Serpentor (GI Joe): Genetics Track

[Abishai100]

Serpentor is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the Cobra Emperor and was introduced in 1986. Serpentor was designed to be the ultimate Cobra leader. Under the direction of Doctor Mindbender, he and Destro combed the tombs of the greatest leaders in history to find cells with DNA traces. These long-dead genetic blueprints were combined to produce a clone with the genius of Napoleon, the ruthlessness of Julius Caesar, the daring of Hannibal, and the shrewdness of Attila the Hun. Serpentor is a brilliant tactician and a master of political intrigue, and was eventually capable of wresting power of Cobra from Cobra Commander (source of summary: Wikipedia).


Serpentor is a great modern age comic book avatar of genetic engineering and his obvious symbolism in the paramilitary comic book franchise of "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" (Hasbro/Marvel) helps comic book fans embrace a dominion other than that of the X-Men universe in celebrating genetics-themed pop culture art.


Serpentor embodies a combination of governance anxieties and science overindulgence fears in the creation of a lethal super-soldier.

A nice G.I. Joe (Marvel Comics) issue featuring a Serpentor theme is TPB 2002 Volume 5.






G.I. Joe



serpentor.jpg

[Abishai100]

It seems that one of the greatest boons of the modern comic book is its presentation of self-idealization avatars that capture a human anxiety towards strength management and image consciousness.

The use of complicated performance-enhancing steroids by athletes and the development of complicated genetics research by scientists makes strength-fantasy and/or genetics imaginative comic book characters such as Serpentor (the supreme genetically-bred terrorist super-soldier) and She-Hulk (compatriot of the Hulk and an equally fantastic symbol of strength crusades) representative of modern age omens.

It's no wonder that comic book stories are being so widely adapted into Hollywood (USA) films now.


Serpentor is a true totem of panic.

[Doc Omega]

Riiiiiiiight

[Captain Wessex]

lolwhut?

..

[CraigTheCylon]

This is probably spam, but for the record, Serpentor rocks 'til the wheels fall off.

[saucemaster]

I would not be surprised if Dr. Mindbender worked for the Weapon Plus program.

Could Serpentor be the mysterious Weapon XI?

[CraigTheCylon]

I would not be surprised if Dr. Mindbender worked for the Weapon Plus program.

That fact alone would explain literally every question I've ever had about Fantomex.

"So he's a Sentinel but also a mutant, how does that work?" "Mindbender."

"He's got three separate brains for...what purpose exactly?" "Mindbender."

"He pukes up a SPACESHIP?!" "Mindbender!"

"...French?" "MIND. BENDER."

[saucemaster]

That fact alone would explain literally every question I've ever had about Fantomex.

"So he's a Sentinel but also a mutant, how does that work?" "Mindbender."

"He's got three separate brains for...what purpose exactly?" "Mindbender."

"He pukes up a SPACESHIP?!" "Mindbender!"

"...French?" "MIND. BENDER."

Three brains? Kwinn, Dr. Venom, General Flagg all 'died' in the same issue.
Coincidence? There is no such thing.

[Minerboh]

Serpentor was my favourite G.I.Joe villain in the tv series.
It was a shame that they removed him when the show passed to DIC.

[Abishai100]

He was my favorite too. It seems tempting to hoist Cobra Commander as the supreme Cobra diplomat, especially since he is so slimy. However, Serpentor captures that intrigue about breeding super-soldiers.

I wonder how much offense historians take from the story of his creation --- the fact that his DNA is specifically engineered to be an amalgam of special 'warchild' figures in actual history (i.e., Gengis Khan).

G.I. Joe (Hasbro) represented social fascination with populism hyperbole, and Serpentor seems to capture a general curiosity about military governance (the ultimate oxymoron).