[stopdead]

@jlw515 My logic behind 13 (I only used that number b/c that's what is was in ARAH #1) is that I would want to keep the team at a manageable size. There's only so many X-Men, Avengers, etc. but they take on a huge cast of villains. I'd like to see that same formula in ARAH. With the current ARAH, it is more or less the opposite. There's this oversized cast of good guys repeatedly taking on the same bad guys. If the good guys are going to win 100% of the time (which is a whole other conversation), they need to be taking on more than just one bad guy. Sure, there can and should be Cobra. But Destro can be bad and *unafiliated* with Cobra. Same with Zartan, Major Bludd, and however many new villains there are to be created and developed. And I would want them to be true comic book villains, I don't want G.I. Joe taking on all-too-real s**tbags like sex traffickers and the like. I want to escape from reality in comic books, not be reminded of it.

[todd_m6d]

It's a great idea, but no way IDW has the talent to pull it off. After all this
is the company that drove away thousands of readers within the first few years it had the title and most recently thought a PTSD gimmick would be good PR for a failing title.

Hasbro needs to award all of its licenses to a more capable company or better yet, bring it in-house.

[J James]

I wouldn't want to bring it "in house" or whatever. I don't think that Hasbro in general understands ARAH.

Sending it to a new licensor might be a good idea. I was pretty upset when DDP lost it to IDW, but IDW had a really good thing going for a long time.

One of my biggest problems with Joe when it isn't Hama is that there are so many alternate "takes" on the property at this point that it's kind of a mess trying to understand what Joe is or should be in the future. We've seen a lot of versions which worked. We've seen a lot of versions which didn't work. We've seen DDP and IDW both create versions which worked pretty well and vice versa.

It seems like it would be nice for the next iteration of Joe to have a fully unified push. If that means having Larry write a big year-long end to the real ARAH title so that my own personal favorite continuity is closed-off, ended, and resolved completely, that would be great. Then all the other versions could be let go of.

It would be best to let the entire line go quiet for about a year or two, similar to what we saw recently. Then a fully unified push. Quality video game, web-based content, toy line, two titles set in that new universe, cartoon. Actually kind of similar to what we're seeing with the synthesis between the 6-inchers and the new game, but on a broader scale. Maybe Hasbro was actually trying this out until Covid came along, I don't know.

Here's the thing about it: you'd have the ability to use the UNIFIED backhistory, scope, designs, vehicles introduced around the same times, and so on to create cohesive interest across various age groups and consumer interests. I would base it on Hama's ARAH in context, but letting go of the timeline. Then you do a very rigid three-year and five-year plan for the storyline to follow, and a looser ten-year plan. Which toys should come out which years? How will the story (roughly) work out to evolve those characters and even vehicles into this new story.

Here's the tweak to it: you can have very different stylist choices for all of this and even different target demographics. So you could have a militaristic feel to a comic for guys like me, and be putting out a cartoon like the modern She-Ra which is bonkers and weird for a younger generation. You can have all these different feels, but the character designs (not the styles of art) are all the same and the "relevant" characters and storylines are all kind of loosely coordinated so during the year that Serpentor becomes a thing in the comic, Serpentor would be a thing in the toyline. Big pushes and focuses on plot and character developments in each format.

[stopdead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by todd_m6d

It's a great idea, but no way IDW has the talent to pull it off. After all this
is the company that drove away thousands of readers within the first few years it had the title and most recently thought a PTSD gimmick would be good PR for a failing title.

Hasbro needs to award all of its licenses to a more capable company or better yet, bring it in-house.

I'm pretty sure the creative talent is outsourced at most of these companies these days so it doesn't really matter who the licensee is so long as they can afford the talent. It sounds like Snake Eyes Deadgame is a big hit so hopefully that means more good stuff to come.

[Stormgard]

I'd like to see stories based in Hama's Joeverse that fill in some of the blanks. More "Rogue One" type stories. These could be written by him and/or others. Here are three separate book ideas that could all work, perhaps even all combined as a triple pronged approach:

"Retold" - this series retells old stories we know from new POVs and with new characters. The Cobra Island Civil War one issue stories from the respective POVs of Captain Minh, Fred VII, an Iron Grenadier, a Siegie, The Dreadnoks, and a few Joes.

"Forgotten Heroes" - a bunch of stories focusing on the characters that got little or no face time from Larry H. This would be well suited for another writer, for whom the likes of Bullhorn, Pathfinder, Footloose, Barbecue, etc are not characters who never mattered much.

"Cobra Rank and File" - stories focusing on the Cobra troopers. Learn more about the initiation rites of the Siegies, the toughest training programs of various Vipers, and get a better sense of the real differences between the Vipers and the Blueshirts. Some one off Special Missions type stories following Snow Serpents on patrol, etc.

[Mud Wasp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormgard

I'd like to see stories based in Hama's Joeverse that fill in some of the blanks. More "Rogue One" type stories. These could be written by him and/or others ... perhaps even all combined as a triple pronged approach.

Excellent ideas. Particularly the "multi-pronged approach", since that would necessitate shorter stories (which I personally prefer). Oh, and I'd go with "Overlooked Heroes" instead. Seeing as the word "forgotten" might trigger Hama (regarding rumors of "slipping"/senility).

Also, I'd love a fourth category focusing on matters of gender and race. For instance, during Hispanic Heritage Month, members of the Latinx community could be spotlighted. Maybe even a very special issue where General Hawk is finally brought down by the #MeToo movement.

That last part was a joke, of course... sorta. (Well, I would enjoy it, anyways.)

[Stormgard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mud Wasp

Excellent ideas. Particularly the "multi-pronged approach", since that would necessitate shorter stories (which I personally prefer). Oh, and I'd go with "Overlooked Heroes" instead. Seeing as the word "forgotten" might trigger Hama (regarding rumors of "slipping"/senility).

Also, I'd love a fourth category focusing on matters of gender and race. For instance, during Hispanic Heritage Month, members of the Latinx community could be spotlighted. Maybe even a very special issue where General Hawk is finally brought down by the #MeToo movement.

That last part was a joke, of course... sorta. (Well, I would enjoy it, anyways.)

I'd like to see 21st century adult sensibilities and issues incorporated. PTSD obviously. Imagine what kind of survivor's guilt Dodger could be carrying around with him. Friendly fire. These things don't need their own book, they could just be added here and there where appropriate.

[stopdead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormgard

I'd like to see stories based in Hama's Joeverse that fill in some of the blanks. More "Rogue One" type stories. These could be written by him and/or others. Here are three separate book ideas that could all work, perhaps even all combined as a triple pronged approach:

"Retold" - this series retells old stories we know from new POVs and with new characters. The Cobra Island Civil War one issue stories from the respective POVs of Captain Minh, Fred VII, an Iron Grenadier, a Siegie, The Dreadnoks, and a few Joes.

"Forgotten Heroes" - a bunch of stories focusing on the characters that got little or no face time from Larry H. This would be well suited for another writer, for whom the likes of Bullhorn, Pathfinder, Footloose, Barbecue, etc are not characters who never mattered much.

"Cobra Rank and File" - stories focusing on the Cobra troopers. Learn more about the initiation rites of the Siegies, the toughest training programs of various Vipers, and get a better sense of the real differences between the Vipers and the Blueshirts. Some one off Special Missions type stories following Snow Serpents on patrol, etc.

As a hardcore fan, I like these ideas but I'm not sure they will appeal to a big enough audience to justify the expense. If Liefeld's series has proven anything, Snake Eyes is the biggest draw in the Joe universe and I suspect that's what we'll continue to see--if we see anything...

[Flints Beret]

Really great ideas. Man, Dodger. Absolutely.

For fun though:
“I survived the war in Benzheen and all I got was this lousy noise making backpack”