G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #125
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIssue #125, titled 'Diptych,' is notable less for character debuts than for its bold structural experiment: Larry Hama runs two completely separate combat stories simultaneously, each occupying half of most pages, carrying the formal device directly forward from the preceding issue's three-way 'Triptych' split. Each storyline is visually differentiated by its own panel-border style — straight lines for the D.E.F. thread, wavy 'liquid' lines for the Eco-Warriors — making the design language itself a storytelling tool, a sophistication unusual in a licensed toy comic of the early 1990s. The issue also closes out back-to-back multi-plot arcs that wove together Hama's drug-war and environmental-corruption themes, reflecting real cultural anxieties of the moment through the franchise's toy-mandated sub-teams. As part of the long tail of Marvel's 155-issue run, it stands as evidence that Hama was still pushing the medium's formal possibilities even deep into the series.
In "Diptych," G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #125 delivers a dual narrative that splits the action with precision: Flint faces off against the relentless Cesspool in a tense, high-stakes confrontation, while the D.E.F. launches a daring operation to drive the Headman from Broca Beach—where the town’s hidden underground base remains a secret even from the Joes. Written by Larry Hama and illustrated with sharp detail by Andrew Wildman, with inks by Randy Emberlin and colors by Bob Sharen, this 1992 issue captures the series at its most grounded and suspenseful, with Wildman’s dynamic cover capturing the split focus of the story.
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The issue arrives at the midpoint of what was the late phase of Marvel's G.I. Joe run (the series concluded at #155 in 1994), with writer Larry Hama, penciler Andrew Wildman, inker Randy Emberlin, and colorist Bob Sharen forming the stable creative unit that had carried the book through its early-1990s Toy-mandated expansion into sub-teams like the D.E.F. and Eco-Warriors. Editor-in-Chief Tom DeFalco oversaw the title at this stage. The diptych format was a direct continuation of the narrative and structural experiment launched in the immediately preceding issue #124 ('Triptych'), suggesting Hama and the editorial team were consciously treating the two issues as a paired formal unit.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'Diptych' — the story is structurally divided into two parallel narratives that alternate, each taking roughly half of most pages throughout the issue.
- Two simultaneous storylines: the D.E.F. (Drug Elimination Force) — Cutter, Mutt, Junkyard, Bulletproof, and Shockwave — battling Headman and his Headhunters in Broca Beach; and the Eco-Warriors — Flint, Ozone, and Clean-Sweep — confronting Cesspool in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Each storyline carries its own distinct panel-border design: straight lines for the D.E.F. thread and wavy 'liquid' lines for the Eco-Warriors thread, visually separating the two stories on the same physical page.
- Cesspool delivers his origin monologue in this issue, explaining that he was a corrupt businessman who accidentally mutated himself while trying to dump toxic waste — his backstory is fully revealed here.
- The Eco-Warriors storyline concludes with Ozone's unexpected tactic: arriving with a government lawyer who freezes Cesspool's assets, forcing him to release Flint and Clean-Sweep without a conventional battle victory.
- Fred Jr.'s subplot ends on a deliberately bleak note: left with an assault rifle, the reader is set up to expect vengeance against Headman, but instead Fred Jr. trades the gun for drugs — a deliberate subversion of action-comic expectations.
- The issue's back-matter dossier features a Zartan pin-up and character profile, with pencils by Larry Hama himself and inks by Jimmy Palmiotti.
- Shockwave replaces Snake-Eyes in the cover corner box, ending Snake-Eyes' run in that spot, which had begun with issue #109.
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Reprinted in Classic G.I. Joe TPB #13 (2011), G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Kickstarter Compendium #4 (2024)
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