Hush Job: The Other G.I. Joe Silent Story

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Baroness, Dennis Janke, Dr. Mindbender, G.I. Joe, GI Joe, GI Joe Yearbook, Hush Job, Kim DeMulder, Larry Hama, Mike Zeck, Ron Wagner, Scarlet, Silent Issue, Snake Eyes, Stormshadow

The G.I. Joe Yearbook #3 has a publication date of 1987, exactly three years after the fan-favorite “silent issue,” G.I. Joe #21 (available in our archives.) You can get the former for about a dollar, but the latter will cost you a little more!

The scene featuring attackers on a subway — carrying screwdrivers as weapons — recalls the story of Barney Goetz, which was a big deal in American news in the mid-80s. Other cultural highlights of this silent story include discovering what kind of underwear the Baroness wears. Really!

We also included Mike Zeck’s back cover to the issue and a light-hearted short story about war and pizza. The rest of this issue featured an article about G.I. Joe on television, splash-page art, and a plot synopsis of the ongoing storyline in the regular G.I. Joe title that year. The latter resembles Marvel’s more recent “Saga of…” publications distributed in comic shops that get readers caught up on the often-convoluted back stories of popular characters.

Credits: G.I. Joe Yearbook #3; Marvel Comics, 1987.
“Hush Job!” Written by Larry Hama. Art by Ron Wagner and Kim DeMulder.
“My Dinner with Serpentor!” Written by Larry Hama. Art by Mike Zeck and Dennis Janke.

G.I. Joe 21 – The Silent Issue!

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G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 21, G.I. Joe Silent Issue, Larry Hama, Silent Interlude, Silent Issue, Snake Eyes, Steve Leialoha, Stormshadow, war, war comics

Here it is: the complete, famous “Silent Issue” of G.I. Joe! Absolutely our favorite issue from Marvel’s 1980s series of this toy franchise that goes back to the 1950s. You know, it’s not such a big deal these days to do a silent issue, but this was groundbreaking stuff in 1984. We didn’t have silent month from Marvel or Frank by Jim Woodring or Age of Reptiles or even the death of Ultimate Spider-man back then. So hats off to Larry Hama for giving this one a shot! It’s become quite a collector’s item since it came out.

You might notice from the cover that this is not the original printing. Our scans come from a Hasbro reprint we scored on eBay for considerably less than the price of the original. It must have been packaged with a toy or something, because we can’t find any info on it at the time of this writing. If you can enlighten us on the source of this reprint, please do. We like that the colors and the glossy paper quality make this in many ways a superior printing to the original.

Anway, how about we stop using all these words to talk about a wordless issue? Just get ready to rock the complete “Silent Interlude” with Snake Eyes and Stormshadow having a ninja showdown!

Collector’s Guide: From G.I. Joe #21. March 1984, Marvel Comics. Reprinted in a G.I. Joe third printing by Marvel. Reprinted in the Classic G.I. Joe TPB #3 by IDW.

Plot and breakdowns by Larry Hama, finished art by Steve Leialoha.