G.I. Joe Mighty Marvel Storybook: The Spy Eye

January 24, 2023 GenFlagg

Credits: Fenson Bligh
Herb Trimpe
Fred Ottenheimer

Summary

General Jones meets Hawk, Ace, Flash and Steeler at the “U.S. Air Force Headquarters”. Jones is hopeful that the new VTOL “Jump Jet” that the Joes have been testing, is operational and ready for combat. It is, so the Joes are assigned to rescue the “famous scientist, Dr. Goodhardt”, who has been kidnapped by Cobra and is being held in their mountaintop “Viper’s Nest”.

Using the Jump Jet’s multi-directional engines (it can go up/down, forward/backward, and hover like a helicopter), the Joes fly above the Viper’s Nest, then drop down to rescue Dr. Goodhardt.

But wait, that’s not all: Cobra also stole Goodhardt’s “Big Eye” satellite and are planning to launch it to “spy on the United States”. Under Goodhardt’s directions, Ace quickly flies the Jump Jet to Cobra’s launch base inside a volcano crater. Big Eye is on top of a rocket and being sent into space. The Joes match the speed and altitude of the rocket, then hang “Steeler”, and his laser rifle, outside of the Jump Jet to cut off an retrieve Big Eye. The Cobras lament: “I’ll bet that was Hawk and his G.I. Joe team! They’ve beaten us again!”

Notes:

Obviously, as this is marketed as more of a “storybook”, it’s a very simple good vs. evil plot.
The biggest mix-up is with the character identification. “Steeler” is clearly meant to be “Flash”, with the laser rifle. Hawk is identifiable, but the other 3 Joes all seem to have some version of the “laser trooper” gear. Even “Ace”.
To add to the confusion, Steeler is introduced as an “Engineering specialist”. Flash is an “electronics expert” and Ace is a “test pilot”.
More confusion: on the cover, we see Hawk, Steeler, and Flash in their identifiable looks. The fourth guy is…some dude in a red baseball hat with stitched pants and an UZI. I guess you could say that’s Ace, outside of his pilot gear. There also appears to be fifth Joe, up in the Jump Jet.
The Viper’s Nest reminds me, a little, of Cobra’s mountain fortress from the 1983 cartoon.
It’s also strange how most of the story appears to be a promotional story for the Jump Jet, as if it was a new toy that was coming along. This story should’ve been labeled “The Jump Jet” instead of “The Spy Eye”. Indeed, the Spy Eye doesn’t even enter the plot until 6 pages are left in the story.
It appears that the HAL is being loaded into the Jump Jet. Hawk asks “Steeler” if he’s tested the laser gun.
How do we know it’s the “U.S. Air Force Headquarters”? There’s a sign atop the little airfield hut, naturally.
I don’t know if “General Jones” appeared anywhere else. Definitely not in the comics, but I’m not sure about the cartoons.
Just like “Operation: Disappearance” borrowed from James Bond, so too does this story– with the inclusion of Cobra’s hollowed volcano base, a la SPECTRE in “You Only Live Twice” (one of my favorite Bond movies, BTW). Yet the hollow volcano base became such a cool gimmick, that it was used in a LOT of places.
You could be an obsessive fan and argue that the volcano base was actually the (cardboard) “Cobra Missile Command Headquarters”. A Sears-exclusive set that was sold in 1982, mainly to promote the 3 “new” Cobra figures (Trooper, Officer and Commander).
Herb Trimpe probably did the layouts and breakdowns, while Fred Ottenheimer (“Fred Ott”) did the finishes. I can’t find much on Ottenheimer, aside from that fact he worked on Charlton Comics.
No idea who “Fenson Bligh” is/was. I can find no other credits for him, so I suspect it might be a pseudonym.
This is reallllly close to being “1 Flag Point”. As a story, it is. I bumped it up to “2 Flag Points” due to the oddity factor, the weird Flash/Steeler thing, and the spotlight on the curious Jump Jet.
This is the only other Mighty Marvel Storybook I have. This, and “Operation: Disappearance”. No idea if there are others. I suspect there are, but as both stories don’t really excite me and are mere curiosities, I doubt I’ll ever track them down.