in anyone's mind what toy it was. Ugh.

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

SM 1 that sinking feeling. I really liked special missions, almost better than the main joe stories... At least the latter ones. Lots of good action with the 3 forces fighting. I did like how Cobra and the Oktober Guard fought each other and Joe was jus in the middle watching waiting for their moment. You could tell from reading the there was something "different" about the captian. Also when skyhook was mentioned...that doesn't make sense for a sub retrieval. Kicking people off ships, literally, was funny to me as well.

Was this the first appearance of Polly in the comics?

Also when did Herb Trimpe start on Joe. I haven't paid that much attention to artists, but I did notice in this one that the Baroness looked strange to me. She looked more like an Aeon Flux character. At least in 2 pannels.
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Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

Sorry forgot to post on 52 before SM 1.

Snap Decisions. I love the cobra back stabbing. CC plotting Serpentors Demise. Serpentor seeing through it and making it very difficult for CC to act against him. Storm Shadow making his entrance in the Pit and how Stalker Barbecue and Quick Kick were no match for him...not even close. How Scarlett convinces SS that she knows SE's heart. Hawk dealing with the politics of being a man of action. All off pannel, thank goodness. Going through how SS survived. Zartans plan and seeing the Dreadnoks dressed as joes, hahaha. I think Torch would have been a Better snow job. And of course the stupid air chariot... But we get more insight to Destros motivations and character. I don't know, he was always one of my favorites, maybe because he had honor character and displayed loyalty and could explain why. Seeing Tommy and Timber at the end gives more hope to Tommy's new perspective on life after "dying" and sensing all those great leaders going through his head. Storm Shadow really is my favorite character from this series. I know I keep saying it, but issues like this just add more to why I like him.
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shanecdavis · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:18 pm Post subject:

ER · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:52 pm Post subject:

Mamu_Nestor · Transforumer Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Posts: 998 Location: TX

ER · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:38 pm Post subject:

#51
Yeah, not the best, but I still enjoy it for the most part. I like Thrasher's stunt driving as he blasts through the train to escape. I'm not crazy about Zandar and Zarana, but I do think Thrasher is a great addition to the 'Noks - a crazy, out of control motorist who actually has some credible driving chops. The Thunder Machine is a great vehicle and I hope we get to see it in action in the current Hamaverse issues instead of just seeing it being repaired in a garage (#162). I also like Zartan having the last laugh on SGT Slaughter Twisted Evil

And I like Cross Country in this issue - a fun character.

But I think Zarana and friends pull of the rescue pretty easily. I can buy that they would get inside Fort Wadsworth but surely the Joes would not have let them down into the Pit without more confirmation. Didn't they know that the real Lady Jaye was at McGuire Airport with the other Springfield Battle returnees? And wouldn't the Joes have thought it odd for a specialist to suddenly show up to run tests on Zartan without any appointment? Oh well. I still like the issue, but it's nothing spectacular.

Special Missions #1
ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! Sharp writing by Larry with some great twists. The way the Joes play Cobra and the OG is brilliant! This mission would have been right up Psych-Out's alley if he had been around at the time. In addition to the stellar plot, we get two action sequences that are a total blast to read - the helicopter battle and the combat aboard the Russian ship - love seeing the Eels in action! Destro shows up in a Cobra submarine at the end of the issue - hmm, I wonder if this is the same sub he and the Baroness would take to Scotland years later in #166... Mamu, in answer to your question, yes, I believe SM#1 is Polly's comic debut, and it might be the only time he was seen in the Marvel issues - I could be wrong but I can't think of another time he shows up in Marvel.

#52
There are two moments in this issue that I'm almost certain will be appreciated by Shane. Moment 1: BBQ getting kicked by Storm Shadow. Moment 2: BBQ getting punched out by Scarlett Twisted Evil

I love all the stuff with Storm Shadow in the Pit! It's especially great to see Quick Kick getting taken down so quickly by SS - that's the way it would really happen between these two - not the nonsense we see in their "Pyramid of Darkness" match.

I love the Serpentor drama on Cobra Island as well, except that I don't like how CC is written - not at all like the genius we are first introduced to in #1. Despite this though, the Cobra leadership drama is still very fun to read.

And finally, I love the plot/cliffhanger of the Joes being suspended - more fabulous writing by Larry!
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30 Years of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! 1982 - 2012