|
|
Thread Tools |
02-21-2010, 08:07 PM | #1011 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,754
|
Thats great. The phrase is perfect for Mars. Kind of matches the McCullen creed of selling arms to both sides.
__________________
Join the New England G.I. Joe Collector's Group: Battleforce New England Join the March of Cobra. Read the epic adventure on Kindle Worlds and visit the page to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/marchofcobra/ |
02-21-2010, 09:14 PM | #1012 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,294
|
Awesome work Zulu, the sheer amount of detail and research boggles my mind
|
02-21-2010, 10:01 PM | #1013 |
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
|
Quote:
Ah, it's my obsessive-compulsive personality tendencies at work. Once I get an idea for a visual in my head (in this case, "cap badge for MARS/Iron Grenadiers"), I just have to keep reading and researching about the background and commit it to paper or digital media or else I won't be able to do anything else |
02-22-2010, 02:43 AM | #1014 |
W.O.R.M.S. Commander
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Back in the US of A! (NoVA)
Posts: 10,649
|
Quote:
That's a thing of beauty to watch you get it all to come together like that. |
02-23-2010, 12:09 AM | #1015 |
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
|
Thanks Loose, glad you appreciate the research that goes into the images.
Well, back to writing after my self-imposed one week break. Since I've decided to put in some more temporal detail regarding the Joes as they exist in the world I've created for them, I'll be spending most of this week crafting a rigid timeline outlining the team's development (and that of certain pivotal/fan-favourite characters, like Snake-Eyes, Stalker, Duke, Hawk, Joe Colton, etc.) against the backdrop of real-world events. The biggest challenge is finding a reasonable analogue for the Vietnam War for the purpose of updating the temporal setting. The Vietnam War and American society's reaction to it informed so much of Larry Hama's GI Joe stories and serves as the signpost event which all major character histories revolve around and diverge from. When I was a kid, I divided my Joes roughly between "guys who probably served in Vietnam" and "guys who served after Vietnam." I want something like that for the reference bible as well, a singular event that captures the zeitgeist of a generation (at least in the military arena). Right now, the leading candidates I'm still deciding between are the following:
Each candidate operation has its advantages and drawbacks. Operation Gothic Serpent probably has the most "pop" significance because of the popularity of the film Black Hawk Down. Also, depending on how you view the events, Gothic Serpent had its fair share of clusterfucks which resulted in the highly criticised loss of American military and indigenous civilian lives (just like the Vietnam War). On the other hand, it's been 17 years since Gothic Serpent, so just about any enlisted operative active with the Rangers, SF, or SEALs (all of whom would have been at least E-4s and thus would have had at least two or three years in the military) then has probably voluntarily retired or is a few years from mandatory retirement by now (although some of the older ex-military guys like Colton could fit into the timeline of operations back then with no problem). The other issue is that there wasn't any significant USMC or USAF combat involvement during Gothic Serpent, so it isn't the "five-service" conflict that the Vietnam War was. Operation Uphold Democracy was a large scale operation that involved all five armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) so it's a good "catch-all" conflict to serve as a backdrop. But like Gothic Serpent, it's a bit too far back in contemporary history, I think. Additionally, it doesn't have the same "cultural cachet" as some of the more sensationalised conflicts of recent years. I like Operation Allied Force because a Ranger Reconnaissance Detachment played a significant role on the ground (which makes it a great analogue for the Vietnam War LRRP team that Snake-Eyes and Stalker were on). The 82nd Airborne Division's 505th Parachute Infantry also figured prominently in the proceedings (so I can throw in Mainframe's experience in there as well, as an analogue for his stint as an airborne infantryman in Vietnam). The war in the Balkans in my mind, in terms of the horrendous scale of civilian casualties and the type of internecine conflict involved, is somewhat analogous to the Vietnam War. The things it has going against it as a substitute are that it's largely been overshadowed in the minds of most people since the GWOT started, and it doesn't carry the same emotional impact and sense of controversy that the Vietnam War held (and continues to hold) for many of us in the West. The early years of the GWOT (particularly the War in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2003) is in the "temporal sweet spot." Not too far back in history that any NCOs and company grade/young-ish field grade officers active in that period would be looking at mandatory retirement in 2010. It's almost perfect, actually, as a Vietnam War analogue: The US' involvement is controversial, you've got a local civil war of sorts brewing between the indigs in Afghanistan and Iraq (and to a much smaller extent, the southern Philippines), all five services are involved, and the terms of a victory (or a loss, for that matter) for the Western side is sufficiently vague. My one qualm against it is that it's an ongoing conflict, so how it is viewed in context is open to the possibility of changing drastically. By themselves, I don't think any single candidate carries the same amount of "pop" cultural significance as the Vietnam War, but right now, I'm leaning towards aggregating Operation Allied Force and the first few years of the War In Afghanistan (with the events of 9/11 sandwiched in-between them) as the "Vietnam War analogue" for my take on GI Joe. Anyway, while reading up on my recent military history, managed to update three GI Joe images from a while back: Wild Bill, Falcon, Jinx Last edited by zuludelta; 02-23-2010 at 12:20 AM.. |
02-23-2010, 12:13 AM | #1016 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,754
|
That Jinx is AWESOME!!! Love it.
Falcon kicks ass as well. I think Allied Force would work well for the older Joes, with the newer ones being part of various operations of GWOT (which there is probably so many operations going on that we know nothing about would be great for someone like Flint with alot of classified ops, where Duke would be perfect as one of the first teams in, the first operations against the Taliban in the mountains would be great for guys like Hit & Run and so on...)
__________________
Join the New England G.I. Joe Collector's Group: Battleforce New England Join the March of Cobra. Read the epic adventure on Kindle Worlds and visit the page to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/marchofcobra/ |
02-23-2010, 12:34 AM | #1017 |
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
|
Thanks!
Quote:
I also have something of an ulterior motive for shoehorning Operation Allied Force in my Joe-verse's history... I think it's a horrible shame that the media seems to have largely forgotten the terrible things that happened (and occasionally still happen) in Kosovo and its surrounding areas in the Balkans and that many of the architects of the various crimes against humanity committed during the Balkan Wars remain unaccounted for. What's also forgotten is the actions of the NATO and NATO-led forces who helped stem the atrocities being committed by representatives of all local factions involved and continue to work to return the area to a civilised and relatively peaceful state. If this little project of mine helps to remind even one person that conflicts keep going even after CNN or FOX or whoever stops covering them, then I can justify to myself spending all this time working out obscure details and such. Last edited by zuludelta; 02-23-2010 at 12:38 AM.. |
02-23-2010, 12:36 AM | #1018 |
-.-. --
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: CLASSIFIED
Posts: 218
|
|
02-23-2010, 12:55 AM | #1019 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,754
|
Spook, one of these days I'll catch you actually "speaking"
__________________
Join the New England G.I. Joe Collector's Group: Battleforce New England Join the March of Cobra. Read the epic adventure on Kindle Worlds and visit the page to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/marchofcobra/ |
02-23-2010, 01:01 AM | #1020 |
-.-. --
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: CLASSIFIED
Posts: 218
|
|
Thread Tools | |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
cobra hiss concept art | gijoe071681 | G.I. Joe Customs General Discussion | 4 | 01-18-2011 12:16 AM |
Custom Cobra Commander from Gentleman's Concept Art | Kambei | G.I. Joe Customs Finished Projects | 14 | 04-12-2009 02:45 PM |
Concept Art For Cobra Commander REleased. | lerath666 | G.I. Joe News and Rumors | 27 | 07-08-2008 11:20 PM |
Sgt. Slaughter Triple T box and Cobra officer filecard | Novacaine | G.I. Joe Buy Sell Trade | 1 | 04-26-2008 12:55 PM |
|
|
Recent Off Topic Threads |
JazWares 18th Halo |
Star Wars 3 3/4 discussion thread |
Self Checkout apocalypse 3/26/24 |
What song are you listening to? |
G.I. Joe March Madness 2024 Round 2 Night Viper vs... |