G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Mini-Series 1, Episode 3
"The M.A.S.S. Device Part 3: The Worms of Death"
Original Airdate: September 14, 1983
Writer: Ron Friedman
Director: Dan Thompson
Cast: Michael Bell, B.J. Ward, Michael Yama, Arthur Burghardt, Morgan Lofting
I recently read all 155 issues of Marvel's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic, the one that launched the franchise in 1982, the one with the commercials. And I did so in a super compressed time, over a couple of weeks. The one constant through those core 155 issues that were published during the modern heyday of G.I. Joe (1982-1994), is the word "realism." Every single letters page has at least one missive from a reader about how G.I. Joe had lost touch with reality, how they yearned for the comic to return to its gritty roots. More death, please! More "realism."