Larry Hama – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com The best place on earth for nerds. Fri, 26 May 2023 16:38:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-nerds_head_thumb2-100x100.png Larry Hama – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com 32 32 All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, under one umbrella. We create short run podcasts for nerds, covering D&D, Marvel, Starfinder, and more! You vote for your favorite shows and they just might get a second season. Larry Hama – Nerds on Earth false episodic Larry Hama – Nerds on Earth jason.sansbury@nerdsonearth.com podcast All the podcasts from NerdsonEarth.com, the best place on Earth for nerds. Larry Hama – Nerds on Earth https://nerdsonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/noe-podcast-logo.png https://nerdsonearth.com/blog/ What if GI Joe Characters Became Marvel Superheroes? https://nerdsonearth.com/2021/06/gi-joe-characters-marvel-superheroes-avengers/ Fri, 18 Jun 2021 12:00:00 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=35966

What if GI Joe soldiers were Avengers? Which Avenger would they be?

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It’s been a long time since GI Joe was kinda sorta maybe possibly a part of the Marvel Universe. GI Joe is a Hasbro IP, but Marvel had the license to do the comics in the 80s. During that time, it was illegal to advertise your toy brand during your cartoon, so the hugely popular GI Joe cartoon advertised the comic book instead, making the Larry Hama written comic a #1 seller during its heyday.

The GI Joes comics then served as fantastic advertising for the toys, of course, creating a virtuous marketing cycle for GI Joe. The proof? Hasbro sold 375 million of the 3.75 inch figures.

So, the GI Joe comics were published by Marvel but not officially Marvel IP. Yet the extreme popularity of the comics created a feeling that the Joes were battling Cobra in the Marvel Universe, since they were sold alongside titles like Thing, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight.

But what if GI Joe really was a part of the Marvel Universe? Which Avengers would they be? Well, I know the answer to that question and I’ll share it with you, because knowing is half the battle.

1. Scarlet – Black Widow

Image from yojoe.com

Scarlett was one of the original 3.75 inch Joes in 1982 and was known for her romance with Snakes Eyes in the comics and for rescuing herself when Snake Eyes came to rescue her in the iconic GI Joe #21 “Silent Issue.”

One of the wonderful things about GI Joes were the backs of the blister packs. The top of the card back showed tiny thumbnails of that year’s action figure releases, but the bottom was the file card, which told the Joe’s rank, military specialty, and background, written by Larry Hama himself.

We learned from Scarlett’s file card that her primary specialty on the Joe team is counter intelligence, and that Scarlett is additionally skilled in martial arts and acrobatics. Hmmm. Counter intelligence with an acrobatic fighting style? Yup, that’s Black Widow.

2. Lady Jaye – Mockingbird

Lady Jane’s file card informs us that her speciality is also intelligence and she’s trained to infiltrate just like Mockingbird showed during her spy days with SHIELD.

But owners of the Lady Jaye action figure also know that she came with an odd weapon, a javelin launcher. Sure, it’s not a one-to-one match, but the shape of a javelin is reminiscent of the staff that Mockingbord fights with it. In fact, it’s enough of a match that I’m calling that Lady Jaye would be Mockingbird if she was an Avenger (West Coast) in the Marvel Universe.

3. Snake Eyes – Daredevil

Image from 3DJoes.com

Sure, Snake Eyes is mute and Daredevil is blind, but it is those disabilities that create a connection between the characters. Further, the hand-to-hand fighting styles cement the characters, as do ninja training, the Arashikage Clan for Snake Eyes and the Hand with Daredevil.

Snake Eyes and Daredevil are both silent fighters and if GI Joe was really a part of the Marvel Universe, he’s easy to associate with Daredevil.

4. Duke – Captain America

Image courtesy of 3DJoes.com

Duke was the handsome, courageous field leader of the Joes. Captain America is the handsome, courageous field leader of the Avengers. We don’t need much more than that to make a connection between the two, but Duke sure would have looked good with a shield in addition to his Army issued firearm.

But if you need more proof, read the last line of Duke’s file card and picture Chris Evans saying it in a scene from Captain America: The First Avenger.

5. Roadblock – War Machine

Image from yojoe.com

I’ve always loved that War Machine had shoulder-mounted artillery as part of his Stark armor. It’s bada@@. Shock and awe, baby. And us Nerds got a good example of it when War Machine was raining fire down on Thanos’ mininons when they were attacking Wakanda during Avengers: Infinity War.

Roadblock similarly rains down fire with his M2 .50 caliber “Ma Deuce” Browning heavy machine gun. Read that last paragraph of Roadblock’s file card and picture Colonel James Rhodes. It works.

6. Storm Shadow – Hawkeye

Image from hisstank.com

Hawkeye isn’t a Ninja, I know. And bow and arrow is something more associated with Zartan in the comics. But silent weapons works broadly for both Storm Shadow and Hawkeye, particularly when you factor in his Ronin persona. Sure, it’s a reach, but give this one to me, OK?

7. Spirit – Falcon

So, I’m reaching again but I loved my Spirit action figure as a kid and I loved that he came with a falcon. For that reason, my mind immediately went to Falcon and his bird, Redwing, which was a real bird in the comics and not a drone like it is in the MCU.

Bonus! Shangi-Chi – Quick Kick

Larry Hama is an Asian American who served in Vietnam and practiced martial arts, particularly traditional martial arts that focused on a bow, which is undoubtedly why so many Joes had that focus. So, there is no better person to have created a character like Quick Kick, the silent weapons specialist of GI Joe.

I loved the figure as a kid and I also loved the covers from the old school 70s Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu comics, so much so that I’ve purchased several of those back issue comics recently.

Bonus! Winter Soldier – Major Bludd

Major Bludd was a mysterious mercenary who worked for Cobra, if the price was right. He also had a mechanical hand, which was fascinating to me as a kid who wondered how he got such a thing.

Being brainwashed by Hydra, Bucky Barnes wasn’t a mercenary per se, but it’s hard not to make the connection, particular with that flashy Wakandan mechanical arm he is sporting.

Bonus! Destro – Iron Man

image courtesy of hisstank.com

Destro was a weapons supplier, as was Tony Stark before he had a literal change of heart. Destro also has a silver battle mask, as does Tony Stark. The similarities end there, but it’s enough of a connection to make me wonder if there isn’t a spot for Destro on the Avengers!

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What I Learned from Reading Every Single GI Joe Comic https://nerdsonearth.com/2019/07/what-i-learned-from-reading-every-single-gi-joe-comic/ Thu, 04 Jul 2019 12:00:16 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=24615

Lessons learned after reading ALL of the Larry Hama GI Joe comics.

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I just read every single GI Joe comic. Well, the ones Larry Hama wrote anyway.

To catch you up, Larry Hama was a Vietnam veteran who had just began to work at Marvel Comics where he pitched a SHIELD series in order to draw upon his military background. He was turned down, but offered GI Joe as a consolation, a job that was considered the kiss of death, as no writer wanted to write a comic that was associated with a toy line.

At the time, FCC rules prohibited children’s programs from advertising their own brand of toys, so Hasbro instead advertised the G.I. Joe comic — to fantastic results. Hama’s comic–GI Joe: A Real American Hero–was wildly successful, appearing at the top of 80s comic sales charts, sometimes even outselling The Amazing Spider-Man or Claremont’s X-Men!

The comic was praised for its attention to detail and realism in the area of military tactics and procedures, this due to Hama’s military experience.

But it was the soap-opera(y) nature of the book and the fact that the Joes were written as a family that ultimately made the comic such a beloved read. Hama didn’t write the Joes as soldiers, he wrote them as people.

The comic also had moments of incredible artistry, such as G.I. Joe #21, titled “Silent Interlude”, which was told entirely without words. There were also spin-off titles such as GI Joe: Special Missions.

There were stretches in the Marvel run where there was nothing better.

The comic lasted throughout the 80s and even into the 90s. Marvel cancelled it at issue 155, giving it a remarkable run. Various other companies like Devil’s Due and Image had the GI Joe license for a while, but a remarkable thing happened. IDW Comics got the license in the 00s and brought back Larry Hama to continue his story!

Starting with issue 155 1/2, Hama picked up where he left off with his Marvel run. The IDW run is now into the 260s and it is these 300(ish) comics I read for this article (I also included Hama’s Special Missions comics.)

What did I learn?

Larry Hama is vastly underrated. Creator-owned comics are glamorized and superhero comics are prioritized, so its understandable that folks overlook a writer like Larry Hama, as he has spent the bulk of his career writing stores about a toy line. But it’s a darned shame.

Company men like Hama get unjustly maligned as being uncreative. This couldn’t be further from the truth. He had to thread the needle of providing strong stories while introducing toys, even as he balanced militarily-believable satires that also stretched into sci-fi.

And he did it beautifully.

Even though the 90s were rough on GI Joe toys and comics, Larry Hama is so talented that he somehow made most of them work.

Comics have changed throughout the decades. Reading a single story that has stretched across several decades allowed me to get a feel for how the comic industry has changed.

I began reading comics in the 80s, so that has a nostalgic feel for me. Those stories were heavy with dialogue and inter-personal drama. But there was also an absolute wholesomeness to them. It’s as if the famous GI Joe cartoon PSAs were done without a hint of irony.

The 90s were absurd. Superhero comics were leaning into foil covers, big guns, extreme characters, and millions of pouches, and GI Joe comics were editorially driven in that direction as well. The vehicle colors became more garish, storylines were marketed as more “extreme,” and characters were rebranded to be hip and trendy.

I can’t always tell what is going on the in 2000s with decompressed storytelling. Hama, beginning his career in the 70s, doesn’t always hew to this. His stories still zip along but the comics have the more realistic art style that is marketable today.

Some runs stand out more than others. As a result of traversing hundreds of issues spanning decades, there are some peaks and valleys. The original Marvel run didn’t click until issue 11, but it didn’t get to be high octane until issue 21, the Silent Issue.

Then the 30s-50s of the GI Joe Marvel run is among the absolute best across all comics. In fact, there other moments of brilliance up until issue 110, but when the comic hit the 1990s, it was rough in most patches.

Issue 155 1/2 is actually a solid jumping on point. This begins the IDW run and even though it is still Hama on the book, the time jump helped modernize it.

The IDW run starts at issue #155 1/2 and picks up where the Marvel run left off.

It’s even better than before in many ways! No new toys are being introduced, so Hama is no longer forced by Hasbro to ham-fist the latest toy release into the pages of the comic. In fact, beloved characters like Scarlett and Firefly have been returned to their original looks, as Hama chose to cast off the 2.0 and 3.0 versions of the characters that were produced when the toy line was in the garishly neon of the 90s.

And Hama has balanced the military action with the wild sci-fi shenanigans of Cobra even better than ever. Let’s look at IDW issue 261 for example. It’s approximately 100 issues after the Marvel run and it contains two major storylines.

First is Cover Girl, Dusty, Repeater, Leatherneck, and Muskrat joining with Ripcord, Heavy Duty, and Airborne as they exfiltrate relief workers who are being pursued by hostiles. The second story is Destro and my dear Baroness battling an out-of-control A.I.

One is kooky science fiction and the other is grounded action, but Hama balances them both perfectly. And did you see those Joes listed above? Old favorites are included but under-appreciated Joes are given space to shine as well.

Hama can lean on old tropes and storylines at times (I never want another story involving Dr. Venom Mindbender’s brainwave scanner), but that’s understandable after decades of stories. And it pales in comparison to how fun the comic still is after all these years.

Of course Mutt and Junkyard buddy jump behind enemy lines.

There is strong community support. There is a big GI Joe community on Twitter and YouTube, despite there being no toys on the shelves and the movies being duds. For example, Talking Joes podcast is one place to connect with follow GI Joe comic readers and the Michael Mercy YouTube channel is great to get a look art the old toys.

The issues can be difficult to track down if you like the dead trees version but if you are an Amazon Prime member, digital will rescue you. Amazon owns ComiXology, a digital comics service, and if you are a Prime member you are able to borrow lots of comics.

I was able to read approximately 85% of all the Larry Hama GI Joe comics for free by borrowing them through Comixology. Search “GI Joe classics,” look for volume 1 (which begins the Marvel #1 from the 80s), and click ‘Borrow.’ I paid for the Special Missions trades and it gets a little tricky when it shifts to IDW, but I trust your Google-Fu powers.

Hama didn’t shy away from the realities of war but he’s always humane.

Nerds, I had the time of my life reading those Larry Hama GI Joes comics! Nostalgia was strong with the Marvel run and it brought back wonderful memories. I was also reminded just how good so many of those comics were. They deserved to be the best-sellers they were.

And I’ve loved the IDW run so much that I added them to my pull list at my shop. Oh, I didn’t mention that? Yeah, they are current. I get to read GI Joe every month written by the legendary Larry Hama. You can too.

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Let’s Talk About Talking Joe, the Podcast that Talks about GI Joe https://nerdsonearth.com/2019/01/talking-joes-podcast-gi-joe/ Mon, 28 Jan 2019 13:00:26 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=21750

The Talking Joes podcast is a fantastic weekly podcast that talks about the old school GI Joe comics issue by issue.

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Every gift you give is actually two gifts. The first gift is the thing itself, something the recipient needs or want. The second gift is the vetting of the item. It’s a gift of time, in other words; you’re saving the recipient valuable hours they’d otherwise spend conducting their own research to ensure they’re getting something good.

Boy, do I have a gift for you.

What is Talking Joe?

I’ve just finished episode 8 of Talking Joe: A G.I. Joe Podcast, which is a show with a narrow focus. Talking Joe is a podcast focused entirely on the incredibly popular GI Joe comic book from the 80s.

Each episode covers just a few issues of the series. While some issues are the comic are standalone, most comic book stories are written as arcs, so a single episode of Talking Joe will discuss that particular storyline.

Issues are then given a rating of 1 to 10 Yo Joe! Colas.

Who is Talking Joe?

The strength of Talking Joe are the hosts, Chief and Ben. Normally, “two guys talking” is my least favorite podcast format, ’cause c’mon, like the world needs more nerds who love to hear themselves talk.

But Chief and Ben are excellent. Chief presents as the crusty, opinionated nerd, while Ben plays his foil as the enthusiast. In fact, a weekly segment is Chief talking about some trivial, petty matter that cheeses him off, yet a couple episodes in and you realize that–plot twist!–the crust on Chief is wafer-thin and inside he’s the biggest GI Joe enthusiast of us all.

Meanwhile, Ben is sunny and no nonsense. He adds wonderful color while he also keeps the podcast moving at an engaging clip. More than once, Ben has injected a light-hearted prompt that moves the discussion to the next issue.

Childhood friends, the two play wonderfully off of each other. What’s more, both are wonderfully likable. Listen, if I’m going to spend an hour each week listing to two nerds talk, I want to like the hosts. For an hour each week, Chief and Ben make great company.

Why Talking Joe?

The GI Joe comics of the 80s were an integral part of the childhood of millions. I’ve written before about the importance of GI Joe and my respect for Larry Hama, the writer of the comic. Talking Joe taps into that nostalgia. Anyone who even dabbled with the comics or owned a few Joe action figures will enjoy the podcast.

In addition to the nostalgia factor, Talking Joes is a well-done podcast. Audio quality is good and the transitions, segments, and editing is perfect for what is–two guys geeking out over something they love–without trying too hard or attempting to be too clever like too many podcasts do. It’s straight-forward quality.

But it ultimately really is the nostalgia factor. Talking Joes has been a gift to me. I’ve had an ABSOLUTE BLAST re-reading the old GI Joe comics so I could track along episode-by-episode as Chief and Ben go through them.

I’ve remembered Scarlett and Snake Eyes, and I’ve remembered the introduction of new Joes like Gung-ho, as well as new villains like Zartan and his obnoxious Dreadnoks. I feel like Talking Joes is a little hour-long gift to me each week, so now it is a gift I am sharing with you.

So, now you know about Talking Joe. And that’s half the battle. The other half is for you to go check it out for yourself. Here’s the link. Yo Joe!

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Nerd Obsession: Knowing G.I. JOE is Half the Battle https://nerdsonearth.com/2018/12/nerd-obsession-g-i-joe/ Mon, 17 Dec 2018 13:00:22 +0000 https://nerdsonearth.com/?p=20854

GI Joe is a huge part of nerd culture, so we take you through the history, the GI Joe cartoon, and of course the comic book.

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Very few toy lines have the enduring impact of G.I. Joe.

With nerd culture fully in the mainstream and nostalgia being an undeniable economic factor, it’s time for us to know Joe, because–as old school Nerds fully understand–knowing is half the battle.

I should admit my bias up front: GI Joe is my most personal nerd obsession. To explain why GI Joe is tattooed so deep on my heart, you’ll need to indulge me in a little bit of an over-share. I’m an only child, raised by a single mom. In order to provide for me, I can remember my mom working multiple jobs, one being in retail, managing the toy section of a now-defunct department store, Murphey’s. Using her employee discount, my mom would bring me GI Joe figures all the time.

I had 124 GI Joe figures, including some of the obscure ones like Chuckles, as well as tons of the sweet vehicles and playsets. In addition to loving the cartoon, I’d spend 5-6 hours at a time, alone in my room like any card-carrying introvert is wont to do, setting up elaborate battle scenes. GI Joe more than anything else serves as a touchstone for my childhood. Sure, Snake Eyes was supposed to be the hero, but I really thought it was my hard-working mom who was the real hero.

So, let’s use this edition of Nerd Obsession to give you a mission briefing on GI Joe. Adjust your points of articulation to get comfortable in your chair and let’s dive in.


Timeline

  • 1945: The name G.I. Joe came from an American war film called The Story of G.I. Joe, starring Ernie Pyle and Robert Mitchum.
  • 1964: Toy creator Stan Weston thought that since Barbie was so popular, he could come up with a similar toy for boys: a line of Barbie-sized dolls with a military theme. He brought the concept to toy manufacturer Hassenfeld Brothers (which later shortened their name to Hasbro).
  • 1982: The G.I. Joe product line had a highly successful relaunch in a smaller, 3.75-inch scale. The scale was the same scale used by the Kenner’s Star Wars figures, but with many more points of articulation that made them highly posable.
  • 2009: The first feature film was released under the title, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. A second film, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was released in 2013.
  • 2014: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of G.I. Joe, a new line of figures was released, using characters from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon series.

Quick Fact

G.I. stands for Government Issue.

Explain it to Me

The Heyday Was the 80s

You can’t understand GI Joe without understanding the cultural context of the 80s. Despite a nice run in the 60s, two reasons had driven the GI Joe toy line to be defunct by the late 70s:

  1. Rising oil prices meant that 12-inch plastic figures were too expensive to manufacture and
  2. the American public had soured on the military following the Vietnam War.

But you can’t keep a good Joe down, so in 1982, GI Joe was brought out of retirement as a smaller 3¾-inch line of action figures that was coupled with a multiple-front marketing campaign executed with military precision. For the first time, the Joes weren’t mere pieces of plastic, they were given the storyline of good guys locked in a battle with Cobra, the ultimate villains.

Sales soared.

Lasers Instead of Machine Guns

In 1983 Hasbro set its sights on TV, hiring Ron Friedman–veteran of Happy Days, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bewitched–to create a series. Friedman’s five-part G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was followed by G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra in 1984, then two seasons of the syndicated show (1985-86), before begin wrapped up with G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987).

But despite it being a military show, Friedman didn’t want to promote violence among children, he wanted to promote a wholly different set of values. Plus, parent groups didn’t want their children to see people being shot on a cartoon associated with a toy line.

So, when a plane is shot out of the sky, the next cut was them parachuting over the horizon. Sure, Cobra got their comeuppance, but it was not by standing at a graveside.

A Legacy of Service

Friedman and the other writers had complex feelings about a show that portrayed war and wanted it to leave a legacy of service while providing positive messages of inclusion, self-sacrifice and heroism. To this end, each episode ended with a PSA aimed at teaching kids values and morals. These ultimately became a popular and enduring part of the GI Joe lexicon, spawning the catchphrase, “Now you know…and knowing if half the battle.

What’s more, there were female Joes right from the beginning and those characters like Lady Jaye and Scarlett had breasts and hips that were of normal proportions, choosing instead to treasure female characters’ strength and intelligence over the male gaze. There were lots of people of color and those Asian and African American Joes were of high of a rank and just as much in the thick of battle as any other Joes.

As a result, the GI Joe cartoon helped inspire countless men and women to become first responders, members of the armed services, and others who put themselves on the line for the greater good.

By the Numbers

$678,209,722: Box office haul of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

375 million: The number of GI Joe action figures that is estimated to have been sold by Hasbro.

3.75 inches: The height of the iconic GI Joe Action figure.

155: The number of issues of Larry Hama’s iconic Marvel comic G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero at Marvel, but it continues on at IDW!

163: The number of GI Joe: A Real American Hero action figures.

Dunderheads! Imbeciles! Why are great men always surrounded by LESSER BEINGS!?

Cobra Commander

Person of Interest

The man who wrote the book on GI Joe.

Larry Hama was a Vietnam veteran who had just began to work at Marvel and pitched a SHIELD series in order to draw upon his background. He was turned down, but offered GI Joe as a consolation, a job that was considered the kiss of death, as no writer wanted to be associated with a toy line intellectual property.

At the time of the cartoon, FCC rules prohibited children’s programs from advertising their own brand of toys, so instead Hasbro advertised the G.I. Joe comic — to fantastic results. Hama’s comic–GI Joe: A Real American Hero–was a wildly successful comic, appearing at the top of 80s comic sales charts alongside The Amazing Spider-Man and Claremont’s X-Men.

The comic was praised for its attention to detail and realism in the area of military tactics and procedures, this due to Hama’s military experience (he was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Vietnam war) and the large amount of research he put into the book in order to be as up-to-date as possible.

But it was the soap-opera(y) nature of the book and the fact that the Joes were written as a family that ultimate made the comic be such a beloved read. Hama didn’t write the Joes as soldiers, he wrote them as people.

The comic also had moments of incredible artistry, such as G.I. Joe #21, titled “Silent Interlude”, which was told entirely without words or sound effects. (Our full story on that issue is here.)

There were also spin-off titles such as GI Joe: Special Missions and Larry Hama also wrote the majority of the file cards that appeared on the back of the action figure blister packs, which millions of kids cut out and kept along with their Joes.

Watch This!

If you have a spare 15 minutes…

TAKE ME DOWN THE ? HOLE!

Yo Joe! is an online database of every single GI Joe toy and action figure.
A guide to fixing old GI Joes.
The brand new 6 inch Classified Joes.
All 163 GI Joe action figures ranked
My list of my top 49 Gi Joes.
Here is a YouTube series that does a deep dive into GI Joe's 80 history.
This incredible interview tells the story of the GI Joe cartoon.
Why playing with GI Joes might be good for your mental health.

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