Saturday Morning Cartoons: G.I. JOE

I was in our new Canyon Country bookstore yesterday... The Open Book...

Among the their many books, both new and used, I discovered boxes of old comics from the 1980s. That's when I was in my comic book heyday. Usually I bought comics because I loved them, but there were times I bought certain comic books because I thought of it as a financial investment. I figured by the time I was in my mid-40s I could sell my comic book collection and retire. 

When I bought comics the price was just transitioning from 75 cents to a dollar. Gues how much these mint condition 1980s comics were selling for? 

100 bucks? 50 bucks a piece? 

No, they were priced at a dollar per issue. So their value has remained the same since 1986. That's pathetically impressive in its own way. 

So, while thumbing through the old comics and lamenting the fact that I'll never retire in luxury, I happened upon some G.I. Joe comics. 

I collected these comics for a while because I loved the cartoon show... 

In the age of ISIS, I don't know that modern day television corporations would green-light a fun-filled show about fighting a terrorist organization, but I am thankful that so much of my childhood afternoons were spent with this silly yet action-packed distraction. 

One of the glorious fallacies about this show was that it was filled with battle sequences yet no one ever died. There were lots of explosions, but everyone always made it out alive. Even when G.I. Joe would blow up the Cobra Jets, you would still see a little terrorist floating away on a parachute. NO wonder the G.I. Joe / Cobra conflict was never-ending, they never had any casualties! 

This wasn't a Saturday morning cartoon, at least not for me. This was an after school show, and it seemed that after slogging through a long, torturous day of being a seventh-grader, this was the best way for me to unwind. 

If I ever lied to my mom and told her, "No, I don't have any homework," I fibbed just so I could watch this show. (Sorry, Mom!) 

Have you seen this show? Do you have a favorite character? Or a favorite ridiculous action sequence? Or better yet, perhaps you have a favorite "Knowing is Half the Battle" coda... 

Here's mine... it involves "Doc" who just happens to be hanging out by the window. 

Here's another one about "strange danger":

Hmm... Now that I'm watching these as an adult, I find them quite unsettling...