G.I. Joe Cartoon

G.I. Joe is a line of military-themed articulated "action figures" produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces with the Action Soldier (Army), Action Sailor (Navy), Action Pilot (Air Force) and Action Marine (USMC). The term "G.I." incorrectly was thought to stand for "Government Issue" and became a generic term for US soldiers, especially ground forces. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure."

The G.I. Joe trademark has been used by Hasbro to title two different toy lines. The original 12-inch line begun in 1964 centered around realistic soldier dolls. This line was known as Action Man in the United Kingdom, which evolved into a separate entity. In 1982, the line was relaunched in a 3 3/4-inch scale complete with vehicles, playsets, and a complex background story involving an ongoing struggle between the G.I. Joe Team and the evil Cobra Organization. This franchise has spawned numerous comics, cartoons and films.

G.I. Joe Cartoon

G.I. Joe also appeared as a promotional comic book, produced by Marvel Comics. The comics were very successful, at one point becoming Marvel's top-selling book. This was due in no small part to the unique television advertising and writing talent of Larry Hama, who worked closely with Hasbro to develop a unique identity, background story, and personality for each character.

The comic series released its final issue, #155, in December 1994, to coincide with the end of the original RAH toy line.

G.I. Joe Cartoon