So happy that Cobra La was omitted from the comic and that Serpentor took an arrow in the face. The problem with Duke in the comic is that he came off as a clone of Hawk, who had already been established as the leader. Duke was used well in the issue where he is running some potential Joe recruits through tryouts and an actual mission. There he acted like a Sergeant and it was something Hawk would not be involved in himself.

Duke was a latecomer. He was completely unknown until the cartoon series, and the action figure didn't come out till later - coinciding with the time Duke appears in the comics, nearly 2 years after GI Joe first appeared. The leader was, in the beginning, a blonde headed COLONEL Hawk, who bore a passing resemblance to that "new guy" we saw on the cartoon.

Great review! When I first read these, I used to say: "Tell us how you REALLY feel, Mr. Hama."

This reminds me of all those jokes about the fox network the Simpson's made.

Yet Mr Hamma can turn a such a zany looking as Serpentor into a really fantastic protagonist.

Great video. Larry's refusal to bend over and take it kept the comic book great.

Why's James cryin? Cause he just got dunked on!!

I believe that when Larry had to put the Pogo Battle Ball in to the comics, he had Cobra Commander ( or a disguised Fred 7 ) use it once and say that they had to research it's battlefield application more before they could put it in to widespread use. It was in a comic TV commercial and everything.

If you were a fan in the 80s, you appreciated the alternate realities between the cartoon and the comic. I never expected to see Cobra-La in the comic. It was unclear when the characters first appeared exactly what their roles were, as GIJoe the movie didn't come out till months after the toy. And when Serpentor died via an arrow through the eye, well, it seemed appropriate. Larry may have thought "glad that's over." (But not for long). Hama's writing is always good - and until 301 came out I forgot just how much I missed his characteristizations.

The person Duke ultimately displaces is Stalker - who seemed to be the first real field commander from the early issues.

A comic death list would be fun. I think raptor cobra commanders kids a few guys all got trapped in a boat blown up amd starved to death

What a fun episode for me to get back into this series. Great job as always, Timmer!

Hama really had his vision for Joe set up early. He wanted as much realism and connection to his chosen picks over who Hasbro wanted as leads. I'd say he definitely took a shot at Star Viper and the Stilleto. Setting him up as this highly advanced pilot.....who everyone hated because he was a jerk. So much so they don't even mourn him getting killed.

A few points. While Hama refused to use Crystle Ball in the Marvel series, he's used him several times in the IDW continuation series. downplaying much of the "Gypsy psychic" business, which would probably be considered offensive now anyway, and finding other uses for him. Like with Raptor before him, downplaying the bird stuff and making him useful in other ways. Hama even brought Darklon back and made him kind of a badass. The Transformer toy? Yeah, it's weird, but in the original GI Joe vs The Transformers miniseries you mention, there too, a kid is shown playing with a Transformer toy. In a universe where not only are the Transformers real, but openly considered threats and public menaces. So the toy Slipstream gives as a gift does not actually prove that the Transformers aren't real in the GI Joe comic. Death? Funny thing there, since most of the action figures in the line, and therefore characters only got one release, they usually only had about two years of relevancy. After that Hasbro was more than happy to have them written out, one way or another, to make way for new toys-- I mean characters. And killing off a character Hasbro no longer had a use for was as good a way as any. At first, the comic, like the cartoon, simply pushed the older characters into the background. After the Pit had been rebuilt, most of the original Joes were reassigned to staff it while the newer Joes took over active duty. That didn't last very long, however, when a newly minted General Hawk reactivated everyone for the Battle of Springfield. But Hasbro really wanted the comic to focus on the new characters. Eventually, under pressure from Hasbro and Marvel, who really wanted the overgrown cast thinned out, and fans, who claimed that they wanted the "realism" of members of the GI Joe getting killed off on a regular basis, Hama gave in and penned the Trucial Abysmia/Benzheen storyline that saw numerous GI Joe characters killed off. And shock of shock, there was a backlash against it. Fans ended up NOT liking it when characters that they liked were killed off. It turned out that in a line as longrunning as GI Joe, EVERYONE was somebody's favorite. No one was a disposable nobody whose death wouldn't bother anyone while allowing the story to seem grim and gritty while thinning out the cast to make way for newer toys-- I mean characters to be featured. And so, Hasbro and Marvel backed down. THAT was how Hasbro dunked on Hasbro when it came to deaths. By giving them exactly what they said that they wanted and showing them what a mistake it was. Sadly, it's a lesson that has had to be relearned over the years, as both Devil's Due and IDW both got a little kill-happy in their own original GI Joe stories and faced the same backlash

Thanks for the info. I’m subscribed

Serpentor

I collect Transformers to ?do you collect Transformers? Some of my masterpiece Transformers look real good with the Vintage GI Joes.

Not sure it was a total dunk but how quickly they killed off Serpentor. An arrow through the eye via Zartan. He also killed off Mindbender and Firefly in that story but brought them back later.

The cartoon was great, but the comics were for teenagers, while the cartoon was for kids.

The characters that Larry Hama didn't include in the comic are somewhat surprising; never saw Blizzard, Windchill, Bullhorn, Freefall, Pathfinder, all of the Sky Patrol, or Col. Courage. I thought at least Freefall or Pathfinder could have shown up in comics, but no. What gives?

Not gonna lie. Some of these came off as... slightly petty.