I didn't read G.I. Joe #1 until many years after it came out. I think I've said before that in my childhood, I wasn't into Joes at all. I had a few, but I was really only interested in Transformers and He-Man. I think G.I. Joe was a little too realistic (and therefore boring) for me. I didn't really become interested until I was in the 7th grade (around 1991), when my brother got into them! Naturally I was "too old" for toys by then, but I did start reading the comics.

I picked up Yearbook #1 (which reprints "Lady Doomsday") at the local comic book convention, WonderCon, and read it in the car on the way home. I'd seen episodes of the cartoon, and this was very different from that! I couldn't believe that people were dying-- Including a whole village of innocent people killed by Cobra! To a 12 or 13 year old, this violence seemed pretty "grown-up" and I wanted more, so I began reading the comic as it was coming out at the time, in addition to picking up back issues whenever I could find them.

I think #1 serves as a great introduction to all the characters, and just as Cobra never quite seemed as menacing on TV as they did in the MASS Device mini-series, I don't think they were ever presented as mysterious and evil as they looked in this issue. The fact that they were all so loyal to Cobra Commander and acted like they were in some cult or brotherhood or something was sort of dropped before long, and that, in my opinion, weakened their status a bit.

And of course, that issue gave us one of the best lines ever in the comics: "Ain't no lie, I love to fly!"

I'm on my lunch break from work right now, so I'm pressed for time, but if I think of more to say about it, I'll be back later tonight.

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is on indefinite hiatus...