A Joe in the Sights: Ice Cream Soldier

Two scoops of deeeeeath!

My final GI Joe determine was V4 Snake Eyes in 1991. With the road all of the sudden splintering into quite a lot of sub-factions, and with a deluge of re-releases of acquainted characters in brighter colours, it felt just like the time to maneuver on had arrived. Toybiz’s 5-inch Marvel figures had been grabbing my consideration, and I used to be nice with that call. It will be a while earlier than I turned conscious of something that occurred with the road post-‘91.

Years later, Ice Cream Soldier popped up on some checklist of the worst-named Joes, alongside the admittedly sadly named Skidmark. Being fully unaware of this Joes existence, the identify struck me as odd, as a result of I’ve at all times been a fan of the adventures of Sgt. Rock and his ragtag band of troopers named Straightforward Firm. One member of Straightforward Firm that I remembered distinctly from my Sgt. Rock studying days was named Ice Cream Soldier.

Due to this, it by no means struck me as a “unhealthy identify” because the checklist said, however an homage. The unique Straightforward Firm Ice Cream Soldier was so named due to his potential to remain cool in a firefight, so I assumed the Joe’s identify was meant to evoke an identical sentiment.

Effectively, possibly, however the actuality is he appeared to be named Ice Cream Soldier paradoxically, as a result of what he really did was burn Cobra to loss of life together with his flamethrower.

The Joe line wasn’t a stranger to Flaming Joes of Dying. Blowtorch was the earliest proponent of crispy Cobras. Charbroil adopted swimsuit. However none of them had been named Ice Cream Soldier. The opposite guys had apparent flame-inspired names. You count on a man named Ice Cream Soldier to fling Neapolitan at you. Or possibly he’s acquired a freeze gun. Or……actually digs chilly climate, like Snow Job or Iceberg.

Nope. Ice Cream Soldier had a flamethrower and a missile launcher. The dude’s identify was a lie! It was like naming Snake Eyes “Blabbermouth” or one thing. He most likely doesn’t even hum Turkey within the Straw when he goes into battle.

Regardless of my unique ignorance of Ice Cream Soldier’s existence, he would undoubtedly have been a determine I’d have been eager to select up had I been gathering Joes in ’94. I dig the kinetic frenzy of the colours of his outfit rubbing up in opposition to one another. I actually just like the haunting creepiness of his masks. He doesn’t fairly appear to be he’d match into the Star Wars universe, however he appears like he’d match right into a Star Wars knockoff from the early 80s.

And sure, I even like his identify, each as an homage and as an oddity within the line.

Ice Cream Soldier made no cartoon appearances, and as greatest as I can inform made no look within the preliminary Hama-penned GI Joe run. His existence was confined to a single determine in 1994. He swooped into the world shrouded in thriller and flames, and left behind an everlasting legacy of head-scratching and…flames.