You think you’ve seen it all, but these stories reveal never-before-told adventures of your favorite heroes and villains! Take a look behind some of the most important moments in G.I. JOE history through the eyes of some of your favorite characters.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero – Untold Tales (Issue #276-280)
by
Larry Hama (writer), Netho Diaz (artist), Jagdish Kumar (inks), J. Brown (colours), Neil Uyetake (letters), Brian Shearer (artist), Dan Schoening (artist), Luis Antonio Delgado (colours), Alex Sanchez (artist), Ron Joseph (artists) and Tom Waltz (Editor)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #276
A nice filler issue that was a nice little infiltration adventure starring some of the most popular Joe’s, i.e., Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Stalker and Roadblock as they team up with Torpedo, Scoop to secretly deploy into Trucial Abysmia where they meet up with local rebel badasses Aman and Zara to extract a rogue scientist who specialises in chemical/poison warfare and is looking to sell nuclear secrets to the local regime.
This set of “Untold Tales” in between the ongoing and long-running narrative is a nice little break from all the heavy drama as the series moves toward 300 issues and this issue tells a nice, solid action-packed story.
Hama is on-point as always and by now has a master-touch with his characters and the artwork by Diaz, Kumar and Brown is pretty damn perfect for this grim-dark military espionage adventure.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #277
Entry #2 in the Untold Tales segue from the main series, this one takes us waaaaay back to an early time in the ARAH series – specifically to nearly 100 issues ago when the forces of Cobra had found and invaded the Joe HQ, a.k.a., The Pit.
We follow the canine unit of MP Law and his 4-legged partner Order as they are on patrol and looking for any hidden Cobra stragglers. It’s a short and simple story with a good amount of action and excitement and definitely one for dog-fans!
It’s not the best Joe story but it’s serviceable enough and a nice touch given it’s a low-key aftermath story in which Hama touches on a relatively small encounter and spotlighting a pair of characters that rarely got much time up front and were by many fans considered a lesser version of Mutt and Junkyard. The weak point, limited though it is, for me was the artwork which is also passable but not great and perhaps felt a little rushed in bits.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #278
Back in the way-back machine again, this chapter of Untold Tales takes us back to the icy and snowy Frusenland where the Joe team of Snow Job, Blizzard, Cover Girl, Iceberg, Low-Light and Frostbite are trying to make their way back to friendly territory after attacking a Cobra outpost and capturing geologist Dr. Jen Tang who was misled and captured by the snakes for their nefarious purposes!
Another bunch of Joes who don’t often get a big shot in the spotlight get a chance to show what they’re made of here and the choice of them as well as the setting and all continues to keep a good trend for this series and while it is 95% just a big action story which shows our heroes running and gunning and fighting for their lives as they are pursued by the enemy – it is a solid pure entertainer.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #279
There’s not much to say about this issue – it is essentially not unlike the preceding issue in that it is a bombastic action packed one. There’s not a lot of story or major depth, it is all about the action.
That said, this is a rare issue that is all about the pilots. It is an air-raid being conducted on a Cobra Terror Drome in southern Frusenland and focuses on the experience of Ace, Slip Stream and “What’s-his-name” the stealth pilot with some backup from Shipwreck, Deep Six and Torpedo. The big highlight here and the reason for recommending this issue is for some great aerial dog-fights and zooming action.
Hama continues to show how well he can write action with the best of them and the whole comic flows really well from take-off to the final landing and even the artwork is stellar! I do find that I’m not the greatest fan of how artist Alex Sanchez draws faces, but his vehicles and the action in the air is really good!
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #280
Arguably the best of this Untold Tales set of interlude issues.
This time the spotlight goes to the opposite end of the spectrum, i.e, the first starred some fan favourite Joes and this issue is led by fan favourite Cobra agents Baroness, Destro and Major Bludd.
The setting is another deep, deep cut as it opens in the aftermath of Issue #34 when Baroness and Wild Weasel are limping home in their Rattler fighter-jet after an iconic dog-fight in the sky with Joe pilot Ace and his Sky Striker. It’s a nice touch and soon after barely landing in one-piece, our “heroine” and her shiny-headed paramour are called to Paris where Cobra is planning on kidnap the Borovian Prime Minister to “discourage” his intention to work toward letting Cobra get footholds in his country. Plans go awry and we get to spend a little extra time here than we normally might, seeing the internal power-plays in the evil organisation as multiple agendas collide.
A taut, action thriller that plays out on the streets of Paris, this is a solid bookend to these tales and also boasts some of the best artwork of all five issues.
More G.I.Joe adventures will be reviewed in the next few days as I do a binge reading catch-up with the stellar series being published by IDW comics before I start reading the newly launched (and continuing) stories in this long-running G.I.Joe comic continuity which has recenly moved over to Skybound, the Image Comics imprint belonging to comic-legend-in-the-making, Robert Kirkman.
Now you know all this – and knowing is half the battle!
One Happy Monk 
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