Wet-Suit (1986 Special Mission: Brazil)
Back in the day, I bought a lot of my comics at 7-11 of all places. I didn’t get the chance to pick up issues each month, so my following of the Joe comic was sporadic. Even so, I had a good time reading the issues I could get, sometimes many times over. It’s almost hard to remember the times when media wasn’t instantly within arm’s reach.
Wet Suit’s first appearance in the GI Joe comic is my fondest memory of the character. The big selling point of the Joe comic for me at the time was the cover art. Mike Zeck’s art (a superstar cover artist if there ever was one), instantly articulated the issue’s focus and sold me on it. It didn’t hurt that they also just flat out rocked.
The cover for issue 47 is iconic and pure 1986 Joe greatness. Wet Suit, Beachhead and the Devilfish were all must-buys after reading. Inside was more of the usual gripping storytelling of Hama and Whigham, and also a cool Cobra vehicle in the form of the Hydro Sled.
This version of Wet-Suit was included in the famous Toys R Us exclusive Special Mission: Brazil set. Of the four repainted Joes in the set, Wet-Suit fared the best in his new color scheme. The silver makes for a very realistic looking dive suit. It’s too bad the accessories are identical to his original version. Either way, this is a nice new version of the Joe team’s meanest Navy SEAL, and is different enough that he could also be used as a new character.
Mike Zeck’s artwork is a huge part of what made RAH so great in the 80’s. Those covers are the stuff of legend. Wet-Suit certainly benefited from debuting during this time and has always been a favorite. I remember passing on the Brazil set when it showed up in my area. Big mistake. This version of Wet-Suit is very neat.
I got the Brazil set and never got a regular Wet-Suit, I mean, why bother when this version was better. Downside was, I realized this guy would be worth $$$ and stopped playing with him.
I never had a chance to own this figure, but that color scheme is a ton better than the standard release. The biggest downside to this character was that he had no removable helmet/mask, so his use was always limited. The ’92 version rectified that, but the neon yellow did it no favors.
Awesome character still waiting on a truly awesome figure.