Set Description:
COMPLETED – In 2009 this was the first completed CGC graded set of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by Marvel. In 2010 CGC added 2nd prints into the mix and my 100% status dropped. On February 13th, 2013 I again completed the set back to 100% thanks to CGC Board Member JRS069 who sold me the final pieces. In 2013 I and a couple others requested the 2nd prints be pulled from this set.
The GI Joe: A Real American Hero (1982 – Marvel) set was established by CGC in 2006 and originally contained only issues 1 thru 30. I believe this was expanded in 2007 or 2008 to include the entire Marvel run; 1 thru 155 – Yearbooks 1-4 – and the Special 1 that was printed a few months after the series ended and contained the original artwork for issue #60 that was drawn by McFarlane but rejected by Marvel and redrawn. In 2010 CGC added several of the 2nd printings into the set, in March 2013 the 2nd prints were removed and CGC created a separate GI Joe: A Real American Hero set that included all the variants leaving this one pure.
UPDATED August 12, 2013
The CGC set contains 160 comics - Currently this set contains:
• (132) CGC 9.8’s Signature Series signed by the creative teams through the years including: Larry Hama, Herb Trimpe, Todd McFarlane, Steven Grant, Amanda Conner, George Perez, Michael Zeck, John Beatty, Bob McLeod, Randy Emberlin, Geof Isherwood, Lee Weeks, and Michael Golden.
• (28) CGC 9.8's Universals are waiting to be signed (a few of these are either the only 9.8 graded copies or just a few exist. I did not want to chance a grade drop after being cracked and signed until I acquire a 2nd copy).
GI Joe issue #1 was released in June 1982 and reportedly holds the unique distension of being the first comic book that was ever advertised on television. Simultaneously the GI Joe 3-3/4 figures from Hasbro were released. The comic was always a springboard for the new toys as they were released. As new figure were released by Hasbro the comic brought them into the GI Joe Universe as we know it. Although Hasbro had a lot of control over the direction of the comic (and toys) the real genius of the Joe Universe was writer/artist Larry Hama. Larry Hama not only wrote every GI Joe comic, except issues 8, 9, 119, 143, 153, and 154, he also wrote the “file cards” that were located on the back of each action figure released (including those released with vehicles). These file card mirrored the backgrounds discussed within the comic. In May 2010 IDW and Larry Hama released issue 155.5 of GI Joe: A Real American Hero, picking up where the series ended in Dec. 1994. This series is ongoing and will reach issue 200 in 2014.
I came across my first GI Joe comic with issue 24 and I was captivated! I spent the summer mowing and working in able to afford the first couple of dozen I had missed. Of course I read other comics; X-Men, Spiderman, New Mutants, Transformers, Secret Wars II (I think I was one of the few who enjoyed that one), etc. But when money was tight at times though my early teens it was GI Joe I made sure I purchased. As I got older I slowly let the comics go by the wayside as I embraced cars, dating, girls…the typical teenager’s life. In 1990 I sold all my GI Joe comics (along with several others I had collected) and I continued into my adulthood.
In 2004 I came across a box of stuff I had had in storage since…forever. Contained in the box was a Snake Eyes V2 and Storm Shadow V1 3-3/4 action figures still in their packaging! After finding out what they were worth I quickly sold them on E-Bay! And decided to take that money and find out exactly what ever happened to all the Joe’s after I had left them. I purchased the entire collection of GI Joe 1-155 and the 4 Yearbooks all raw in one lucky purchased and read away. I was hooked again! 9 years later I have this collection, along with 99% of every GI Joe comic printed in North America including those printed by Marvel, Image, DDP, IDW, and more since 1982. I am also having fun tracking down the many foreign issues of GI Joe that are out there and have managed to gather GI Joe (or Action Force as it’s called in many other countries) Comics from 19 different countries.
In addition to this set I have 30 additional registry sets with other GI Joe titles from Marvel, Image, Devils Due, Blackthorn, Dreamwave, and IDW. This includes a complete 9.8 run of the Marvel GI Joe: Special Missions spin-off series that I am also working on getting in 9.8 Signature Series.
My future goals for this set include getting the (28) 9.8’s Universals upgraded to some 9.8 yellow label goodness!!!
I have added a short summary, listed the creative teams for each book, and scanned the cover of each issue to jog your memory for those of you who remember them as fondly as I did.
Now you know and knowing is half the battle!
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