G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #80

“Rolling Thunder”

Writer: Larry Hama
Breakdowns: Ron Wagner
Finishes: Tom Palmer

Summary:

As a residual effect of the fault shift that created Cobra Island, a new land mass pops up in the Gulf of Mexico. Both GI Joe and Cobra send teams to claim the land. After a big firefight, the land mass begin to fall apart and soon sinks back in the Gulf. Everyone heads home, with a whole lot of nothing to show for it.

Notes:

• This was the LAST “toyjam” issue, complete with its own commercial that aired around August 1988. Notable, because this concludes the 80’s Sunbow/Marvel animation projects. The cartoons had ceased production with “GI Joe: the Movie” a year early (1987) and now the commercials are gone. DIC animation picks up the franchise in late 1989, but they never worked in tandem with the Marvel comics, like Sunbow did.
• Outback is the field commander of the four new Joes who debut this issue. Rumbler also makes his official debut, but he may have been in issue 76.
• Rumbler’s figure, that came with the Rolling Thunder, was actually code-named “Armadillo”. No idea why his name was switched to “Rumbler” for the comics (the better of the two names, IMO). Although there WAS a figure named “Rumbler”, who came with the somewhat rare “GI Joe R/C Crossfire” toy. But that figure looked like a cross between Recondo and Footloose. The Rumbler in the comics is clearly supposed to be “Armadillo”.
• One recurring and annoying aspect of the Joes’ airpower appears again, in this issue. All helicopters or planes never stick around because they’re ALWAYS “about to run out of fuel”. It had happened in almost every story involving the flying stuff.
• It takes Lift-ticket forever to arrive on the island with the Rolling Thunder… then takes him roughly 15 minutes to fly back, refuel and return to pick everyone up. No-Prize Explanation: The massive Rolling Thunder was slowing down Lift-Ticket’s Tomahawk. Without it, he was able to fly back and forth, faster.
• Flint, Shockwave and Spearhead are incorrectly depicted on the cover. None of them are in this issue, while Shockwave and Spearhead had yet to debut.
• The artwork on this issue shows more traits of Tom Palmer than Ron Wagner. Palmer is probably best known for his long stint as inker on “Avengers”.
• Hardball talks in sports cliches, like “I’m batting a thousand”. If you’ve ever seen the cartoon “Bionic Six”, he’s just like Sport-One.
• Firefly makes a rare appearance. He wants to get back into Cobra Commander’s favor by suceeding in this mission.
• I remember this issue being a LOT more exciting when I was younger. It’s kinda’ lame, now.
• The letters page drops another hint about the long-promised “Snake Eyes graphic novel”. It’s been changed to a “Snake-Eyes/Storm Shadow graphic novel” and will have no dialogue outside of the title. Ooookay… sounds neat, but it NEVER HAPPENED.
• The editor also mentions that some of the long-running questions– like Billy’s mom, why Snake-Eyes was targeted in Japan, and Zartan’s origin– will be revealed in issue 84.

Appearances:

Characters (figures):Duke, Wild Bill, Ghostrider, Lift-ticket, Rip-cord, Outback, Hit & Run, Hardball, Muskrat, Charbroil, Rumbler, Dr. Mindbender, Firefly

Characters (“comic-only”): Fred VII (on TV screen, only)

Vehicles and stuff (toys): Tomahawk, Phantom X-19, Rolling Thunder, Cobra BUGGs, Cobra Maggots

Vehicles and stuff (not toys): Cobra transport/gunship copter.

Firsties:
Characters: Hit & Run, Hardball, Muskrat, Charbroil, Rumbler (official)

Vehicles and stuff: none

Rating: 2 Flag Points