Home  Comic Book Commercials G.I.Joe #35
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Issue #35: Dreadnoks on the Loose
Publication Date: May 1985
Writer: Larry Hama
Pencilers: Rod Whigham, Mark Bright, Bob Camp & Larry Hama
Inkers: Andy Mushynsky & Mike Esposito
Lettering: Rick Parker
Colorist: George Roussos |
SUMMARY
"Kids like that join up the same way girls his age get married. They wanna get away from whatever it is that's drivin' 'em nuts at home. The horrible part comes when they find out they were running away from themselves..."
- Rock 'n' Roll (explaining a young gas station attendant's mind to Clutch and Breaker)
As Ripper and Torch join Buzzer on a joyride with Zartan's motorcycle, which creates holographic illusions, Rock 'n' Roll, Breaker and Clutch cruise down a highway while on leave. Major Bludd informs Zartan about the theft of the Master of Disguise's motorcycle, which causes Zartan to immediately leave the Cobra base while listening to Major Bludd's mocking laughter. The Dreadnoks vandalize Rock 'n' Roll's car so the Joe pursues the Dreadnoks in order to pound their skulls, however, a semi truck rockets out of a tunnel and forces the Joes to crash into a rock wall. Buzzer turns off the hologram of the semi and drives away as Rock 'n' Roll memorizes the license plate on Zartan's bike, ZTN-123. The Dreadnoks continue their trek and stop at an Air Force base, and when one of the vandalized planes explodes, Buzzer activates a hologram that shows them as part of the base's security detail. Rock 'n' Roll, who is riding inside an ambulance to the USAF base, notices the license plate on the Buzzer's holographic security jeep, pushes the ambulance driver aside and commandeers the steering wheel so that he can throw an oxygen bottle at Buzzer, who crashes Zartan's bike and destroys it. Ripper and Torch board a bus that transforms into a helicopter and fly away with Zartan while Rock 'n' Roll raises a fist to Buzzer as the Dreadnok promises to sue if he is punched.
| THE PERSONNEL |
| G.I.Joe: Clutch, Breaker, Rock 'n' Roll
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Cobra: Ripper, Buzzer, Torch, Zartan, Major Bludd, the Baroness
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THE
COMMERCIAL
[ issue35.zip - 1.38 mb - 30 seconds ]
Description
Riding on his Chameleon Swampskier, Zartan travels to his shack in the swamp and tells Buzzer, Ripper and Torch that they must attack G.I.Joe before dawn. The Dreadnoks streak away from the shack on two motorcycles and Ripper, who is riding on the back of Buzzer's bike, cuts the barb-wired fence while they drive past it. The Dreadnoks quickly and quietly creep inside and vandalize a Dragonfly, VAMP and Skystriker. Alarms blare inside the airfield's control tower and the Dreadnoks retreat while Cobra's forces, which include HISS tanks and FANGs led by Cobra Commander, attack the Joes pursuing the bikers.
| THE PERSONNEL |
| G.I.Joe: Duke, Stalker, Breaker, Steeler, Flash, Rock 'n' Roll, Snake Eyes |
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Cobra: Zartan, Buzzer, Ripper, Torch, Cobra Commander, Cobra agents |
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THE GEAR |
| G.I.Joe: Dragonfly, VAMP, Skystriker, MOBAT, Wolverine |
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Cobra: HISS, FANG, Chameleon |
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Lyrics
They can destroy and leave no traces
Dreadnoks!
The evil is written all over their faces
Dreadnoks!
A horrifying new foe of G.I.Joe
G.I.Joe a real American hero
Fighting evil Cobra!
Tagline
The legend of G.I.Joe continues in Marvel Comics!
Notes
The character design for Snake Eyes (Screen Captures: fourth row, right image) is from "The MASS Device," and considering the advertisement aired in 1985, the second version, which was seen in "The Weather Dominator" miniseries, should have been used instead.
Because the commercial contains so many differences when compared to the comic, you may wonder why there is such a large gap between Marvel and Sunbow. Well, there is one very serious flaw with the advertisement: the wrong cover was placed at the end of the commercial.
Issue number 30, entitled "Darkness," contained nearly all of the scenes in the commercial. However, like any comic commercial, the ad does contain a small deviation from the comic. The tail section was trimmed by Buzzer in the comic and not Torch as shown in the commercial.
Issue #30: Darkness
Publication Date: December 1984
Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Frank Springer
Inkers: Andy Mushynsky and Pat Redding (pages 2-6)
Lettering: Rick Parker
Colorist: George Roussos
Summary:
Zartan and the Dreadnoks sit outside McGuire Air Force base and notice the G.I.Joe Dragonfly that attacked them in the Everglades. Changing his appearance to match Hawk's, Zartan enters the base, learns from Wild Bill that his shack in the Everglades swamp was destroyed, reports his conversation to Cobra and receives orders from Cobra's leader "to stick around and keep an eye on the place." Meanwhile, Fred Broca and his family close a real estate deal for a home near the base and begin to set up surveillance equipment so that they can spy on the Joes. After traveling to the Joes' new underground base, Wild Bill meets the real Hawk, who wonders about Wild Bill's encounter at the McGuire base. Cobra Commander, who is convinced that the McGuire base is the Joes' new headquarters, travels with a fleet of Arbco Brothers Circus trucks and orders Zartan to send his Dreadnoks to the base and slice open the chain link fence. However, the Dreadnoks decide to enter the base and satisfy their appetites for destruction by vandalizing a Dragonfly, VAMP and Skystriker, which explodes thanks to Buzzer's chainsaw. Cobra attacks the base and after the Joes chase off the Dreadnoks, Clutch knocks out one of the FANGs with a shot from a VAMP's gun and Steeler "swats" Cobra Commander's HISS tank. However, thanks to another FANG flying low to the ground and the smoke from the HISS tank, Cobra Commander escapes. The ammo in the HISS tank explodes and the next morning Hawk tells a depressed Ace that Uncle Sam will buy him a new Skystriker. "I just about had this one broken in," Ace laments.
And the motorcycle driven by Buzzer with Ripper in the backseat is quite similar to the motorcycle in the Dreadnok cycle toy commercial that was advertised in 1987. Like the second animation sequence in 1982, could this "borrowing of ideas" be another example of the imaginations at Sunbow indirectly creating toys?
On a personal note, the first letter I mailed as kid was because of issue number 35. Although writing the letter was part of a class assignment in fourth grade and even though it was not published in "The Pit" letters section, I didn't really care. Simply writing the letter was enough for me because it was my chance to thank Larry Hama for allowing Rock 'n' Roll the chance to crack the skull of someone who had committed a heinous act against him. I was able to live vicariously through the character for a moment...and for a moment, life as a kid felt okay.
Screen Captures
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