As I spend more time on the Comics staff at I'm With Geek, I learn more and have even more awesome experiences. Here in America, we celebrate Black History Month in February. In England, apparently it is in October. So, we decided to do a themed week celebrating black super heroes and comic book characters. My choice of character to spotlight is none other than GI JOE team member Marvin F. Hinton, AKA Roadblock.
Growing up, GI JOE was my second favourite story, closely following Transformers. As a child in a family with deep military roots, the tales had an incredibly personal touch. Both of my grandfathers were US Army veterans during WWII. My grandfather Harrell was a gunner on an anti-aircraft flak cannon in Papua New Guinea. My grandfather Baxter was on Omaha Beach during Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. For their efforts and injuries during combat, they both received Purple Hearts. My father also served in the Alabama National Guard as a squad leader and truck driver in a transportation company.
Hama had a finger on the pulse of things. Being a person of Japanese descent here in the Great Melting Pot, he saw the country as it is, a conglomeration of people from all walks of life coming together as one, united underneath our stars and stripes. He reflected that in this title. You'll often hear the phrase “token” character tossed around. Hama, as evidenced by his work, didn't believe in these. He believed in a well-rounded group comprised of many cultures. Many walks of life were represented in his highly trained special mission force. There was Zap, a Hispanic character. Airborne and Spirit were Native American. Quick Kick was of Japanese descent just like Hama, and the character Tunnel Rat was also modelled after him. Torpedo was a native Hawaiian. There were also many African American characters, such as Stalker and Heavy Duty. So, as you can see, Hama went to great lengths in order to assemble a well-rounded cast of characters.
Thanks to stereotypes, especially within entertainment, one might think that growing up on a cattle farm in the rural panhandle of Florida, I might not have been acclimated to a black character. Although I encountered people who weren't taught the same lessons of tolerance and embracing others based on their actions towards us, not the colour of their skin, I grew up in a pretty integrated household. My momma's best friend was a black lady that also worked as a teacher at the same school as she. Although some might say that his “jive” style of rhyming speech is racist, I always liked that about Roadblock and felt it distinguished him from the rest of the cast and made him cool. Back in those days I had no idea that such a thing could be seen as detrimental. He echoed some of the same speech patterns I had heard “Mama Jones”, as she asked to be called, speak. The farmer community was close knit as well. It didn't matter who it was, if tragedy or hardship befell one man, they all pulled together to help out. Seeing these men of colour work seamlessly side by side with my father made seeing Roadblock and all the other Joes of colour seem the norm, instead of an anomaly.
Every soldier has an MOS, or Military Occupational Specialty. The Joes had a wide variety of these, as any balanced group should. Barbeque was a firefighter. Scarlett was an Intelligence Agent and, while I'm on the subject, I want to give a quick nod to the fact that, in addition to showcasing a variety of ethnicities within GI JOE, Hama also did a wonderful job with the female characters. Although beautiful and feminine, these girls packed a wallop. You want a damsel in distress? Not here. The bad guys were the ones in distress when these girls were on the job. So, he presented gender equality as well.
But, let’s get back on track. There were also some characters with odd specialties, like Psyche Out, the psychological warfare specialist and Sci-Fi, the laser trooper. Although Snake Eyes is often cited as a fan favourite, once again, I feel the need to express my displeasure over ninjas. Katana sword? Sure, pretty lethal in close quarters combat. But, it’s pretty hard to get within slicing range when you're dodging a hail of bullets. And who is capable of putting up a hail of bullets? Roadblock! As the heavy machine gunner, he was the big boy with the big gun. And I really like big guns!
I hope everyone has enjoyed the spotlight on my favourite GI JOE. He earned a place in my heart as one of my earliest fictional heroes. But, why should we wait until Black History Month to recognize such characters? Shouldn't the contributions and qualities of all characters be celebrated in all twelve months? These are the facts as to why I like Roadblock. What black characters endeared themselves to you and why?