G.I. Joe: Special Missions Classics Vol. 3

G.I. Joe: Special Missions #3; issues 15-21

by Larry Hama

It takes A REAL AMERICAN HERO to handle these SPECIAL MISSIONS! Presenting G.I. JOE's Special Missions Classics, remastered, recolored, and collected for the very first time! Collects the 1980s G.I. JOE: Special Missions #15-21.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2011

About the author

Larry Hama is an American writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.

During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.

He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collects Special Missions #15-21.

As per usual, this series covers the Special Missions for the GI Joe team. The missions cover the whole gamut. The first one finishes off a story from the regular GI Joe (the China mission). The rest introduce some new characters (both Joe and Cobra), some of the newer equipment, and a few appearances by the Oktober Guard.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of these extra mission stories. I enjoy the more focused stories on fewer characters outside the main series. Recommended

[Oneirosophos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a good series. Basically Larry Hama inserted Cobra into real life political situations in order to tell "real life" stories without messing with touchy situations that Marvel may not have wanted to cover in its comics. I'm still surprised at the level of violence Hasbro allowed in the comic vs. the lasers and softened violence of the cartoon, but I'm assuming the comic probably had an older audience than the cartoon.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, this was great. Just like the others. A few multi issue stories and tie ins to earlier events was pretty cool. He even made a point to bring up homeless vets and their need for better care post service in the last issue. Still a relevant topic today (unfortunately) and this was written in 1989.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another excellent volume of war stories under the G.I.JOE Special Missions banner, which for its entire run to this point was on par with the best content the regular G.I.JOE title put out. This is the first part of the series to have a story that continues from previous issues (all prior issues were completely standalone). I almost would have rather they told that ongoing story in the main G.I.JOE book and kept this title reserved to single-issue stories, but this did not impact my enjoyment of these stories at all.

Once again we get a lot of characters we rarely (if ever) saw in the regular monthly G.I.JOE book, like Iceberg, Muskrat, Hit & Run, Dusty, Hardball, Frostbite, Spearhead, Charbroil, and Scrap-Iron on the Cobra side (who I think was in all of one page of the 150-issue run of the main G.I.JOE title).

Stories in this volume include the continuation of the story where a small team led by Chuckles tracks down a rogue CIA operative--this time they must rescue a monk being held in a highly defended monastery before their quarry will agree to go home with them. Another mission has a group of G.I.JOE fighter jets on a recon mission to snap photos of Cobra Island--three of them are decoys who get into a dogfight while the stealth fighter captures the intelligence. Once again in this mission we see how an organized team will always outperform a bunch of self-serving individuals in competition with one another.

Another story has a team led by Stalker sent in to deal with what appears to be a hostage situation, but the scenario soon unfolds into something more complex. Back in Southeast Asia, the team led by Chuckles heads down the Mekong River trying to make their way to a clean extraction point, and they get tangled up in a local conflict involving river pirates. The very next issue shows us the tribulations that the extraction team went through trying to get to those Joes on the Mekong, and we come to learn why they were late picking them up.

Then we have a nice bit of Arctic vehicle combat, where the Joes and the Oktober Guard team up to stop a group of Cobra troops who have interfered with what appears to be a Russian scientific survey operation. Larry Hama always manages to create such unique and interesting scenarios that pit different vehicles against one another, where they must overcome a variety of human and environmental challenges. And finally, Tunnel Rat leads a team of Joes into the sewers under New York City, to investigate a Cobra infiltration that appears to be setting up a deadly gas attack. This story explores how the U.S. government often discards its veterans when they are no longer of use, as the Joes encounter a homeless vet who has made his home in the sewer tunnels.

This series has delivered the same level of quality for 21 issues up to this point and shows no signs of slowing down. Wonderful stuff!

[Kris Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure that I had dropped this title by the time that these issues were originally published. The team of Writer Larry Hama and Artist Herb Trimpe work well together, but this has become an increasingly dry read for my tastes. I won't be buying Vol. 4 of this series of trade paperbacks.

IDW's restoration is still sub-par, and their color choices are garish. They present these on the glossiest paper known to man. I like paper with a slight sheen, not this highly polished, glare prone stuff. It sure smells nice though, the result of that magically delicious, toxic Korean ink and paper from virgin Amazon rain forest trees.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Algo más entretenido que la serie madre, no puede evitar a esta altura la caricatura propagandista de los infalibles héroes frente a villanos y rivales (desde el FBI a los soviéticos)reducidos muchas veces a un reclamo humorístico. Para leer y olvidar.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this series. Stands up despite the years...

Reread August 2020. (And it still holds up.)

It's interesting that as the main Joe title became more ridiculous, this series became more serious.

Also, I love having Trimpe's art on this series. He is sorely missed at this point in the regular title.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great stories by Larry Hama. My favorite in this volume is "Getting There", in which Lift Ticket, Wild Bill, Lifeline, Repeater, and Muskrat must fly into enemy territory to rescue Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Iceberg, and Chuckles. If you like the classic Joe stories, this one's a must have!

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun. This series is every bit as good as the main GI Joe series, and the situations the team gets in are a ton of fun. Well worth it.