Larry Hama

Larry Hama is a writer ,editor,actor,and artist; certainly a hero who need no introduction. He turned GI Joe into an " American Enterprise " created Bucky O Hare, Nth Man, wrote and illustrated countless comics, and has acted in random theater,TV,and movies ( including M.A.S.H. and the Warriors.

1. Did you ever research mind control, specifically military applications, and include this in your work? (...In aspects of your Wolverine comics and GiJoe cartoons. In speaking with X-Men writer David McDermott on this topic, he confirmed a healthy interest in the subject matter while writing mind control themed episodes,ones involving Wolvie, that aren't far from your Wolvie comics... )

Never researched that stuff at all. Just made it up. I got the idea for the ultra-low frequency transmitter in RAH #2 from an article in the NY Times Magazine. I also had a subscription to

LANCET for many years, that may have influenced me in some way.

2. Between Conan, GiJoe, Bucky O' Hare, Mario, and a host of other Sunbow and non Sunbow shows from the same era, the theme of underground reptilians wreaking havoc on a surface populace, reptilian human hybridization,or something quite like it, seems to predominate. Do you know why?

Have no idea. I'm a big fan of Heinrich Kley-- that's where the toads come from.

3. When you were making all this wonderful entertainment for us to grow up fascinated by, did it dawn on you that you were kind of training kids to save the world, in a world where entertainment and perhaps elements of culture, were planning on collapsing? Most scenarios from GiJoe episodes seem almost pre-cog or conspiracy related... If Jack Kirby were alive, I'd ask him the same thing with his work, but...was this intentional?

I didn't deliberately set out to do anything like that. My main concern was to do stories about characters who had a moral and ethical center. I was a bit dismayed by whole anti-hero thing going on at the time, and the incredible self-involvement of the mutants.

4. I've heard strange things about " Hasbro" secrets... Can you tell me anything about this? Would it coincide with David Wise talking about the network forcing his hand in writing decisions based on false flag alien invasions? ( TMNT Season 9 )

I didn't realize that there were any secrets left. For the most part Hasbro let me pretty much do what I pleased on the comic (with minor exceptions) and of course, I never had anything to do with the tv animated shows. If I knew any secrets, I wouldn't tell. The last thing they told me when I got out of the army was "everything you can't forget, deny."

5. Does Zartan in some ways represent Black Water? Or perhaps a Manchurian type super soldier? ( with his MPD and all...)What are some of the fears about the military industrial complex that you personally believe have come true?

I believe Eisenhower was absolutely right about the military industrial complex. Hence "Komplex" in Bucky O'Hare. Zartan does not represent Blackwater. Zartan has less of a hidden agenda than Destro.

6. Who does Destro represent?

There are no hidden meanings and the characters don't stand for anything other than who they are. If you play the GI Joe theme backwards, it doesn't tell you a secret message about Satan. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds is not about LSD. NOBODY so far has glommed onto ANY of the secret stuff I imbedded in the GI Joe stories. Nth Man is the opposite. Every character in that series is based on a real person.

Wonderful and VERY funny interview about Zartan

Listing of Hama's work at JoeGuide.com

Bio at the GI Joe wiki