20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Marvel
2. GI Joe Was Originally Meant To Be A Nick Fury Story
In 1981, Marvel editor Larry Hama wanted to give Nick Fury a makeover. He envisioned a new strike team, the Fury Force, complete with a secret base and awesome vehicles. Meanwhile, across town, Marvel President Jim Galton met Hasbro CEO Stephen Hassenfeld in the bathroom at a charity event. Hassenfeld wanted to re-up the GI Joe trademark but needed a reason for it, so Galton offered to have Marvel take a shot at turning the toys into a comic.
Jim Shooter, the editor-in-chief, was brought in to help and quickly suggested that GI Joe be the team name rather than solely the lead character, and that they fight terrorists rather than being soldiers. But he didn’t stop there, and approached Hama, who quickly repurposed all of his ideas for Fury to GI Joe. In the process, Hama would came up with the backstories and personalities for many of the Joes.
Almost immediately, GI Joe became one of Marvel’s most popular comics as well as a huge toy seller. And now, 30 years later, it’s nearly impossible to tell that Cobra was once a poor repurposing of HYDRA.