G.I. Joe Classified Series

[AceofKnaves]

the size of the kayak

Honestly I thought the original kayak was maybe TOO big. I don’t think it would lose anything to make it appropriately smaller.

 

[Ru1977]

Especially since a lot of people liked having him wear it on his back.

 

[docsilence]

Generic arctic troops are a really appealing option. Maybe one in parka and green pants, and one that has a more Snow Job style deep cold look? Or one male one female body, make extra heads a stretch goal. Plus if you do arctic generics, Joe heads are pretty consistent, could pop any named character on the body.

 

[Ru1977]

Would it piss anyone off if they created a new 'Force' that, unlike Tiger, Night, etc, didn't exist in the 80s? Ala, Arctic Force?

 

[AceofKnaves]

I think new “forces” are a really good idea. “Main character” Joes in various environmental gear was a staple of the well-received Pursuit of Cobra line and they could go all over the place with City Strike/Urban Assault, Arctic/tundra, Jungle Mission, more like Desert Snake-Eyes . . . lots of opportunities there. And stuff for Cobra like Night Watch, similar environment subteams, etc.

 

[jonaskane]

Polar Battle Bear snowmobile with Kwinn, Dr Venom, and arctic Snake Eyes.

Probably not.

 

[docsilence]

Would it piss anyone off if they created a new 'Force' that, unlike Tiger, Night, etc, didn't exist in the 80s? Ala, Arctic Force?

Hell, I'd put an "Arctic Force" together on my own for fun if they actually make any other snow troopers. An official one would be awesome.

 

[Spongyblue]

Landlocked freighter arc might be the first time I literally threw a comic across a room though. That was DARK.

If you had any doubt about how big a bastard Cobra Commander could be, that issue eliminated any doubt.

 

[altcunningham]

If you want to onboard quickly, do the Energon comics and lore. It uses Classified designs, too.

 

[Damien]

Arctic Commandos!
Oh wow that would be an ambitious add to a HasLab, but “prepaints” of Blizzard, Stalker v2, frigging DEE-JAY and also that cool Snow Serpent v2? All figures that could then be released in the main line complete with their many accessories (COBRA SNOWBOARD!!)? This would be a really, REALLY good idea.

Yeah dude. I'm super smart. Someone should hire me to do toy stuff.

Same. I wonder if there was a time-of-day difference that blocked G.I. Joe from me but kept me glued to MASK.

Yeah, I dunno. I went down a rabbit hole once maybe a year or two ago where I actually tried to figure out the original airing schedule for ARAH and tried to compare what I could find to other shows at the time to see if maybe I was just always watching something else when Joe was on, or if I wasn't awake yet, or what the hell was going on with that. I could never figure it out.

Would it piss anyone off if they created a new 'Force' that, unlike Tiger, Night, etc, didn't exist in the 80s? Ala, Arctic Force?

If Trump can create fucking Space Force for a non-space-faring military, then goddamn it Hasbro can make Arctic Force.

I think new “forces” are a really good idea. “Main character” Joes in various environmental gear was a staple of the well-received Pursuit of Cobra line and they could go all over the place with City Strike/Urban Assault, Arctic/tundra, Jungle Mission, more like Desert Snake-Eyes . . . lots of opportunities there. And stuff for Cobra like Night Watch, similar environment subteams, etc.

It was also a staple of literal original G.I. Joe.

If you had any doubt about how big a bastard Cobra Commander could be, that issue eliminated any doubt.

Yup. Goddamn the original Joe stories were good.

 

[Ru1977]

I don't know how I missed all this earlier!

What is the best source? I'm assuming the original GI Joe ARAH comics run by Hama?

Best source? I would say yes, but I've been tiptoeing into some of the other comics as well. And some of those were done by Hama as well actually. I don't consider them canon but have enjoyed some of the IDW stuff, but talk about DARK. The whole plot with Serpentor and Scoop still haunts me.

I don't have any particular Duke hate (unless it's the aforementioned Dook) but he really does feel like an audience cipher where as so many of the other characters are so vibrantly weird or interesting

but... how could you? I heart Dook!

But yeah that's a really good point. I've mentioned before, as a kid, I didn't like Duke, Captain America, Cyclops, etc. And I found so many other characters way more interesting, like Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Shipwreck, Storm, Wolverine, even Thunderbird even though I was surprised to later be reminded he was only in a couple issues of X-Men.

"also my girlfriend can kick your ass"

Brilliant.

I was reading (and still have!) much of Hama's Marvel comics run as a kid and consider that my best/reliable source. That's canon to me, with the cartoon being, in my mind, a fun, softened for kids version of the comics, close enough but still an alternate interpretation.

Yeah, I agree. Hama is first, but the cartoon can be too fun to ignore.

the only time I ever got star struck in artist alley was running into Larry Hama at NYCC. I visibly panicked.

Aw man, I totally get it. I blacked out the first time I met one of my favorite authors and had to be told all the things I said to him later.

Also Keith David. I couldn't bring myself to even approach him at a comic con.

The Cobra Island Civil War had less antipathy.

Haw!!!!

which had fun characterizations of guys like Shipwreck who didn’t get much love in the comics

Damn... that's true. I can't think of any Shipwreck in the comics.

The comics are “serious”, although highly satirical and sometimes absurd

True... when i think of the comics, I think of stuff like the SAW Viper or Snake Eyes Origin etc, but you're absolutely right.

Storm Shadow’s arc. Zartan’s arc. The Snake-Eyes/Dr Venom/Quinn feud. SAW Viper. Serpentor’s eye. The resurrection of Megatron. The landlocked freighter. Fred VII. Cool Breeze.

Aw man, yes. So much good stuff, and not just the 'what, they just killed off so many cast members!' stuff.

“Silent Interlude” is legitimately and deservedly famous as one of the greatest single comic issues of all time.

To continue from where I left off, I'm still so deeply in love with the tattoo reveal, the double issue back story, and where it went from there. I remember kids at school were shocked when Storm Shadow V2 came out as switching sides, and I was so full of myself when I said, "Huh, I guess you guys don't read the comics, huh?"

Landlocked freighter arc might be the first time I literally threw a comic across a room though. That was DARK.

Awesome. But yeah... and SPOILER... some of them didn't die, but I was shocked they were killing off some old favorites!

If you had any doubt about how big a bastard Cobra Commander could be, that issue eliminated any doubt.

Are we talking about when he kicked the dog? That's more upsetting than the filicide right?

Yup. Goddamn the original Joe stories were good.

For real. And I'm pretty sure, as usual when we discuss some of them in here, I'll probably pull some out after the kids go to bed just to flip through some more.

 

[AceofKnaves]

some of them didn't die

I was just trying to remember who actually died and *stayed* dead. Raptor? Croc Master? Fred of course.
But Mindbender got . . . cloned back to life?
And Firefly just chilled and became King of the Red Ninjas.
And I believe Firefly also revealed that most of the guys who died actually died of *botulism* down there. Yikes.

 

[Buttmunch]

I.. don't think it is? Not to be argumentative, but I zoomed in as much as possible on the glamour shots and there's nothing there. That's a red figure with a big ugly black smudge around the waist and those incredibly stupid "we gotta put -something- here" black patches on the sides of the legs. But he definitely does not have the full pattern from the vintage figure. And even if you -could- see it under a microscope, it should be visible immediately.

Ah, sorry, I thought you meant the details on his mask. My bad.

 

[Ru1977]

I was just trying to remember who actually died and *stayed* dead. Raptor? Croc Master? Fred of course.
But Mindbender got . . . cloned back to life?
And Firefly just chilled and became King of the Red Ninjas.
And I believe Firefly also revealed that most of the guys who died actually died of *botulism* down there. Yikes.

I think.... That's it? I was glad to see Firefly, Zartan, and Billy got out though. Even though not much happened with Firefly until Ninja Force and I stopped reading shortly after that.

 

[Chooch555]

Rock Vipers mustache looked so much like my dad's that as a kid I almost thought he was Cobra... until I realized they don't need out of shape middle aged accountants.