GI Joe vs. Transformers II #2

The 2004 miniseries GI Joe vs. Transformers II is full of 1980s toy nostalgia fun. Issue #2 continues the fun; making it feel like it was a missing episode of either Sunbow cartoon show.

The miniseries has a pretty straight forward plot; it follows the first miniseries dealing with Cobra Commander trying to acquire and implement Cybertronian technology. Unfortunately things get awkward when GI Joe and the Autobots try to stop Cobra (and the Decepticons stop by to get their gear back), and several Joes, Cobras and Transformers get displaced throughout the time stream.

This issue takes us back to Chicago in the late 1930s, with the Baroness, Beachhead, Roadblock and a poor Cobra Viper named Percy trying to track down Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transformers. Needless to say, it’s very silly in a good way, whether it be Baroness and Roadblock trying to infiltrate a mob hangout, or Percy being convinced that he’s going to get killed in this crazy dilemma he’s gotten himself sucked into. I bet he winds up surviving by the end of the mini-series, and probably winds up leaving Cobra or doing something constructive with his life. The whole gang survives at the end of the issue and leaves with a cliffhanger of Spirit, Barbeque, Dr. Mindbender, Tomax and Xamot materializing in a post apocalyptic future.

This series was from the time that Devil’s Due had the license in the early 2000s that I really enjoyed. Dan Jolley really knew how to write the characters in a way that built upon the old cartoons and the Larry Hama run on the Marvel series. On the art side, Tim Seeley is just great. He does an amazing job visually capturing the look of the characters.

Friday Fights # 22: Nick Fury vs. Cobra Commander

After taking most of the week off to feeling ill, it’s time for Friday Fights! One of the things I wondered about during my “lay on the couch because I have a cold” time, I wondered who would win in a fight:  Nick Fury or Cobra Commander.

The obvious answer is Fury, since he’s a veteran of pretty much everything, thanks to him not aging. He has enhances physical capabilities as well as has received every sort of combat, military strategy and espionage training known to man. Fury is also adept at all kinds of weaponry.

So that said, what chance does Cobra Commander have?

Whether its the cartoons or comics, the Commander is always shown to be a bit of a wimp. He doesn’t like to get his hands dirty and usually relies on the help of his subordinates when in a fight. So needless to say, chances are this isn’t going to be a fair fight.

Cobra Commander also isn’t the best trained hand to hand combatant  again he usually has someone else around to fight on his behalf. He is a master of escape.That said, I think Cobra Commander would narrowly escape Nick Fury. He would be in one of the Cobra “Trouble Bubbles” en route to his next safe house before Fury knew it.

So I’ll give this one a tie. Fury will always win the fight, but Cobra Commander will always escape.

Friday Fights #15: B.A. Baracus vs. Sgt. Slaughter

 

It’s time for two of the toughest men from the 1980s–in comics, cartoons, toys and even professional wrestling–to tussle. We’re talking about the A Team’s B.A. Baracus taking on Sgt. Slaughter!

(For clarity sake, we’re just talking about the characters from the A Team and GI Joe)

SIZE MATTERS:  Baracus would literally be looking up at Slaughter; exactly eight inches. His height of 5′ 10″ is dwarfed by the drill sergeant’s 6′ 6″. Slaughter is also the beefier of the two men, weighing in at 286 pounds, about sixty more than Baracus. ADVANTAGE: Slaughter

DECORATED SOLDIERS: Slaughter’s military service is well-known. He would have to be extremely well-trained to have been given the task of being the head instructor/trainer of the United States’ best special operations group. Baracus has a similar military pedigree, having been a well decorated sergeant himself in the United States’ Special Forces before becoming a fugitive. ADVANTAGE: Tie.

WEAPONS: Obviously, the two of them are adept at physical hand-to-hand combat. But what separates them is that in the A Team, Baracus has pretty much used every type of military weapon–handguns, artillery, tanks, mortars, explosives, you name it. Granted, it’s all dependent on what’s available to be used, but pretty much anything is a weapon in Baracus’ hands. ADVANTAGE: Baracus

SO WHO WINS?: You can not take Slaughter’s size and strength advantage into consideration. But you do have to realize how cagey a fighter his opponent is. Baracus would use whatever he could use to smack Slaughter around, whether it’s a vacuum cleaner, a fire extinguisher or even his beloved van. That said, I pity the fool who doesn’t take B.A. seriously. WINNER: B.A. Baracus by a slight advantage

SDCC 2012 Exclusives: GI Joe/Transformers Mash Up from Hasbro

Hasbro has some really cool GI Joe exclusives for Comic Con as well. Following up with last year’s Starscream/Cobra Commander team up, the toy company has some more fun stuff uniting Cobra with the Decepticons.

They are offering a modified Cobra H.I.S.S.–basically a souped up attack tank–that uses a plasma cannon as its main weapon. And that plasma cannon happens to be none other than the evil Shockwave in his non robot form. The vehicle is decorated in his color scheme of purple and grays.

The vehicle will come with two 3.75″ figures. It makes sense that Destro would team up with Shockwave, as they are the second-in-commands of their respective organizations. It also comes with one of Cobra’s robot B.A.T. soldiers. While neon green and purple might not be the best color choices for the battle field, these colors pay homage to the Constructicons. If it works for a gang of construction vehicles that turn into the menacing Devastator, its good for Cobra’s disposable soldiers.

What also is really amazing about this set is that it comes with Energon cubes (scientifically speaking, food for Transformers) and a scaled down Soundwave in his cassette player/boombox form. I’m really hoping that Hasbro has this available for purchase after San Diego.

Hasbro will also be selling two versions of GI Joe’s lady ninja Jinx, one in her traditional red look and the other in her GI Joe Retribution look.

So What Does Pushing Back GI Joe Retaliation Mean?

This week it was announced that the next installment in Hasbro/Paramount’s GI Joe saga, GI Joe Retaliation, will be pushed back from its release date of June 29 to March 2013. Why would they do that, being that they’ve started the marketing push for the film.

I don’t know, but there are various rumors floating around. The party line has been that they needed more time to properly convert the film into 3D. Certainly the success of the Avengers reminds us that there is a boat load of money up for grabs.For me that’s a valid enough excuse.

There’s also a rumor floating around that Hasbro/Paramount wasn’t very happy with the poor reception of Battleship (a film adaptation that I still shake my head at) and somehow this is in response to it. I don’t buy that at all. Battleship was doomed from the start, as it was a very hard sell. Retaliation on the other hand is a property that already has a large audience, and the fact that this sequel looked so much better than the original just from comparing the trailers alone, this seemed like a can’t miss.

Even look at the movie schedule. Retaliation would have had a strong opening weekend and week. The biggest movie the previous weekend will probably be Brave, which I assume would skew a more family audience. The next similar film is Amazing Spider-Man, which comes out the next week. That could draw some of the Retaliation audience, but with it being released for the Fourth of July midweek, there’s more than enough moviegoers for every one.

Then there’s the ever crazy rumor that they are re-shooting scenes and weren’t happy with the results of the original film. I don’t know about that.

The rescheduling of this film also is going to throw off next year’s Wrestlemania. The Rock is scheduled to be at that event, so he’s going to have to promote both the biggest WWE show of the year and a new movie release. Eep.

I guess I’ll have to watch the original GI Joe cartoon movie instead.

GI Joe: Retaliation looks awesome!

Hot damn, does this look like it’s going to be an awesome movie. As much as I’m a fan of pretty much anything GI Joe related, I’ll admit that the first movie didn’t really do it for me. But this looks awesome with all the ninja feuds and the whole GI Joe on the run from the American government which has been infiltrated by Cobra.

I wasn’t sure how I felt a bout the Rock playing Roadblock in this film, but this trailer convinced me that this is a good thing. Not only that, but the sequence with Bruce Willis was mindblowingly cool.

This film comes out in June…what do you think?

This isn’t the first time DC Comics has tried a television commercial, you know…

With DC’s major relaunch getting closer every day, more news about their plans to support this initiative are being revealed. One of the strategies is to use television commercials to promote the line.

This isn’t the first time that comics turned to television commercials to promote comic books. Marvel regularly had commercials for their GI Joe comic book during the 1980s.

I would assume that these were produced by Marvel Productions/Sunbow Productions. Basically, this looks like Marvel and Hasbro were taking advantage of the synergy between Marvel’s publishing and animation divisions.

Anyway, this is not the first time DC produced a television commercial. Thanks to YouTube, I found this gem from 1993:

What is most interesting about this commercial is that the lesser characters get a lot of screen time. Darkstars, Deathstroke the Terminator, Mongul and the yellow ring wielding Guy Gardner all make their television debut. You can really tell this commercial is from the 1990s by the “hottest babes” sequence.

Also, did you notice that Lobo was featured the longest, as well as the only animated and speaking character in the commercial? Granted it was 1993. Death of Superman and Batman’s Knightfall were in full force,  but was Lobo the best choice to be the public face of DC?

There are a few variations of this commercial on YouTube, with different stores being advertised at the end. I would assume DC allowed retailers to customize the commercial for their markets.

Any way, lets hope that DC’s new commercials help get the message that comics are awesome out to the masses.