Happy Birthday to the Real American Hero, LARRY HAMA!!!

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Did you like the 1980s G.I. Joe comics more than the cartoon? Thank Larry Hama (center) for that. He also wrote a popular run of Wolverine in the 1990s.

When and What He Did at Timely/Atlas/Marvel: Editor and writer from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Marvel-ous Accomplishments: If you were a fan of the original G.I. Joe animated series as a kid, you enjoyed it despite it’s kiddie-cartoon-made-to-sell-toys cheesiness.
If you were a fan of Marvel’s G.I. Joe monthly series, you enjoyed it because it downplayed that cheesiness and brought as much hard-edge attitude and military verisimilitude that it could to a title that was still designed to sell toys.

You can thank Larry Hama for that, who cannibalized a pitch he had for a new Nick Fury series and turned it into G.I. Joe. Hama wrote almost every issue of the Marvel series from 1982 until 1994. It was the perfect comic for preteens, growing up on a steady diet of Rambo, Reagan and Red Dawn.

Hama followed that up with a long run on Wolverine, a run responsible of stripping the title character of his Adamantium skeleton and one that remains popular among fans of the ‘90s era of excess in comics. Plus, he appeared in an episode of M*A*S*H as a North Korean soldier.

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http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-larry-hama/
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....ay_larry_hama/

[aja_christopher]

G.I. Joe -- some of the best toys, comic books, television series, and animated movies ever made.



Had some pretty catchy theme music, too.

[aja_christopher]

The man himself...

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Marvel Premiere #18, Doug Moench and Larry Hama AND Wolverine by Larry Hama & Marc Silvestri - Volume 1 & 2

[Kuwagaton]

Nth Man and Wolverine are two of the raddest runs of all time. Hama has a knack for mixing war history, general combat philosophy, and Japanese culture... which comes in handy in a genre where you have superhuman samurai/ninja fighting across time. There are many good comic writers, but no one else has this insight.

Marvel recently released the third of his trade trilogy with Silvestri. Just a pure, perfect stretch of Wolverine with excellent guest creators. People always remember that Wolverine was super in demand, and I think Hama is the underrated reason why. His FIRST issue has Wolverine in a small bar facing 50 yakuza who get a berserker-high off of thunder god candy made from sacred monkey brain serum. It ends with the last one being eaten by two sharks at once while also being exploded by a grenade in each shark's mouth.

[Chainsaw Vigilante]

Nth Man and Wolverine are two of the raddest runs of all time. Hama has a knack for mixing war history, general combat philosophy, and Japanese culture... which comes in handy in a genre where you have superhuman samurai/ninja fighting across time. There are many good comic writers, but no one else has this insight.

Perfectly said.
Happy Birthday Mr. Hama!

[The_Phenom2893]

Happy Birthday Larry Hama!

He's the reason I became a huge Wolverine fan. Larry Hama's Wolverine run IMHO is the best Wolverine run ever. I usually rank him first.

This was my first Wolverine issue of his run. The art was by Adam Kubert.

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http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....ay_larry_hama/

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http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....ay_larry_hama/

[Gaastra]

Yo Joe! Happy birthday!

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Marvel Premiere #16 Page 3 by Larry Hama & Dick Giordano

http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....ay_larry_hama/

[K7P5V]

"Silent Interlude!" from G.I. Joe #21 is one of my all-time favorite comic books. The reason why it's my favorite is because not only did he write it, but he also drew it (with help from both Leialoha & Janson). If at all possible, I would love to know where else I could see more of Mr. Hama's artwork (besides the Iron Fist artwork from previous posts).

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Larry Hama is known as the man who created the G.I. Joe universe, but one of his biggest accomplishments in comics was G.I. Joe issue #21 AKA The Silent Issue.
In this video, Larry explains the story behind the book, why it came to be, and how he made it.
Plus, Larry also explains why he made one of the biggest twists in the G.I. Joe mythos happen in this issue
spoilers:

the revelation that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow shared a similar past!

end of spoilers

[K7P5V]

Awesome! One of the best twists in comic book history (IMHO):