A Real American Hero

One of the first comics I started reading at Marvel was GI Joe. My first issue of the series was #49 (the TV commercial for the comic book hooked me) and I continued reading the title for the better part of its remaining run. The commercial that hooked me:

The last issue was GI Joe #155, which had a low print run. Back in the ’80s, the back issues for GI Joe were ridiculously expensive. (GI Joe was so popular back then, its sales levels were rivaling that of tier-one Marvel books like Amazing Spiderman and the Uncanny X-Men. I seem to recall it being published bi-weekly for a few months, as well.

Nowadays, almost 20 years later, most of the GI Joe back issues can be found for very reasonable prices on eBay. I picked up the above issues for about $7 + shipping.

I have the following issues of the series:

#1, #2 (2nd print), #4, #5, #26 (2nd print), #27 (2nd print) and every issue from #28 through #120 or so. One of my favorite artists on the series was Rod Wigham. MD Bright also had a good run on the series as well. Mike Zeck made some beautiful covers for the book, too.

I stopped reading around the time when the title transferred top billing to Snake-Eyes. I purchased the last two issues upon hearing of its cancellation. It turns out that the last issue is worth some major coin now (not that I care). CoverBrowser features the entire cover gallery for GI Joe.

I’ll slowly but surely piece together the entire run, just like I plan on doing for Master of Kung Fu, which has yet to be collected into a Marvel Essentials trade.

-Krishna

Krishna May 21, 2010 back issues, GI Joe comics, Master of Kung Fu, nostalgia