G.I. Joe Comics Appreciation [IDW, Devil's Due, Etc.]

[C-Dot]

Well, checked my solicits and removed ARAH (again). Every time I start buying it again I find yet another reason to stop. I would have hoped Hama would be above the gender-swapping trend, but I guess not.

Let me a wild guess. I'm guessing it's not Jinx inheriting the Storm Shadow name or a female Destro or Cobra Commander so....who am I kidding.....it's Snake Eyes isn't it?

[J. D. Guy]

It was one of those "It had to happen" deals, but I really enjoyed the Quick Kick VS Snake Eyes fight in G.I. Joe #8.

Quick Kick was a total braggart out with something to prove, and it was all of the obvious (though to be fair, it's easy to imagine where his valid frustrations being compared to Snake Eyes all the time would come from), but in spite of this, and occasionally because of it, too, he came off as pretty awesome! I kind of got the feeling that Snake Eyes recognized that Quick Kick needed the win more at the end and acquiesced after Quick Kick's last move (like, he could have pushed himself to go on, but chose not to), but regardless Quick Kick earned it and Snake Eyes was no punk throughout.

It was some serious fun!

[Muadib]

... he killed Quick Kick years back in rubbish fashion for the crime of being Asian but not the kind of Asian Larry thinks is cool.

You know Larry Hama is Japanese right? Are you accusing a Asian American of being racist against other Asians?

[AlucardD20]

I'm enjoying RAH, again. I don't care about the snake eyes gender swap, he was never a character I liked (yeah, I'm in the minority here), so don't care. Far as the OTHER GI Joe comic, I was enjoying the story line, but it just seemed to me like Scarlett's GI Joe was off a bit and came across "Anti-American" and it seems like the writers political opinions are slowly seeping into the writing. I am going to give First Strike a chance and the new one after that, Scarlett's Joes or whatever they are calling it. Shrug.

[Bl00dwerK]

Have you guys been keeping up with the Sitterson scandel?

[Exciter]

Have you guys been keeping up with the Sitterson scandel?

I have. He said some really deliberately offensive stuff regarding people mourning 9/11. I was already dropping the book due to his poor writing (and what I consider subpar art), but his comments only make the decision easier.

As for the Snake-Eyes/Quick Kick fight, that was pretty much my last straw. Snake Eyes was depicted very badly, introducing weapons into a sparing match then begging on his knees after he is defeated by an arrogant opponent that was just quipping the whole time. That's not Snake Eyes...

[Bl00dwerK]

I'm gonna have to look into that (I haven't read it). Sounds like Sitterson was just being an asshole, writing Snake like that.

[AlucardD20]

I have. He said some really deliberately offensive stuff regarding people mourning 9/11. I was already dropping the book due to his poor writing (and what I consider subpar art), but his comments only make the decision easier.

majorly offensive and sticks by his words, he has people rally around him saying that since IDW slapped his hands, that IDW is siding with MAGA (Trump) people, which I find funny, considering most of the people complaining haven't mentioned him once.

As for the Snake-Eyes/Quick Kick fight, that was pretty much my last straw. Snake Eyes was depicted very badly, introducing weapons into a sparing match then begging on his knees after he is defeated by an arrogant opponent that was just quipping the whole time. That's not Snake Eyes...

YeahI agree here. I was on the fence with this comic, but after that Snake eyes fight and his comments, I dropped it.

Looks like IDW gave him another comic that's named "Scarelett's Heroes" or something, so he can fuck up the Joe universe with his stupid writing and moronic views.

[CraigTheCylon]

You know Larry Hama is Japanese right? Are you accusing a Asian American of being racist against other Asians?

I'm quite aware who Larry is, yes. And no, I'm not accusing him of racism, just of very weird standards. Larry will bend over backwards to make the various ninjas of the Joe universe look like the toughest and kewl-est dudes ever but Quick Kick - ostensibly a master martial artist and silent weapons expert, which is basically a balaclava away from being a ninja anyway - mostly sits unused, and when he does show up it's to get jobbed to Storm Shadow with emasculating ease or to cry a bunch then get killed off-panel. Bear in mind most of the Joes killed in the SAW-Viper rampage were vehicle drivers whose machines were no longer available, plus Doc, a mail-away figure who was also long discontinued. Quick Kick was a newer addition and most of the characters of similar vintage lived a whole lot longer, so I gotta believe Larry had a problem with him specifically.

Also weird: said death occurs in the same story as the short, tragic career of Cool Breeze, a storyline that exists to show how even the most outwardly silly of characers deserve to be treated with respect. Quite how Larry could write that AND dismiss Quick Kick practically at the same time is...curious.

Regarding other things of recent vintage:

As far as Aubrey Sitterson's now-infamous comments go, I'm mostly on his 'side'. The criticism of staged grief around 9/11 is a difficult thing to hear, but Sitterson was relatively in the thick of it that day while I (for example) was at home, in Scotland, so I'm inclined to cut him some slack as I really can't imagine what it's like to be in his shoes. At least he handled the event with more dignity than Frank Miller. This is all I intend to say on the subject, quote-reply me and you will be ignored.

Following up on my initial thoughts about Q.K. vs Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe #8 - while I think the fight itself is well-staged (although I side-eye Q.K. being mister I-know-all-the-fights yet acting surprised when his triangle hold got countered by a powerbomb, do you just never watch wrestling or what), dramatically it doesn't really work because it's telling us a story development instead of showing it. If we'd seen more of Snake Eyes in this series, and had some sense of him declining as a fighter and commando as time went on, then this duel would feel like something earned. As it stands, due to the lack of issues and the split focus of the book, Snakes has barely appeared, and he's not seemed in any way different from the usual hyper-competent mute guy we know before. So when Quick Kick's banging on at length about Snakes' blunt edge and boasting about his awesomeness, it's not the necessary humbling it's meant to be, and mostly just makes the reader feel sorry for Snake Eyes and - by genre logic - expect Q.K.'s arrogance to lead to an ironically low-key demise in the near future, which does not seem to be the plan.

The Joe First Strike tie-in was pretty good, all told. The alternate art from Ilias Kyriazis was more to my liking than the norm, and the story moves a lot faster than the main series since it's solely concerned with a single Joe mission, rather than hopping between multiple points of interest.
spoilers:

Shipwreck as a helplessly over-his-head leader is very endearing. Surprisingly keen on the idea of Baroness-as-Cobra Commander too. Though sadly it's another instance of IDW's wonky scheduling screwing up, as we learn details about what happens to the V.E.N.O.M team in the final issue of M.A.S.K despite said issue not having been released yet. Blargh.

end of spoilers

A little bothered about the next series changing titles from G.I. Joe Unmasked to Scarlett's Strike Force. Not that I mind Scarlett getting her name on the cover, mind you, but since I've been enjoying M.A.S.K I was looking forward to the promised continuation of its storyline through a merged title. The name change implies Trakker and the crew will be sidelined, going back into the box like Action Man presumably will be post-Revolutionaries. Boooo.

[Za Waldo]

I'm quite aware who Larry is, yes. And no, I'm not accusing him of racism, just of very weird standards. Larry will bend over backwards to make the various ninjas of the Joe universe look like the toughest and kewl-est dudes ever but Quick Kick - ostensibly a master martial artist and silent weapons expert, which is basically a balaclava away from being a ninja anyway - mostly sits unused, and when he does show up it's to get jobbed to Storm Shadow with emasculating ease or to cry a bunch then get killed off-panel. Bear in mind most of the Joes killed in the SAW-Viper rampage were vehicle drivers whose machines were no longer available, plus Doc, a mail-away figure who was also long discontinued. Quick Kick was a newer addition and most of the characters of similar vintage lived a whole lot longer, so I gotta believe Larry had a problem with him specifically.

Also weird: said death occurs in the same story as the short, tragic career of Cool Breeze, a storyline that exists to show how even the most outwardly silly of characers deserve to be treated with respect. Quite how Larry could write that AND dismiss Quick Kick practically at the same time is...curious.

Regarding other things of recent vintage:

As far as Aubrey Sitterson's now-infamous comments go, I'm mostly on his 'side'. The criticism of staged grief around 9/11 is a difficult thing to hear, but Sitterson was relatively in the thick of it that day while I (for example) was at home, in Scotland, so I'm inclined to cut him some slack as I really can't imagine what it's like to be in his shoes. At least he handled the event with more dignity than Frank Miller. This is all I intend to say on the subject, quote-reply me and you will be ignored.

Following up on my initial thoughts about Q.K. vs Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe #8 - while I think the fight itself is well-staged (although I side-eye Q.K. being mister I-know-all-the-fights yet acting surprised when his triangle hold got countered by a powerbomb, do you just never watch wrestling or what), dramatically it doesn't really work because it's telling us a story development instead of showing it. If we'd seen more of Snake Eyes in this series, and had some sense of him declining as a fighter and commando as time went on, then this duel would feel like something earned. As it stands, due to the lack of issues and the split focus of the book, Snakes has barely appeared, and he's not seemed in any way different from the usual hyper-competent mute guy we know before. So when Quick Kick's banging on at length about Snakes' blunt edge and boasting about his awesomeness, it's not the necessary humbling it's meant to be, and mostly just makes the reader feel sorry for Snake Eyes and - by genre logic - expect Q.K.'s arrogance to lead to an ironically low-key demise in the near future, which does not seem to be the plan.

The Joe First Strike tie-in was pretty good, all told. The alternate art from Ilias Kyriazis was more to my liking than the norm, and the story moves a lot faster than the main series since it's solely concerned with a single Joe mission, rather than hopping between multiple points of interest.
spoilers:

Shipwreck as a helplessly over-his-head leader is very endearing. Surprisingly keen on the idea of Baroness-as-Cobra Commander too. Though sadly it's another instance of IDW's wonky scheduling screwing up, as we learn details about what happens to the V.E.N.O.M team in the final issue of M.A.S.K despite said issue not having been released yet. Blargh.

end of spoilers

A little bothered about the next series changing titles from G.I. Joe Unmasked to Scarlett's Strike Force. Not that I mind Scarlett getting her name on the cover, mind you, but since I've been enjoying M.A.S.K I was looking forward to the promised continuation of its storyline through a merged title. The name change implies Trakker and the crew will be sidelined, going back into the box like Action Man presumably will be post-Revolutionaries. Boooo.

I was in Oklahoma when the federal building was blown up and I'm not an asshole about it.

[Bl00dwerK]

As much as I like Scarlett, Duke needs to be leading the Joes again.

[twobit]

I quit reading after that aborted GI Joe run where Duke was a mercenary with Big Ben. I have never really liked this version of Scarlett since the Beginning of the Chuck Dixon run...she just seems too much of a bitch. Her obsession with Snake-Eyes, the lack of chemistry romance with Mainframe, and after all her problems she is leading GI Joe again. I do have a couple of Questions what happened to Duke after the last GI Joe run after Cover Girl and Scarlett went after him, and where is Hawk?

[CraigTheCylon]

I do have a couple of Questions what happened to Duke after the last GI Joe run after Cover Girl and Scarlett went after him, and where is Hawk?

Scarlett and Cover Girl's pursuit of Duke turned out to be based on false intel from Michael Monk/Mad Monk, Duke's sociopathic former lieutenant. While he was hiding a likely illegal money cache from the Joes, it seems like Duke got off without even a slap on the wrist that time. His 'mercenary' days were simply a result of his growing tired with the Joes' reduced operating parameters after Cobra became visually legit.

More recently, Revolutionaries #4 filled in the gap between then and now. Duke and Big Ben got hold of Isaac Craft, the son of Cobra PR lady Siren, at the end of Traviss' series, and Duke insisted on using the boy as an 'in' to crush Cobra's headquarters (Big Ben was against the idea). Unfortunately, there was already a Joe in deep cover among Cobra (Snake Eyes - yeah, he never really switched sides, I was disappointed too) and the two clashing ops resulted in a clusterf*** that left Isaac dead on Snakes' sword and everyone involved mad at each other. So Duke never went back to the Joes even after they started getting a budget again, and from the current Joe book, it seems he took up a desk-jockey general's role among the regular military, with a purview (maybe self-assigned?) to monitor the Joes in secrecy. Roadblock was his inside man feeding him intel, and when he got word that the Baroness had been kept locked up illegally for months Duke stepped in to have her and Crystal Ball moved out of the Joes' hands to a regular prison. But the convoy was attacked by the Dreadnoks, Baroness and Crystal Ball escaped, and Duke was in a bad way when last seen...

(he's probably fine)

As for Hawk, I don't honestly remember his last present-day appearance after seemingly getting Hashtag re-assigned during the Van Lente run. He appeared in flashback form in another Revolutionaries issue, but outside of that he remains retired until needed.

[Bl00dwerK]

I have never really liked this version of Scarlett since the Beginning of the Chuck Dixon run...she just seems too much of a bitch.

Agree with that. Most writers can't seem to write a female leader w/o making her a cunt. Scarlett was never supposed to be like that.

[AlucardD20]

Agree with that. Most writers can't seem to write a female leader w/o making her a cunt. Scarlett was never supposed to be like that.

Eh. I wouldn't go as far as calling her a c--t. She was on the boarder line of being quite annoying, but I found most of the Joes not written by Larry, not "in voice" or off somehow.