Captivating Cover: GI Joe in 3D #1

Blackthorne’s GI Joe in 3D comic came out during a time when my toy collecting habit had transitioned into comic book collecting. Yeah, that was pretty much a lateral move for a teen in the 80s. Oh well, I don’t regret it. In fact, I have just as many positive memories about buying and reading comics as I do about toys. I don’t pick up too many current comics, but I am fascinated by the eras that I hadn’t delved into as a kid. Golden and Silver Age DC comics have become intriguing to me of late.

G.I.Joe_BT_3D_gi joe in 3d issue 1_01GI Joe and a the 3D gimmick hit me in two sweet spots back then. The 1987 figures were some of my favorites before I gave up the habit. I had also been a fan of 3D movies since the early 80s, when 3D on television became a fast fading fad. Local independent stations aired cheesy classics like Gorilla at Large, The Mask and the Kung Fu flick Dynasty. I bugged my parents to get 3D glasses for each viewing (usually sold at 7-11–the same place I bought most of my comics at the time) and the event was a big deal to many of us. If you’re too young to have experienced it, just trust me, it was an amazing time. Oh, and if you missed the showing–tough. Unless, of course you recorded it. I did, and on Beta. Ahh, memories.

Anyway, back to the comic, and my point. My friends and I, being really into 3D, began creating our own three-dimensional drawings and comics using red and blue pens and colored pencils. We experimented with various shades of red/blue as well as different distances between our double-images in order to get the best effect when viewed with our leftover glasses. Now that I think of it, I may have damaged my color vision thanks to too many hours of looking through those tinted cellophane lenses.

10 comments

  • ”Just like myself ,NO ONE, can get enough reading excitement from anything to read , that’s connected to G.I.Joe-Yo Joe!”

  • Blackthorne did 3 issues for a Transformers 3-D title, if I recall.

    I recently read an old trade collection of one of their black and white American-made ‘manga’ series, “Shuriken”.

  • I remember the 3D TV fad, too. The local station did the same thing with glasses at the local convenience stores. There were special times during the airing of the movie that you were supposed to use the glasses. I convinced my dad to let me stay up late and watch one. But, I didn’t find the 3D all that neat and lost interest. I did stay up on Fridays to watch Sammy Terry for a long time after that, though.

    It really was a “you had to be there” time. When I tell my kids about it, they’ll just realize how old I am.

  • I’d totally forgotten about the 7-11 3D glasses tie-in. It was a big deal, but man the old red-blue 3D made watching a full movie tough. Now they’ve got full-color 3D movies, but they’re not giving away those glasses! Great comic cover, too; Raptor looks menacing!

  • I have a bunch of these. Great stuff.3-D is awesome, There’s also an annual that’s hard to find.

  • Dreadnok: Spirit

    I like that Jinx looks so much like a female Red Ninja on the cover. As for the old red and blue 3-D, I couldn’t stand those.

  • James From Miami

    Anything that has to do with G.I. Joe in 87, 88, 89, and 90, I’m all for it. I find those years to be very interesting. Especially 87 and 88. I remember back in 1987, I think, one of the local Dade County area television stations, was going to play Hondo in 3D. I remember getting the 3D glasses at some supermarket, I think. Well, I did not see anything in 3D. Instead my vision kept seen things in blue in one eye, and red in the other, when I would take off the glasses. Still to this day, I don’t know if I did something wrong, like been too close to the tv, of if those 3D fads really did not work. A very cool movie to see in 3D, is called Comin At Ya!, from 1981. And another one, if you can find it in 3D, is called Treasure Of The Four Crowns, from 1983. That one is my favorite of those two. And can’t forget of course, Friday The 13th Part 3.

    • I saw Treasure of the Four Crowns in the theater. Since it was color, it was shown in a polarized lens format. Good 3D, totally cheap and cheesy film. Love it.

      • James From Miami

        Sorry for taking too long to respond to you. Time sure goes by faster now these days. But after reading what you typed about Treasure Of The Four Crowns being in a polarized lens format, it had me thinking about when I saw Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare in the theater. They gave us some blue and red cheap 3D glasses. And this was back in 1991. Believe it or not, they actually worked. Well, at least for me, mines did work. I just find it amazing that the polarized lens format existed back then in 1983. But it was not used for that Freddy Krueger movie in 1991. By the way, I wonder if they let you keep the glasses.

  • Dreadnok: Spirit

    It’s not you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a movie, tv, book, or whatever else. The old red and blue 3D glasses crap never worked.

Leave a Reply to cyko9 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.