[G.I. JOE] FULL FORCE!

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:09 pm

http://counter-x.net/gi_joe/media/comics/ddp/index.html - Devil's Due stuff is as choppy as Hell; the good stuff makes it worthwhile but there isn't half some shite along the way. World War III is terrific, though.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:13 pm

I'm still surprised Hasbro have apparently declared the DD stuff "Non-canon". Considering they seemingly have no problem with various different contradictory Marvel TF continuations of varying quality existing was there some sort of big fall out there?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:15 pm

Eh, I think the reason why is that unlike, say, DW and IDW for Transformers it's set in continuity with the Marvel stuff - so in a way IDW's Joe is 'competing' with DD's. I suspect it's just Hasbro throwing IDW a bone; the same probably isn't needed for TF fans as DW didn't really do a lot and what they did do was unpopular.

Plus Joe's general continuity is a lot less muddled - not as many multiverses due to a lot less media (OTTOMH things like the CGI DVD specials are really, really vague about continuity) - plus Hama's universe always had a lot more of a foothold in the fandom's mind as THE Joe continuity for various reasons. I guess Joe fandom is more used to having a single canon with no branching.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 11:18 pm

One amusing thing I noted when flicking through my Marvel UK TF comics is how amazingly gleeful the team are when they can drop the GI Joe reprints for the final time. The Transformation page is almost orgasmic on loosing the "Squadies" and the following issue's "Oh yeah, they'll be some specials or sumtin so shut up you two people at the back asking how the years old Cobra Civil War plot ends" is, if anything, even more dismissive of it.

I wonder if Hama had that final issue script in the bag for a while before the plug was pulled, if sales had been falling steadily I wouldn't be surprised if he'd put something in the bag for the inevitable.

LKW · Post by **LKW** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:41 am

continuation With the caveat that I'm pretty much an ARAH fanboy: yeah, indeed. Though a few of the past half-doxen-ish issues did fall short of my most-favorite status... - last couple of issues have picked back up.

The initial story arc definitely felt like it was designed to be self-contained, in case the re-launch didn't catch on; but, still decent. Honestly... the first few issues felt like a direct continution from the end of the seies - the style of the last multi-part arc, anyway - and then subsequent issues felt more in-tone with earlier GIJ:ARAH material. I was a little dissapointed with the recently-ended story arc, but would definnitely overall recommend the IDW ARAH as a full and worthy continuation of the series

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:20 pm

Necro bump!

A question that's been bugging me now I've reached the first Action Force reprint in the Transformers comic- Every single time the Joes are called "The Joes" it's simply changed to "Them". Was there really no Action Force equivalent (Forcies?, Forcettes?, Actioners?) How did the cartoon handle it? I could see that getting quite cumbersome as the series goes on.

That first reprint probably shows better than anything else how Action Force wasn't going to get the same level of attention and thought as Transformers had been receiving better than anything else as well. Someone has spotted Dr. Mindbender is called by the wrong name for half of it, but either didn't bother/didn't have the reference material to check which was the correct one resulting in him now being called "Dr. Brainwave" throughout.

It'll actually be really awesome if they doggedly stick to that for all future issues so as not to admit they were wrong.

rowan · Post by **rowan** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:25 am

Full Force is terrible.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:29 am

I think they sometimes use "A.F." but I never really read the reprints in Transformers (or Action Force, actually... the homebrews have a certain charm to them but the Hama stuff was largely crap).

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed Oct 08, 2014 5:33 pm

Slightly late to the party, but as the slimline packaging reissue of the original series (though it being called "The Complete First Series"- presumably to differentiate itself from the Dic stuff?- was briefly confusing) is $45 on American Amazon I have taken the plunge and picked it up at the same time I grabbed a copy of the film (which I want to do for my site and annoyingly isn't on YouTube).

For 95 episodes that seems a pretty good price.

I have also decided that Flint is my hero.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:32 am

So I've watched the first two mini series. Or rather, the one as both are basically exactly the same.

Considering Joe generally handled its female characters better than most 80's boys properties the introduction of Scarlett took me by surprise. First, she's a typically rubbish woman driver (unless she was actually trying to kill Duke?), then Duke assumes the pilot must be a "He" even though he has several girls on the team and then the planned metaphorical bollocking he intends to give to the hot shot who nearly took his head off is forgotten about when he sees they have a vagina and there's a chance of him getting some ginger muff.

As mentioned before, how much effort Latta actually puts into the voice rather than just doing Starscream is surprising at this stage, I wonder now if he actually stopped doing all the "Sssssssssss" stuff deliberately in the film so as to give him somewhere to go when he turned into a snake.

Also, Shipwreak is completely awesome in every possible way, and I love the fact he's just a guy Flint picks up in a bar rather than an actual Joe.

The Ron Friedman interview on the discs in interesting because as well as doing that thing of completely dismissing Larry Hama's contribution and claiming he really created the characters (which only makes sense if he only ever saw the shorter toy biographies rather than the full profiles and two years worth of comics that had already been don) but also because it's impressive hot jet black his hair and beard is for someone who appears to be in their 60's.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:55 pm

Shipwreck basically makes the series; any episode he's in (and there are a few because the writers loved him) is automatically watchable. It's like he's wandered in from another series.

Generally, though, I find GI Joe just that bit cannier and smarter than Transformers; there are dumb episodes but not as many and it seems to have more fun with being stupid. There's also a better mix of characters, especially among the good guys - once the full weekly series gets going a lot of the Joes have fairly distinct personalities, compared to the way the Autobots are Optimus Prime and twenty interchangable zombies. Joe just seemed to get slightly more heavyweight treatment, possibly making more of a connection with the writers

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:03 pm

I think G.I. Joe having that longer history probably helped, effectively the series is being made by people who owned and loved the original toy and that probably made them put a bit more effort in than might have always been the case with Transformers.

If nothing else, they liked the franchise enough to only let Don Glutt write one.

Plus, just look at Cobra, look at them. If you can accept a group of villains looking like that (and there's not even Dr. Mindbender yet) you can probably roll with however silly the series ends up.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:05 pm

Oh, and is any speaking woman who isn't a regular always going to turn out to be the Baroness?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:17 pm

No.

Later on they tend to be Zarana.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 4:00 pm

I see what you mean about Shipwreck, this subplot about him and Snake Eyes becoming can can dancers (whilst Shipwreck grabs a very different sort of bird to Polly) seems to both have nothing to do with the rest of Pyramid of Darkness and is bloody awesome.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:50 pm

I has made a new and exciting video looking at the film!

Looking at the video cover... presumably in the original poster Duke is waving a US flag, but what on Earth have the changed it to there?

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/addendum-10.html

[May not actually be exciting]

AndrewDTurnbull · Post by **AndrewDTurnbull** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 8:14 pm

Have a lot of time for the Action Force/G.I. Joe film. It's good daft fun.

Think a large part of the animation budget went on that opening scene though!

The use of all the stock musical themes and cues is a bit disappointing, a cock rock soundtrack album should have been done for this film the same as TF:TM.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 9:06 pm

Mind, as the film would have been worked on alongside season three of the TF cartoon it's entirely possible the music was written for (or at least used first in) this film, but it still sounds odd.

Annoyingly, my watching of the cartoon has been hampered due to the first disc of the second season 1 set looking as if someone got a bit too excited about how awesome Shipwreak is and ejaculated all over the playable side. I can't get more than a minute into The One With the TV Crew. Now debating if faffing about with returning it to American Amazon is worth the effort...