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What secrets lurk in the filecards?
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02-10-2009, 02:22 AM
oliverbox
I Ride with Claymore!!!
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Posts: 6,821
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Troynos
I don't like the DDP run.
I like America's Elite cause it tried to reboot Joe as a harder, more lean unit. It was grittier, which I liked.
Troynos, I hear what you're saying, and in principle I can agree with you. The idea of trying to make a Joe meaner, leaner unit is a good idea... but as I've gone back and reread the first 24 issues of America's Elite: BARF. It's like a costume party.
The characters are drawn like Jokes. Every Character had ultra patriotic, colorful spandex uniforms? WOW! DDP was almost broke at the time, and the quality of printing the comic hadn't been that bad since the Marvel run. Plus the portrayal of General Colton was laughable. They're a team of a very few, but the retired Wheel Chair General gets to hang around all the time... hmmm.
It was such a Soap Opera that it was ridiculous. They turned Flint into a total Burn Out. They changed him so much that he wasn't even Flint anymore. And Suddenly, Stalker's giving orders to Flint in the first few issues... WHAT?!!!
This next point is going to be controversial, but I'm going to say it anyway. The idea of a G.I. Joe as a 12 person team may seem sexy, and it may even be sort of classic, but it's completely unrealistic. Cobra is a global army with tanks, and hundreds to thousands of troops. 12 soldiers are going to deal with that? Sorry... No Special Forces Unit in the world is that good.
Besides that, if you are going to pick 12 soldiers - and only 12 soldiers - maybe we should choose them on the merits of their qualifications and not based on a popularity contest. It's the same Reason it makes so little sense to have guys like Green Arrow and Batman on the Justice Leage: they're on the team because of the fans, not because it makes sense. And that may be OK in the DCU, but G.I. Joeverse is supposed to be a little more realistic.
Here's what I mean about the America's Elite Roster -
Flint: Total Burn Out. He would have had a psych evaluation after Lady Jaye's death, and they would have shipped him to Ft. Bragg to become a teacher. He was unfit for combat duty any longer. And Flint is my all time favorite Joe. But I also thought it was cute how they portrayed Flint's mean persona: He takes off his beret.
"Look out, everyone! Flint's not wearing his beret." "Oh, NO! He's gone off the deep end for sure."
General Colton: Really? Wasn't he just almost killed? Isn't he about 90 years old? Didn't General Rey just do a great job of being the new Commander, where did he go? Why is Colton still wearing a scruffy beard in uniform? Why is he portrayed as an idiot? Why does he have to constantly earn the respect of the team? The man IS G.I. Joe!!!
Shipwreck: Get out of here! He's drawn to look like a homeless monkey. And why is he even on the team; he was the joke of the team back in the 80's. He was only there for comic relief; he was the laziest, most worthless Joe there was. The only way that Hasbro could even justify his existence was to turn him into a Navy SEAL, and he was never half the SEAL that Torpedo or even Wet-Suit were. Strictly there because so many fans like him. Ridiculous.
Scarlett: Could you get a uniform that fits? Could you use a pony tail holder? Could you and Snake-Eyes ever just follow orders and do your jobs? Didn't we just prove that couples should be allowed to work together on this team - ask Flint about that one.
Roadblock: Earring... REALLY? I think not.
Stalker: Where the heck have you been for the last 20 issues of Jerwa's run? Suddenly, you show up and start giving Flint orders? Oh, I get it. You're still wearing your beret. Well, the beret of moral authority triumphs over all.
Hawk: Please explain why you're here. And also please explain why General Rey is not. You retired, sir. You also are in a wheel chair. You've also been replaced by G.I. Joe himself... if we're not allowing any of the other super qualified Joes to be here, you can go right back to feeling sorry for yourself and wearing a sweatshirt in Colorado.
Storm Shadow: Give it a rest already. If I want a soap opera, I'll watch Days of Our Lives. Seriously, just stop.
There were SO many Joes that were more qualified and didn't make this team. Claymore would have been a perfect field commander. They could have used a Company grade officer. He had just started showing up with regularity... he had so much potential in that comic. Torpedo would have been a much better choice than Shipwreck. What, Beach-Head's suddenly not tough enough anymore? All of Duke's craziness is just swept under the rug?
Isn't he still working for C.I.A.? And then to find out he was raised by hippies... no thank you, America's Elite.
I will say that WWIII ended fairly well, but it was a long storyline and not really enough pay off for what it was. Did they have to kill Billy? That was almost as bad as Lady Jaye. And how many times do they have to kill Dr. Mindbender. Seriously, it's like a Joke that never gets any funnier. The Plague was interesting, but the Joes start to become Superheros and that's beyond the point of my suspension of disbelief.
Of all the characters, I think Duke and Flint are the hardest to write well. They are so much alike, and to differentiate between the two, the writers start to invent weird character flaws. Jerwa went so far as to have Flint say to Duke and General Hawk and General Rey that he "wasn't really cut out to be a leader". That's the biggest crop of Bull crap I've ever heard. By the way, that's got to be the gayest page in a Joe comic I've ever read. The four of them stand around talking about their feelings over coffee; It was like a comic book version of "The View". I kept waiting for Duke to ask Hawk what kind of Maxi Pads he would recommend. It was ridiculous.
The real problem, in my opinion, is that the writers have NO idea what a First Sergeant and a Warrant Officer do. They have no idea how an Airborne Ranger First Sergeant and a Special Forces Warrant Officer behave. Certainly we're dealing with individuals, but there are also personality types that fit together in a unit. Duke needs to be more about action, and regulations, and watching over his soldiers. He needs to be a Sergeant. He needs to be what every guy who has ever been in uniform thinks of, when he thinks of an excellent First Sergeant. I called my old First Sergeant today and we talked for 45 minutes. When I hung up, I thought to myself, "That guy would eat Duke for breakfast." That's a problem.
Anybody who has ever dealt with anyone from Special Forces knows that they are a different breed. And any soldier who has ever had any dealing with a Warrant Officer knows that they are a special part of the Army. Flint should be the best of both worlds, and that would make him a very unique individual - but a leader for certain. He should be the Ying to Duke's Yang, instead of a second fiddle Duke with different clothes, dark hair, and a beret.
I think if they ever figured out that dynamic, and they really wrote it in a way that was realistic and believable, the rest of the team would almost fall into place. Duke and Flint are the centre, even more that Hawk, or Snake-Eyes, or Stalker. Duke and Flint, by virtue of their positions, are the heart and soul of the team, but if the center cannot hold...
that's just my two cents, fellas. I'm interested to hear what y'all think, and thanks for reading this diatribe.
__________________
Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?
oliverbox
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