History GrowingTheBeard / ComicBooks

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Others consider the "beard growing" moment to be issue #21, which not only introduced Storm Shadow (who became so popular with fans that Hasbro agreed to turn him into a good guy), but was Creator/LarryHama's ambitious "Silent Interlude" issue, an experiment in doing an entire comic with no dialogue or sound effects whatsoever. The issue garnered much critical acclaim, helping GI Joe go from lame toy tie-in comic to an actual well put together comic book in the eyes of many comic fans.

* Geoff Johns' ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2011'' run is roundly thought to have grown the beard once ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' ended. While the first arc was considered a SoOkayItsAverage (at best) origin for the team, the second forgettable, the third being basically a bunch of filler (and the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' issues to tie-in with Johns' ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}''), the fourth part of the ''very'' drawn out and unnecessary ''Trinity War'' crossover (which for some reason necessitated an entirely new ''Justice League'' series be created, while ''also'' dragging in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark''), and the fifth being a mediocre Cyborg story, the actual event ''Forever Evil'' was decently liked and changed the status quo of the team while adding in some wild cards. Instead of random stories, the series was now building to a grand cosmic epic, which is what Johns is known for, once Earth-3 was reintroduced in ''Forever Evil''. Lex Luthor and Captain Cold were added to the cast as [[TokenEvilTeammate Token Evil Teammates]], throwing some more emotion into the stories as they tried to reform... [[WildCard or didn't]].

** Likewise, ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' stopped being a Deathstroke {{Expy}} to become the CrazyAwesome character everyone knows today thanks to [[MyRealDaddy Joe Kelly.]]

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', although based on the darker ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', started out as light comedic material in the vein of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' that constantly played fast and loose with both [[MediumAwareness the fourth wall]] and the idea of any kind of continuity. It slowly grew more serious as it went on, adding more serious elements and having more of a continuing plot. The beard began its stubbly growth in issue 17--not so much the story itself, but the Princess Sally story that would be resolved several issues and a special later. Issue 19 featured the first full-issue epic with some real major stakes behind it. By issue 21, the overall tone had taken a rather sudden turn to the darker, and the beard was fully grown by the Metal Madness arc. The comic then came to its head with the climax of the Endgame arc in Issue 50, and would then slide into a prolonged DorkAge as what can best be described as a ''really'' long PostScriptSeason began at that point. Arguably, a second beard was grown starting with issue 160 and the changing of the guard in terms of creators and dumping the random {{Romantic Plot Tumor}}s that plagued the comic. A third beard was grown with the TournamentArc storyline "Champions", which adapted ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters''. This was due to a number of factors including character-driven plot, the inclusion of EnsembleDarkhorse UnexpectedCharacter Breezie the Hedgehog and being an all-around amazing story. If anything, this has been the first sign that the comic is no longer under the shadow of Ken Penders and Karl Bollers.

** [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW The IDW Sonic series]] was, for the first 15 issues, criticized for being formulaic, easy to predict, and without real stakes. Then the [[ZombieApocalypse Metal Virus/Zombot arc]] started, adding high stakes, a genuinely creepy threat, and Sonic showing regret over past actions, which satisfied fans who wanted the comic to be more developed and thoughtful.

** Likewise, related to Liefeld's brief stint on Marvel's ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', which was typical of his Image work, only with [[ComicBook/HeroesReborn Captain America]]'' and ''[[ComicBook/HeroesRebornTheAvengers Avengers]]'' cost of paint. Once we saw removed, many thought the stories greatly improved.

* Geoff Johns' ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagu2011'' run is roundly thought to have grown the beard once ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' ended. While the first arc was considered a SoOkayItsAverage (at best) origin for the team, the second forgettable, the third being basically a bunch of filler (and the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' issues to tie-in with Johns' ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}''), the fourth part of the ''very'' drawn out and unnecessary ''Trinity War'' crossover (which for some reason necessitated an entirely new ''Justice League'' series be created, while ''also'' dragging in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark''), and the fifth being a mediocre Cyborg story, the actual event ''Forever Evil'' was decently liked and changed the status quo of the team while adding in some wild cards. Instead of random stories, the series was now building to a grand cosmic epic, which is what Johns is known for, once Earth-3 was reintroduced in ''Forever Evil''. Lex Luthor and Captain Cold were added to the cast as [[TokenEvilTeammate Token Evil Teammates]], throwing some more emotion into the stories as they tried to reform... [[WildCard or didn't]].

* Geoff Johns' ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' run is roundly thought to have grown the beard once ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' ended. While the first arc was considered a SoOkayItsAverage (at best) origin for the team, the second forgettable, the third being basically a bunch of filler (and the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' issues to tie-in with Johns' ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}''), the fourth part of the ''very'' drawn out and unnecessary ''Trinity War'' crossover (which for some reason necessitated an entirely new ''Justice League'' series be created, while ''also'' dragging in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark''), and the fifth being a mediocre Cyborg story, the actual event ''Forever Evil'' was decently liked and changed the status quo of the team while adding in some wild cards. Instead of random stories, the series was now building to a grand cosmic epic, which is what Johns is known for, once Earth-3 was reintroduced in ''Forever Evil''. Lex Luthor and Captain Cold were added to the cast as [[TokenEvilTeammate Token Evil Teammates]], throwing some more emotion into the stories as they tried to reform... [[WildCard or didn't]].

* The British AnthologyComic ComicBook/TheBeano started in the 1930s but didnt really grow the beard until the 1950s when its most popular characters/comic strips began appearing such as [[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]], ''The Bash Street Kids'', ''Minnie The Minx'' and ''Roger The Dodger''. Although the comic did have it's highest readership before these characters were introduced but none of the characters from before the aforementioned four remain in the comic or are as popular (or long running) as these four.

* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' had a similar evolution. He was originally a [[PoorMansSubstitute poor(er) man's]] ComicBook/SpiderMan until Creator/FrankMiller turned the series into the gritty crime noir most readers know it as.
* The first year's worth of the Marvel ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' comic are largely self-contained stories (with one 2-issue story), many similar to the type shown in the later cartoon series, and it doesn't appear that anything really important is happening. It wasn't until issue #14, with its introduction of Destro into the comic book, that the series really took off. Much like Marcia Cross in ''Series/MelrosePlace'', Destro stirred shit up with his first appearance, taking Baroness's loyalty from Cobra Commander as well as rekindling their former off-camera love affair. And unlike the cartoon, where Destro was 100% loyal to Cobra Commander, Destro's relationship with Cobra Commander hit the bricks almost immediately when Cobra Commander tried to kill Destro to keep him from (potentially) usurping his leadership, culminating in a botched attempt on his life that nearly killed the Baroness and led to a massive multi-year war between the two men over the course of the Marvel series.\\

* Speaking of arrow gimmicks, Marvel's very own Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}, real name Clint Barton, struggled with finding a niche since his introduction. Part of the problem was that, as a member of ''The Avengers'', being a guy with uncanny aiming abilities and [[TrickArrow trick arrows]] is not all that impressive when fighting alongside a [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica near-immortal super-soldier]], [[ComicBook/IronMan a billionaire with access to a robot super suit]] [[Fiction500 and near-unlimited economic resources]], and [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor the literal god of thunder]], among others. For years, writers struggled to keep Clint relevant, even having him shun the Hawkeye mantle in favor of other alter-egos, namely as Ronin (originally belonging to Maya Lopez) and Goliath (originally [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]]), but these changes did little to give poor Clint an identity of his own. Then Hawkeye was given a new run in 2012, written by Creator/MattFraction. Fraction's run finds a very clever solution to give a boost to a character with a seemingly underwhelming skill set for epic global-stakes battles: to focus on his civilian life instead (The prologue to each volume even spells it out: "This is what [Clint] does when he's not being an ''Avenger''"). This run of ''Hawkeye'' plays less like a traditional super hero comic book and more like an indie slice-of-life comic about Clint Barton, a guy from Brooklyn, who also happens to be a super hero. Even the art style (mostly courtesy of David Aja) is different: the comics feature flat and minimalistic colors, rough brush inking, and relatively realistic and subdued body proportions, adding to that relaxed DIY indie comic feel. This run is beloved by critics, and one of its issues (#11) even won an ''Eisner''.
* The entire company of Creator/{{Image}} has arguably undergone this. Image was founded by several artists from Creator/MarvelComics, all of which were known for DarkerAndEdgier series about superheroes (mostly [[NinetiesAntiHero '90s Anti-Heroes]]), and the original titles such as ''Youngblood'' and ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' reflect this. After the departure of founding member Creator/RobLiefeld in 1996, things began to look up. Since then, they've greatly diversified their roster of comics, often of works that aren't superhero-related, ranging from the cartoony yet epic ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'', the post-apocalyptic ''Comicbook/TheWalkingDead'', the spy-action series ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'', the GenreBusting sci-fi epic ''ComicBook/{{Saga}}'', among many others, with ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' being one of their few newer superhero works. Alongside this, there has been much less [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]] grit, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness which means that the early comics haven't aged well]], and seem rather [[TheArtifact out of place]] among their current lineup.

* Geoff Johns' ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' run is roundly thought to have grown the beard once ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' ended. While the first arc was considered a SoOkayItsAverage (at best) origin for the team, the second forgettable, the third being basically a bunch of filler (and the ''Throne of Atlantis'' issues to tie-in with Johns' ''Aquaman''), the fourth part of the ''very'' drawn out and unnecessary ''Trinity War'' crossover (which for some reason necessitated an entirely new ''Justice League'' series be created, while ''also'' dragging in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark''), and the fifth being a mediocre Cyborg story, the actual event ''Forever Evil'' was decently liked and changed the status quo of the team while adding in some wild cards. Instead of random stories, the series was now building to a grand cosmic epic, which is what Johns is known for, once Earth-3 was reintroduced in ''Forever Evil''. Lex Luthor and Captain Cold were added to the cast as [[TokenEvilTeammate Token Evil Teammates]], throwing some more emotion into the stories as they tried to reform... [[WildCard or didn't]].
* ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' was initially a short, fairly shallow series of one-off jokes featuring {{Flat Character}}s, no ongoing story, and crude art. Over the many years of it's publication, it's evolved to a lengthy, deep series featuring fully-fleshed out characters, long story arcs, and...slightly less crude art. The turning point was probably when it stopped focusing on every strip being a brief joke ending in a punchline, and started truly dwelling on the narrative of the campaign, as well as the lives of the denizens of Muncie.

* The first story arc of classic graphic epic ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', lasting for seven issues, seems to set the title up as just another horror title. With issue 8, "The Sound of Her Wings", the comic introduces Death (one of its most popular characters) and led to the series becoming an ensemble series, with other characters existing alongside Dream, having adventures that Dream finds himself drawn into. With the introduction of Death, the more familiar characterization of Morpheus is established, and the series overall excised its continuity from the DCU beyond a handful of references
** Creator/NeilGaiman himself considers the issue to be this for his entire career, saying that it's when he stopped imitating other writers and truly found his own voice.
* ''ComicBook/SupermanGrounded'', a story arc written by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski in the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comic book, was off to a bad start. It was even called the worst comic of the year. When Straczynski left the book to write the ''ComicBook/SupermanEarthOne'' graphic novels, Chris Roberson became the writer and the arc saw a significant improvement in quality, as Superman went from WalkingTheEarth and lecturing people to WalkingTheEarth and actually ''saving'' lives.
* ''[[Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures TMNT Adventures]]'' started out with adaptations of the cartoon, then followed it up with a couple of short humorous story-lines. By issue 10 it had shifted to an ongoing story, but it truly hit its stride around issue 29 when Ninjara was introduced.
* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' began as a series of rather childish wish-fulfilment adventure yarns with a cliffhanger, followed by a ridiculously improbable escape, on every other page. The GrowingTheBeard moment came with ''The Blue Lotus'', when the creator started getting serious about his research and realistic portrayal of distant locations.

** Likewise, ''SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}'' stopped being a Deathstroke {{Expy}} to become the CrazyAwesome character everyone knows today thanks to [[MyRealDaddy Joe Kelly.]]

* Speaking of ''More Than Meets the Eye'', it's widely agreed that IDW's first ''Transformers'' universe grew the beard during what has been retroactively labelled "Phase 2", which saw the end of the Autobot-Decepticon war. The stories were now focused on post-war politics, expanding the setting with new mythology and characters and stories were more diverse, both in terms of the tone and genres as well as in diversity. Even the Transformers wiki mentions this, and it's considered a "golden age" for ''Transformers'' comics.

* While the original ''ComicBook/XForce'' was never a critical darling, it's agreed that the few handful of issues pencilled and plotted by Rob Liefeld are the absolute worst. As an action comic, it failed thanks to bad posing, blocking, backgrounds and character designs and as a story-driven comic it just revelled in the excess of the 90s and had every charatcer act like a walking cliche. Once Liefeld left the book, Fabian Nicieza was able to tell the stories he wanted and develop the characters properly, and while the result isn't exactly an Eisner-winner, it made the characters more popular and was a solid superhero comic -- a vast improvement over the Liefeld era.

* Geoff Johns' ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' run is roundly thought to have grown the beard once ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' ended. While the first arc was considered a SoOkayItsAverage (at best) origin for the team, the second forgettable, the third being basically a bunch of filler (and the ''Throne of Atlantis'' issues to tie-in with Johns' ''Aquaman''), the fourth part of the ''very'' drawn out and unnecessary ''Trinity War'' crossover (which for some reason necessitated an entirely new ''Justice League'' series be created, while ''also'' dragging in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark''), and the fifth being a mediocre Cyborg story, the actual event ''Forever Evil'' was decently liked and changed the status quo of the team while adding in some wild cards. Instead of random stories, the series was now building to a grand cosmic epic, which is what Johns is known for, once Earth-3 was reintroduced in ''Forever Evil''. Lex Luthor and Captain Cold were added to the cast as TokenEvilTeammate|s, throwing some more emotion into the stories as they tried to reform... [[WildCard or didn't]].

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', although based on the darker ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'', started out as light comedic material in the vein of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' that constantly played fast and loose with both [[MediumAwareness the fourth wall]] and the idea of any kind of continuity. It slowly grew more serious as it went on, adding more serious elements and having more of a continuing plot. The beard began its stubbly growth in issue 17--not so much the story itself, but the Princess Sally story that would be resolved several issues and a special later. Issue 19 featured the first full-issue epic with some real major stakes behind it. By issue 21, the overall tone had taken a rather sudden turn to the darker, and the beard was fully grown by the Metal Madness arc. The comic then came to its head with the climax of the Endgame arc in Issue 50, and would then slide into a prolonged DorkAge as what can best be described as a ''really'' long PostScriptSeason began at that point. Arguably, a second beard was grown starting with issue 160 and the changing of the guard in terms of creators and dumping the random {{Romantic Plot Tumor}}s that plagued the comic. A third beard was grown with the TournamentArc storyline "Champions", which adapted ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters''. This was due to a number of factors including character-driven plot, the inclusion of EnsembleDarkhorse UnexpectedCharacter Breezie the Hedgehog and being an all-around amazing story. If anything, this has been the first sign that the comic is no longer under the shadow of Ken Penders and Karl Bollers.

* The first three ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' books are decent enough, but Goscinny and Uderzo [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were still clearly trying to find their feet]]. The fourth book, ''Recap/AsterixTheGladiator'' saw a major improvement in both artwork and writing, along with Julius Caesar becoming a much more fleshed-out and interesting villain. A slight slip-back then happened with ''Recap/AsterixAndTheBanquet'', a solid enough story but one that ultimately didn't do much to advance the story or characters, and had little appeal to non-French readers due to it being a cross-country tour of France with the heroes collecting local delicacies. And then came ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra'', which saw the artwork and writing both taken to the next level (along with properly introducing Dogmatix), and is still widely considered the best book in the whole series.

* The first three ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' books are decent enough, but Goscinny and Uderzo [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were still clearly trying to find their feet]]. The fourth book, ''Recap/AsterixTheGladiator'' saw a major improvement in both artwork and writing, along with Julius Caesar becoming a much more fleshed-out and interesting villain. A slight slip-back then happened with ''Asterix and the Banquet'', a solid enough story but one that ultimately didn't do much to advance the story or characters, and had little appeal to non-French readers due to it being a cross-country tour of France with the heroes collecting local delicacies. And then came ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra'', which saw the artwork and writing both taken to the next level (along with properly introducing Dogmatix), and is still widely considered the best book in the whole series.

* The first three ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' books are decent enough, but Goscinny and Uderzo [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were still clearly trying to find their feet]]. The fourth book, ''Recap/AsterixTheGladiator'' saw a major improvement in both artwork and writing, along with Julius Caesar becoming a much more fleshed-out and interesting villain. A slight slip-back then happened with ''Asterix and the Banquet'', a solid enough story but one that ultimately didn't do much to advance the story or characters, and had little appeal to non-French readers due to it being a cross-country tour of France with the heroes collecting local delicacies. And then came ''Asterix and Cleopatra'', which saw the artwork and writing both taken to the next level (along with properly introducing Dogmatix), and is still widely considered the best book in the whole series.

* The first three ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' books are decent enough, but Goscinny and Uderzo [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were still clearly trying to find their feet]]. The fourth, ''Recap/AsterixTheGladiator'' saw a major improvement in both artwork and writing, along with Julius Caesar becoming a much more fleshed-out and interesting villain. A slight slip-back then happened with ''Asterix and the Banquet'', a solid enough story but one that ultimately didn't do much to advance the story or characters, and had little appeal to non-French readers due to it being a cross-country tour of France with the heroes collecting local delicacies. And then came ''Asterix and Cleopatra'', which saw the artwork and writing both taken to the next level (along with properly introducing Dogmatix), and is still widely considered the best book in the whole series.

* The first three 'ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' books are decent enough, but Goscinny and Uderzo [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were still clearly trying to find their feet]]. The fourth, ''Recap/AsterixTheGladiator'' saw a major improvement in both artwork and writing, along with Julius Caesar becoming a much more fleshed-out and interesting villain. A slight slip-back then happened with ''Asterix and the Banquet'', a solid enough story but one that ultimately didn't do much to advance the story or characters, and had little appeal to non-French readers due to it being a cross-country tour of France with the heroes collecting local delicacies. And then came ''Asterix and Cleopatra'', which saw the artwork and writing both taken to the next level (along with properly introducing Dogmatix), and is still widely considered the best book in the whole series.

* The first three ''ComicBook/Asterix'' books are decent enough, but Goscinny and Uderzo [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness were still clearly trying to find their feet]]. The fourth, ''Recap/AsterixTheGladiator'' saw a major improvement in both artwork and writing, along with Julius Caesar becoming a much more fleshed-out and interesting villain. A slight slip-back then happened with ''Asterix and the Banquet'', a solid enough story but one that ultimately didn't do much to advance the story or characters, and had little appeal to non-French readers due to it being a cross-country tour of France with the heroes collecting local delicacies. And then came ''Asterix and Cleopatra'', which saw the artwork and writing both taken to the next level (along with properly introducing Dogmatix), and is still widely considered the best book in the whole series.

* Speaking of arrow gimmicks, Marvel's very own Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}, real name Clint Barton, struggled with finding a niche since his introduction. Part of the problem was that, as a member of ''The Avengers'', being a guy with uncanny aiming abilities and [[TrickArrow trick arrows]] is not all that impressive when fighting alongside a [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica near-immortal super-soldier]], [[ComicBook/IronMan a billionaire with access to a robot super suit]] [[Fiction500 and near-unlimited economic resources]], and [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor the literal god of thunder]], among others. For years, writers struggled to keep Clint relevant, even having him shun the Hawkeye mantle in favor of other alter-egos, namely as Ronin (originally belonging to Maya Lopez) and Goliath (originally [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]]), but these changes did little to give poor Clint an identity of his own. Then Hawkeye was given a new run in 2012, written by Creator/MattFraction. Fraction's run finds a very clever solution to give a boost to a character with a seemingly underwhelming skill set for epic global-stakes battles: to focus on his civilian life instead (The prologue to each volume even spells it out: "This is what he[[Clint]] does when he's not being an ''Avenger''"). This run of ''Hawkeye'' plays less like a traditional super hero comic book and more like an indie slice-of-life comic about Clint Barton, a guy from Brooklyn, who also happens to be a super hero. Even the art style (mostly courtesy of David Aja) is different: the comics feature flat and minimalistic colors, rough brush inking, and relatively realistic and subdued body proportions, adding to that relaxed DIY indie comic feel. This run is beloved by critics, and one of its issues (#11) even won an ''Eisner''.

* Speaking of arrow gimmicks, Marvel's very own Comicbook/Hawkeye, real name Clint Barton, struggled with finding a niche since his introduction. Part of the problem was that, as a member of ''The Avengers'', being a guy with uncanny aiming abilities and [[TrickArrow trick arrows]] is not all that impressive when fighting alongside a [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica near-immortal super-soldier]], [[ComicBook/IronMan a billionaire with access to a robot super suit]] [[Fiction500 and near-unlimited economic resources]], and [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor the literal god of thunder]], among others. For years, writers struggled to keep Clint relevant, even having him shun the Hawkeye mantle in favor of other alter-egos, namely as Ronin (originally belonging to Maya Lopez) and Goliath (originally [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]]), but these changes did little to give poor Clint an identity of his own. Then Hawkeye was given a new run in 2012, written by Creator/MattFraction. Fraction's run finds a very clever solution to give a boost to a character with a seemingly underwhelming skill set for epic global-stakes battles: to focus on his civilian life instead (The prologue to each volume even spells it out: "This is what he does when he's not being an ''Avenger''"). This run of ''Hawkeye'' plays less like a traditional super hero comic book and more like an indie slice-of-life comic about a guy from Brooklyn, who also happens to be a super hero. Even the art style (mostly courtesy of David Aja) is different: the comics feature flat and minimalistic colors, rough brush inking, and relatively realistic and subdued body proportions, adding to that relaxed DIY indie comic feel. This run is beloved by critics, and one of its issues (#11) even won an ''Eisner''.

** NeilGaiman himself considers the issue to be this for his entire career, saying that it's when he stopped imitating other writers and truly found his own voice.

* The first year's worth of the Marvel ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' comic are largely self-contained stories (with one 2-issue story), many similar to the type shown in the later cartoon series, and it doesn't appear that anything really important is happening. It wasn't until issue #14, with its introduction of Destro into the comic book, that the series really took off. Much like Marcia Cross in ''Series/MelrosePlace'', Destro stirred shit up with his first appearance, taking Baroness's loyalty from Cobra Commander as well as rekindling their former off-camera love affair. And unlike the cartoon, where Destro was 100% loyal to Cobra Commander, Destro's relationship with Cobra Commander hit the bricks almost immediately when Cobra Commander tried to kill Destro to keep him from (potentially) usurping his leadership, culminating in a botched attempt on his life that nearly killed the Baroness and led to a massive multi-year war between the two men over the course of the Marvel series.
** It should be noted that Larry Hama would draw upon supporting characters and concepts introduced in several of the early issues later on, starting with reintroducing Kwinn in the Sierra Gordo arc that begins in issue #12. Issues 3, 5, and 8 are very much like cartoon episodes, while issues 4 and 9 are self-contained stories similar to the later ''Special Missions'' series.
** Others consider the "beard growing" moment to be issue #21, which not only introduced Storm Shadow (who became so popular with fans that Hasbro agreed to turn him into a good guy), but was Creator/LarryHama's ambitious "Silent Interlude" issue, an experiment in doing an entire comic with no dialogue or sound effects whatsoever. The issue garnered much critical acclaim, helping GI Joe go from lame toy tie-in comic to an actual well put together comic book in the eyes of many comic fans.

** Speaking of ''Spawn'', it grew a beard once it became a dark horror comic.