GI Joe (1951 Ziff Davis) 21

Add to cart GD 2.0 $16.75 View scan 4" Cumulative spine split. Cover coming loose from staples.

Painted cover by Clarence Doore. Stories and art by Dan De Carlo, Rudy Lapick, Vic Martin, Mort Lawrence, and Irv Novick. Neither a tie-in with the later toy line/cartoon nor a grim war comic, this first-gen GI Joe focused on lighthearted tales of military life. The Yardbirds, featuring Pvts. Windy and Whitey, was straight-up comedy of the Beetle Bailey/Sad Sack variety. Pvt. Merkle from Kentucky finally gets a chance to use his baseball skills in combat. Dopey Pvts. Windy and Whitey are drafted into kitchen duty for a general's dinner party, in a story by future Archie legend Dan De Carlo. An usual assignment requires Joe to become a scuba commando, or "frogman." Plus a look at the Army's "new" Sikorsky helicopters, and possible future military tech, including a backpack helicopter, submersible trucks, and air bases on ice floes. G.I. Laffs; Save 'Im for Brooklyn; G.I. Facts and Figures; The Scribbler's First Mission; The Yardbirds: Service in the Service; Flying Jack-of-All-Trades; Pvt. Woes; Joe Turns Frogman.32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.