We often underestimate what GI Joe once was. Created in 1964, in a peaceful America that felt victorious after World War II, the toy line started with four action figures based on different branches of the military and, not long after, they abandoned realism to fight alongside a bionic warrior (Atomic Man) and battle against Cobra Commander. They sold like hotcakes all over the world, spread American patriotism across Europe, and to this day, thanks to the movies, they are still riding high.
God bless censorship
So much so that the little figurines continue to sell (more geared toward collectors than children), and their cameo in the latest ‘Transformers‘ movie, anticipating a Hasbro-verse, made it very clear that no one had forgotten about them. In fact, in addition to the famous 80s series, there have been several well into the 21st century, although none have surpassed those episodes of limited animation, repetitive plots, and which we devoured.
What’s interesting is that before the action figures, there was a comic in 1942 within the military magazine ‘Yank,’ intended for American soldiers in the war. Dave Breger was its creator, although it didn’t last long because he soon signed with another company to cover his experiences as a special envoy to the United Kingdom. From there, ‘GI Joe’ went through all sorts of writers, artists, and wars, from the Korean War to its fictional battle against Cobra.
But the main comic book series began in September 1983, published by Marvel. In that issue, written by the legendary Larry Hama, there was a dialogue dedicated to boosting patriotic sentiment: “We’re soldiers… Our job is to follow orders… do the impossible, and make it look easy.” The problem is that Hama hadn’t written that, but he suffered unilateral censorship from Marvel. Now, in its reissue forty years later, it will finally have the (much better) dialogue he wrote.
“We are soldiers… our job is to do the unthinkable… and be forgotten.” A key moment that finally appears unaltered, a thorn the author had after enduring 300 subsequent issues with an axe to grind. “This is why I never rewrite any script that comes to my office. I always give the writers the option to rewrite them themselves. I do the same with the art. I’ve always hated it when I see redrawn heads that bear no resemblance to the original style. I think this is a courtesy that is rarely given these days,” the author confessed, who completed his work in 2022 after a 16-year hiatus. Who said GI Joe was out of fashion?
