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

[CentralPower]

Because the character had run its course over 30+ years.

[Bl00dwerK]

Because the character had run its course over 30+ years.

Then kill him and leave the character dead for a while. What's the point of killing a silent ninja just to replace him with a carbon copy?

[CraigTheCylon]

Then kill him and leave the character dead for a while. What's the point of killing a silent ninja just to replace him with a carbon copy?

Dunno, other than a matter of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

To be fair: I like the in-universe reasoning for Sean becoming Snake Eyes 2. His death occurred in privacy, so at least for now, nobody at Cobra knows about it. If the Commander and pals DID find out the Joes were missing their resident superhuman wrecking machine, they'd likely become a lot bolder in attacking Joe outright since they'd figure the team would be much weaker (and honestly, based on how Hama has presented the Joes as a whole and Snake Eyes in particular over the years, I don't think they're wrong). Thus, a deception, and perhaps a fitting role for Sean since the original Marvel run ended with Snake Eyes pouring his heart out to the boy in that letter, which is still about the only time we've really seen Snake Eyes' POV without it being filtered through Stalker or Storm Shadow or whoever.

What I feel is missing is the reality that Sean - no matter his best efforts - isn't anywhere near Snake Eyes' level. Hama hinted at it a little bit, but seems to have gone back on it, in favour of having Sean somehow pick up all the advanced ninja tricks in a matter of months. Hopefully he changes his mind again, because the reality of a fragile, mortal Snake Eyes is a lot more interesting than a carbon copy.

[Bl00dwerK]

I dropped the book, so I have no idea, but has Fake Eyes run into Storm Shadow yet? I'm guessing he hasn't because there's no way FE fools Stormy.

[CraigTheCylon]

I dropped the book, so I have no idea, but has Fake Eyes run into Storm Shadow yet? I'm guessing he hasn't because there's no way FE fools Stormy.

I...think so? He basically gave Sean his blessing and forwarded him to some mystic kung fu teacher that taught Sean how to (basically) become Iron Fist and channel his chi through his hands until he can shatter a katana with it.

Storm Shadow is presently more occupied with Dawn Moreno, a gifted martial-arts student Cobra Commander stumbled across and hired, who was subsequently put through the brainwave scanner (which they apparently still have) and accidentally downloaded a full copy of the real Snake Eyes' memories from the time he was a mind-controlled Cobra operative. So we have a pretender Snake Eyes who looks the part but doesn't have the moves yet, and a girl who does have the moves but doesn't look or behave like Snake Eyes, and whose loyalties are less than concrete.

[Bl00dwerK]

Wow. So Storm Shadow's cool with it? Hey, whatever happened to the other dude SE trained? Kamakura, or whatever? Was he ever in Hama's stories?

[CentralPower]

Then kill him and leave the character dead for a while. What's the point of killing a silent ninja just to replace him with a carbon copy?

The idea was supposed to that Snake Eyes the ideal is eternal, while the man inside merely needs to fill the roll. Put another way, Hama was trying to play with the idea of legacy characters. (I am not saying that it was done well. But, that was the idea.)

Wow. So Storm Shadow's cool with it? Hey, whatever happened to the other dude SE trained? Kamakura, or whatever? Was he ever in Hama's stories?

Kamakura is Sean Collins, a character that Hama came up with. But, Hama never used Collins as Kamakura. (He made Collins Snake Eyes.) Kamakura was what DDP (with Blaylock writing) assumed that Collins would become. That was later picked up by Hasbro.



I flipped through the "Revolution" one-shot. I hope that nobody is too fond of [spoil] Grandslam and Wildbill. [\spoil] The former had a good "fog of war" style death. The latter was cheap shock value, using a beloved character that likely had no place in the modern comic.

[CraigTheCylon]

New interview with Aubrey Sitterson on CBR if you're interested. Clickity clack.

It doesn't say much about where the series is going, just how Sitterson's been trying to wrap his head around the concept. I find myself nodding morosely with the majority of it. It's tough to bring apolitical escapist fantasy to a title with its roots in glorifying the military and being proudly American in this day and age, and bringing ANY kind of tone or attitude to the book will lead to a certain noisy segment of fandom dismissing it as 'PC cowardice' or somesuch. God help us if they ever out a Joe as gay. But I believe Sitterson when he says he's trying to do just that.

[Harpoon]

I enjoyed the Revolution one-shot a lot, and am curious about where this is going. Will definitely be checking it out.

[CentralPower]

I disagree with some of Sitterson's concerns in the article (if only by degree). But, it is interesting to see the guy who is trying to define modern Joe addressing them. (At the very least, it demonstrates that the can pitch higher than the Joe/Street Fighter series.)

I am glad that Sitterson is avoiding being "topical" and "realistic". That model failed twice at DDP.

The non-lethal lasers cut both ways. On the one hand, the idea is (to be blunt) stupid. On the other, it allows Sitterson to avoid the problem of "everybody in this fight is a terrible shot" and/or "named characters never die despite regularly being in huge battles".

My personal inclination would be to tone-down the sci-fi elements. The reasoning on page would be that the Joes being a low tech force would "harden" them against digital/cyber attacks. But, I am willing to see where Sitterson is going with the series.

So far, it is the series that I am most likely to stick with post-"Revolution".

[Bl00dwerK]

Haven't read the first issue yet...

[CentralPower]

Honestly, you can skip "Revolution", aside from (maybe) the Joe special. Everything you would need to know for the relaunch is at least mentioned there.

[Bl00dwerK]

Really, at this point, I'm not sure how much I'm gonna keep up with it. I flipped though the issue and wasn't impressed, just seeing most of the pages. I need to trim down my pulls.

[CentralPower]

I plan to give it an issue or two before making my decision. But, my pull-list needs trimming as well.

[Bl00dwerK]

I plan to give it an issue or two before making my decision. But, my pull-list needs trimming as well.

I'm kinda bummed Mike Costa isn't still involved with Joe. He was the best thing it had going, imo, and I've missed his work since Cobra Files.