G.I. Joe Extreme
G.I. Joe Extreme is a line of military-themed toys from Hasbro and the next major incarnation of G.I. Joe after G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero folded in 1994. The series ran from 1996 to 1997.
It was actually preceded by Sgt. Savage and the Screaming Eagles, a one-time only series that filled the hiatus between A Real American Hero and Extreme. The only character from that line was carried over to Extreme, Sgt. Savage himself. Because of Sgt. Savage’s inclusion, the Screaming Eagles series is considered by collectors to be part of the G.I. Joe series even though it was never labeled as G.I. Joe. The only other tie the Screaming Eagles had was a cartoon short that featured characters from the A Real American Hero series.
The Extreme series lasted only two years. The action figures stand at 5” tall and the size allowed for more details especially in the facial and muscular features. However, the line is criticized by collectors for having even more limited articulation than its predecessor. The title logo is reminiscent of the one used by Hasbro for the classic 12” series from the 1960s and 70s. Extreme was supported by a short-lived comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics and even had an animated series which ran for two seasons totaling 26 episodes. The TV series was produced by Claster. The line as a whole, though, never enjoyed the success the A Real American Hero series had and lasted only two years.
The series' tagline was "Extreme times call for extreme heroes!"
Story Overview
The series is set in 2006 where a new enemy emerges, the terrorist organization SKAR. The toyline never made it clear if the name was meant to be an acronym but it was often spelled in all capitals. However, in the Dark Horse comics, SKAR was an acronym for Soldiers of Kaos, Anarchy, and Ruin. The group is led by the Iron Klaw, a former count of a European country.
In the comics published by Dark Horse, the original leader of SKAR was a woman named the Duchess, who wanted the royal line to regain control of her country’s government through whatever means necessary and was assassinated by Iron Klaw, her lieutenant, when he became more ambitious and craved world domination.
The Joe Team is a much smaller group. Their designated commander is Lt. Stone. Their main headquarters is located on an uncharted island while their presidential liaison is a man named Mr. Clancy. It has been hinted that Clancy is much older than he looks and has been battling the SKAR organization far longer than the Joes.
Connection to A Real American Hero
It was never made clear how much of a connection Extreme had to the original A Real American Hero series. The Extreme series never made any references to A Real American Hero and was considered a separate continuity from ARAH.
The only character who was carried over from ARAH was Sgt. Savage. The Screaming Eagles toyline spawned a short animated featurette that would have served as a pilot for a possible television series. In the featurette, Sgt. Savage was a World War II American soldier captured and experimented upon by Nazi forces who eventually fell into a cryopreservation sleep in 1944. He was eventually found and revived by Hawk, Lady Jaye and Doc 50 years later in 1994, all characters from the A Real American Hero series.
Characters
See main article: List of G.I. Joe Extreme characters
Comics
Dark Horse Comics acquired the rights to publish the G.I. Joe Extreme comics in 1996. The four issue mini-series was written by Mike W. Barr with art by Tatsuya Ishida and Scott Reed. The cover to the first issue (The Hour of the Iron Claw) was done by Frank Miller, the second issue (Pawn of the Iron Klaw) by Norm Breyfogle and issues three (The Gang's All Here) and four (The Ultimate Price) by Walter Simonson. The plotline of the mini-series revealed events that occured before the television series, but also contradicts it on several points, notable in that Iron Klaw is still second-in-command of the military wing of SKAR under the Duchess of Mklavia at the time of the formation of the new Joe Team, and with the inclusion of two new members of the Joe Team, Short Fuze and Tall Sally.
The mini-series was immediately followed by an ongoing series. This series followed the continuity of the comic and began with a three-part story (Red Scream: Hunted, Red Scream: Shakes Hands with Satan, Red Scream: Island Assault) that featured an anti-globalist group led by a woman called Red Scream who sought to discredit (and eventually destroy) the Inter-Alliance by impersonating the Joe Team and committing acts of terror. The plotline ended with the capture and defeat of both Red Scream and Iron Klaw. A fourth issue (All This and World War II and The Last, Wild Heart: The Fourth Man) began a plotline where remanants of the Iron Army were still active, but it was never concluded. A fickle comic market and the poor performance of the toys led to the ongoing series lasting only four issues. Dark Horse Comics claimed the comic was on hiatus in its news releases, rather than cancelled.
Episode List
Season 1 (1995-1996)
| Image | Title | Original Airdate | Episode | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoning of Heroes | September 23, 1995 | 01 | |||
| With the mysterious organization SKAR (Soldiers of Ruin, Anarchy, and Kaos) poised to assault Europe, a new team of Joes must be formed to deal with the threats faced in this brave new world. | |||||
| Serious Leg Work | September 30, 1995 | 02 | |||
| Mayday is injured and is forced to stay behind to "guard" the Joe's base while the rest of the team is out on a new mission. Unfortunately for her, Iron Klaw sees this as the perfect opportunity to assault the base, dispatching Inferno and a squadron of Skyreens to do just that. | |||||
| Point of Honor | October 7, 1995 | 03 | |||
| The Joes are dispatched to claim an old missile silo before SKAR can get there. Lt. Stone opts to send Ballistic, Mayday (who is still injured from the last episode), and the mercenary Quick Stryke on this mission, but just who is Quick Stryke really working for? | |||||
| Chips and a Cold, Cold Drink | October 14, 1995 | 04 | |||
| Black Dragon and Metal Head launch a daring strike against SKAR in an attempt to steal a valuable piece of technology. Unfortunately they have to deal with a very upset Rampage who intends to utilize this technology himself in his bid to overthrow Iron Klaw. | |||||
| To Catch a Klaw | October 21, 1995 | 05 | |||
| After Ballistic, Mayday, and Lt. Stone walk into a trap set by SKAR, the team begins to suspect that Count von Rani may be working for SKAR. Although Clancey, the team's contact, dismisses this immediately, Lt. Stone decides to infiltrate von Rani's castle while Sgt. Savage launches an attack against SKAR forces in order to gauge the Count's reaction. | |||||
| Relics | November 4, 1995 | 06 | |||
| When Iron Klaw busts an old Iron Army cryogenics expert out of prison, Sgt. Savage takes it upon himself to see that he is recaptured. Along the way we learn a little about the team's "oldest" member. | |||||
| Dawn's Oily Light | November 18, 1995 | 07 | |||
| When SKAR seeks to disrupt the world's oil supply by seizing oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, Harpoon, Metal Head, and Black Dragon move to stop them. But when Rampage captures Metal Head and Black Dragon, Harpoon must rely on his Navy SEALs training to rescue his comrades and foil SKAR's latest scheme. | |||||
| Crawling from the Wreckage | December 2, 1995 | 08 | |||
| After a new weapons satellite is downed, it's a race against time for the Joes to beat both Inferno and the super-soldier Wreckage to the scene of the crash. | |||||
| Extend a Helping Klaw | December 9, 1995 | 09 | |||
| Rampage creates a new weapon that turns living beings into walking time bombs. When Stone is hit by the weapon defending Count von Rani, help in dispatching Rampage comes from an unlikely source... | |||||
| Now Hear This | December 16, 1995 | 10 | |||
| When Inferno steals a device that projects subliminal messages called the Mesmerizer, his real aims in life become apparent, as does his life story. | |||||
| Winner Take All | January 6, 1996 | 11 | |||
| After Metalhead is critically wounded, Freight leaves the Joes and returns to his career in football. Unfortunately for him, Iron Klaw is in the market for a new super soldier. | |||||
| Coup of the Klaw | January 13, 1996 | 12 | |||
| Iron Klaw seizes control of the United States and orders the Army to hunt down and eliminate the Joes still on the loose. Despite the fact that the situation seems hopeless, the Joes continue to fight even as the country they knew seems to collapse around them. (Part 1) | |||||
| Rebellion | January 20, 1996 | 13 | |||
| Iron Klaw seizes control of the United States and orders the Army to hunt down and eliminate the Joes still on the loose. Despite the fact that the situation seems hopeless, the Joes continue to fight even as the country they knew seems to collapse around them. (Part 2) | |||||
Season 2 (1996-1997)
| Image | Title | Original Airdate | Episode | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SKAR Under Siege | September 20, 1996 | 14 | |||
| With Iron Klaw's apparent defeat, SKAR begins to fall to ruin as the Joes try and discover what really happened in Count von Rani's castle the night before. | |||||
| Operation Underground | September 27, 1996 | 15 | |||
| SKAR recruiting efforts, a mad bomber, and an attempt to get the team disbanded plague the Joes on a very bad day indeed. | |||||
| A Traitor Among Us | October 4, 1996 | 16 | |||
| The situation comes to a head when Sgt. Savage accusses Metalhead of treason when the latest in a string of missing secruity briefings points directly to the computer hacker. | |||||
| Iron Klaw Unmasked | October 11, 1996 | 17 | |||
| The source of Clancy's erratic behavior is discovered, but is it too late? | |||||
| The Search for Clancy | October 18, 1996 | 18 | |||
| Now that "Clancy" has been revealed to be Iron Klaw, the search for the real Clancy begins. But what exactly did happen to the team's contact after the failed SKAR invasion of the United States? | |||||
| Sabotage in the Sky | October 25, 1996 | 19 | |||
| A raid on a SKAR research facility reveals links to a large aviation corportation. Stone orders Mayday and Harpoon to infiltrate the company and discover what is going on. | |||||
| The Silencers | December 20, 1996 | 20 | |||
| The assassin known as The Silencer lures Eagle Eye to his island hideaway to settle an old score. Soon after, Eagle Eye's shooting hand is injured and his vision is impaired by The Silencer as the two men began a nightlong game of cat and mouse. | |||||
| Rampage for President | December 27, 1996 | 21 | |||
| Iron Klaw frees Rampage from prison and sets him on the path to election as president of a Third World country. | |||||
| The Hard Road Home | January 3, 1997 | 22 | |||
| Wreckage: Revenge! | January 10, 1997 | 23 | |||
| Rampage has organized a gun-running deal, but needs a little muscle in case things get rough. He convinces Wreckage to provide that muscle, promising to reveal Wreckage's origin to him. When things don't turn out as planned, Wreckage ends up on a journey with Freight. Together they discover Wreckage's true origins, helping to free the man who has become a monster. | |||||
| Fear at Fifty Fathoms | February 7, 1997 | 24 | |||
| Metalhead Goes AWOL | February 14, 1997 | 25 | |||
| Betrayal | February 21, 1997 | 26 | |||
Trivia
- Ballistic's name was changed to Eagle Eye in Season 2 because of broadcasting standards "No Gun Related Names" rule.
- The Iron Klaw character was recovered as one of the villains of the Japanese Binaltech storyline.
- Lt. Stone appears as an old friend of Duke in G.I. Joe: Sigma 6.