Captivating Cover: Serpentor and the Mummy Warrior
Since I’m often pressed for time during this little blog adventure of mine, I’m starting up a new feature that I hope will allow me to contribute a wider variety of interesting content without taxing my time too much. Two birds with one stone! Focusing on GI Joe media, particularly comics, novels and the like, I can get away with devoting my attention solely on a cover. I don’t have to actually read what’s inside! Lazy? Perhaps, but most folks don’t expect to read a 400 page treatise each time they hit this blog anyway. And don’t worry too much, I’ll only be occasionally going to the well for these.
Starting off, it’s Serpentor and the Mummy Warrior, one of the Find Your Fate books released in the 1980s. You may find the author’s name familiar if you grew up in the 1990s as well. The pulpy cover on this thing reminds me of the myriad supernatural and action novel series release during the 1970s. While not sleazy like the cheap novels of old, there is an exploitive feel to this one that also gets my sci-fi/horror fan juices flowing. When GI Joe and horror combine, there are not many cooler melanges within my pop culture geek sensibilities. For instance, when Cobra went in search of Vlad Tepes’ DNA during Arise Serpentor Arise, I was in hog heaven.
So what’s this story about? I have no earthly idea. Whatever it is, I’m fairly certain that the tale contained within cannot possibly match the excitement that the cover generates within one’s imagination. I assume Serpentor unleashes an ancient Egyptian mummy to terrorize the GI Joe team. Judging from the cover, he’s turning the horror dial up to 11.
I still have 2 books from the Indiana Jones Find Your Fate! I had no idea FYF branched out to other franchises too!
Written by R.L.Stine? That name is certainly familiar to me. I remember all the kids i went to primary school loved his Goosebumps series. I never cared for them but i would have loved this if i found it
I do have all 20 of these but I’ve only read a few so far as the find-your-fate aspect is a bit tedious after a while. i prefer the half a dozen or so standard novels.
I have the entire set. While it is cool that is a book series about GiJoe, the main character in each is a made person relating to the child reader. As such, the whole experience is a bit far fetched and tedious at points.
Awesome vintage cover!
I’ve got about 15 of these. Hard to track down a complete set.
Great idea! So this is like a “choose your own adventure”? On the cover, I especially like Sci-Fi trading in his laser rifle for a shotgun. Everyone knows shotguns are best for zombie/mummy-busting.
I had the one with Mindbender on the cover and a couple of the regular novels. Much like CYOA, the FYF books featured some rather grisly demises for the young reader and there were times where a wrong choice not only doomed you, but a couple of the Joes as well. Depressing stuff!
I had one of the novels which Stine wrote (Jungle Raid) and it was actually pretty good. Lots of action with some of the Joes brainwashed into fighting their buddies. Look for the cover (by the great Earl Norem, I believe) with Roadblock, Crazylegs, and Lt. Falcon taking on the Thunder Machine.
These book are hard to find nowadays and quite pricey in unused condition. Someday, I will try to put together a set, though.
I cant really go on an anti-serpentor rant as i havnt read it. But judging the book by its cover, i can see he’s trying to reserect a mummy with electrodes. Such an event would cause the mummy to burst into flames. Also, the mummy would litterally be brainless as all organs were removed during the mummification process.
Serpentor is feeling homesick and wants his mummy. Sci-Fi’s art seems based on some other character art, but I cannot quite place it. It’s a bit like Recondo’s card art but that’s not it. Serpentor’s sleeveless look is interesting.