G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #155

“A Letter From Snake-Eyes”

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Phil Gosier

Summary:

At the home of Wade Collins, his son Sean is contemplating enlistment in the army for his 17th birthday. He reasons that everyone seems apathetic nowadays, with accountability or morals. Sean debunks Wade’s opinion on the military, since he’s a former Crimson Guardsman and not his real dad. So Wade suggests he write a letter to their benefactor and friend, Snake-Eyes….

While the Pit is being shutdown, Snake-Eyes receives the letter; the first letter he’s recevied since his family died. Snake-Eyes considers Sean’s predictament and writes a heartfelt response…

Snake-Eyes basically says that there is no one reason to join the military, since there is “no honor or glory in the primary ocupation of the solider”. He recalls the various reason everyone in his LRRP unit signed on:

Stalker joined to escape Detroit’s mean streets. Storm Shadow saw it as sort of a post-graduate study in mastering violence. Dickie Saperstein did it so “Uncle Sugar” could pay for his dad’s operation– but his dad died a few days after he re-upped. Ramon Escobedo kept re-upping so his kid brother wouldn’t be sent to Vietnam. Snake-Eyes, however, still hasn’t found his reasons for joining.

Snake-Eyes concludes by saying that while soldiers will see the worst humanity has to offer, they’ll also see the best: “selfless bravery, compassion, honor and dignity in the face of death”. Above all, he appreciates the camaraderie the best. Finally, Snake-Eyes says that the “bearing of arms in the defense of the constitution of the USA is not really a profession, per se…it is a trust”.

As soon as he finishes his letter, Snake-Eyes is called above the Pit for the closing ceremonies– where Stalker and Duke (under Hawk’s watch) retire and fold the US Flag while all the Joes salute.

Sean Collins receives the letter and decides he simply needs more time to think about his decision to enlist. Mrs. Collins wonders why there was no return address on the envelope…

Final panel shows a lonely fenced-off compound in Utah, with a sign reading “Deactivated”….

Notes:

• Snif….
• Sure, many plot threads were left open. For one, we don’t know WHY the Pit and the Jos are being shut down. All the Joes are simply mothballing the Pit so it can be re-opened on a moment’s notice.
• No-Prize explanation: the Jugglers finally got to the Joes. Cobra had basically disappeared from the global scene after the Beznheen War. Cobra Island was abandoned and the Cobra Consulate was in ruins (aside from the questionable Trimpe story, circa issue 120). As Dr. Minbender mentioned, Cobra hadn’t harmed any civilians in their Eastern Europe takeover… so the US didn’t seem to give a darn about them. Since the majority of the Joes’ work had been to thwart Cobra since 1982, it’s safe to think someone in the Chain of Command had the team declared unnecessary (or, possibly too expensive).
• The final password to get past Spirit is “Sesquipedalian”. Which is defined as: “given to or characterized by the use of long words”, or “having many syllables”. Or: “LONG”.
• Cover has Hawk and Stalker folding the flag (not Duke). Which is an improvement.
• Cover also has some notable inclusions: Quick Kick and Storm Shadow are shown with the other Joes. Quick Kick had been dead about 40 issues and Storm Shadow was currently a Cobra.
• But there’s agood No-Prize Explanation: The cover was simply a homage to the ENTIRE run of the book. It acts as a pin-up of sorts. We also clearly see Snake-Eyes, Scarlett, Flint, Lady Jaye, Lt. Falcon, Mainframe, Deep-Six (?) and Duke. Basically the significant cast.
• There are a few impossible-to-ID Joes on there. One could be Bulletproof, another Recondo. I suppose you could even twist it and think Ripcord is on there. Or the guy I scored as “Deep-Six” could be Ripcord.
• For the final panel detailing Snake-Eyes’ letter, we get another pin-up of sorts. It has Hawk, Stalker, Roadblock, Scarlett, Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow on a hilltop defending the US flag.
• Snake-Eyes recounts his days in the burn ward. With a roommate named Travis with no eyes, nose, lips or eyelids, who kept begging Snake-Eyes to smother him with a pillow.
• Snake-Eyes also mentions that he wakes up sweating on Tuesdays, since those were “Debriding days” in the burn unit when all the patients would scream endlessly. Wow.
• Some info on Stalker as well: he told his mom that he was safely serving in Germany, not Vietnam. He had all of his mail re-routed through his cousin stationing in the engineering corps in Germany. Two of his older borthers were killed by gang violence in Detroit, so he was determined to not worry his mom.
• Of course, Sean Collins DID eventually enlist. He became Snake-Eyes’ apprentice Kamakura in the 2001 Image/Devil’s Due series. One of the few moves that I actually liked in that series.
• Just a writer’s/artist’s choice, but the Collins’ little girl Marina isn’t shown. She was the little girl who Snake-Eyes brought back from Borovia, circa issue 106.
• This issue also has a semi-rigid postcard insert, like issue 154.
• Cover design finally changes from Marvel’s traditional 80’s layout. Marvel dropped their “Corner box character” at this time, until they began returning around late 1997.
• Final letters page has a nice goobye from Larry Hama. He concludes with this:

  “In parting, permit me to divulge that in my mind, there is a new cabin in the High Sierras were resides a happy couple and their pet wolf. Borovia has a new, rather diminutive president, and there is a bitter bickering going on in that castle in Trans-Carpathia. In a high tower of the castle, a man in a glittering metal mask gazes at the darkling mountains and remembers a happier time and a different reality”.

• Letters page also plugs the upcoming “GI Joe Special #1“. Which was a re-tooled version of issue 65 with
  rejected artwork by Todd McFarlane. I picked that up out of habit, but there’s really no reason for me to recap it.

• So why did the book REALLY end? The common belief is that Kenner took over all of Hasbro’s properties in late 1994. They killed the GI Joe line because they were planning to re-launch 3.75 inch Star Wars figures in 1995 (the goofy “Power of the Force” line) and felt the Joes were a threat. So there’s a twisted urban legend belief that “George Lucas Killed GI Joe!!”
• There’s also an incorrect rumor that Street Fighter took over the line. Not so. Hasbro re-used some of their molds for the Steet Fighter figures (plus older vehicles likes the AWE Striker) and marketed them under the GI Joe name. The Street Fighter toys were like a cousin to GI Joe, but not a replacement.
• The timing was a little weird.. because “Stargate” came out about a month after this issue. You can bet that some of the lingering Joe toys were moved thanks to kids gushing over that movie. Strangely enough..the AWE Striker was also re-used for a line of “Stargate” toys.