The Adventures of GI Joe

In 1969, Hasbro launched The Adventures of GI Joe as a comic-book tie-in to its iconic action-figure line, running for 11 issues. The series brought the original 12-inch "America's Movable Fighting Man" to four-color adventures, with the hero—whose name was never used in the comic—battling Cold War-era threats. Though short-lived, it stands as one of the earliest licensed toy-to-comic adaptations, setting a template for the military-adventure genre that would later define the franchise.