[DarkLordMordred]

The difference is that Zarana can function in ways Zartan cannot. I don't care how much of a Master of Disguise Zartan is, he's never going to be able to disguise himself as Scarlett or Lady Jaye. That's where Zarana comes in.

[Dreadnok Twins]

You're basically saying it's because she's female. So I guess that makes everything fine.

[Dreadnok Twins]

I don't want to see the loss of my favorite aspects of my two favorite characters.

[Dreadnok Twins]

I really hope we won't see another retread of Zartan and how Zarana is related to and relates to him. Let's see Zarana and Zandar developed!

[DarkLordMordred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadnok Twins

You're basically saying it's because she's female. So I guess that makes everything fine.

Well, that is the one advantage she has over Zartan and Zandar in that regard... she can impersonate the female enemy characters. Also, she's fairly self sufficient and has decent leadership capabilities. She ran a few schemes for Cobra, in Zartan's absence, and was even pretty close to Cobra Commander for a brief period. Not quite as capable as Baroness, but certainly more so than any of the other Dreadnoks, even Zartan (since he really doesn't care enough about that stuff).

[Dreadnok Twins]

So she's a Zartan stand-in with boobs, and this is fine?

[DarkLordMordred]

Zarana is more ambitious than Zartan, like I said. Zartan's motivations have always been pretty obscure (at least, in the comics... in the cartoon, he was clearly motivated by monetary gain). Zarana is quite different than Zartan, personality-wise... not simply a stand-in. This is why I don't like Zandar... I don't get what he does that can't be done by his siblings, or any of the other Dreadnoks. He's just useless.

Hama got a lot of decent mileage out of her, especially as a leader for the Dreadnoks and as Cobra's top mercenary operative. She did several schemes for Cobra and oversaw the Broca Beach project. Sunbow, on the other hand, only seemed to use her to impersonate the female Joes or seduce the male ones. She basically replaced Baroness in that role.

[Dreadnok Twins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkLordMordred

He's just useless.

Them's fightin' words!

Quote:

Hama got a lot of decent mileage out of her, especially as a leader for the Dreadnoks and as Cobra's top mercenary operative. She did several schemes for Cobra and oversaw the Broca Beach project. Sunbow, on the other hand, only seemed to use her to impersonate the female Joes or seduce the male ones. She basically replaced Baroness in that role.

Yes, but whenever Zartan's around she's reduced to being his nursemaid/girlfriend/biggest fan. In the past, she's been depicted as following him everywhere, and/or only talking to or about Zartan. And her marketing has always been how she's related to and relates to Zartan. Wpuld people find it acceptible if Scarlet did these things and was only ever marketed as girlfriend of Snake-Eyes? I'd love to see Zarana get out from Zartan's shadow. And Zandar isn't useless. It can be argued he's received more character development in the last 20-odd years than Zarana. (The Coil, his Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook bio). His motivations are also different than the rest of the Dreadnoks. Loyalty to his twin comes first.

[DarkLordMordred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadnok Twins

Yes, but whenever Zartan's around she's reduced to being his nursemaid/girlfriend/biggest fan. In the past, she's been depicted as following him everywhere, and/or only talking to or about Zartan. And her marketing has always been how she's related to and relates to Zartan. Wpuld people find it acceptible if Scarlet did these things and was only ever marketed as girlfriend of Snake-Eyes? I'd love to see Zarana get out from Zartan's shadow. And Zandar isn't useless. It can be argued he's received more character development in the last 20-odd years than Zarana. (The Coil, his Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook bio). His motivations are also different than the rest of the Dreadnoks. Loyalty to his twin comes first.

I can only go from what I know and I'm not familiar with anything G.I. Joe-related outside of the Sunbow cartoon, the movie, and the Hamaverse (Marvel and IDW), of which Zandar barely features. I've never read the other comics or the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook. If I had read those, I'd probably have a different opinion of him. And I DO plan to read them, eventually... I just have a lot of other stuff to get through, first. I'm currently doing a complete in-order reading of the entire Marvel Universe and I'm only at 1976, at the moment. lol

As for Zarana, I thought Hama did a great job of fleshing her out. Definitely much better than Sunbow did, where all she did was take Baroness's place as the go-to female spy and seducer of male Joes. Her only major character development came when she fell for Mainframe. Hama's take was more than just a nursemaid/fangirl of Zartan. You should read (or reread) those issues of the Hamaverse (although you'll be disappointed with Zandar's lack of involvement).

[EvilMeanie]

The hell?

If Zarana's depiction is so awful, what made you a fan? She's been portrayed the same way since her creation.