Introduction

The GI Joe Adventure Team How it all began...

First printed in The Adventure Team Club magazine 1971.

The GI Joe Adventure Team is a group of dedicated men whose only goal is to help their fellow man. They are united to protect people from evil forces and to help people in times of emergency. This is the story of how it all began.

Several years ago, the United Nations gave G.I. Joe the assignment of locating the worlds number one bad guy, Black Bart. The search led G.I. Joe to the land of Sumatra, where Black Bart was working undecover as a foreman on a rubber plantation. G.I. Joe had to get evidence against Black Bart before capturing him. So he took a job working on the rubber plantation where he could keep an eye on Black Bart.

Being very careful not to be discovered, G.I. Joe spent several weeks just watching Black Bart. But somehow, Black Bart found out about him and some of Black Bart's men arranged for an "accident" to happen. While G.I. Joe was working on the plantation, a large tree was cut and pushed to fall on him. Luckily, he heard the tree falling and at the last moment jumped to avoid death. He was knocked unconscious and woke up in the hospital. He was not seriously hurt, but he did have some small cuts and bruises and a sprained ankle. The doctor urged G.I. Joe to stay in the hospital for a couple of days until he recovered. Imagine how G.I. Joe felt. He was confined to his bed in the hospital and Black Bart was free to continue his evil deeds.

G.I. Joe needed someone to keep an eye on Black Bart while he was recovering in the hospital. He thought of the man, Big Jim, whom he often worked with on the plantation and decided to ask for his help. G.I. Joe asked the nurse to get Big Jim to come to the hospital. He had to trust someone, and he believed Big Jim was just the man to trust.

G.I. Joe explained his assignment to Big Jim and asked him if he would watch Black Bart in order to get enough evidence to convict him. Although he had never done anything like this before, Big Jim agreed to help.

The following day a telegram arrived at the hospital. It asked that G.I. Joe fly to Venice to catch a group of spies. G.I. Joe had not even finished his assignment in Sumatra! He thought about the problem for awhile and he had an idea. He summoned Big Jim.

"Look", he said, "I have to leave, I've got another assignment somewhere else. But Black Bart has got to be stopped. You stay here and gather enough evidence to convict him and then turn it over to the authorities." Big Jim agreed to help and G.I. Joe began to think about his new assignment.

G.I. Joe's new assignment led him to Venice where he began tracking down spies who were trying to get their hands on top-secret government microdots. After two weeks of investigation, he finally found the spies. They were working as gondoliers on the Venice canals.

Having discovered that G.I. Joe was on their trail, the gondoliers followed him and knocked him unconscious. Tied up and blindfolded, G.I. Joe was taken by car to a remote area far from Venice, where the gondoliers locked him in an old shack. After regaining consciousness, G.I. Joe struggled to free himself. He knew he must escape in order to stop the spies from getting the top-secret government microdots. He remembered that he had a knife hidden in a hollowed out heel of his shoe. Taking the knife, he cut the ropes to free himself. He then pried open the locked door of the shack and began the long walk to Venice.

After walking a few miles, G.I. Joe came upon a small airport. There he found a young pilot with a plane. Knowing that he must get back to Venice very quickly, G.I. Joe decided to confide in the pilot. The young pilot, being very keen for adventure, agreed to help G.I. Joe.

Once airborne, G.I. Joe used the airplane's radio to call headquarters. They told him that there was an emergency in South America. A small town was about to be swept away by a raging flood. What could G.I. Joe do? He was in Venice trying to track down a gang of spies. There was still no word about Black Bart at the rubber plantation in Sumatra. And now he was needed in South America.

"It's crazy," G.I. Joe said, "how can I be in three places at one time?" Turning to the pilot G.I. Joe said, "I've got to stay here. How would you like to go to South America?" "Me," said the young man?" "Sure I'll go. I could use a change of scenery."

G.I. Joe explained the problem to the pilot. As soon as he had finished, G.I. Joe put on a parachute and bailed out of the plane. As he jumped, the pilot could barely hear G.I. Joe say, "Good luck, my friend. You'll make a fine member of my team!"

Back in Venice, G.I. Joe finally captured the gang of spies. With the help of the local police, he rounded up the gang in a few days and recovered the top-secret government microdots. The government was very thankful to G.I. Joe and helped him return to the United States.

Two weeks later, while back at headquarters, G.I. Joe was working at his desk when the pilot who had taken the assignment in South America walked in. "How did you make out?" asked G.I. Joe. "Fine," said the pilot. "I remembered that sandbags were placed at a dike in my country when we had a flood problem a few years ago, so I organized the natives to bolster the dam. Then I flew to the other end of the tide flat and dropped a few explosives. The pressure was immediately relieved and the area was saved from destruction." "You've done an excellent job," G.I. Joe said. "I like a man who can organize and think on his feet."

While the pilot was still in G.I. Joe's office, Big Jim from the rubber plantation reported to G.I. Joe about Black Bart. "You were right," he said. "Black Bart was an enemy agent. I made a list of all the men who worked for him. But before I could turn the evidence over to the authorities, I was discovered. Black Bart and his men chased after me through the plantation. Luckily, I had an inflatable rubber raft hidden on the other side of the channel and I made an escape. They tried to follow me, but I managed to reach the authorities first. With the evidence that I gave the authorities, Black Bart and his men were caught and are in jail."

After hearing both stories, G.I. Joe knew that he had recruited two men who could handle themselves in any emergency. "Men," he said, "you have both done excellent jobs. You have completed your assignments with flying colors! I need men like you. I will train you, and you in turn will recruit and train other men. We will be ready and able to help the world. Together, we will be known as the Adventure Team!"

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