G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #61
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #61, titled 'Beginnings and Endings,' is one of the most consequential single issues in the entire Marvel run: it delivers the apparent assassination of Cobra Commander at the hands of Crimson Guard sleeper agent Fred VII, a betrayal that reshapes the Cobra power structure for years and directly ignites the Cobra Civil War storyline. The issue simultaneously advances the heartbreaking Billy arc—the Commander's amnesiac son reclaims his memory, rejects his father, and sets out on a ninja path with Jinx—while trapping Stalker, Quick Kick, and Snow Job in Borovia after a failed rescue mission goes wrong in every possible direction. Running two emotionally distinct plots in parallel, writer Larry Hama demonstrated that a toy-licensed comic could sustain genuine consequence: characters were wounded and abandoned, the franchise's chief villain was 'killed,' and a replacement impostor set the stage for months of intrigue.
In "Beginnings...And Endings," G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #61 (1987), a mission to rescue a U.S. newsman in Borovia takes a devastating turn when the team learns their target was already exchanged—leaving Stalker, Snow Job, Outback, and Quick Kick stranded and wounded. With their contact Spigou dead and no rescue forthcoming, Stalker makes a painful choice to send Outback alone to deliver the truth. Meanwhile, a personal crisis unfolds as the Commander prepares to leave Cobra for good, only to be betrayed by Fred in a moment of raw vengeance. Larry Hama’s gripping storytelling, brought to life by Marshall Rogers’ evocative art and Danny Bulanadi’s precise inks, anchors a story of sacrifice and shifting loyalties, all framed by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod’s intense cover.
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Todd McFarlane had penciled issue #60 for Marvel and completed artwork for issue #61 as well, but his pages were rejected by writer/editor Larry Hama as unacceptable; Marshall Rogers was then rushed in to redraw the entire issue, with Danny Bulanadi providing inks over Rogers's breakdowns. The published cover was a collaboration between Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod, with Bob Harras and Bobbie Chase listed as editors under Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. McFarlane's rejected pages were not lost: in February 1995, two months after the series ended, Marvel published G.I. Joe Special #1—the same Hama script illustrated by McFarlane, inked by Mark A. Nelson, with a cover by Phil Gosier and Scott Koblish homaging McFarlane's iconic Spider-Man #1 pose.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Larry Hama; pencils (storytelling) by Marshall Rogers; inks (finishes) by Danny Bulanadi; colors by Bob Sharen; letters by Joe Rosen; cover by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod.
- Cobra Commander is shot in the back by Fred VII—a Crimson Guard sleeper agent and Denver auto-shop owner—after the Commander announces he is abandoning Cobra for the sake of his son Billy. Raptor is present but complicit by silence.
- Fred VII realizes that the battle armor he designed could conceal any person's identity, setting up his long-running impersonation of Cobra Commander and the Cobra Civil War arc that follows.
- Billy recovers his memory, rejects his father, and departs with Jinx (Kimi Arashikage), beginning his association with the ninja community—a pivot point for both characters.
- The Borovia subplot introduces the fictional Republic of Borovia and marks the first appearance of Colonel Ratinkov; Stalker, Quick Kick, and Snow Job are left trapped and written off by Hawk, with Outback ordered to escape alone—a thread continued in G.I. Joe Special Missions #6.
- Todd McFarlane was the original penciler assigned to this issue (his second for the series), but his completed artwork was rejected and the entire book was redrawn by Marshall Rogers on a compressed deadline—a production crisis evidenced by an unusual number of lettering errors in the final printing.
- McFarlane's rejected artwork was eventually published in February 1995 as G.I. Joe Special #1 (direct market only, no newsstand edition), using Hama's original script with inks by Mark A. Nelson and a cover homaging McFarlane's Spider-Man #1.
Cast · 31 characters
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Stalker, Snow Job, Outback, and Quick Kick are sent into Borovia to rescue a newsman accused of spying for the U.S., and the attempt is failed when they learn he was released in a spy exchange. As they attempt their own escape, Outback is told by Stalker to escape as the others are wounded and Spigou (their contact) is dead, so their story can be relayed back. The Commander has decided to quit Cobra so he can give himself and Billy a better life and is shot by Fred as vengeance for all that Fred sacrificed to be part of Cobra. Hawk has sent word there will be no rescue for the Joes in Borovia.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).