We're not all that dissimilar in age here in the studios, just a handful of years separate us all, really, but the 12 inch G.I.Joe of Simon and Tim's was like an urban legend for me growing up. We knew it had existed-- grownups were always telling us G.I.Joe was this big when they were growing up, yet none of us had ever gotten a good look at one. There was a pit in the local woods where I grew up that contained the melted and mutilated remains, impaled on a tree stump, of a 12 inch Joe that we would go view on occasion. But for me and my friends, G.I.Joe was a little 3 and 3/4 inch team of guys with cool nicknames and specialties. Even better, they had a team of enemies, Cobra, who were all much cooler than the Joes. I definitely sided with the bad guys.
I was never a big fan of the cartoon which existed to sell us the little plastic men, but I was a huge fan of the comic, which was written by Larry Hama and had art by such talents as Michael Golden, Herb Trimpe, Russ Heath and others.
No tears or longing here for George, but that's a pretty amazing image of...the guy in front. Don't know their names. Camouflage man is nice too.
ReplyDeleteNice image, though none of the characters mean anything to me. Cobra presumably is something like Hydra?
ReplyDeleteI Britain we fought WW2 well into the 80s in our toy boxes. Comics were all about stiff-upper lipped working class fellows who gave the Huns a bloody good thrashing. Foreigners were all good sorts, if a little hapless, they needed rescuing from the ruddy Bosch and the Japs all the time.
Then of course StarWars came along and we transferred our nascent xenophobia to aliens, 'evil' empires and people in gaudy costumes.
Cobra is EXACTLY like Hydra-- this version of G.I.Joe began its life as a pitch that Larry Hama made to Marvel called Fury Force, where the son of Nick Fury lead a small but scrappy team of special agents against the forces of Hydra. Marvel passed, but Hama sold the idea to Hasbro instead. Fury Force became G.I.Joe, Fury's son became team leader Hawk, and Hydra became Cobra. Hama went on to write the comic which was, you guessed it, published by Marvel.
ReplyDeleteFor those who don't know, up front is Cobra Commander (used car-salesman turned terrorist), the metalhead guy is Destro (the Scottish arms dealer), the woman is the Baroness (CC's second in command and some sort of eastern European royalty), and camo guy is Firefly, who was the saboteur and all sorts of mysterious. There's like 50 other Cobras I could've drawn in addition but I was interested in making this quick.
So I'm checking the Stats and there's a sudden spike some a domain that is unfamiliar to me " http://hisstank.com". Now imagine my surprise when I go there and discover a G.I.Joe fansite, where our very own George O'Connor has an account on the message board. GET THIS, he's made 1,373 Post on this forum since 2007 !!!!
ReplyDeleteI think an intervention might be needed.
I have a problem.
ReplyDeleteBut at least I'm getting hits, apparently :)
Firefly? I thought his name was Saboteur.
ReplyDeleteNah, he was the saboteur, but his codename was Firefly. Here's his filecard:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yojoe.com/filecard/84/firefly.shtml
Yeah, I know how to find G.I.Joe Filecards on the net. Just 'cause a guy likes his toys doesn't mean he can't start some $#!t.
George - are we long-lost brothers? I was addicted to GI Joe in my formative years. So it was a real thrill for me to find out that Shannon Gallant, the guy who draws the current IDW series, lives in my neighborhood here in DC.
ReplyDeleteWe must be about the same age. I don't think you can be our age, be a boy, and not have been obsessed with the Joes. I haven't really kept up with the comics, but I almost always do flip thru the latest issue in the shop.
ReplyDelete