Recurring themes in Marvel continuity. . .

[Obiwanjacoby]

It just hit me the other day that Larry Hama liked to revisit certain types of settings and characters throughout the series. Not that it's a bad thing, just amusing. Here's some I came up with:

- Circuses (Arbco Bros. & the Borovian Circus from the mid-60s and later)

- Little old Asian men with loads of moxie (Soft Master, Capt. Minh).

- Hawk shooting down oncoming missiles/torpedoes with only one shot!

- Parades, hiding armored vehicles in parade floats. . .

Maybe you can think of some of your own!

-PJ

[frozen_nd]

. .

[Antarctica]

Assaulting Destro's Castle in
Trans-Carpathia.
Off the top of my head, at least three times. Maybe more

[Serpentor's Bodyguard]

capturing and releasing of bad guys.

[TJH]

Obiwan,

Good topic. I've actually thought about this myself. I know you are partly trying to be funny by (correctly) pointing out that Hama likes to return to similar situations over and over again, but I also think you're right that he had central themes that ran through the series.

I think the most important, central theme of G.I. Joe, especially under Hama (although it continues in the DD series) is loyalty. This includes loyalty to country, loyalty to the armed forces, loyalty to their unit, and loyalty to the ideologies of Democracy. But I think the ultimate theme of loyalty in G.I. Joe always revolved around loyalty to friends and comrades. Again in again in the comic series, the "good" guys would risk their lives, and frequently act against orders, in order to save the life of a friend. This theme began all the way back in issue one with the "hot potato" story and continued basically until the end. This loyalty to friends and comrades seemed to superceded all other loyalties, regardless of the dangers and consequences involved. Note that the "star" of the series, Snake-Eyes (according to Hama) disobeyed orders on numerous occasions to save a friend's life, while someone like Cobra Commander had almost no loyalty to his friends and comrades. He would sell them out at the drop of a hat.

I think that Hama valued this loyalty above all other characteristics in a person, and that's why he made it such a central theme in the series. What do you guys think?

[curmudgeon]

I think at the very core of the Hama continuity, the overwhelmingly prevalent philosophy driving every story, every subplot, nay, every single thought, dream and desire of every character has to be...grape soda and chocolate doughnuts.