dusty

Dusty is a character from the G.I. Joe series of toys, cartoons and comics produced or licensed by Hasbro. He is the desert specialist of the team. His real name according to the toys' file cards is Ronald W. Tadur and was based on an anagram of Hasbro artist Ron Rudat. He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Toys

The Dusty action figure was introduced in the toyline's 1985 release. The 1985 action figure is the most familiar design of Dusty. It sports the chocolate-chip camouflage BDU or battle dress uniform and hooded desert headgear.

Dusty became a member of the G.I. Joe subgroup Tiger Force in 1988. His costume is the same as the 1985 model but was painted in different colors.

The 1991 Gulf War inspired Hasbro to release a new figure. This time, he came packed with a pet coyote, Sandstorm. He wears a light-yellow shirt and light-yellow pants with brown splotches and a light-yellow beret.

Multiple variations of Dusty were released from 2000 onwards. The figures either used new designs, repaints of existing molds or cobbled from molds of body parts of other characters.

Cartoons

Dusty first appeared in the Sunbow-produced mini-series Pyramid of Darkness and often appeared in the first season. His most memorable episode is The Traitor where Dusty seemingly accepts Cobra's bribes in exchange for information regarding G.I. Joe. In reality, he was under orders from Duke to be a double agent to infiltrate Cobra, but before Duke could inform his organization of this, he is injured and placed in a coma. Interestingly, his last name was pronounced as Rudat, the correct name of the Hasbro artist. He was voiced by Neil Ross.

Dusty's air conditioning and refrigeration repair skills were acknowledged in the series.

He appeared again in the DiC-produced G.I. Joe animated series, and ReelFX's direct-to-video movie G.I. Joe: Spy Troops and a third time in G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom

Comics

Dusty appeared late in the comic book series published by Marvel comics. His first appearance is in G.I. Joe #58 in 1986. He ends up teamed with Mainframe and a local soldier to infiltrate a foreign-based Cobra pre-fab base called a Terror-Drome. The local soldier admires Dusty, despising Mainframe's simple computer skills. All three fight their way past many enemies and the man gains an admiration for both Joes.

In G.I.Joe Special Missues #13, Dusty, Outback, Lightfoot and Mangler are sent to destroy a weapons cache in Eastern Africa. Due to Lightfoot being tortured by local communist forces, the entire team is abandoned in the desert with a faint hope of survival if they abandon the mission. They accomplish it anyway, with the fortunate find of a broken jeep's water-filled radiator. Mangler, angry at his own berating of Lightfoot for breaking, saves the rest of the team by causing a crash of pursuing forces. He does not survive.

His subsequent appearances are sporadic until the Invasion of Benzheen storyline. The storyline involves Cobra invading the desert kingdom of Benzheen and so naturally utilizes Dusty in every mission. This storyline also focuses on Dusty's deep friendship with fellow Joe Sneak-Peek. Flashbacks show Sneak-Peek's mother talking with Dusty during a family visit; she asks him to keep an eye on her son. Unfortunately this doesn't work out; Cobra forces use a civilian to trick Sneak-Peek into a cross-fire and he is killed. Dusty carries his body for many miles back to a temporary G.I.Joe base camp.

Also, Dusty naturally leads base security efforts when the Joes were based in a desert in Utah. He led the search for a Cobra infiltration team but they only manages to capture one Tele-Viper. Dusty serves with the Joes until the unit was shut down in 1994. He later became involved with the reinstatement of the team in 2001. His mission was training new Joe recruits until its second disbandment.

• Dusty (G.I. Joe) on Joepedia, an external wiki

External links

• YoJoe.com Dusty page
• http://www.myuselessknowledge.com/joe/dusty.html