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12-27-2023, 12:33 AM | #1 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Dec 2023
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Hi everyone! This is my first post here, and I'm aware that it might be a little controversial, but I hope that you're all at least willing to hear me out... even if this is a pretty long post.
So, I've been thinking a lot about how, over the years, Hasbro has attempted to reboot G.I. Joe for modern audiences. I'm thinking mainly in terms of media, rather than toys. I've noticed that many of these newer iterations of the brand attempt to distance itself from the classic "Real American Hero" tagline. This is (unsurprisingly) controversial, but the intent of Hasbro's part is clear; like it or not, we're a lot more cynical about America these days, and the American military was very controversial during the 2000s and 2010s for obvious reasons. I know that politics is against forum rules, so I won't discuss specifics, but regardless of your personal feelings on the matter, this is an important truth to acknowledge. A Real American Hero is just a harder sell these days. While it is valid to mention Marvel's success with Captain America, I would point out that Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is intentionally a deconstruction of being a symbol of American power. Consequently, Hasbro's attempts to move the G.I. Joe brand away from ARAH usually manifests itself in G.I. Joe being depicted in media as an international team as opposed to a purely American one. Of course, this isn't always the case, but it's a change that comes up a lot. This is, of course, not a perfect fix. Aside from potentially alienating the existing fanbase, there's still the very obvious fact that "G.I. Joe" is a distinctly, uniquely American name. It's a WW2-era slang term referring to American soldiers. When people hear "G.I. Joe," they still think of it as an American term. It's not like the Justice League where if you just drop the "America" from the name, it becomes less American, ya know? I think that 2009's "Rise of Cobra" actually illustrates this problem really well. The film literally bends over backward to justify why "G.I. Joe" is the name of an international counter-terrorist organization. In the film, G.I. Joe is changed to an acronym for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity" - I'm sorry, what?! That's a terribly unconvincing explanation. This is why I wish Hasbro held onto the Action Force name. Because "ACTION FORCE - INTERNATIONAL HEROES" was always a stronger sell for international audiences in the '80s, and I'd argue that (nostalgia aside) it'd probably be a stronger sell everywhere today. For those who are unaware, Action Force was the name given to G.I. Joe in Europe and Australasia; it was originally its own toyline consisting of recolored G.I. Joe figures, but eventually it just became a rebranded G.I. Joe. They brought over the Sunbow cartoon as Action Force, and the Marvel UK comic included reprints of Larry Hama's ARAH alongside original, UK-exclusive stories. In both of these, the name G.I. Joe was replaced with Action Force, but it was otherwise the same. Eventually, Hasbro dropped the name Action Force and just chose to call it G.I. Joe everywhere, and the Action Force name has since been picked up by someone else. However, I think Hasbro missed an opportunity by abandoning the Action Force name. Now, to clarify - this doesn't mean I want the G.I. Joe name retired - far from it. Stuff like Larry Hama's "A Real American Hero" or "G.I. Joe: Classified" would continue on as G.I. Joe; they are firmly and, in the former's case, obviously rooted in the '80s ARAH iteration of the brand. Changing them to Action Force does literally nothing for anyone, and would in fact make things worse off. Rather, I wish Hasbro held onto the name Action Force for the more experimental takes on the brand, for the new iterations that aren't trying to just be ARAH. I admit that the dividing line between what would be called G.I. Joe and what would be called Action Force is a little unclear, but I do think that there'd be a clear enough distinction. Action Force would basically be reserved for the new, modernized take on G.I. Joe - using the same characters and factions but in a wholly different world. For instance, Rise of Cobra would've been called "Action Force: Rise of Cobra," and while the quality of the film itself wouldn't actually change, the optics of it certainly would've. At the very least, we wouldn't have that frankly absurd acronym nonsense, which makes this a worthwhile change to me at least. Hell, they could even have tried doing a more authentic G.I. Joe film, perhaps even as a period piece set in the '80s and aimed at a more mature audience while Action Force remained more kid-oriented. Finally, I want to discuss IDW's Hasbro Universe, which is really what got me thinking about all of this in the first place. IDW had published G.I. Joe comics in their own universe from 2009 to 2014, but they revived the series in 2016 for their Revolution crossover event. They basically reworked G.I. Joe to take the place of the Earth Defense Command from the Transformers books, which they were now retconned to share a universe with. A lot of people didn't love this, especially when you consider the sharp tonal shift between G.I. Joe pre-Revolution and post-Revolution. What if, however, G.I. Joe was NEVER reactivated in this universe? What if a newly-created international unit called the Action Force was created instead? This way, you firstly avoid having two books titled G.I. Joe on shelves at the same time, but you also dodge some of the controversy of reinventing G.I. Joe as such. Because, really, this isn't G.I. Joe, or at least, it's not ARAH. If you want ARAH instead, you can always pick up Larry Hama's series. Action Force, meanwhile, will be there for a new audience as part of the Hasbro Universe. It also kinda works because IDW DID have the Red Shadows running around at this point... Anyways, that was a really long post, and I do apologize, but it's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I understand that this could be a pretty controversial take, but I wanted to share my opinion with y'all regardless. Last edited by fullforce; 12-27-2023 at 12:47 AM.. |
12-27-2023, 03:20 AM | #2 |
Commando
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Britain
Posts: 3,831
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This is a long-ass post just to say Hasbro suck at marketing and trademark retention.
And the OG Action Force was more uniquely British than you make out. The first 1982 toys didn't include ANY GI Joe figures or vehicles. I don't even think they had any repurposed Joe weapons. It wasn't until the 1983/4 rebooted line that they started reusing the Joes' helmets, visors, Uzis, and the Cobra Dragunovs, AK47s and there are only 9 reused o-ring figures. Granted, they reused a LOT of the vehicles... |
12-27-2023, 05:08 AM | #3 |
Lousy Greenshirt
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Iowa, US
Posts: 1,091
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I actually have had similar thoughts to this over the years.
The conclusion I came to was that Action Force would be the name of the whole team, with G.I. Joe being the name of the American division of Action Force. The Oktober Guard would be like the Eastern European/western Asia group, the Argen 7 a South American group, and plenty of others. They'd all fall under the Action Force name though. This is actually my current head canon. Last edited by Matt82; 12-27-2023 at 05:12 AM.. |
12-27-2023, 07:16 AM | #4 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Boulder
Posts: 1,577
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Welcome to the 'Tank!
Your post isn't too long, it is many topics of conversation. Here are a few of my opinions. Quote:
For instance, Rise of Cobra would've been called "Action Force: Rise of Cobra," and while the quality of the film itself wouldn't actually change, the optics of it certainly would've. At the very least, we wouldn't have that frankly absurd acronym nonsense, which makes this a worthwhile change to me at least.
We could see the obvious course correction with the sequel, but that was mired in the sad circumstances of being a sequel and trying to share continuity with the first. Sad! The optics were bad. "Hey kids and Gen Xers, remember your Real American Heroes? We hate them! Come watch the movie we made, you'll... love it? Oh, we're changing everything because we hated it all." I was a "serious" comic book reading kid who refused to watch the "childish" cartoon, but if they had just made a fun action film with the flavor of the cartoon starring GiJoe instead of being lame people trying to "fix" it, it would have been a success. For what it's worth, we've seen the idea before that since this small amount of people seem to hate America so bad (theoretically but not in practice) that changing the name of the team to Action Force is practically required. It's kind of an old retread for us here, this conversation. So, while it is mildly controversial I think at this point we already know who thinks what about it. Since we just experienced half a decade of foreign protestors in countries all around the world flying the American flag while standing up against their oppressors, it's pretty obviously a bad idea to downplay the "Real American Hero" feel of the team. However, that said... ..."Action Force" has potential as a sister-title or spinoff. There's not only nothing wrong with it, but it is fun. The only major problem I see is the (at this point tiresome) idea that GiJoe needs "fixing." Just get rid of the 80s team and all the characters, retitle it, and make the new thing. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
A lot of people didn't love this, especially when you consider the sharp tonal shift between G.I. Joe pre-Revolution and post-Revolution. What if, however, G.I. Joe was NEVER reactivated in this universe? What if a newly-created international unit called the Action Force was created instead?
I'm not trying to dump on your idea of not having the previous IDW team back, and instead substituting something else. On the contrary, the crossover-verse is a fine place for Action Force (not to limit where AF belongs). The problem with the IDW crossover-verse was that it sold itself as a continuation of the IDW continuity but it wasn't really. Aside from the appaling quality which nobody wanted to read, the writers clearly had little interest in what had come before. Few plot threads carried over. And as you correctly cited, the tonal shift was real. They put people who hated GiJoe in charge of GiJoe, and those people spent the whole time apologizing and trying break it. You have to understand that not only has this NOT worked in the past but it will continue to not work in the future. I don't know why this ideology keeps breaking franchises and wrecking titles over and over, but it also never self-evaluates and checks itself. Wait a minute, now... ...actually I DO know why it keeps breaking all the good things over and over and never learning. The reason is because the "idea" is already doing what it is meant to do: break things. It's goal is that you not love the things you used to love anymore, and that all old things are forgotten and abandoned. So we "deconstruct" it until there is no meaning and people don't like it. Then they abandon it and hey! They're ready for the Zero Year. Just conform. It's the reason DC comics may stop making comics entirely now, after 90 years. It's the reason the MCU is on hold for a year, and tanking consistently. Pick people who LOVE GiJoe. People who aren't trying to "fix it." Classified is doing spectacular because they aren't trying to "fix it." I think the next major media push needs to plan to produce a steady stream of content for at least a projected decade and should be based on the success of Classified's mythology and style. Quote:
I actually have had similar thoughts to this over the years.
The conclusion I came to was that Action Force would be the name of the whole team, with G.I. Joe being the name of the American division of Action Force. The Oktober Guard would be like the Eastern European/western Asia group, the Argen 7 a South American group, and plenty of others. They'd all fall under the Action Force name though. This is actually my current head canon. Did anyone ever read Greg Rucka's Queen and Country? I'm a completist and junkie. It was great.
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12-27-2023, 10:17 AM | #5 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 8,416
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I'm still surprised Hasbro doesn't make some Action Force figures for the line. Especially because other companies are already beating them to that.
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12-27-2023, 11:39 AM | #6 |
Just a fan
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: NY
Posts: 8,586
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I was never a fan of the team being called G.I. Joe.
They could use Steel Corps or Battle Corps... anything but a term that refers to your average infantryman. Last edited by AWOL; 12-27-2023 at 07:04 PM.. |
12-27-2023, 11:53 AM | #7 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Brazil,Rio de janeiro
Posts: 3,008
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Action Force should become a solo toyline in the Action Man lore.
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12-27-2023, 04:09 PM | #8 |
Lousy Greenshirt
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Iowa, US
Posts: 1,091
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Quote:
This sounds cool, I'd love to see all these teams in the same world of soldiers, espionage, and action! But could we have them all as national rivals competing against each other? Britain v. Russia v. US v. Argentina, etc. I think it would be super cool to even make more BRAND NEW nation-based teams. Give us a Chinese version and and Indian version, too. You could have a lot of backstabbing, ally-helping, and rivalry.
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12-27-2023, 07:00 PM | #9 |
TARGAT Fan No. 1
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Australia
Posts: 318
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That's not true; in Australia the first wave of straight arm figures were put out as Action Man then switched to G.I. Joe afterwards. The cartoon was called G.I. Joe - International Heroes.
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12-27-2023, 07:16 PM | #10 |
long time lurker
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PDX
Posts: 851
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Great first post and fun to read. I enjoy these sorts of threads.
Acknowledging first that while we may all LOVE GI Joe, we do so for different reasons or love very different aspects of what GI Joe means to us. Some want Sunbow, some want CoD: Modern Warfare, etc, etc. Lots of folks on this forum and elsewhere agree that the movies have been mostly bad, but we have very different (and often conflicting) ideas about what would have made them good. This isn't unique to GI Joe, but I'd argue it is particularly true for it, and thus, especially challenging for what ultimately amounts to a pretty niche property. And that does put Hasbro and Paramount and everyone else involved in the business of commercializing this IP in a tough spot. This is an important caveat to JJ's post above, which I otherwise generally agree with, if not all of the specifics. Would Action Force be a better title for RoC or the IDW crossover stuff? Sure. But would it have made them good? Eh. What sets GI Joe apart from other properties is not just its Reagan-era DNA, or that it's got multiple popular-yet-tonally-incongruous continuities (Filecards, comics, cartoons, transformers-crossovers, etc.), or even the constantly rotating cast of characters (outside of the core few). It's that a substantial proportion of the fanbase developed their own interpretations of the lore, and their resulting love for different characters through countless hours of playing with toys. I honestly think this is what makes GI Joe fans so notoriously hard to please. But it's also what makes it such a ripe place for head-canon and fan fiction. There are so many colorful characters with underdeveloped backstories, and countless childhood battles waiting to be retold within a larger narrative. So yes, I too would make some different choices if I were Hasbro or otherwise in charge of the brand. But as I am not, I'm still very happy to read folks' ideas for how to retell or reinterpret GI Joe and incorporate the ones I like best into my own Joeverse.* *FWIW in my joeverse Action Force was a global anti-terrorist alliance much as you describe and GI Joe was the pseudonym for the American member operation. But the Action Force project was concluded as the cold war ended and GI Joe was expanded into something different with more experimental spec ops teams (aka the late 80s and early 90s ARAH sub-teams).
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