I’ve long felt that Larry Hama’s 155 issue run on the Marvel GI JOE comic book often goes unheralded. It was a lot more gritty than its cartoon counterpart, where Snake Eyes went from a scarred Special Ops Vietnam Veteran to a wacky background character.
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For what it’s worth, Hama did a decent job having to shoehorn new characters and vehicles into his stories. One such character is Zanzibar, who made his first appearance in GI JOE #60. His gimmick is that he’s a modern day pirate, terrorizing the New Jersey shore points on his Air Skiff. According to the character’s Wiki:
Zanzibar was raised on a garbage scow, spending most of his formative years picking pockets on crowded piers. He tried river piracy, stock fraud and smuggling, but felt that these were too much like real work and not nasty enough for his tastes
So how did Zanzibar come into play as an adversary of the Joe Team? Zanzibar was accepted into the Dreadnoks by their leader Zartan after he was discovered stealing bootleg gas from them which he previously sold them. Apparently that initiative was all it took for Zartan to recognize the innate qualities which made Zanzibar a welcome addition to the terrorist group known as Cobra.
While Zanzibar may have the worst back story and his most pirate behavior is essentially siphoning gasoline from a band of British miscreants, he did have a pretty cool vehicle.
Meanwhile, around The League
Rediscover The 80s ran down the 8 Best Pirates from 80s & 90s Cartoons.
Branded in the 80s highlighted some standout pirates in pop culture, including The Pirates of Dark Water
Plaid Stallions highlighted some really cool Fighting Furies Pirates by Matchbox
