GI Joe #1-50

There are some series that mean more to me than others. I'm sure that's true for everyone, but for me one of them is the original GI Joe series. Although I had my first comic read to me at 5 days old, in 1984, I didn't read any series in a series format until 1992, when this very series- the very same issues scanned, in fact- became the first. Before then, it was just random issues here and there.

Since then, I've read the entire series more than once...some as many as 11 times. I have not read them now in many years, I don't even remember what year. Probably 2004 or 2005, so we're looking at more than a decade here.

The series ran under the Marvel aegis from 1982-1994, and then was cancelled, the same year the toyline was cancelled. I was 10 at the time, and had been collecting GI Joe figures since 1990. My brother gave me all of his, which went back to the 1982 originals. (Eventually I'll get a post up on them on Action Figure History, but I don't know when). The series came back, with the original numbering system, and with Larry Hama still at the helm, from IDW in 2010 and it continues to this day, with the most recent issue being #231. I have not reread the IDW series, having read them only once, as they came out.

In this multi-part series I will share the cover scans I've made of my collection of the flagship, original series, as well as the peripheral, tie in titles and a post for Special Missions as well.

While I do have all the other Devil's Due and IDW series, they won't be part of this project, though I will probably post them at some point as well.

First up are issues #1-50.

 The odd color problem on the left side of the cover is actually from my scanner, not the book itself. It sometimes has an issue with oversized books and red-themed covers. You'll see several others in this very post where the red appears faded in a vertical line.

This was a harder issue to track down, one of the few not added to the collection when new. There is a "not to resell" stamp on the cover. It is also the only issue in this post that we did not have in 1992 when the series was read for the first time.

 I didn't really understand the significance of this issue until many years after I read it the first several times. This was the first comic ever, I believe, to rely solely on images, no text. Most GI Joe titles after it have attempted to do a silent issue #21 with varying degrees of success.

My least favorite cover of the entire series