Ace (G.I. Joe)

Ace is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original fighter pilot and debuted in 1983.

Profile
His real name is Brad J. Armbruster, and his rank is Air Force captain O-3. Ace was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His primary military specialty is fixed wing pilot (single or multiple engine) and his secondary military specialty is intelligence operations.

Ace was originally the pilot for the Skystriker. He would rather fly planes than anything else, and worked during high school to pay for flying lessons. He spent a year flying pipelines in Alaska and two years stunt flying for movies, before he enlisted at age 22 in the USAF, and later transferred to the G.I. Joe team. Prior to joining the Joe Team he worked as a senior instructor for the USAF Fighter Weapons Squadron "The Aggressors" (pilot combat training school). Ace is also a qualified expert in flying the F-5E Tiger II; the F-15 Eagle; the F-16 Fighting Falcon; the XP-14; as well as any F-class fighter.

He is also a cutthroat poker player, who apparently never loses.

Toys
Ace was first released as an action figure in 1983, packaged with the Skystriker.

A new version of Ace was released as part of the Battle Copters line in 1992. The figure was repainted and released as part of the Battle Corps line in 1993, packaged with the Ghoststriker X-16 fighter jet.

During the 30th Anniversary toy line, a new version of Ace has been released in 2011 contained in the The Combat Jet Skystriker [XP-14F]

Marvel Comics
In the Marvel Comics G.I. Joe series, he first appeared in issue #14 (August 1983). Ace is featured in issue #34, where he battles the Cobra pilot Wild Weasel in a dogfight over New Jersey. His co-pilot on the mission is fellow Joe member Lady Jaye, while Wild Weasel has The Baroness as his co-pilot. Both pilots run out of missiles and ammunition. As they limp back to their respective bases, they give each other a salute. Neither co-pilot understands what is going on.

Ace is stationed aboard the USS Flagg when it is damaged by a tidal wave. It leaves the ship listing, thus increasing the danger of flight. Despite this, Ace takes off to give air cover to nearby endangered Joe members.

Ace appears in G.I. Joe Special Missions #28. He is part of the crew of the Joe spacecraft, the Defiant. His mission is to test out various stealth technologies. He works closely with Payload.

Devil's Due
Ace returns to the Joe team, after it reforms in the pages of the Devil's Due G.I. Joe series. He flies support when the Joes invade Cobra Island during their second civil war. After another reformation of the team, Ace begins operating out of the Joe facility called "The Rock".

In an alternate continuity, Ace first appears as one of the responding pilots to unknown aircraft violating Presidential airspace.

Sunbow
Ace first appeared in the Sunbow G.I. Joe animated series in the "A Real American Hero" mini-series, and was voiced by Pat Fraley.

Valor vs. Venom
Ace appeared in the direct-to-video CGI animated movie G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom, voiced by Alistair Abell.

Video games
Ace is one of the featured characters in the 1985 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero computer game.