Doc (1983)
Doc was among the first group of replacements in the Joe comic, and I still remember seeing the commerical one morning before school. I just had to have the Polar Battle Bear afterwards. As wonderful as the toys and comic were, the one-two punch of marketing brilliance in an animated comic book commercial was equally important in getting us little guys begging our parents to buy GI Joes.
Though Doc was a pacifist, he didn’t have a problem throwing down on Destro (with a snowball and a solid tackle) on his first mission. Doc didn’t come out the victor by a long shot, but he did get credit for saving his fellow Joes by securing an antidote from Destro in the scuffle. Doc actually gets quite a large role and some great characterization in that debut appearance.
The 1983 Joes are still among my favorites, both for the explosion of specialties as well as accessories. Doc filled out the ranks with a much needed medic. It’s a long standing army toy tradition; even my old green Marx army men had a couple of tiny stretcher bearing figures. Though he wasn’t equiped with a weapon, Doc still saw a lot of use, thanks to his essential battlefield skills and his great stretcher accessory. Unlike my poor little Marx medics who walked around forever empty-handed, I never misplaced my Joes’ stretcher.
Back to the Marvel comic, Doc was later one of a group of Joes who were gunned down by the murderous SAW Viper in Trucial Abysmia. It’s disappointing that he was a part of such brutal character house-cleaning. I didn’t have a problem with most of Battle Force 2000 getting eighty-sixed in a further culling of the ranks, but I would rather have seen an old friend like Doc simply retired or kicked upstairs.
Looks like the pegs on your stretcher wore down–you won’t be able to attach it to the underside of the Dragonfly. Too bad Hasbro lost the molds to his arms and waist–that would’ve saved us the torment of later Duke figures with Gung-Ho’s arms and waist.
That Polar Battle Bear commercial got me hooked on both RAH and the comic! I was home from school and sick in bed when it ran one day in 1983. “Gung-Ho! Airborne! Doc! And Snow Job!” It was 100% pure awesomeness. Doc is my favorite of the medics, among my top 5 Joes ever and easily one of the best characters in both the cartoon and comic. He is Beloved with a capital B.
Man, I remember picking up issue #109 where the first actual Joe deaths begin and thinking “please, please, let it be anyone but Doc…” Sure enough, freaking Larry Hama killed him off. Over time, Doc has proven irreplaceable. It’s like having Wild Bill replaced as the main transport pilot! A huge, huge mistake on Larry’s part. But the figure is, and shall remain, a genuine classic.
R.I.P Dr Greer, you are missed
one of my favorite Joes, this figure is the definition of a classic and a must-have for all collections
One of the best G.I.JOE ecer (as a toy and as a comics character).
A likable, useful character with a solid figure. He holds up well against newer figures mostly, too. Never figured out why he wore khaki, though; must be a Med-Corps thing. And Lifeline may’ve gotten more thunder, but I prefer Doc hands down.
A true classic figure in a year of classic figures for the franchise. I would love to see Doc and Lifeline in a story together.
Doc was the first to die. Killing him was just wrong and it was the last issue of the comic I read.