Grunt (G.I. Joe)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grunt is a character from the G.I. Joe series.
Grunt is an infantryman with the G.I. Joe Team. His real name is Robert W. Graves and born in Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Advanced Infantry Training and is in top ten of his class.
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[edit] A Real American Hero
The character was part of the original 1982 line of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. His action figure featured him in a gray combat body suit. A re-colored version was released in 1984 and bundled with the Falcon attack glider. It would not be until 1991 that he would receive another action figure edition with an all-new mold and head sculpt. The file card that came with the 1991 version followed the comics’ storyline where he did leave the Joe Team and went to get his engineering degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology but differed in continuity by having him come back.
[edit] Marvel comics
Grunt first appeared in the first issue of the G.I. Joe comics by Marvel Comics. As with most of the other original Joes, his body suit is a full green rather than the gray of the toy. He was featured regularly in the early issues of the series but as more new characters were introduced, he was shunted into the background. In issue #55, Grunt leaves the Joe Team to go to Georgia Tech but still kept in touch, even offering to go on a mission to Borovia when Stalker’s team was captured by Borovian militia. When the Joe Team is suspended after the events of the Cobra Civil War, Grunt and his girlfriend, Lola, heed Roadblock’s call to help clear the Joe Team of charges of illegal action. After that, Grunt was never seen again but appeared in one last cameo in issue #145 where his former teammates expressed their wish he go back to join them but Duke encouraged him to stick to his civilian life.
The comics never had Grunt rejoin the Joe Team, going in a different direction from the toy’s storyline. A character who very much looked like the 1991 edition of his action figure appeared in issue #130. This may have been an artistic error.
[edit] Devil’s Due comics
With the renewed threat of Cobra, former Joe team members are called back in to action. Grunt was not among the first to heed the call. Readers would not know the Devil’s Due comics had followed the toy’s storyline of Grunt returning to the Joe Team until issue #24 where he is listed as among the Joes tasked with invading Cobra Island. His last appearance, thus far, is in issue #36 where the original Joe Team is assembled before being disbanded once more.
He is not seen in the G.I. Joe: America’s Elite series as he is not one of the active members. He is a member of the reserves as indicated in the Data Desk Handbook special.
[edit] Animated series
Grunt is first seen in the A Real American Hero mini-series of the Sunbow-produced G.I. Joe animated series. However, much of the series’ focus was on the newer characters and Grunt was quickly shunted to the background. His final appearance in that series was in two-part Worlds Without End where the Joe Team find themselves in an alternate universe where Cobra is victorious in ruling the world. After finding out the fate of that universe’s Grunt, the series’ Grunt, along with Steeler and Clutch, elected to stay behind and win the world back from Cobra.
In the second season of the DiC-produced animated series, Grunt is seen again in the episode Keyboard Warriors. While the second series purports itself as a continuation of the first animated series, no explanation is made how Grunt escaped from the alternate universe or whether this is supposed to be the same character.
[edit] Trivia
- Grunt is the figure on the character box seen on the upper left-hand corner of the G.I. Joe comics published by Marvel for 100 issues.
- The G.I. Joe Greenshirts are visually based on Grunt but with a different color scheme.
