Wild Bill is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and animated series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's helicopter pilot and debuted in 1983.
Profile
His real name is William S. Hardy, and his rank is that of army chief warrant officer CW-4. Wild Bill was born in Brady, Texas. His primary military specialty is helicopter pilot and his secondary military specialties are fixed wing pilot and aircraft armorer.
Wild Bill served as a combat infantryman and participated in LRRP operations during the Vietnam War. He reenlisted for Flight Warrant Officer School and has remained in service since, but his specialized training records are classified. Wild Bill joined the G.I. Joe Team as the pilot of the "Dragonfly" helicopter. He is a qualified expert in the M1911A auto pistol and the XM-16 attack rifle, but prefers single action .45 long colt revolvers.
Wild Bill is the original helicopter pilot for the G.I. Joe team, and is also an expert tracker and can function on the ground as well as any trained infantry scout. He is able to adapt the hunting skills he learned as a boy whenever he's tracking the enemy, saying that sneaking up on a Cobra is easier than sneaking up on most 'critters'.
Wild Bill has a hobby as a country-western singer. While personally honest, he enjoys telling tall tales for the amusement of his friends.
Toy history
The character first appeared as part of the 1983 line of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy line. His action figure was bundled with the Dragonfly helicopter toy. A second edition action figure was released in 1992, and his function is re-designated as an Air Cavalry Scout. The figure was repainted and released as part of the Battle Corps line in 1993.
In 2002, a new figure was made utilizing the newer technology in articulation and detail. It was released as part of the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series.
Comics
Marvel Comics
In the Marvel Comics G.I. Joe series, Wild Bill first appeared in issue #11 (May 1983). He had a prominent role in the storylines despite serving mainly as a supporting character, and made the most appearances (eleven) in the Special Missions spinoff series. He often flies the Joes to their missions, either in the Dragonfly, the Tomahawk helicopter or the C-130 plane.
Wild Bill accompanies Snake Eyes to give Kwinn a burial at sea.
Wild Bill flies support for a multi-Joe mission investigating Cobra activity in the Florida Everglades. His helicopter is shot down by Destro's wrist rockets. He is injured in the crash and has to be medically evacuated. However, in the middle of this, in issue 27, he travels to New York City to help Scarlett hunt down Storm Shadow.
In the fourth issue of Special Missions, he and his team crash-land in a Southeast Asian jungle and had to battle the Oktober Guard and river pirates. His team consists of Leatherneck, Roadblock and Lifeline. Wild Bill is shot by the Guard but survives. Tensions arise because Leatherneck blames Lifeline, who is a pacifist. The Joes and the Guard are captured by river pirates. There, Wild Bill recovers enough to see Lifeline's forced battle with a Guard member and comment upon it. The Guard and the Joes are allowed to leave, sans the item they came for, because Lifeline's unwillingness to hurt the Guard member more than he had to impresses the pirates.
In one of Wild Bill's many helicopter missions, he almost kills the Cobra agents Tomax and Xamot. They escape with a turn down a sewer pipe.
Another instance was in G.I. Joe issues #68-71. Crazylegs, Wild Bill and Maverick were forced into evacuating several Dreadnoks out of Rio Vista, the capital of war-torn Sierra Gordo. The Dreadnoks Zarana, Thrasher and Monkeywrench had taken several nearby refugees hostage. Eventually, the Joes, Dreadnoks and refugees all work together to get to safety.
Wild Bill is the pilot for the mission where several Joes help Destro neutralize the bounty that Cobra Commander has put on his head. He is the pilot for a mission to the Bering Strait.
Wild Bill is featured in G.I. Joe Special Missions #16. He teams up with Maverick and other Joe pilots, such as Ace and Ghostrider in a recon mission over Cobra Island. He also shows a talent for ping pong.
Action Force
Wild Bill appears in many issues of the Marvel UK version of G.I. Joe, which is called 'Action Force'. In issue 26 he has a detailed memory of a previous military incident which he had repressed. His rescue mission had been forced to leave a man behind; this caused Wild Bill many sleepless nights.