This week IDW Publishing and Hasbro said that the release of GI Joe: Cobra #12 was going to have HUGE repercussions, be a big arsed event, and basically be something you will be excited about.  Of course the cynic in me says "Yeah Right!" but I waited.  The covers were revealed and on of the covers looked like this:

The first thing that popped out to me was this is a straight rip off of another famous comic here:

Now first thing is that people say "it's not a rip-off, it's an Homage."  Longtime readers of Scale Wars know where this is going, but for those of you who are not, hold on.  The nicest way to say it is Homage is a nice word for straight up theft.  In other words you (the generic you here) couldn't come up with an idea of your own so you stole it and if you were afraid to get caught you called it "an homage" adding a bit of a French accent to make it sound a bit more sophisticated.  Crap it's even pink, who makes a PINK comic book!! It's lack of originality is all it is, just like this:

is a blatant rip off of this:

and not for five seconds will I try to claim it as "an Homage."  A joke, sure, theft, possibly, an homage, bullshit.  

But ok beyond the "Homage" debate there is more, in GI Joe: Cobra #12, the big surprise, the shocker is......Cobra Commander is dead.  He was shot unexpectedly.

-UMMMM really?  Now allow me a moment here cause there are people who claim this is so daring, such a dynamic move, such an original idea:

That has been done.  In the above issue from the Marvel Comics series, Cobra Commander was shot by Fred VII (A Crimson Guardsman) and was buried.  Yes he was dead and gone.  

Of course now fans are saying "Oh no, this time its for real."  I remind my kids that if you ever have to say that, it means you don't mean it. 

Oh and the press release says at the top "The Commander is Dead! Long Live the Commander!"  Guess what the description of #61 states on JMM's GI Joe Comic site in the commentary.  Check it out here at the bottom of the page. 

In an inexplicable move, some posters on message boards have claimed this Cobra Commander (who was shot by Chuckles) was not actually THE Cobra Commander because the series might be in a different continuity, which makes the whole press releases and statements of "He's dead for real, no imposter" pointless cause he is an imposter, just in a different continuity.  I don't read the IDW comics myself but if this is the case, well it's the same crap that happened in GI Joe Reloaded from Devil's Due when Duke joined Cobra.   Then again, I think that is a case of just trying to shut people (like me) up.  

But let's look at other characters who have died in the GI Joe Comic only to return (Some multiple times).

Well how could I have doubted the sincerity of the claim that a main GI Joe character that has had dozens and dozens of figures done of him would not truly be dead.  It's as plausible as the one of Fantastic four members dying or even Batman dying, oh wait.  

Oh but wait there's more, IDW said today (1-20-11) that now Cobra Commander is actually a title.  Really now.  The rest of Cobra is fighting it out to get the title, in other words some loser is going to replace Cobra Commander, yeah that's original:

OK maybe not, for those of you not in the know, Fred replaced Cobra Commander for while after he shot him.  

But, but, BUT! in a Cobra Civil War (Kicked off with the apply titled Cobra Civil War #0) and carries all through the other GI Joe titles, oh that's original:

Well maybe not.  But hey it appears they are switching out the order of events, instead of a loser taking the place of Cobra Commander and causing the Cobra Civil War, the Cobra Civil war is caused by many losers looking to replace Cobra Commander.  Eh ok maybe that isn't that big a difference.   Oh but now some say this isn't an actual "Cobra Civil War" even though it kicks off with "GI Joe: Cobra Civil War #0" and has the Cobras basically going against each other, but no even though "Civil War" is in the title, it isn't a civil war, got it?  Me either.

But hey at least this hasn't been recycled before:

Oh yeah, UMM, Well see the Image/Devil's Due series from a few years ago did do another Cobra Civil War, oh and by the way, Chuckles (who has now killed Cobra Commander) was killed in it.  Confused?  At essence this series no longer exists "in canon" as they say.   But hey it was nostalgia right, they just wanted to relive an old story.  I mean DD did all kinds of new stuff like unmasking Cobra Commander:

See no one would have thought of that, Right?

  and    and

    (with Destro no less), and   

UMMM, I guess the sunglasses isn't technically unmasked was the point.  But also the Devil's Due comic chickened out and made Cobra Commander as Zartan in disguise.  Speculation abounds that DD changed this at the last possible moment, but we may never know for certain.  But hopefully this illustrates my point, if not there are plenty of other examples, but I want to get to my point and I could be distracted by how Devil's Due copied the Marvel run all day.  

In the year 2001 there were nine (9) versions of Snake Eyes as a 1:18th scale action figure (in the original 12 year run of 1982-1994 there were 5, the other four were released in 1997-2001).  From 2002 to the end of 2010 there are now fifty-four (54) versions of Snake Eyes.  That means in eight (8) years Snake Eyes has had forty-five (45) versions released.  That is excessive and while some may argue that there must be "core characters" on the shelf all the time, forty five in eight years is a lot.  This is with a slight hiatus in the GI Joe 3 & 3/4 inch figures in 2005-2007 in which GI Joe 1:18th scale figures were mostly limited to internet exclusives (often referred to "Direct to Customer") in which GI Joe were slowed down in release in lieu of the larger Sigma Six line.  To me that is a bit staggering, but that isn't all.

Storm Shadow 2001: six (6) versions, 2010: forty (40) versions.  Cobra Commander 2001: ten (10) versions, 2010: four-four (44) versions.  Duke 2001: eight (8) versions, 2010: three-three (43) versions. Destro 2001: six (6) versions, 2010: twenty-six versions.  Firefly 2001: five (5) versions, 2010: twenty-two (22) versions.  Zartan 2001: three (3) versions, 2010: twenty (20) versions.  And so on, and so on.

The whole property is stagnant and has been for quite some time.  It seems every year Hasbro tries to "reinvent" the line, starting with roughly all the same "core characters listed above and sprinkling in a few interesting smaller characters and most often one or maybe two new concepts.  Often the vehicles released in conjunction with the lines are redone from older molds.  For example, when the line to support the Rise of Cobra movie hit, it had repaints and redcos of the Cobra ferret, Cobra Firebat, and the Cobra Sting Raider among others.  The point is that so much of this toyline is rehashed, repainted, repackaged, recycled, well it's no wonder most of it ends up in the closeout stores before it even has the chance to reach regular retail (as is the case with the new VAMP Jeep, one of the few new vehicles of the new Pursuit of Cobra line, and the repaint of the Rage tank, which had been repainted previously anyway).

I have waited for a very long time for this line to get it's legs back, for GI Joe to become something relevant again and to finally break some ground and go in a direction that might bring the magic of the old days back.  Star Wars has done it, and in many instances (not all) done it well.  They managed to grab some new elements in the comics, the toys, and the cartoons that didn't occur to people until they did it.  With GI Joe, it is constantly recycling things like the Mass Device, Serpantor, or rehashing the origin of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.  When the rare instance comes up that something new is tried, it is often recycled from somewhere else.  The GI Joe Renegades animated series draws a great many parallels to the A-team and often new characters are rehashes of old characters with the exact same specialty.  In this atmosphere it is no wonder a character like Shadow Tracker is so revered by the online community.  

I want GI Joe to be something special, something worthwhile, and something fresh.  I'm tired of same old same old.  One of the greatest things about GI Joe is the fact that the comic and cartoon were not interrelated at all, in other words you didn't have to point to one thing or another in either continuity to make your Joes whatever you wanted, whoever you wanted.  You had some ground work, basics of the character and maybe a small quirk to work with from there it was what you wanted it to be.  It was a great way to be creative as you were not bogged down by Vader's revelation of being Luke's father or that Vader actually dies.  Continuity wasn't an issue, and yet it seems no one can come up with an original idea for this franchise that doesn't totally suck.  Even some who claim Devil's Due tried original ideas fail to point out that some of their storylines came directly from fan fiction.  

What can a person do, well I vote with my wallet.  I categorically refuse to get the same old, same old characters over and over.  I refuse to buy recycled comics and keep doing the same damned thing over and over.  Does that mean I quit GI Joe, nope.  I mean that without originality I don't support it, been doing that a bit the past year but I think I am taking it a step further, a huge step further.  Oh if a figure arrives that is a good departure and offers something new for the character (maybe an artic version for a character who never had one for instance) I will probably grab it.  But overall no more of the same old, same old, I am tired of it.  I am tired of repaints with slight improvements and redone characters that even when the get new molds are really nothing different than before. 

Although a huge part of me can't wait to see what happens in the fandom when this gets recycled:

;-)