[Dreadnok Twins]

Larry barely touched the character in the entire 300 issue run but focused on his siblings. I'd say that smacks of dislike.

[shishi]

Being disinterested does not automatically mean you dislike something.

[Dreadnok Twins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishi

Being disinterested does not automatically mean you dislike something.

Very true. Thank you.

[Playful]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthBrett

I always looked at it this way - Zartan being the older brother has both of his siblings' abilities: to be able to camouflage and disappear into the shadows (Zandar) and be a master of disguises and makeup (Zarana) and become another person. But his younger siblings only possessed one of each of those abilities, but were better at it than he was as individuals. Zartan could sort of do it all and do it well. Where as the siblings only did one thing, but were more masterful at it than their older brother. If that makes sense.

Except, that wasn't the case because the siblings did multiple things well. For example, in the very first comic book featuring Zandar, Marvel Comics issue 51 (September 1986), when the Dreadnoks were trying to escape pursuit by the G.I. Joes at the end of the story:

Just when the Dreadnoks thought they were finally clear and safe, Sgt. Slaughter came by their location to ask the locals if they'd seen anything. Zartan and Zarana relied solely upon Zandar's disguise and acting abilities to fool Sgt. Slaughter and send him in the wrong direction. If they had any doubt in Zandar's abilities, Zarana (or even better Zartan) could have handled that task themselves, but I think Larry Hama wanted to highlight another one of Zandar's talents using that particular panel.

[Fred Broca]

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Originally Posted by Dreadnok Twins

The whole "not being noticed" thing screams more of Larry not liking the character and wanting Zandar to go away, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially when slavishly adhered to.

You're projecting dear.

[SmokeBellew]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadnok Twins

The whole "not being noticed" thing screams more of Larry not liking the character and wanting Zandar to go away, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially when slavishly adhered to.

That's really only a sign that Hama had way too many characters to juggle and had to find ways of reducing some of them to the background out of necessity. He did the same thing to Ghostrider/"the pilot so unnoticeable, no one can remember his name".

[cyclopswc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokeBellew

That's really only a sign that Hama had way too many characters to juggle and had to find ways of reducing some of them to the background out of necessity. He did the same thing to Ghostrider/"the pilot so unnoticeable, no one can remember his name".

I thought that was because Marvel already own the name "Ghostrider" in comics, so while they can do that for toys, they cannot use the name "Ghostrider" in comics, so Hama made it that no one can remember his name.

[SmokeBellew]

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Originally Posted by cyclopswc

I thought that was because Marvel already own the name "Ghostrider" in comics, so while they can do that for toys, they cannot use the name "Ghostrider" in comics, so Hama made it that no one can remember his name.

Of course, but it was also a handy way for Hama to have one less character to manage. He established that guy's low-profile, forgettable nature and that made writing for him simple. People who dog on Hama forget or don't think about the sheer number of characters he had to keep track of and write for.

[DarthBrett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Playful

Except, that wasn't the case because the siblings did multiple things well. For example, in the very first comic book featuring Zandar, Marvel Comics issue 51 (September 1986), when the Dreadnoks were trying to escape pursuit by the G.I. Joes at the end of the story:

Just when the Dreadnoks thought they were finally clear and safe, Sgt. Slaughter came by their location to ask the locals if they'd seen anything. Zartan and Zarana relied solely upon Zandar's disguise and acting abilities to fool Sgt. Slaughter and send him in the wrong direction. If they had any doubt in Zandar's abilities, Zarana (or even better Zartan) could have handled that task themselves, but I think Larry Hama wanted to highlight another one of Zandar's talents using that particular panel.

Oh I don't doubt that all three could. I just meant Zandar was probably much better at camouflaging himself than his siblings and Zarana was probably better at disguises than her brothers. I always thought they were all masters of disguises and camouflaging/disappearing. But each one was more proficient at it than the others. And Zartan was sort of blessed with the best of both worlds (camouflage and disguises) , but not quite as good with each unique ability as Zandar and Zarana were. But he was maybe more intelligent and a better leader and way more proficient with a wider array of weapons than maybe his younger siblings were.

At least that's my own head canon for the Z-trio!

You got me interested in re-reading the entire Marvel run again! It's been a good 15 years for me.

[DarthBrett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadnok Twins

Larry barely touched the character in the entire 300 issue run but focused on his siblings. I'd say that smacks of dislike.

DT, I feel your pain. I always felt like Big Boa, Croc Master, Crystal Ball and Raptor were severely under-used (if at all) by Hama. But I don't know if it was because he necessarily disliked them all. Maybe just didn't know what to do with them or just sort of concentrated on others instead?

That may be why I always loved those guys because they were more mysterious and were underused. It also didn't help matters that the Sunbow series didn't continue on after the movie in '87. I always wonder what season 3 would have produced if it had gone on another 2 years. Would have gotten a lot of '87 and '88 characters!

Would be so cool if fans got together and made a pseudo-season 3 of the old cartoon with the '87 and '88 rosters being introduced and used! That would be a real dream project.

And I loved Zandar as a kid, just so you know!