GI Joe Magazine (Fall 88)

I will be 100% honest. I really only picked this up because I liked the cover art.  Well, what I was really hoping was there was a story in the magazine related to the cover art.

I never actually knew this magazine existed. In the pre-internet days, it seemed like every property would do something similar, so it really didn’t surprise me. The magazine’s content in this case is clearly aimed squarely at kid and not collectors.

That story I was hoping for? Yeah. It’s not in there. The Sahara story teased on the cover involves a holographic pyramicd and exploding robotic camels. Yes, you read that right, exploding robotic camels. The story has four Joes mentioned, none of which I would assign to a desert mission. Avalanche is extremely out of place. Outback, I always saw as more of a jungle fighter. Lightfoot looks more suited to be a background character in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. The last Joe is the unfortunately named Skidmark.

There is a cool foldout poster with a Cobra attack on a Joe base or hanger. It’s done in more of  an animation style than a comic book look. While I’m not going to rush out to buy a frame to pop this up on my wall, it does make me smile.

Back to the cover, though. I’ve always loved reading about Mummies. Back in the day, I really wanted the 12″ Joe set with the ATV and sarcophagus. I have the early 00’s Joe that came with the mummy case to satisfy this lust. Part of me though will always tie GI Joe to that, though. I think I had “The Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb” on book and record which probably helped cement that.

But I digress. The cover is much better than any of the interior art, showing Tunnel Rat and Hardball about to open a mummy case that look’s like Tut’s. Voltar and a Toxo Viper are popping out from doorways behind them to take the prize for Cobra. What is not to love here? I’m actually guessing with the way the art is off center it was done without knowing how much space the titles were going to take up.

I didn’t pay too much for this piece, so the fact that there was only one Joe story doesn’t really bother me. There is a COPS ad and a Transformers ad, but no GI Joe ads. I was really expecting more Joe than fluff pieces written for kids, but hey that’s what these things were.

I will say that I was cautious and only picked up this one issue. There were a couple more there I just couldn’t pull the trigger on. Maybe if I’m back there for something else, or if you, dear reader, convince me otherwise.

Tags: GI Joe, Hasbro, Magazine

Category: Featured, GI Joe, Toy Reviews