[SnowCat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PanzerKrake

There was some stand out serious moments in the Sunbow series for sure, but it was nowhere consistent in tone and went full goofy kids stuff all the time. There was a more core set of characters in the Sunbow cartoons, while some characters got very little or next to no screen time. So many characters just had essentially walk on parts, but it was great how they did focus on some characters on a recurring basis like Alpine and Bazooka.

I'd argue the tone for Sunbow was a very consistent, nearly-James-Bond, tongue-in-cheek feel. Some episodes veer slightly more adult (like No Place Like Springfield) and some episodes go a bit silly (like Greenhouse Effect) but almost all episodes have something for both adults and kids. (The show was actually designed for both kids and their parents, per Flint Dille). I'd say overall the episodes all feel like they all belong in the same world. I'd also argue that Sunbow had a wider pool of well-developed main characters than the comics, but I may be forgetting some issues of the comics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormtrooper12

Yall seen this new tweet?. Surprised I missed this thread. This thing looks awesome! Haven't bought anything from IDW, but this is a must have.
https://twitter.com/TomWaltz/status/1466586148285792256

Both pages look very, very good. Like someone else said, a lot depends on the writing, but the art team is definitely holding their end up.

[AWOL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnowCat

Sunbow had a wider pool of well-developed main characters than the comics, but I may be forgetting some issues of the comics.

It certainly feels that way. I also like how the cartoon was relatively ninja-free.

[nero9000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nero9000

I'm a bit undecided on the art. It does looks good, and has a more than obvious cartoon vibe to it. That's why I'm not sure if it would be a great fit for the Hamaverse in the long run. Imagine if IDWs next Joe comic would be a cartoonverse comic with Schoening on art, though? It would outsell the last five IDW reboots combined.

I demand an executive producer credit!

You're welcome, IDW.

[GeoffDes]

Quote:

I'd also argue that Sunbow had a wider pool of well-developed main characters than the comics, but I may be forgetting some issues of the comics.

Larry / Marvel / whomever more or less agreed with that sentiment, and Special Missions was specifically created to give more screen time to the characters that were being overlooked in favour of the main cast of the comics (Stalker, SE, Scarlett, Duke, Flint, Lady Jaye, Hawk, Roadblock, Ripcord).

Which also ties into the other issue, where Larry couldn't move on from the early-years characters as the cartoon did, because he was telling a serialised story in the main books while the cartoon could afford to devote a full episode to a character as a showcase. Like, Larry could never really find time to develop Low-Light, but a lot of us rank him as a favourite character because of his two showcase eps in S2.

Of course, the comic was MUCH better about digging into the Cobra side of the equation, whereas the cartoon never did much of note with characters like Scrap-Iron or Firefly that we now consider major Cobra players.

Larry also only had 12 issues per year, whereas there were far more episodes of the cartoon produced for the 84-86 era of toys.

[AWOL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffDes

Larry also only had 12 issues per year, whereas there were far more episodes of the cartoon produced for the 84-86 era of toys.

Excellent point. I'd also add how the Sunbow series explored a wider variety of themes and sub-genres, thanks to the team of writers.

[GeoffDes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AWOL

Excellent point. I'd also add how the Sunbow series explored a wider variety of themes and sub-genres, thanks to the team of writers.

I mean, the focus is what made the comic the absurd success it was (Larry hit the zeitgeist DEAD F'N ON starting from day one and basically rode that until the 90s), but the cartoon had more writers, more room, and a bigger cast, so you got more room to play with the stories.

In all honesty, what I'd do with this series would be to take the Hama plotlines and tell them in the style of the cartoons, rather than just come up with new cartoon episodes.

[stopdead]

I'm looking forward to this series. It's only four issues, which might have something to do with IDW losing the license. Hopefully, though, if sales are strong then whatever publisher ends up with the license will capitalize on it. Personally I like the idea of a Sunbow/Hamaverse hybrid. Keep the stories fantastical, but set in the Hamaverse and maybe just a little more detail in the artwork. I've only seen the teaser pages thus far and I really like them--I just hope they are as consistently good as Schoening's work on ARAH #278, which is probably my favorite ARAH issue from the IDW era. His work in #278 seems a bit more detailed (i.e. better) than the Saturday Morning samples I've seen.

Hopefully this series, since it is titled G.I. Joe A Real American Hero, will simply be included with my ARAH subscription on Comixology.

[Bac]

I'm in on this, but would really love this Sunbow-inspired concept to jump into a newly animated series I can watch with my kids. That's what the brand needs.

[GeoffDes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bac

I'm in on this, but would really love this Sunbow-inspired concept to jump into a newly animated series I can watch with my kids. That's what the brand needs.

The problem with that is, per Jim Shooter, the cartoon lost a lot of money. Sure, it was a loss leader for the toys, but I don't know if Netflix or whomever would be on board with that setup these days.

[AWOL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffDes

The problem with that is, per Jim Shooter, the cartoon lost a lot of money. Sure, it was a loss leader for the toys, but I don't know if Netflix or whomever would be on board with that setup these days.

Kirk Bozigian said Hasbro 'Killed the golden-goose' when they canceled the Sunbow series...