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Wrestler makes his debut at Great Lakes Comic-Con this weekend

Posted: Feb 26th 2016 By: www.macombdaily.com

Sgt. Slaughter ? one of professional wrestling?s best-known icons ? was the first actual person to join the ?G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero? franchise, something that still resonates to this day.

?Once a Joe, always a Joe. I?m still part of G.I. Joe, no matter what I do. It?s etched in stone,? Slaughter, 67, says in his famously gruff drill sergeant?s voice. He?s also known for wearing dark sunglasses, military fatigues and a military hat, called a campaign cover ? which he?ll sport at
the Great Lakes Comic-Con this weekend at Macomb Community College in Warren.

An ex-Marine Corps drill sergeant, Slaughter ? who was born Robert Remus in South Carolina and resides in North Carolina ? was the perfect fit for ?G.I. Joe,? Hasbro?s long-running, military-themed line of action figures and vehicles.

?The legacy of ?G.I. Joe? will be around a long time,? Slaughter says. ?It?ll be around a long time after I?m gone with all the comics, toys, cartoons, movies ? you live forever.?

At the height of Slaughter?s popularity as a wrestler, Hasbro approached Slaughter about modeling an action figure on him, as well as using him as part of the ?G.I. Joe? animated series and monthly comic book series then published by Marvel Comics.

In 1986, Hasbro released its first Sgt. Slaughter action figure (one of several), but it was only available in a mail-order giveaway ; consumers had to call a 900-number for Slaughter to give them orders on how to obtain his toy.

?It was hard to believe when you saw the action figure and we started doing the voiceovers for the cartoon series (and commercials for the toy line),? Slaughter says. ?The only thing was it was so overwhelming. They started out with 300,000 Sgt. Slaughter action figures, but there were 3 million orders. A lot of kids waited at their mailboxes for quite a while for their Sgt. Slaughter action figure.

?It was incredible to be the first living G.I. Joe. I (appeared) at a lot of toy stores, children?s hospitals, and veterans? hospitals ? all kinds of places to market G.I. Joe. There were endless lines.?

Hasbro also adapted ex-football star William Perry, AKA ?The Refrigerator,? into an action figure in 1987. However, this wasn?t as successful as the Slaughter figure. Perry didn?t appear in any of the cartoon or comics.

Slaughter appeared as himself and his animated incarnation in many commercials and TV episodes. He had a significant role in 1987?s ?G.I. Joe: The Movie,? an animated feature co-starring Don Johnson (TV?s ?Miami Vice?) as Lt. Falcon, and the late Burgess Meredith (the ?Rocky? franchise) as the evil Golobulus.

Throughout his long career, Slaughter?s proudest moment was meeting Ronald Reagan during the president?s re-election campaign in 1984 at a fundraiser. Slaughter says Reagan wanted him to use the Cobra Clutch ? one of his trademark wrestling moves ? on the President. But Secret Service
agents told Reagan that wasn?t a good idea.

?Of all the presidents I met, Reagan was the biggest fan of Sgt. Slaughter,? he says. ?To know that presidents are watching you and know who you are is quite a salute to you.?

These days, Slaughter is semi-retired and serves as an ambassador for World Wrestling Entertainment. This weekend marks his first appearance at the Great Lakes Comic-Con. ?It?s amazing what the ages of your fans are,? he says. ?Sometimes it?s a family portrait ? there?s the father, the
grandfather, the child, aunts, uncles. To see young children who shouldn?t even know who you are but do know who you are because their parents and grandparents watched you as a kid.?

With the Internet, he says, ?you?re always available to be seen, from when you first started out until yesterday. It?s amazing to me how many collectors there are of comic books and animation. To go to these cons and see them dressed up, sometimes I?ll see five-six Sgt. Slaughters looking at me.
It?s like looking in the mirror. They come by and get their pictures taken. Some look like you. And there?s some where you go, ?Do I really look like that?? It?s all in fun. We all have a good time. Everyone?s a kid at heart.??