Rock & Roll turnaround by Pennington

My brother and I divvied up each year of the line. He tended to get the bulkier guys and the ones that carried heavier ordinance. He got ’84 Roadblock, so it was natural he’d get ’86 Roadblock. I don’t think he had ’83 Rock ‘N Roll, but it was pretty clear he’d get 1989’s new version of the character, now with one less letter and one more symbol in his code name! I was thrilled by Rock & Roll’s package painting, which seemed to promise hot blazing death from those two handheld gatling guns. My brother may have pointed out the impossibility of such a weapon, but between the seeming verisimilitude of Hector Garrido’s package painting and the all-in quality of the plastic accessories — you could really deal with all that ammo if you thought you should — he decided it was a-okay. I think for simplicity, my brother had his new figure only carry one of the big guns.

Mark Pennington is a multi-talented artist. He became a figure designer on the G.I. Joe toy line for about three years, starting at Hasbro at the end of 1985. Then he inked comics for Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, and more, and has become a mean penciller in his own right. And fine arts painter! But let’s travel back to 1987 or 1988 and examine a (vintage photocopy of) Pennington’s turnaround for Rock & Roll, click to enlarge:

I’ve completely internalized the slightly unrealistic proportions of G.I. Joe figures, but when I see them drawn out in turnaround form, they sure jump out, and are delightful!

And re-examining this figure today, I’m struck by how much those pouches and grenades stick out on his chest. I wonder if Pennington had something slightly different in mind, but knew what draft angles would allow for with that front torso. And in terms of deco, the delicate balance of color choices on this figure, that he reads as so light, but is anchored high, medium, and low with black boots, black gloves, and black eyes.

And regarding that this was an update of an existing design, he sure alludes back to his earlier version — something to cover his head, a bit of green, the signature ammo belts making an “X” over his torso, and analogous weapon, and, importantly, the same hair color and style. (I’m looking at you, Low-Light.)

Something I love about this figure, that this photo by Phillip Donnelly shows, is that the sculpt of this figure captured Pennington’s depiction of the face, particularly the eyes and cheekbones. Yes, somewhere under all that sculpting and molding is a Mark Pennington face.