When I said the “ski missile” issue was the worst issue of GI Joe Special Missions, I forgot about this one.
When I said the “ski missile” issue was the worst issue of GI Joe Special Missions, I forgot about this one. Gird your loins. This is bad.
#yojoeday
Special Missions 24
The first thing to note is that this issue was not written by Larry Hama. It was written by Herb Trimpe, the series penciller. The pencils in this issue are done by someone else I’m not going to bother to check while I’m writing this. The art here is worthy of an upper-tier Hostess Fruit Pie ad. Herb is a terrible writer. There are really just a few artists who are actually good writers too (I’m looking at you, early Image).
This issue would hardly have made the grade for an episode of the GI Joe cartoon. Cobra Commander tries to kidnap President Bush (the first) with a blimp at a baseball game. Wut. Also, this story is supposed to be a (ham-handed) blow against sexism, with Hawk playing the chauvinist making the female Joes dress in cheerleader outfits undercover. The main reason this is ridiculous is that GI Joe in general was the most egalitarian comic on the market. Characters of all races, ethnicities, religions, are present. I’ll let Larry himself talk about why there were a lot of female fans of GI Joe and the portrayal of women on the team:
"Most of the girls that write in [with letters to the comic] say that the reason they like the comic is that the women characters are simply part of the team. They’re not treated as any different from the other team members. They don't go around with their palms nailed to their foreheads. They’re competent, straightforward, and they go ahead and get the job done. They also participate emotionally. They have their likes and dislikes. They’re not ill-treated and they're not running around being worrywarts."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Hama
This issue flies in the face of that attitude, not only making the ladies complainers, but making the male Joes into sexists, which they are never portrayed as otherwise.
Anyway, on with the stupidity. We get some stupid hawk-themed Cobra and a hypnotist, neither of which I remember. I think I’d outgrown paying attention to the toys at this point. We get Firefly throwing hotdog bombs. We get a disguised blimp. We get horrible action movie puns. And we get actual maniacal laughter from Cobra Commander. Of course the lady Joes save the day and Hawk is forced to give them paid leave by the President.
Bad Guys: Idiotic Cobras.
Running Dog Insult: Nope.
Cool Toy(s): Hot-dog bombs.
Badass Non-Joe: No one. Lost opportunity to have George deck Cobra Commander.
Rating: 1 Yo Joe
#yojoeday
Special Missions 24
The first thing to note is that this issue was not written by Larry Hama. It was written by Herb Trimpe, the series penciller. The pencils in this issue are done by someone else I’m not going to bother to check while I’m writing this. The art here is worthy of an upper-tier Hostess Fruit Pie ad. Herb is a terrible writer. There are really just a few artists who are actually good writers too (I’m looking at you, early Image).
This issue would hardly have made the grade for an episode of the GI Joe cartoon. Cobra Commander tries to kidnap President Bush (the first) with a blimp at a baseball game. Wut. Also, this story is supposed to be a (ham-handed) blow against sexism, with Hawk playing the chauvinist making the female Joes dress in cheerleader outfits undercover. The main reason this is ridiculous is that GI Joe in general was the most egalitarian comic on the market. Characters of all races, ethnicities, religions, are present. I’ll let Larry himself talk about why there were a lot of female fans of GI Joe and the portrayal of women on the team:
"Most of the girls that write in [with letters to the comic] say that the reason they like the comic is that the women characters are simply part of the team. They’re not treated as any different from the other team members. They don't go around with their palms nailed to their foreheads. They’re competent, straightforward, and they go ahead and get the job done. They also participate emotionally. They have their likes and dislikes. They’re not ill-treated and they're not running around being worrywarts."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Hama
This issue flies in the face of that attitude, not only making the ladies complainers, but making the male Joes into sexists, which they are never portrayed as otherwise.
Anyway, on with the stupidity. We get some stupid hawk-themed Cobra and a hypnotist, neither of which I remember. I think I’d outgrown paying attention to the toys at this point. We get Firefly throwing hotdog bombs. We get a disguised blimp. We get horrible action movie puns. And we get actual maniacal laughter from Cobra Commander. Of course the lady Joes save the day and Hawk is forced to give them paid leave by the President.
Bad Guys: Idiotic Cobras.
Running Dog Insult: Nope.
Badass Non-Joe: No one. Lost opportunity to have George deck Cobra Commander.
Rating: 1 Yo Joe
Huh. The Joes had a thing for redheads, apparently.
ReplyDeleteLady Jaye should have brown hair, but that's still 50% redhead.
ReplyDeletewhat is this I don't even.
ReplyDeleteI had both the hypnotist (Crystal Ball, I think his name was?) and that falcon-headed action figure. Which was weird, cause I barely had any GIJoes. I had Jinx, too, and one of the Drednoks. And I think that was it. They mostly hung out with Star Wars figures, arguing with Hammerhead and Greedo about who was a better toy.
ReplyDelete