Captain Grid-Iron

Capt. Grid-Iron is a G.I. Joe character from the A Real American Hero series.

Football jocks are said to be a likable lot. They have a natural gift to cause camaraderie. Captain Grid-Iron is a likable fellow at first. He gave up a position in the War College just so he could serve in the field. That alone should have endeared him to his men. What is wrong, though, is that he tries too hard to be likable that he soon becomes an annoyance to his teammates. The fact that he likes to do John Wayne impressions does not seem to help any. When it comes time for fighting, then that's the time they'll follow his charge, without question. He shows that his is true courage and no mere bravado.

Grid-Iron was quarterback for the West Point football team. He graduated in the top ten of his class. He passed up an appointment to the U.S. Army War college, for a conventional infantry command at the company level. His determination to be "where the action is" brought him to the attention of G.I. Joe. According to his file card, his personality is grating, but tolerable. The other Joes think if he would stop trying so hard to be likable, "they might let him play quarterback at the annual G.I. Joe Fish Fry Football Game!"

Fiction

A Real American Hero continuity

Marvel Comics continuity

Grid-Iron makes a single panel appearance in issue #130 of the Marvel Comics series. He is seen defending G.I. Joe headquarters from Cobra attack. (Point and Counterpoint)

Devil's Due Comics continuation

Years later he appears on the cover to the Devil's Due series America's Elite #25. He is listed as a reservist in Special Missions: Manhattan. In America's Elite #28, he is listed as fighting in the Sudan.

Animated continuity

DiC animated series

Captain Grid-Iron's most significant appearances were in the first-season of the DiC G.I. Joe cartoon series, voiced by Dale Wilson [1]. His speech was peppered with football terminology. Grid-Iron was often partnered with Lady Jaye many times during his appearances, and at one point they went out on a social date in the episode "Pigskin.Commandos".

He was in charge of the team in the absence of General Hawk and Sgt. Slaughter and took orders from both of them when they appeared and his last appearance was in "D-Day at Alcatraz". When Duke (It's unknown if like the Sunbow era out ranking Grid-Iron who is a Captain) re-appeared after him in the episodes like "The Mind Mangler" and "Stuck on You", taking back the chain command and becoming the main leader again after General Hawk in Season 2.

Grid-Iron was absent during the hole season 2 but he was featured in a cameo episode "The Greatest Evil" sitting in the briefing room listing to Duke and being part of the G.I. Joe/Cobra Team up but Grid-Iron main episode was "Metal-Head's Reunion" where it was revealed that him and the Cobra officer Metal-Head both attended the same school.

Grid-Iron maintain a good friendship especially with Pathfinder, Bullhorn, Skydive and Ambush.

Grid-Iron appearances in following episodes of Season 1:

United We Stand
Revenge of the Pharaoh
Granny Dearest
Victory at Volcania, Part 1 and Part 2
The Nozone Conspiracy
Pigskin Commandos
Injustice and the Cobra Way
D-Day at Alcatraz, Part 1 and Part 2

Season 2: only 2 episodes a cameo in the The Greatest Evil, Part 1 or Part 2 and his final major episode in Metal Head's Reunion.

Video Game

Captain Grid-Iron is featured as a playable character in the 1991 G.I. Joe video game created for the Nintendo Entertainment System

Toys

	A Real American Hero (1990) The only Captain Grid-Iron action figure was part of the 1990 series of A Real American Hero toys. Appearance: light brown hair; light green shirt with dark green urban camo; green vest; yellow pants with gray belt and holster Accessories: light green football helmet; clear visor; small, light green backpack with roll and tab for grenade; light gray shotgun with trigger guard and no stock; long, light gray gun-shaped missile launcher with large scope and second grip on very front; four light gray missiles with two slots on each; three light gray football-shaped grenades. YoJoe.com page/Filecard

Trivia

Working names included Captain Leyenbacher and Captain Hardtackle.

Gallery

External links

http://gi-joe-microheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Captain_Grid_Iron#gallery-0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Wilson_(actor)