G.I. Joe Classified Series

AceofKnaves said:
See, I think of Snake-Eyes as a commando who is trained as a ninja, among other things. It’s part of who he is, but not *all* of who he is.
I see Firefly similarly: he sees himself as the ultimate saboteur/assassin/mercenary, so if he can con his way into ninja training he will and did *absolutely* do that.
Also important to remember that the Arashikage was basically a crime family trying to “go legit”, and Firefly wound up as the leader of the “fuck being good guys, we actively WANT to kill for the highest biddder” Red Ninjas, who were always “bad” Arashikage. So Firefly muscling his way into leading a cadre of renegade ninja-assassins and deciding to call himself “The Faceless Master” totally makes sense to me.
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I like this viewpoint a LOT. Especially because I think Firefly is whatever he need to be in the moment to make the most money and position himself the best. Be a ninja? Sure why not, for a few years.

I'm so conflicted in how I want to view the Dreadnoks, because I know if they existed in real life they'd be at least adjacent to, ah, THOSE kinds of biker gangs. But I kind of have this image in my head that they're punks who turned wrong, and instead of doing the whole "punks looks scary but are nice" thing they broke bad and they are "punks who look scary and will always, if you point them in the right direction, go WAY too far toward anarchist tendencies." Like, if things had gone differently they'd be following the Grateful Dead on tour but instead they do casual larceny, kidnapping/ransoms, full-scale bank robbery, and casual manslaughter. They're supposed to be Cobra's deniable, expendable assets and every time Chip has to file a payment to them Cobra high command is like "why are these assholes not dead yet?"
 
Yeah, I think of the Dreadnoks as hardcore anarchists, able to comprehend *just* enough of Buzzer’s Oxford philosophizing to see themselves as righteously outside of an unjust system. By that logic, I can keep them “bad” but also have a headcannon where they would shred authoritarian/fascist gang guys rather than join them. The Dreadnoks’ problem is that they are chaotic to a childlike degree, NOT that they are disgusting Proud Boy types. At least to me.

And honestly I’ve always thought of Cobra in general as greedy, chaotic, queer materialists using “world domination” for profit, rather than some nastier ideologues. Like they are BAD GUYS, but they’d also punch Nazis if it came to that.
 
AceofKnaves said:
Yeah, I think of the Dreadnoks as hardcore anarchists, able to comprehend *just* enough of Buzzer’s Oxford philosophizing to see themselves as righteously outside of an unjust system. By that logic, I can keep them “bad” but also have a headcannon where they would shred authoritarian/fascist gang guys rather than join them. The Dreadnoks’ problem is that they are chaotic to a childlike degree, NOT that they are disgusting Proud Boy types. At least to me.

And honestly I’ve always thought of Cobra in general as greedy, chaotic, queer materialists using “world domination” for profit, rather than some nastier ideologues. Like they are BAD GUYS, but they’d also punch Nazis if it came to that.
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That's how I want to envision them. A bit dim and that leads them to do stupidly bad things, but they don't see themselves as Proud Boy or Aryan Brotherhood fascists. In another lifetime they overthrow the government and then go live on a commune in Vermont. And Buzzer is secretly their ... actually both their voice of reason and their worst influence because he can put words in their heads to keep them being themselves.

I've got this "if I ever wrote GI Joe: THE END" scenario where Destro blows up his company to f*ck off into anonymity Batman and Selina style with Baroness and the surviving 'noks raise goats in the country and name all their farm animals after Joes they had beefs with.

Cobra I think has always kinda been "we cosplay monsters to get rich" to me, too. I swear CC wears that hood to troll people more than because he believes in it. Still a garbage human but a different kind of one.
 
Ru1977 said:
I wish I never brought them up because I've been down this road with you guys before and it concludes with me hunting down Dreadnoks.
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Sorry for egging this on, but you kind of need them.

My Dreadnok love goes all the way back. That being said, I'm good if they make Zanzibar (with his skiff) and Thrasher (with the Thunder Machine, of course!). That's about where my OG collection ended with the 'Noks. I'd be content with Classified versions of the ones I had as a kid.
 
I guess I could go that route, since I only had a few. Buzzer, Torch, Road Pig, and Thrasher were it. And Torch was put out of commission when he fractured his crotch. Which is so Torch.
 
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The thing that keeps me away from the Dreadnoks is how much I don't like a lot of their designs. There's always just enough off about them that I'm like 'nah.' And buying them all as well as the Cold Slither set just to do a bunch of part swaps and make them better is just way too expensive just so that I can enjoyable headcannon a group I never cared about into being cool.
 
Damien said:
The thing that keeps me away from the Dreadnoks is how much I don't like a lot of their designs. There's always just enough off about them that I'm like 'nah.' And buying them all as well as the Cold Slither set just to do a bunch of part swaps and make them better is just way too expensive just so that I can enjoyable headcannon a group I never cared about into being cool.
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Wow. I didn't expect you to be the voice of Don't Buy It.
 
I've said this before so apologies if you heard it, but as a kid my Dad wouldn't let me get the Dreadnoks because they weren't soldiery-looking. In retrospect this was probably an arbitrary distinction to get me to stop asking for more toys, but I took it as iron-clad decision making. My first good paying job as an adult I immediately bought the Dreadnoks to fill that whole in my soul. It didn't, so I buy the Classified 'Noks. And the other characters I missed. And the characters I had. And the characters I had in costumes I didn't have. And new characters that never had a figure.


I'll fill this soul hole eventually.
 
Ru1977 said:
Wow. I didn't expect you to be the voice of Don't Buy It.
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I'm a card-carrying Dreadnok-hater, to be honest with you. I fucking hated them in the cartoon as a kid (as in, I didn't want them on my screen and felt like they just got in the way of all the cool Joe vs. Cobra stuff - who fucking cares about these halfwit losers?). I appreciate them more as an adult, but only like... in theory.. not in any way they've actually been used. I think Zartan's core design sucks, and most of the crew have weird elements to their designs that I also do not like.

As I said, I could make a group that I would like a lot, by mixing and matching parts between the figures, including the Cold Slither versions, but that's a REALLY expensive proposition just to turn these into figures I want to own. That seems like self-flagellation somehow.


Chooch555 said:
I'll fill this soul hole eventually.
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We all will, Chooch.

We all will.
 
As I have grown and watched/read the different iterations of Joe I have kind of settled into more bland ideas of the Dreadnoks and Firefly.

For me I see the Dreadnoks as simply Hells Angels analogues but turned up to 11. They are a gang who are more than fine with pretty much any and all illegal activities. They, of course, are fine with a little bit of anarchy but the main motivation for them is living how they want and making money. Anarchy is great but you can't have all those fancy weapons, bikes and equipment with a philosophy of anarchy only. So from Zartan on down their is a hierarchy and money to pay for their desires is the biggest driver of their behaviours.

As for Firefly, I can't remember which version of Joe it was, but he was written/portrayed as more of a firebug type mercenary. He didn't have these major hand-to-hand combat skills, but rather relied on his explosive work to do the heavy lifting. If he had to get up close and personal it would be with a gun long before hand-to-hand (that was his last resort). He sees getting his hands "dirty" in personal combat as a failure because he wants to get paid and not be identified for his work. I see him as someone who developed his skills after finding out he had a knack for explosives and went the easy way of getting paid large sums to blow stuff up (which suited him fine).

Like I said, a bit more bland in their depictions, but that is how I see these characters currently in my head canon.
 
TENIME said:
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That’s pretty much what I was thinking. I didn’t realize that everyone eventually gets revealed as being a ninja. I was very young so my Joe knowledge was limited to the cartoon and toys. My mind was blown when I was told CC was a used cars salesman and that it is SE and Scarlett not Duke and Scarlett. I think the first Joe comics I ever read were actually the Devil’s Due ones. I kept meaning to go back and read the classics.
 
Damien said:
I could make a group that I would like a lot, by mixing and matching parts between the figures
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Yeah that's another thing. Zartan I am cool with but all the rest, yeah, there's more I don't like about their looks than do like. I think every damned one of them. I like the concept and all that, but when it comes to imagining them on the shelf, I feel like I will put them in the back or something.
 
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