G.I.Joe Marvel comics animation commercial COMPILATION COMPLETE

This is the complete run of the original cartoon commercial animations used for the G.I.Joe Marvel comic run. I haven't found these on youtube yet and I have always wanted to give back for all that I have taken. Here it is! Someone else recorded the video so I couldn't do anything there. A few episodes are incomplete but I included what was available. I know many people have been looking for these.
It is because of the initial cartoon commercials for the comics which created the demand for the daily series which was good but not as good as it could had been if it was produced along the same principles as these 30 second commercials. I fell in love with G.I.Joe with the help of these commercials. They were brilliant and still are after 25 years!
After waiting 25 years, I wish the new live action movie would live up to the exciting standards set by this groundbreaking series! Instead, the new G.I.Joe "Rise of Cobra" seems to be rewriting things as they go along. So much for progress. What I have on youtube is what I feel is G.I.Joe. I hope everyone will agree!
YO JOE!!!!

[@redcoyotesamp3016]

I remember seeing these commercials when I was in Junior High. I was hooked and started buying the comics because of them.

[@auvelier]

I love how the first commercials were just Chris Latta talking to himself.

[@camcordernonsense5264]

Can't stop watching these

[@maltheopia]

I see that even back in the small times Destro was pretty much the only thing keeping COBRA afloat.

[@Mainsail76]

The reason the animation was better in these commercials was because of their short length. Sunbow had so many shows going at once, they had to farm out the animation for the shows to various asian studios. Some were "A" team studios, some were considered the "B" team. It takes months to do just one thirty minute episode, and when you consider the vast number of shows Sunbow was producing, you can see how the animation would suffer at times, especially with the "B" studios in Korea.

[@RCASD]

Scary part is, I had most of those comics, right up to the point that Cobra Commander was ready to walk away and was gunned down from behind. Fred VII if I remember correctly put on the Silver Suit, and assumed the identity and went to make Serpentor's life misrable. Best issue, was the battle for Cobra Island, right after it was formed....man I was ticked when they got diplomatic immunity.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

The early voices for Coco and Destro are... very interesting.

[@andyclark4557]

When G.I.joe was awesome, Hasbro needs to go back and bring back the glory of those times use the same animation, music , voice etc that made this such a success, unfortunately today's and the 90s G.i.joe sucked, bring back the best, the awesomeness, the real American heroes.

[@omegahtv6779]

The animation on the Sgt Slaughter/Warthog, and the new Destro commercial was the best! Fit for The GI Joe movie!

[@JLvatron]

Awesome compilation! I like the storylines they completed, like Destro trained Major Bludd. The Crimson Guard song was the best.

[@tommyrat]

In that actual story with major bludd cobra commander wanted to bludd to kill destro. And the baroness almost got killed stopping it

[@JLvatron]

@@tommyrat 1:40 "Major Bludd, is a dangerous foe, ..." I guess the song was right!

[@BryanThaoWorra]

Great compilation, and a solid assessment of the challenges in keeping an appreciation for G.I. Joe alive. Much appreciation for this.

[@leiasfather]

These commercials are awesome! Thanks for putting them together for us to watch.

[@mauromesa78]

true true this are classic treasures from the good old 80's

[@CaptainDinobot]

Love these old commercials.

[@mattdawg83686]

Thanks for posting this. So many great memories from when I was a kid waaaay back in the 80's! YO JOE!

[@mauromesa78]

this is a super cool g.i.joe classic 80's comic book commercial collection

[@Spiritironshadow]

GREAT STUFF! These are the very same ads that got me hooked on the comics and especially the toys when I was a kid. Tanks for the memories!

[@Madbandit77]

I wished Marvel Comics promoted their superheroes with ads like these at the time. :(

[@CosmoShidan]

I wish comics in general got commercials like this.

[@RichardX1]

They were promoting interest in upcoming toys before their release.

[@ImTheKingOfHyrule]

The funny thing is these commercials were made to exploit a blindspot in advertising regulations. Regulations stated that kids' toy commercials could only have 7 seconds of animation and the rest had to be footage of actual product. There were no regulations on commercials for books though, so they made the comic specifically so they could put fully animated commercials for it on TV. Kids would see the animation and would buy the comic which was full of GI Joe toy advertisements, which is why GI Joe was the first and only comic book to have TV commercials.

[@captloizou]

These are great, i never got to see these as a kid, cause i live in the UK. Great combo of Marvel comic stories and Sunbow voices. Excellent stuff, thanks for uploading.

[@AlT-yk1sv]

I really like the 80's tv show of G.I. Joe. It was really amazing.

[@jameskennedy4377]

Funny how much more attention the Cobra characters and their vehicles get in these commercials than the GI Joe members. Rarely is an individual Joe even mentioned by name but we hear all about Cobra Commander, Destro, Bludd, Zartan, Tomax, Xamot, Serpentor, etc., etc.

[@BTLAGS]

I agree. The Cobra's are just better written and more memorable than the joe 's are. People talk about Cobra Commander & Destro more than they do about Duke or flint or any other GI Joe for that matter . Don't Forget the Cobra and the Joe's are just two sides of the same coin. Look at G1 transformers Megaton, star-scream, sound wave, shock wave, and galvatron over autobots expect optimus and bumblebee. TMNT 1987 Shredder, Krang, Baxter Stockman, Rat King, Letherhead, Bebop, and Rocksteady over the 4 turtles. 80's villains are just better written and more memorable than the 80's heroes. I don't know why maybe it takes more creativity to be a villain than a hero. The memorable and best voice actors voiced villains in the 80's. The 80's was the decade of the villains you could say. Oh and don't forget Storm Shadow & Baroness other great cobra members.

[@jameskennedy4377]

Yeah, villains are often more memorable than heroes. Think of Darth Vader, the Joker, all the great James Bond enemies, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, etc., etc.

[@BTLAGS]

I know it's weird. The villains who were supposed hate were sometimes rooting for them to succeed but to fail in the end just so we can laugh at them and keep rooting for them again.

[@BTLAGS]

The 90's had great villains as well but they were better less campy more ruthless,brave,intelligent and could fight their counterparts and win. Megatron beast wars Mark Hamil's Joker, xantos, thailog, demona, nega duck, wrathamon, lord zedd, Vegeta, Dr. Robotnick satm, Venom, Magneto, Apocalypse, Mr Sinister,

[@SonicPAJ]

I think it's because the villains are always arguing with each other and fail...alot.. Which the common person can relate to more often.

[@HCShannon]

This is quality animation!

[@bosbruin77]

man i wish they spent the money on the same type of animation for the series as they did with these tv spots.very cool

[@Bla31n]

And see how CC had the balls to throttle Serpentor!

[@bsabruzzo]

I remember when I was a kid, I thought this was a commercial for the toys. I forgot it was for the comic books. Turns out the FCC had a regulation limiting the amount of animation in a commercial for toys to 10 seconds. Hasbro got around this by making these ads for the books, which were really editorially spotlighting the toys as they were introduced. Ah, memories.

[@Speed202]

Had to hold back the tears on this one man....great stuff. These shorts were previews into things to come on the cartoon show and the show was a commercial In itself. Ah...those were the days when good and evil were as clear as Joe and Cobra.

[@AP-hv9ll]

I always felt for Hama a bit when the toy ideas really started going off the rails. “You mean I have to concoct a competent story line for a giant pogo stick, a hawk man, a spaceship battle, and all these goddam transformer vehicles?!” You know, I turned 7 in 1982 and GI Joe’s first few years were so cool. I thought I just outgrew it, but watching this, and bearing in mind the comics was the most grounded piece of the whole media/toy empire, I realize now it just got way too damn stupid even for an impressionable kid.

[@nunyabizness3866]

Ohhhh man Sunbow animation of characters that never appeared in the original cartoon or movie. Sweeeeet

[@shuboy05]

Fun fact: Hasbro bosses was originally against making Cobra action figures because market research at the time showed villain toys were poor sellers. The people who developed the ARAH line and Marvel had to fight to get Cobra Commander, the Cobra Trooper, and Cobra Officer made. Hasbro must have changed their minds fast because most of these commercials focus on Cobra. Heck the Cobra character even got theme songs.

[@camcordernonsense5264]

the animation for their eyes and the way scarlette's hair flows really adds to the visuals.

[@shaaban103noble]

Why is the animation better than the actual show?

[@kentuckyfriedplus]

Thanks...the comic adverts were always somehow better quality than the regular television episodes.

[@rongee7337]

WOW I HAD THE COMICS AND THE ACTION FIGURES THE PLAY SETS AND VEHICLES

[@pinoypizza]

Just saw SF Debris's Transformers part 1 video that talks about GI Joe and the ingenious marketing with these commercials, and I gotta say, they definitely were well made.

[@Darkwizzrobe]

+nepomusik I also came here from SF Debris

[@Godravage]

+nepomusik They also worked because these commercials really helped get me to buy them when I was a child. That and Cobra Commander's interesting helmet.

[@Terryfan]

Hasbro knew what they were doing in the 80s. I think these commericals were a great idea to get kids to read comics it really got them to read great stories.

[@chriss1168]

9:01 Where the hell was that Cobra Trooper at back in the days when we needed him...look at him go his ass not only stole a floppy disc deep inside G.I. JOE head quarters he also escaped, took on and defeated like 20 G.I. JOE members while on his route to the exit door...got away on foot, was able to dodge SGT Slaughter's Renegades, blasted off in a freaking Spaceship Rocket...this COBRA agent is bad ass.....and that laugh..could it have been COBRA COMMANDER?

[@chriss1168]

Can I get the # issue he was in I like to know more about him? :D thanks this was awesome video!

[@chriss1168]

scockery ouch i walked into that one lol , i keep forgetting that this was an ad for a comic book and not a toy.Thanks I will check it out I may try to collect all the back issues that I'm missing I did pick up about 70 figures from the reissued toy line the remakes look awesome!

[@jimmcdonald3801]

more like a genetic engineered cobra trooper codenamed star viper

[@RayneYoshilda]

What's fun about these is the fact that they kept the Theme song (Sunbow) for most of them.

[@atomicskull6405]

4:05 - 415 I have recalled this snippet from time to time for 37 years now.

[@CaptainBuckRogers]

Ah the good old days. Couldn't wait to get up in the morning during summertime!

[@slwalsh]

Oh wow. I haven't seen so many of these in forever. Incredibly well produced too; DIC (I'm guessing they animated the latter ones, since they did the cartoon in 89/90) did a real good job with these - a credit to them since their animated series was such a step down from Sunbow's work. And I love how Chris Latta is featured in many of them (as CC and even as the Star Viper). Ed Gilbert as Hawk is in there too. Wonder who else did voices.

[@JLvatron]

You can hear Michael Bell's voice as 1 of the Crimson twins.

[@chadryan9900]

You know it make me mad that we got shafted. After seeing the post animated movie comic commercial I am pissed we got the dang DIC version. I would have loved to see the Rolling thunder in action same with the Defiant shuttle complex.

[@chriss1168]

Whats really cool about the commercials at the end of the video is the fact that they were drawn by Sunbow/Marvel Series (1983-1986) who produced and animated the original G.I.JOE series and not the DIC Series (1989-1992) produced ones based on the last couple of waves of G.I.JOE Action Figures before production stopped, It awesome to see " 8:03 " Cobra Commander in his Armor Gear being animated in the Old School style and not that DIC studios animation. I wish they kept studios and we got the later figures in a Real G.I.JOE cartoon series like the previous seasons. But DIC did do their best to keep the continuity going and I thank them for that. This video is Awesome on so many levels.

[@captloizou]

Its even better in rerun, haha. Thats the first time i have seen Zanzibar, Outback, Backstop, Fastdraw, Raptor, Spearhead, Hit n Run and other 1987-88 characters in cartoon form.

[@PTPspdy29]

The only other tv commercials for comicbooks I remember are the Valiant/Image limited series.

[@sbmrunning]

what a powerhouse of marketing here! awesome!

[@e.d.zenterdazoneofpain-totalga]

LOL the Zartan tune is funky.

[@juanc1328]

Why wasn’t the Marvel series just adapted into the animation series!🤔

[@AudioAndroid]

I remembered how good the animation was on these commercials, every time I would see this and the movie RED DAWN i knew right away that shit just got real and i would break out my G.I. JOES!

[@miraclebeatz]

So these are done by Sunbrow. Excellent! They are done really really well. To have their animation applied to the DiC era is nice!

[@TonyKanameKuran]

SUNBOW Productions and MARVEL Productions, Ltd.

[@Speed202]

Yeah, they had to squeeze a lot if action and new merchandise in quick in a compelling way. That advert for the Space Shuttle was in genius. They introduced the Shuttle, Cobra Bugg, Desert Fox, Wart Hog, and Cobra Stilletto.

[@unicron93]

serpentor didnt last long in the comic. was killed off year and a half later

[@kenneth1976ify]

Dreadknock Thunder machine meanest machine

[@elflacoyanquic.n.def.9059]

The best one is the intro of TOMAX xamot and the crimson guards... Great jingle listen to the lyrics it tells you all you need to know in 15 seconds LOL

[@mikekeskeys]

I love that they use the GI Joe theme song too, or I guess the show used this cause this was first..but I love how the lyrics change for whatever the scene is. Gives me a hilarious skit idea.

[@CaptainBuckRogers]

Micheal Bell was Duke Arthur Berglandt was Destro/Devestator just like in toon. Darklon was Micheal Bell too.

[@AnthonyJohnson-gg7ji]

Arthur Burghardt, Jr was also Stalker, the Joe Team's first Ranger and cofounder of the G. I. Joe team..he & then- Colonel Abernathy, Code Name Hawk, before Hawk was Promoted to Brigadier General. This is from the Comic Book version created & written by Larry Hama.

[@standepain]

3:40 "They can destroy and leave no traces"... 3:48 Buzzer blows up a plane just cutting the nose off. lol

[@fxranger326]

Antarctic Vortex Base security was sorely lacking.

[@omegahtv6779]

I ALWAYS thought this animation was the ultimate as a kid......

[@StoneyHoliday]

I wish they had done a sunbow 1987-1888 cartoon. We never got to see some awesome joes like repeater or hit and run or when storm shadow turns joe.

[@charleshunterii7157]

This makes me want to pull out my 3 3/4 and classified figures and play with them😂

[@shuboy05]

@RCASD In my opinion Larry Hama kept the storyline quality pretty high for the entire comic run but the art took a turn for the worse near the end. Seems like the artists got influenced by Rob Liefield's art of the early '90s. The later Cobra Civil War arc and it's aftermath has to be my favorite part of the comics.

[@AnthonyJohnson-gg7ji]

The Cobra Island storyline was pretty good, too. Cobra organization had LEGAL PAPERS declaring it as an Island. They made the Joes pack it up and leave the Island. Nothing they could do but, comply.

[@FunkyFu42]

The infamous blond Hawk, long haired Scarlett, and still better than the DIC series...

[@brainysmurf74]

Hawk and duke look like the same person

[@BryonYoungblood]

@@brainysmurf74 Which is what led Sunbow to give Hawk brown hair when he debuted in the _A Real American Hero_ cartoon so he could be distinctive from Duke.

[@tiga92001]

Tbh so does the lieutenant falcon character from sgt slaughter's movie Duke and falcon are brothers I nearly thought that hawk was the father idk lol the resemblances did seem a bit funny to me 😂

[@madhat2k]

I know this is missing at least 1 of the commercials.

[@JoseBronxRican]

Halfway thru, they didn't even pretend they were just selling comics. The toy ads weren't allowed to show more than a few seconds of animation, so this was their solution: skip the storylines and hype characters and vehicles in the comic ads. DIABOLICAL.

[@camcordernonsense5264]

I love these songs

[@goldenage]

great compilation

[@Raven9940]

Why is Zartan's theme so damn FUNKY???

[@yojoeturner]

That was very interesting, probably the most interesting thing I've watched in some time. I didn't know there was a connected story with these. They should have included this on the dvd set. I would love to have this.

[@camcordernonsense5264]

All the work put into these commercials!!!! Just like the box art equivalent of every toyline then. Even the cheaper companies

[@TWheels94]

Wow I sooooo remember these. One of the reasons I got into comics. Good memories.

[@chrisreick4325]

Sweet, sweet memories.

[@pacificimporters]

maybe kids would still read comics if they ran commercials like this every month. I remember seeing these then going to pick up the latest issue at the mall. my stupid mom wouldn't let me subscribe.

[@ItaloDiscogs]

Woow, amazing quality !!! O - O

[@chadryan9900]

What dissapoints me is that Sunbow was doing the comic commercials after the ill fated Animated movie and we got the DIC version.The animation in the comic ads were way better same with the voice acting.

[@stefanosmarkopoulos]

Is bad that I want a G.I joe cartoon with those designs and the stories from the comic? You know, like THE original snake eyes origin adventures and the rest

[@sfighter991]

This was really cool, I finished the first issue and am on issue 2. The comics are really good.

[@TheKutaKowboy]

Thanks for putting this up. It makes me wonder what the cartoon series would be like after the 87 movie.

[@Xerofall]

Good job.

[@DirtyPass]

awesome editing. flashbacks and why I became the crazy dude I am today

[@CaptainBuckRogers]

Thank you for posting. The two military brass looked sooo much like a Japanese Style.

[@Beelzeboogie]

Pretty sure that first trailer is the one and only animated appearance of Grand Slam.

[@brendan129]

You missed #24, Cobra Commander's imprisonment

[@Archie2c]

Believe it or not I don't remember seeing any of these as a kid.

[@omegahtv6779]

Serpentor smacked THE SHIT outta Cobra Commander in his wake!!!

[@CaptainBuckRogers]

@IHS7 Thanks for the info! I love these animated commercials along with Transformers, Air Raiders, Starriors & Visionaries. All produced by Marvel and made by Hasbro..aside from Starriors which was owned by TOMY! Ah the great times of old!

[@TonyKanameKuran]

Except the fact that Visionairies was produced by TMS Entertainment, Ltd.

[@SabeNo-rh7mb]

A little dissapointed how some of the songs like the ones for the Dreadnoks and The Guard Twins actually had some catchy tunes only to be immediately overriden by the obilgatory "G.I. Joooooooeeeeeee" jingle. I know these were just promotional commercials, but still.

[@johncaulfield8935]

I never thought of Napoleon and Julius Caesar as evil

[@eshaw2115]

I wish I'd kept the Rolling Thunder when I was a kid.

[@brendenmiles8564]

Okay, can someone who's read the comics tell me how that "Destro & Iron Grenadiers" storyline went? 'Cause honestly, that idea sounds pretty badass.

[@tiga92001]

Destro being the baddest man in COBRA must've wanted his OWN decent MUSCLE in cobra weapons so he got pissed at the commander and serpentor and walked out on them he must be rich so could make his army alone he probably had baroness around

[@karabrice]

No. Hawk was the original field command of the Joes while Gen. Flagg was in charge. When Flagg was injured, Hawk was promoted to General and Duke took over in the field. Hawk was around a good 18 issues before Duke was introduced and his toy was part of the original team. Only in the cartoon was Duke the leader and then only until Gen. Hawk was reintroduced as a toy and brought into the series.

[@AnthonyJohnson-gg7ji]

Colonel Abernathy (Pay Grade O-6) Code Name Hawk, was indeed Promoted to Brigadier General ( Pay Grade O-7) to be their Commanding Officer. Hawk and Stalker put the Joe Team together. They selected Master Sergeant Hauser, code name Duke, to be their First Sergeant (Pay Grade E-8 Master Sergent & First Sergent), top Enlisted Soldier, although in real Military standards Duke would have been their Command Sergeant Major (Pay Grade E-9). BTW, there is an Action Figure of Duke wearing a different Uniform and his File Card had his Rank and Pay Grade as Sergent Major, E-9.

[@AnthonyJohnson-gg7ji]

Hawk did come as an Action Figure with the Mobile Missile System (MMS).... Which is just like the real life Hawk Missile System that the Army used to use before they upgraded to Patriot Missile System.

[@Jake4Life45]

Nobody beats GI Joe!

[@Madbandit77]

Amen, dude. It would help the industry a lot.

[@e.d.zenterdazoneofpain-totalga]

HA HA this tune rocks.

[@mattmc5069]

Today they advertise comics with movies

[@Tantive7]

OMFG!!! Where did you get all these Old School Commercials!! I still remember the song that introduced Zartan,and they also used it to promote The Toy Commercial "Evil Master of Disguise-ZARTAN!!!" Changes Colors before your eyes ZARTAN!!" OMFG!! Thank you for posting this!! They need to rerelease these commercials,Brilliant Marketing,and it would make you buy the comic and The toys,Thank you for bring back some childhood memories "ZARTAN"!!

[@AudioAndroid]

We need to get DUKE or FALCON to lead the war we have today its amazing that during the COBRA wars their was only one casualty and DUKE was able to walk away from that snake to the heart.....Long Live GI JOE!

[@Archie2c]

Now the Devil fish comic I had

[@bsabruzzo]

@Allanforbes There are still ads for comic books. MARVEL put theirs on KZbin all the time. The audience for comic books isn't watching TV anymore. They are online.

[@chrisking8466]

Cobra knows that they will never beat the real american heroes g i joe YO JOE.

[@JonZMovies]

Notice how earlier Joes had a chain of command, there was generals of army and all, then the Joe's progressively became THE army :D

[@tommyrat]

I wish the quality of the original series was as good as these commercials and the first 2 mini series. They tried to do it with the movie but they went with the cheap animators to finish it

[@EternalNaga187]

I guess this is the only time where u see my Favs like Hit&Run and Spearhead in cartoon version, even if its only just for a few seconds. 9:19