Charles over at Eclectorama and Eric at Toyriffic recently proposed a little blogging crossover event in honor of everyone's favorite maniacal mercenary, that master of disguise, and all around mysterious meanie, Zartan.   As a toy in the 3.75" G.I. Joe Real American Hero line he is probably one of the more memorable for his weird hood (which I always thought was Hasbro's awful attempt at long hair as a kid) and because he had one of the oddest, yet most interesting features in that his exposed flesh turned blue when it came into direct contact with sunshine or heat.  As a character in the Marvel comics he was important for secretly setting off a feud between Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes (at Cobra Commander's behest), as well as being the guy who finally kills off the insufferable Serpentor ("This I command…" indeed.)  In the Sunbow cartoon series Zartan is the go-to guy for Cobra Commander, leading the kind-of-British punk Dreadnoks and taking on all of Cobra's crazy outsourced missions in exchange for piles of gold Krugerrands.  According to the toy's file card, Zartan is a paranoid schizophrenic who becomes so entranced with his disguises that his original personality is virtually buried deep within his chaotic psyche.  One thing I can say for certain is that the man has an infectious laugh (provided by Zack Hoffman and some great post-production work by Sunbow.)

So who's taking part in this epic crossover event?

Eric, who writes Toyriffic…

Charles, who manages Eclectorama…

Dan, who curates the Toy Museum…

Mario, who counts down to A Year of Toys…

Philip, who is testing out his Battlegrip…

Darius, who is narrating his Adventures in Nerdliness…

JBoy, who is getting Revenge From the Cosmic Ark...

Reis, who preaches the Geek Orthodox…

…and, well, me.  So if you enjoy this special All-Zartan edition of my column Cartoon Commentary, make sure to click through to these other fine sites so that you can get your wicked blue sunburn on!

For this Zartan Zaturday event I've decided to take a look at one of the goofiest, yet also one of my favorite episodes of the G.I. Joe cartoon, Cold Slither, which originally aired on December 2nd, 1985.  The episode was written by Michael Charles Hill, an alumni of many animation studios including Sunbow (also worked on Transformers), Ruby Spears, and Mirage (working on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon), as well as having editing gigs at Warner Brothers, Disney and DC comics.   First off, and most importantly for this crossover, the episode heavily features Zartan and the Dreadnoks.  In particular we get a closer look at his rickety old hideout in the middle of the Florida Everglades, but we also get a chance to crack open Cobra Commander's head and to see how the relationship between the two villains works.

One of the aspects of the G.I. Joe cartoon that I always felt that the writers really nailed was developing believable and fun connections between the various characters in the series.   Because there's like 2.3 million different guys and gals running around in the Joe mythos, I think an important first step to getting kids interested in the characters, as well as giving some dimension to these personalities was to come up with friends and enemies that really play off of each other.   For laughs we had the constant antics between Bazooka and Alpine, the branch rivalry between Wet Suit and Leatherneck, and the imaginary love triangles between Shipwreck and any of the couples on the show (Duke and Scarlett or Flint and Lady Jaye.)  We also had the diametrically opposed spirituality vs. honor battles between Spirit and Storm Shadow, Lowlight and Lifeline's debate between big guns and non-violence, and the back-biting and in-fighting between Destro and Cobra Commander.   So in this episode we get a chance to see Cobra Commander at his worst with the Crimson Twins foreclosing on all of his loans, the Joes beating Cobra at every turn, and in all of this strife there's one man he can turn to, Zartan.  You can really hear this in the dynamic between CC, the Baroness, Destro and Zartan as they enter his hideout in this episode, and how the Baroness scoffs at Zartan’s digs (where she's really berating CC for his poor leadership choices…)

In a nutshell, this episode revolves around the apparent downfall of Cobra and how this ends up effecting Joe team, both in terms of complacency and morale.  After capturing a secret stockpile of gold, jewels and art, the Joe team decides to make a final strike on Cobra's remote mountain fortress only to find it deserted, covered in dust, and hilariously enough, up for sale by the Crimson Twins.   After a hilarious montage featuring in-uniform Cobra troopers standing on the unemployment line and Cobra Commander making some hollow threats via a television broadcast standing in front of an army of cardboard cutouts, we learn that the terrorist organization had been reduced to it's last dime.   In a feeble attempt to regain its prior wealth, Cobra Commander, Destro and the Baroness hatch a scheme to take over the world through subliminal messages placed in popular music.   Cobra Commander gets a hold of a shaky million dollar loan and uses it to bribe Zartan and the Dreadnoks into posing as a heavy metal band called Cold Slither.  All they have to do is to look tough and pretend to play while Destro's subliminal audio device does the rest (seriously, listen for yourself...)

What I love about this episode, and consequently what I'm sure most fans hate about it, is that it's totally off-the-grid in terms of your basic G.I. Joe story.  Whereas the writers were encouraged to stray a bit from the harsh reality of realistic warfare and to turn to elements of fantasy to make the series a bit more dynamic, from time to time this freedom to explore led to some wacky story concepts.  But these diversions go a long way to defining the tone of the series, and they inadvertently serve to make the show more interesting.  In the Sunbow universe we can spend an entire episode trying to solve the mystery of the deadly looming visit from the Viper, only to have the payoff be a joke riffing on a misunderstood character accent.  These silly episodes help flesh out the playful aspect of the G.I. Joe universe, giving the stories a comedic style that believe it or not has an important effect on developing young minds.  When I think back to where I picked up my sense of humor I can pretty much trace it back to a handful of sources (the first five years of Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, Garbage Pail Kids, Freddy Kruger one-liners, the Kids in the Hall and Sunbow cartoons.)

The humor in this episode is also pretty layered.  One the one hand you have the goofy antics of the Cold Slither band, with Zartan in one of his least convincing disguises in the series.   As a quick aside, there are typically two types of cartoon disguises, the perfect cheat disguise, and the "we're-all-in-on-the-joke" fumbled disguise.   Usually Zartan falls into the camp of the perfect disguise because of his skills as a master special effects wizard (utilizing holographic technology, prosthetics, and an arcane ability to mimic voices and sounds.)  This style of disguise tends to come off as a bit of a cheat because they're just too-perfect, and they often result in poor situational writing traps like having to decide between real and fake characters (which typically ends with the same joke, the lucky punch-out with the inevitable punchline, "What-da-ya-mean-ya-didn't-know-it-was-me?")  So it's kind of neat to see him, for all intents and purposes, in disguise with only a wardrobe and wig change.   Like no one would notice his iconic King Diamond inspired face under that Sideshow Bob wig?

Getting back to the humor, just as we have the in-your-face silliness of Cold Slither (including a Three Stooges musical homage during the Dreaknoks dressing room scene), we also have some more adult allusions to the at-the-time downturn in real world military activity with the visual gag of having the Cobra troopers on the unemployment line.  There's also some other subtle hints of more adult humor in some of the other scenes as well.  In a bit of Hollywood-related social commentary Cobra Commander throttles a union lawyer complaining that it's time to wrap up the production of a music video.   In another scene we get the three main Joe ladies (Cover Girl, Scarlett, and Lady Jaye) undercover dressed as loose groupies waiting for the Dreadnoks backstage.   There's no way an eight year-old would get the connotations behind that gag (and rightly so.)  There's also a subtle play on the absurdity of the aforementioned perfect disguises which Cobra usually employs in a scene where Cobra Commander and Firefly are trying to hide their identities while meeting up with a mob boss.  They're decked out in the most absurd disguises, matching trench coats, fedoras, and aviator sunglasses over their normal outfits (including CC's silver faceplate.)   On the surface the joke is silly, but when you consider how a normal episode plays out, it's almost as if Michael Hill was poking fun at his own show…

Even though this episode strays into the sillier realm of the Sunbow universe, it never goes so far as to betray any of the characters or to deny the audience of fun action and adventure.  At the end of the day, no matter how far a writer strays in terms of the typical story concept, there are still rules and loglines that can't be deviated from.  An episode of G.I. Joe has to feature energetic cliffhangers at the two act/commercial breaks, it has to provide some action, and a writer can't break a character at the expense of the story.  Characters come first, and we see that in how Hill handled Duke.  After a handful of Joes go AWOL (brainwashed by Cold Slither), and the rest seem pretty complacent in the apparent absence of Cobra, Duke sees right through the ploy.  Earlier, when the Dreaknoks are in the middle of shooting a music video, true to character, they get bored with all the work and they feel the need to cause some mayhem (Zartan included) so they all of a sudden step back from their instruments, pull out their weapons and they start destroying the stage.  So we're getting all of the fun craziness we expect from G.I. Joe even in a story that doesn't really call for it.

Wait, did I just make an argument about how Hill doesn't break any of the characters?  Maybe I spoke too soon as the end sequence of this episode bends the Joe characters, in particular Scarlett and Duke, to the snapping point.  If there's one bit that's hard to sit through, it's the introduction of the Average Joe Band featuring Footloose, Rock 'n Roll and Duke on guitar, Shipwreck on drums, and Scarlett, Cover Girl, and Lady Jaye on backup vocals.  They sing an awful rendition of the G.I. Joe theme song that has to be heard to be believed…

All in all, though it's not one of his finer moments, this episode does delve a bit deeper into Zartan's character, and if nothing else we get to see him in through the haze of a glam rock filter.  Could have been worse; it could have been disco...

 

                          Are you ready for a sizziling blue sunburn?

Finally getting around to finishing off the Cartoon Commentary! series on the 1st G.I. Joe mini series (A Real American Hero).  This final episode, titled A Stake in the Serpent's Heart, was first broadcast on September 16th, 1983, and it was the last taste kids would get of the cartoon series until the following year when the second mini debuted.  I've said this a number of times recently, but it bears repeating, these first five episodes go a long way in defining the series, and bowing only a week after the first syndicated episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, it also helped to define the next decade of television animation.   1983 really was a banner year for action in cartoons as we also saw the release of Dungeons and Dragons on Saturday mornings, and between these three shows TV animation, at least when it came to action, was free for the first time in over a decade.

Granted, there were shows that flirted with action premises, Super Friends, Blackstar, the Lone Ranger, Thundarr, and Spiderman & His Amazing Friends just to name a few, but all of these shows were just not quite there in terms of bravery.  Even He-Man, for its revolutionary first run syndication, and breaking the ice in terms of injecting action back into cartoons, was still taking a very moral stance on depicting violence.  But G.I. Joe burst onto the scene like Duke amid a group of Cobra Troopers, punching and kicking everything in sight.

So, getting back to the episode at hand, the story picks up from the cliffhanger where Destro and Scarlett are plummeting in an escape pod towards certain doom.  Of course, in the "coming next time on G.I. Joe" segment at the end of the previous episode we clearly see Scarlett running down a Cobra compound hallway, letting all the air out of the opening sequence of this episode…



Where this sequence fails as a cliffhanger, it succeeds in bookending the mini series as Destro leads Scarlett off of the escape pod at Cobra headquarters.  Just like Duke, and with an impassioned fit of feminism from the writers, Scarlett proves herself to be quite the "Woman of Action" as she breaks free and takes on a platoon of Troopers.  It's another example of that never-say-die attitude exhibited by the Joes, and a more subversive example of imbedding a sense of morality into the show.   In He-Man for instance, this morality would be worn on the show's sleeve so to speak, and we'd more than likely be treated to an insightful yet, borderline obvious quote from a character.  Here this sense of always doing the right thing and never giving up is written into the action.  It's still a bit over the top, but much more natural.



One thing that I love about the Sunbow cartoons is their weird villain relationships.  You tend to get a lot of characterization out of these villain characters while watching them bounce off each other.   Like the Starscream/Megatron relationship in Transformers, there's a weird back and forth between Cobra Commander and Destro.  Whereas Starscream always talks big, he usually backs down to Megatron (except when Megs is at his weakest in the 1986 Movie, but that's a story for another time.)  On the one hand, Destro seems independent, the head of his own arms dealing organization, yet on the other he's always vying for and temporarily taking control of Cobra.   Unlike Starscream though, Destro is the more physically imposing in his tête-à-tête, and he has no problem grabbing Cobra Commander by the lapels and shaking him until he stops hissing.  In fact, it's almost a reversal of the Starscream/Megatron relationship.  So in watching G.I. Joe you can see what it's like when a seemingly meeker character like Cobra Commander is in control.   I think this is part of what makes these two cartoons so enjoyable, both for their own character building through bickering, and because the two series play off each other, filling in the gaps in storytelling opportunities.



Digging a bit deeper into this mutinous sequence where Destro assumes command of the M.A.S.S. device operation, there are a lot of interesting things going on visually.  In the forefront is Cobra Commander's ease with flamboyance.  He's sporting one heck of a pink cape in honor of his impending victory for starters.  He's also decided to accessorize with a cane/scepter/staff sort of deal.   I've always been baffled by this sort of prop.  I mean, sure you can beat people over the head with it, but it's still sort of a weird thing to just have lying around.  It's take a certain pretension or effort to carry a cane or scepter.

Also, there's a really nice shot after Cobra Commander throws his staff at Destro.  The choice of having the sequence with Destro rising up and stalking back toward CC all reflected in Cobra Commander's face plate in extreme close-up is really well done.  It's both visually stunning and portrays a lot of emotion.   Even though you can't see his face, a shot like this just drips with fear, dread, and "Oh crap, I think I overstepped my bounds…"



What's even more interesting to me is that even with some great visual direction going on in this episode, there are some tragic and weird missteps.  In the next sequence, we see Scarlett thrown into a dungeon cell with Selena.  The decision was to keep these scenes dark and ominous, but the animation took a turn for the downright bizarre…



As you can see in the images above, at first the scene places out overly dark and gloomy which is really effective.  I think it's also sort of neat as overbearing blacks and a heavy contrast are typically not used like this in cartoons.   But as the scene progresses I think guys doing the actual ink and paint work went nuts with the concept.   Having Scarlett's eyes and lips rendered as if they were lit by normal light when almost everything else is black or heavy grey is really weird and suspiciously cartoon-y (like in one of those lights-out sequences in a Looney Tunes short from the 50s.)  This gets to a point where her one eye is illuminated and it's just weird, like it's pitch black on one half of her face and normally lit on the other.  To top off the weirdness, the last little bit has a very more realistic take on the lighting with Scarlett in heavy shadow, but rendered with darker versions of the skin tones instead of solid blacks.  It's almost as if the animation shop manager ended up walking the floor and saw all the guys splattering black all over the cels and he had to show them how to do it correctly.

I believe this sort of weird sequence is a result of sending the animation overseas to be rendered.  It's not that Toei is lax with the work or that the animators are unskilled, in fact I believe just the opposite.  It's more a matter of language and cultural barriers that muck up the communications.  There's a great special feature on one of the King of the Hill DVD sets that sheds some light on this process.  When the American animators are penciling the key scenes, and writing the notes for the overseas animators, they have to be painstakingly concise and clear about what they want.  Any general note, say to keep the scene in shadow, without specifically describing how you want this shadow rendered will end up in a very obvious super deep shadow like we see above.   I think this is one of the reasons we tend to not see as much dynamic animation (read, stuff with nice shading in the cels) coming out of shows that are designed in one location and shipped out to be animated in another.   It takes much too long to annotate all the scenes, and it's much easier to keep things simple.  Of course there are also monetary and time issues.

One thing this episode doesn't lack is several over the top moments that skirt that edge of realism and do a rather surprising job of ratcheting up the tension.  At the end of the scene where Scarlett meets Selena, there is some kicking and breaking of furniture that is really pointless, if not fun.  Then as the two are led out to water the slaves, there's a scene with a guard that looks like a mixture of a hangman/executioner from the medieval times, complete with black hood and bare chest (with some rather intimidatingly ripped abs.)



That's not to mention Destro's sudden insane fits of melodramatic and megalomaniacal laughter...

This all leads up to a sequence that is both very beautiful and very anticlimactic at the same time.  As Cobra and the Joes raced all over existence looking for the crucial catalytic elements to power their respective M.A.S.S. devices, it all culminates in both machines firing beams of energy across the globe, meeting up in a colorful blaze of glory over New York City, and then that's pretty much the end of that plot.  Sure, with tons of backlit animation it's really brilliantly animated, but it's a whole heck of a lot of build up for that to be the end, at least for the devices...



Of course, it's not the end of the episode or the mini series, but it's sort of an early climax that doesn't do a whole lot for me.

Getting back to some weirdness for a second, I mentioned in a couple of the last Cartoon Commentary! columns that there is a nice mix of current day and some sci-fi elements that make up the background elements of the show.  It sort of places the series in an alternate 1980s reality that both dates it and defines it.  One aspect to this is the weird medical contraptions that Doc has at his disposal.   He'd already tried to help Duke remember where he'd been kidnapped to in an earlier episode, and for his second try he takes out all the stops and submerges Duke in what looks like one of those Bacta tanks from Star Wars…



This contraption enables Doc to project images from Duke's mind onto a screen so they can sort through and find out where the Cobra base was.  Along the way we get a nice montage on Duke's back-story, watching him fight off bullies that were plaguing the undefended, as well as where his physical and manly prowess comes from.  Eventually we get to his Joe class ring and the fact that he left it with Selena.  Good thing it can also work as a tracking device!

This gets into a little bit of the under-branding that the government (and Hasbro/Sunbow) has done with the G.I. Joe project.  Whereas Cobra has its insignia, the Joes don’t have a real identifying symbol outside of some text and the flag.  Of course, the flag isn't as prominent as some of the Cobra iconography in the G.I. Joe cartoon, but the logo text does show up in the tiniest places…



This is an area that I think the new movie tried to remedy, yet at the same time it fails.  The Joes have an eagle themed symbol in the new flick, and honestly, it just looks weird.  I think I would have been happy with the American flag alone (though I know they're trying to make it a more international team this time out.)

Even though I felt that the M.A.S.S. device plot ends a bit anticlimactically, it doesn't mean there isn't a crazy end battle that seals up the mini series with a bang.  In fact it's pretty darn exciting and weird.   As the Joes realize they have a tracking device available at the Cobra location, they begin beaming all their troops ala Star Trek to that castle area.   Of course, they come prepared with these weird mountain-climbing spider leg attachments for all their land vehicles so they can scale the castle walls…



Cobra also breaks out a wide variety of defenses ranging from the tried and true cauldron of boiling lava (to be poured on the scaling troops) to a futuristic floating platform for the troops to hover and shoot from.  There are Sky Strikers making raids on the castle roof, anti-aircraft guns being hoisted to the top of the structure, and even Doc, the medic, gets in on the action…



Though not labeled as a pacifist like the later medic, Lifeline, it's still weirdly out of place to see him firing a laser in the trenches…

To top it all off Cobra Commander call out his uber snake robots to deal with the Joes…



I love the pointless, yet brand specific, hanging snake tongues on all the robots.   Again, you can just hear the conversation between the weapons designer and Cobra Commander (actually, this Lil'Formers comic pretty much sums it up.)   It's a good thing that Snake Eyes plays the ultimately prepared commando in this series…



Here's a question, who is that guy in the civies?  I seem to remember him from the show, but for the life of me I can't place his name…



We also get one of probably only two or three romantic moments in the series as Duke confronts the freed Selena (who proceeds to plant a huge kiss on his lips.)  In the next couple scenes, Duke ends up with Selena hanging off one arm and Scarlett the other proving he really is a lady's man.



The last thing in this episode that I love is watching Cobra Commander skulking away with a dirty ragged blanket on and a basket over his head.  This is about as over the top comical as you can get.  It's very vaudevillian and perfectly sums up his character…



Well, this closes out my look back at the 1st G.I. Joe mini series.  I thought I'd take a moment to again plug the Saturday Supercast over at Sugary Serials.  We talk about this episode in the second part of our discussion on G.I. Joe (you can find the episode here.)  Jerzy, Kevin and I have already recorded our third and fourth episodes, another two-parter that delves into another great 80s cartoon franchise.  Hopefully we'll have those episodes edited and posted in the coming weeks.  Also, if you're getting the bug to watch this great mini series again, you could always head on over to Amazon and pick up the new set recently released by Shout! Factory.

One of the things that I find endlessly fascinating about cartoons in the 80s is the tonal shift that a lot of the shows took.  Throughout the 70s child advocacy groups like A.C.T. (Action for Children's Television) were having a huge impact on the production of Saturday Morning cartoons, in particular pressuring studios to self-censor content.  So most action and adventure was stripped from new shows, and generally humor ruled the day.  In the 80s though, with a new president in the White House who had an eye on freeing up TV regulations, some studios took the opportunity to bring back action and adventure, while at the same time doing their level best to also make the shows a little more educational.  Some studios were more heavy handed than others (Filmation for instance based most episodes around a moral quandary), while others were sort of sneaky about the "good for you" content.

For the most part Sunbow was a bit sneakier about it.  Sure there were the "Knowing is half the battle…" PSAs, bust as far as the content in the actual episodes, it seemed like pretty straight forward storytelling.  This is sort of the genius of the writers, at least in terms of knocking down the wall between educational and exciting & fun television.  Instead of knocking kids over the head with a moral, they injected little subtle ideas here and there that didn't draw all that much attention.   That was one of the first things that caught my eye while re-watching episode four of the original G.I. Joe mini series, Duel in the Devil's Cauldron (which was originally broadcast back on September 15th, 1983.)



In the cliffhanger from the episode before, the Joes have been mostly knocked out by a noxious gas emitting from a Cobra canister that Snake Eyes used to bring back some of the eradiated crystals for the M.A.S.S. Device.   The canister was also set to explode, but with some quick thinking on Covergirl's part, she manages to get the bomb out of the hanger they're all in.  What caught my eye was when she breaks a beaker of water and then uses a hanky to soak up the liquid.  This makes an impromptu gas mask that she uses to keep from passing out.  Granted it's not a huge deal, but it's a little fact like this that'll sit in the back of a kids brain and one day might come in handy.  I mean education doesn't always have to be about algebra and world history.   This sort of stuff was peppered all throughout the series, and in my opinion is the way to go when educating kids with television.

Anyway, getting back to some of the visual tropes of the show, one of the main differences between the action figures and the cartoon were the weapons.  While all the toys were outfitted with a menagerie of different kinds of weapons, from handguns and shotguns, to Uzis and rocket launchers, the cartoon was a little more toned down.   Instead of realistic weaponry, most of the characters (good and evil) carry laser rifles and guns.   On the one hand it works toward the branding of the heroes (red laser fire) and villains (blue laser fire), but it also puts the show in that fantastical near-future with advanced technology.



While I don't mind the laser fire in place of bullets, I always thought the standard issue Joe rifles were a little boring.  They didn’t have a ton of character like other weapons design, and they were typically beige with silver trim which isn't all that visually exciting.  I always wondered why they didn't vary the designs a little more…



So this episode has the Joes globetrotting on down to South America for their crack at the third catalytic element, the meteor chips that can only be found in the Devil's Cauldron.  Like Kevin Cross mentions in the second half of the Saturday Supercast, this has got to be the one location that got all the child viewers excited.  What kid doesn't love lava?  I mean seriously, what kid didn't play the "The carpet is now lava and we have to only walk on the furniture…" game when we were young?

The other thing I dig about this sequence is that it's another great example of backlit animation with the lava.  It's such a great technique that's lost in modern cartoons because most, if not all of them, are now drawn digitally.  God bless the popularity of Tron for ushering in 10 years of backlit techniques into cartoons is all I have to say…

I also love the next sequence in the cartoon, if only for its blatant commercialism.  I love G.I. Joe, and I'll defend its merits to the death, but sometimes the product placement/30 minute commercial aspect to the show was insane.  When Stalker signals the surrender of the Joe army to Cobra via a super secret transmission, the whole thing is a ruse to buy time for the team to get to the meteor.  The gag transmission is being filmed using miniatures on a soundstage that are obviously the Hasbro toys.   I have to agree with Gung Ho, they are pretty darn cute and I for one was never a fan of electric train sets….



Talking about product placement, like the Cobra Moccasin in the second episode, I thought it was pretty interesting to see an early version of the Cobra Rattler, the jets that could take off vertically because the wings would pivot at the hinges.  It wasn't part of the toy line yet in 1983, and they don't quite have that nicely finished vehicle design look to them (a bit rough around the edges), but they're certainly there in concept.  Again, I wonder if this was a case of something being developed for the show that Hasbro thought might make a cool toy.  I wonder how often that happens?



Too bad no one at Hasbro ever got a bug up their butt to design one of the awesome floating battle stations that Cobra used throughout the series…



I’m sure the logistics of creating something that would approximate that would be insane.  Even the 5-6 foot long U.S.S. Flagg was way out of proportion to the Sky Striker toy, and there was no way a kid was going to be able to pick-up a Flagg sized airship.  Still though, it was a cool vehicle reminiscent of the one S.H.E.I.L.D. used in the Marvel comics…



One thing I didn't really care for in this episode was the retrieval of the meteor.  The sequence with the Joes using the Dragonfly helicopters and the huge magnets was kind of fun, but the idea of playing catch with a net strung between two Sky Strikers was kind of silly…



That’s alright though, because directly after we get a really fun fight scene involving a bunch of Joe strapping on their trust jetpacks and flying over to the deck of the Cobra floating battle station.  Weirdly enough, even though I didn't care for the previous meteor catch scene, I thought the gag with Timber jumping out of a Dragonfly after Snake Eyes was kind of fun.  Silly fun, granted, but fun none-the-less.



One aspect of the advanced technology available to the Joe team that I never understood is the portable laser prison cells.   I get how it would be both visually fun, and an easy thing to write into the show when it comes to taking a bunch of Cobra Troopers captive during the show, but it seems kind of insane.   How exactly would it work?  Heck, maybe it's just a regular portable prison that's seriously electrified.



The last hing that sort of stuck out to me was both how well this episode ended with a riveting cliffhanger, yet at the same time it was totally ruined by the "Coming Next on…" segment.  There's a bit where Scarlett, tied up and taken prisoner by Destro, manages to finagle her crossbow to fire with her feet, taking out the control panel of the escape ship that Destro is piloting…



The whole idea of them plummeting to their sure death was a great way to end the 4th episode…



But just as we cut to the coming attractions, there's a scene of Scarlett running down a hallway.   How anticlimactic is that?

Tomorrow I'll be back with some more G.I. Joe fun, a little surprise that will hopefully break-up all these Cartoon Commentary! posts.   Again, if you're curious about listening to the Saturday Supercast where I talk about the original G.I. Joe mini series with co-hosts Jerzy Drod (of MLaT comics, the Art & Story podcast, and Sugary Serials) and Kevin Cross (of the Big Illustration Party Time podcast, not to mention a heck of an illustrator), then head on over to the podcast page at Sugary Serials.  The show spans over episodes 19 and 20, for a total of almost 3 hours of G.I. Joe conversation.

I don't know how obvious it is, but I'm really excited to be podcasting again.  As some of the long time readers might remember, this site started at a platform for a podcast I was doing on my nostalgia memories, but what I discovered pretty quickly is that I had a difficult time getting across the type of info I wanted without having to basically write the whole thing out as a one man monologue show.  Though I talk to myself all the time, the act of sitting behind the mic to record it by myself feels pretty damn weird.   I'm no Spalding Gray, and I have absolutely no yearning to do stand-up, so finding that comfortable place to podcast from is hard.

At the same time though, I love listening to podcasts, and I really want to give a little back to the community, particularly when I see a niche that needs to be filled.  I really think the Saturday Supercast is going to go a long way in filling that whole, which is a deconstruction of cartoons (as well as some other similar fare, but that's for later.)  There are a lot of fun shows out there that focus on a particular cartoon franchise, but most don't stray too far past "OMG" and "It's so cool when…".  Granted, it's hard not to, with any interest in a subject, this is typically the first sort of gut reaction, but it's only part of the equation.  Anyway, I just wanted to say again, that I'm having a lot of fun with the new show and I hope some of you take the time to download an episode or two and can get into it.

As I mentioned on this past post, we released the second half of the G.I. Joe discussion, so I thought I'd spend the rest of the week talking up G.I. Joe.  Though I was weaned on He-Man and Star Wars, G.I. Joe was the main franchise I grew up with.   I collected the toy line throughout most of the 80s, and it was the main cartoon that I ran home from school to watch.  There were a lot of other similar shows, and I'm pretty sure I watched most of them, but they were all second choice to G.I. Joe A Real American Hero.  This first mini series is a great example of what the show had to offer, in particular in the second half.  For this column I'm going to focus on episode 3, the Worms of Death which debuted on September 14th, 1983…



One of the things that G.I. Joe did very well was keeping the action and adventure thrilling in the episodes by ending each act break, and sometimes episodes, with a cliffhanger.  When we left off in the second episode, Snake Eyes had shut himself off in a chamber filled with radioactive crystals to save his teammates.  This episode picks up with a still breathing yet, glowing Snake Eyes plodding on.  Honestly, I have no clue what true radiation exposure might lead to (besides burns, sickness and death), but my guess is it doesn't involve glowing pink (red if you get the new color corrected DVD set.)  Even so it makes for a great visual, and an interesting tête-à-tête as he stumbles out into the waiting arms of a Cobra platoon led by Major Bludd.  Bludd has his men stand down, declaring SE a walking time-bomb who is sure to die momentarily.   I thought it was both unrealistic and strikingly real at the same time, as it paints the villain in a slightly more human light as well as introducing a bit of battlefield respect.  Though not a direct team-up against a common foe (as we'll see a bit later in the episode), it's moments like this that make the villains likable enough that you being to love to hate them.

Also in the sequence pictured above, we get a glimpse into the futuristic technology available to the characters in this universe.  You can see a bit of both 50s Sci-Fi in the spider repair bot that Cobra has as well as a little homage to Star Wars in the droid that's being prepared (it look a whole heck of a lot like the interrogation droid Vader used on Leia in the first flick.)  This advanced technology is one of the visual cues that defines the look of the series over time as we see in this next bit as well…



For a field medic, Doc certainly has some fancy toys to play with, including this helmet unit he's using to try and help Duke remember the events of the past couple of days.  I guess in a way there's a bit of Star Trek in this series as well as Star Wars.  Again, it's this sort of genre blending that makes this show so appealing, even as an adult 25 odd years later.  If this cartoon were just straight battle and military shenanigans, I don't think it would have held my interest as well.



So structurally, in particular visually, the whole crux of this original mini series really is based on showcasing the variety that the show was going to delve into.  If you watch the original 1963 toy line pitch for G.I. Joe (available on the new season 1.1 DVD set), this is a perennially landmark of the franchise, playing up the versatility of the modern American military.  Whereas last episode introduced us to Snowjob and took us to the glaciers and snowcaps of the arctic, this episode dives below the sea with Torpedo in search of the second catalytic element for the M.A.S.S. Device, heavy water.  This sequence is fun because we get to see the Joes suit up for the challenge, much in the same way you could redress the older figures in the 60s and 70s, but we also get a special team member to lead them which is another defining aspect of the G.I. Joe franchise.  The team is made up of a ton of specialists that are the best there is at what they do.  It's a rag tag unit, and it makes for a very collectible and dynamic set of characters.



Back to Snake Eyes for a second though.   Again, if there is one thing this mini series does well is establish the toy line and cartoon, setting up many aspects that would define the franchise.  Another small piece of the puzzle are the various animal familiars that both factions end up with.  Here we get Snake Eyes running into Timber for the first time.   His action figure wasn't packaged with the trusty wolf until the second, more ninja-fied version, but it's a mainstay of the character.   Whether it's Spirit with Freedom, Shipwreck and Polly, Mutt and Junkyard, there always seemed to be a bond between animals and Joe figures.  Heck even Sepentor had his snakes, Croc Master had his crocodile, and Raptor had his falcon.



Timber though, certainly adds to the mystery that is Snake Eyes.  Not only is he mute and under a mask impossible to read, he apparently has a manner (or scent!) dominant yet slight enough to befriend a wolf, the poster child for wild animals.   It gives the character a soft yet dangerous undertone.  It's very unpredictable.

Something that we mention in the podcast that I thought was worth delving a little further into is the Bride of Frankenstein reference in this sequence with Snake Eyes in the snowy wilderness.  Right after he frees Timber from the hunter's trap, the two are confronted by a polar bear.  Sick with radiation poisoning, Snake Eyes isn't able to fend off the bear, and with a failed attempt by timber to save him they are both left for dead.  At the last second they are saved by a mysterious burly blind man, who uses a cattle prod to fend off the bear.  He brings Snake Eyes and Timber back to his shack in the woods where there is a distinct Bride of Frankenstein vibe.  What I found interesting about this was that in the Writer's Guide, one of the emphasized passages all but forbid reference to Frankenstein.  At first I thought this was a little weird, but then it dawned on my that most of these writers would have been in their mid to late 30s, early 40s, which would mean that they grew up during the second coming of the Universal monster craze of the 50s.  These writers were probably all monster-kids to some extent and therefore I'll bet it was one of the most common themes to reference Frankenstein and Dracula in scripts.  I'm sure the editors were sick to death of seeing that stuff.



Anyway, back to the underwater action.  The search for the Heavy Water takes the Joe team to great set piece at the bottom of the sea.  It looks like something out of Clash of the Titans, an arena underwater, yet at the same time there is a very distinct Thunderball vibe as well…



Well, the "columns" are actually home to giant tube worms, which is a great example of how nothing was off the table when it came to the plots of this cartoon!



On the one hand I can totally see this as a distracting element that a lot of people going back to the show might hate.  I mean giant monsters?   How unreal is that.  Though I can sympathize with that, I have to say that I do love monsters, and honestly I think it's an aspect that works about this series.  When you strip away fantastical elements like this, all you have left is the conflict between the two opposing factions, and in the end, because it’s written for an all ages crowd, it would end up simply being a parody of real life military conflict.  This is where I think the new Resolute cartoon fails.   I'm not saying it needed a dose of giant tube worms, but in its quest for being uber realistic it's fighting with the very thing which it is, a cartoon.  At that point the cartoon medium is not a tool, it's a restriction to making the world as realistic as it could be.  Maybe the fact that it's a cartoon still helps in the budgetary department, letting them realize settings and situations that would be cost prohibitive in live action, but that's about it.  There's no other reason to shoot it as a cartoon, not when it's striving to be so real.

Alight, got off on a bit of a rant there.  The worms.  The worms worked so well for me in this episode.  Not only were they super creepy with their wailing, but the mostly toothless design on their gaping mouths just freaked me out.   It's also the perfect opportunity to get the two factions working together against a common foe which does wonders for the character development between the two forces…



Of course, like any good villain, the truce only lasts for as long as it's in their favor, the Baroness immediately double crosses the Joe team.  As an aside, one of the things that I really dug about the 25th anniversary toy line that was recently released was that there were a lot of cartoon-centric figures being released.  In particular there was a box set of figures molded after this mini series that came with a Baroness in her red wetsuit (as well as a semi-translucent glowing pink Snake Eyes figure.)  It was kind of cool to finally see figures that were so cartoon specific on the shelves.



Getting back to Snake Eyes, and a bit of James Bond again, I thought it was funny how easily he's relieved of his radiation predicament.  The blind woodsman strips him of his clothes, and washes them, while burning all the stuff that he can clean.   It reminds me of the sequence in Dr. No when Connery and Ursula Andress are cleaned after walking through the radiation field.  It just seems way too easy.  I also enjoyed this bit because Snake Eyes is unmasked, yet the audience is kept from seeing his face. There’s no explanation for this, just a building sense of mystery to the character.  This is an aspect that works so well for keeping interest in characters over a long stretch of time.   It plays on the audience trying to fill in the blanks, and adds an unpredictable richness in this participation.  It's like Darth Vader or Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget.  When the mystery is revealed, the characters lose a lot of what makes them so interesting.  Sure there's a bit of closure, but sometimes this isn't necessary.



Yet another reoccurring theme of the show is also introduced in this episode with the back and forth banter between the characters Short Fuze and Steeler.  These buddy pairings are a mainstay, and it's part of what makes the writing so attractive in cartoons like this.  Watching two friendly yet opposing characters bump against each other, razzing and cracking jokes does wonders for shorthand characterization.



One of the other things I thought was really neat about this episode was the short bit in space.  As if marching all over the globe from the arctic to under the sea wasn't enough excitement, we also get a bit more Star Wars in space.  I love the design on the Cobra space troopers.  Again, it's another nod to Bond with the Moonraker flick.  Whereas it came off goofy in Moonraker, it fits in perfectly in an episode of G.I. Joe which to me is telling…



Last but not least, I think it was interesting to see some of the uneven aspects to this early Sunbow produced animation.  I believe the Toei company did the physical animation, and every once in awhile the anime influence would slip into the cels like in the sequence below with Duke…



It's a little thing, but interesting none the less…

So the Saturday Supercast Jerzy Drozd, Kevin Cross and I recorded recently was pretty mammoth.  We ended up talking about the 1st G.I. Joe cartoon mini series for well over two hours and it was decided to break the show in half to make it easier to consume.  This worked out pretty well for me, at least in terms of spacing out these Cartoon Commentary! posts to coincide with the podcasts.   In the first episode we cover a lot of the basic stuff involved with the mini series as well as diving into the first two episodes.  For this column, I'm going to concentrate on that second episode which originally debuted on September 13th, 1983 and was titled Slave of the Cobra Master.



Again, it's hard not to get wrapped up in the massive amount of Cobra branding that was thrown in for this first mini series.  Above is a nice example of some of the background artwork used to illustrate the Cobra temple.  Not only does that snake make for an awesome temple topper, but it's also a conduit helping to direct the energy bursts from the M.A.S.S. device.  Also, it's kind of interesting how intertwined snake imagery was with action entertainment in the 80s.  The cold blooded reptile's use in G.I. Joe is pretty obvious, but it also served as the design for the obviously named Snake Mountain, Skeletor's castle in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.  Then there are the intertwined snakes in Mumm-Ra's headpiece on the Thundercats show, and of course I was a huge fan of both the first Conan movie and Clash of the titans, and the duo of James Earl Jones' Thulsa Doom and Harryhausen's version of Medusa terrified me.   Anyway, it's just a thought…



One of the reoccurring themes in the Joe universe is Cobra Commander's megalomaniacal Caesar complex (written into the Writer's Guide), which is illustrated quite well in the first two cartoon mini series' with the Cobra gladiatorial arena fights.  In the A Real American Hero mini, the fight takes place between two mind-controlled opponents, the captured Duke and the slave giant Ramar.   Again, this is interesting, at least to me, in that it works in fun action, a couple elements of the fantastical, and even a bit of world history, though that last one is a stretch.   Either way, it's fun and again it works to define the character of Duke who never backs down, not even when the odds are stacked against him.



In fact Duke's smarts and tenacity are even admired by Destro.  Cobra Commander and Destro are each controlling one of the combatants (Destro has Duke and CC has Ramar), and in mid battle Destro relinquishes control over Duke knowing that he'll be able to handle Ramar better under his own control.  As a kid I was never all that fond of Duke's character, though a lot of that could be contributed to his bland character design (and granted it's only really bland in comparison to the outlandish Joes that would follow and what made up most of my collection.)  Now that I look back at him I think that his simple (in terms of not being flashy) design works perfect for the type of character.  Just goes to show the differences in the two mindsets...



What's also kind of weird in the Joe universe is that Cobra's infatuation with world domination and wealth often takes the form of an accumulation of gold.  When CC and Destro make a bet on the arena battle the spoils are pieces of gold (which is also what CC uses to pay off the Dreadnoks in the second Joe mini series.)  I wonder if this was a purposeful way to avoid talking about money in the cartoon, like maybe the producers or story editors (Steve Gerber and Buzz Dixon) wanted to avoid as much real world strife as possible.  We also see gold used as the ultimate coveted element (a very fairy tale like quality to the writing) in its use as a way to escape the mind control devices.  When we're introduced to Selena, the save girl with a heart of gold (oh geez, bad turn of phrase I know), she gives Duke a thin stick (think bubble gum stick) of gold that will allow him to shirk the headband's power.  I'm also reminded of an episode of Transformers where there is a pool of gold liquid that when bathed in makes robots invincible to laser fire (great Beachcomber episode to boot.)



When Duke decides it's time to use the gold strip to break the mind control it unfolds in a very odd way.  I was expecting Duke to be free to do what he wants, which is essentially what happens, though it comes in the form of redirecting the energy used to control the headbands into laser like beams that knock the controllers out of Destro and CC's hands.  It's more visually interesting, but it's also one of those weird leaps in logic that the show is famous for.  To be honest, even as an adult I don't mind these leaps.



There's another subtle moment (like in the previous episode where the Baroness in disguise fingers her earring) in the sequence where Selena is helping Duke to escape via the Cobra Viper Glider (one of the few times in this mini series where the writing feels like it's pushing the toys.)  As they're talking his Joe class ring glimmers a couple times.  He eventually gives the ring to her so that she can both remember him and so that he'll remember to come back and save her and the rest of the slaves.  It's also another sequence to show off his lady's man side (by the end of the series he'll have both Selena and Scarlett hanging off him.)



In a weird turn of events, the Joe team rescues the scientist (Dr. Vandemeer) that unwittingly helped Cobra build their M.A.S.S. device.  He helps them to build their own M.A.S.S. device, which is sort of a odd way to combat the original problem on a couple of different levels.  On the one hand it doesn't seem like a likely answer unless the goal is to use their device to steal Cobra's device.  I mean they're matter transference machines, not weapons.   Also, as Jerzy brought up in the Saturday Supercast, it sort of breaks the unspoken rule of using the enemy's weapons against them, a concept highlighted by the plight of Frodo in the Lord of the Rings series.   It points to the idea of corrupting one's self to combat corruption, which is pretty self-defeating in terms of a winning end game strategy.   On the other hand, this conceit opens up the plot of this and the following two episodes as both teams race around the globe in search of the rare catalytic elements that power the M.A.S.S. devices.  It's not just a matter of trying to stop the other side, but scoring these elements for your own team in the process.  It helps set the tone of the series as a whole and it makes the mini visually stunning for all its environments...



The first location explored is the dreaded Sea of Ice in the Arctic Circle where the pink radioactive crystals are located in a cave guarded by Cobra.   I love this sequence because it features some of my favorite Joe team members from the 1st two waves of figures from '82 and '83.  Putting myself back in the 1983-4 mindset, I wasn't all that fond of the basic green fatigue-wearing Joes.   I hadn't read the comics yet, and I wasn't paying attention to the file cards yet (and I think at the time my parents were still giving me figures already out of the packages so I didn't even realize there were file cards to clip), so the characters that stuck out to me were the ones that had interesting visual cues.   First and foremost there was Snake Eyes, who completely decked in black stood out the most of the early Joes.  Then there's Tripwire and Flash, both of which had cool-looking helmets (with the coveted visors), and the grey and red highlights (respectively) to the basic green fatigues that made them aces in my book.  Scarlett has always been a cool character, and for me she fell into that group of figures I never managed to get my grubby hands on, so I wanted her all the more.  And last, but certainly not least, Snow Job, who was one of the first Joe action figures I distinctly remember receiving (right before meeting up with my Dad after he got off work at a local Florida Red Lobster.)  The sense memory of a mound of empty King Crab leg shells acting as a stand-in for a snowy peak that Snow Job could ski across is burned into my memory.

Anyway, it's in this set of scenes that we're first introduced to the Polar Battle Bear snowmobiles, and the evil Cobra Snake Robots…



Animation-wise, the scene when the group of Joes enter the cave has some really nice choice camera angles, not to mention some nice shading and shadows (which always tend to make the art look so much richer.)  As a funny side note, it's kind of odd that Snake Eyes carries a walkie talkie with him seeing that he's practically mute and all.  I will admit that it's been pointed out that walkie talkies do have Morse Code buttons on them, and I realize he can listen in, but it's still kind of oxymoronic.



Something else that caught my eye while watching this episode is the dynamics of telecasting Cobra Commander to the world during one of his maniacal world domination rants.   There are a couple of shots which showcase some of Cobra's finest troopers running the TV camera.  I guess either Cobra has one hell of a cross training media department, or they've spent some time recruiting out of the various A/V clubs in high schools around the country.  It leads to the obvious question, is there a brigade of sanitation troopers roaming the various temples and the Terror Drome in full gear?

Also, even though it isn't really that much of a miraculous bit of precognition on the writer/designers parts, I thought it was kind of cool to see a quick shot of a suburban home with a flat screen the size of a coffee table on the living room wall.  We're pretty much living in that age I guess.  Now where's my personal jetpack and standard issue tan & silver laser rifle?



I've mentioned it a couple times in these past couple of columns already, but I thought it was really interesting that the story editors make it a very clear point in the writer's guide to stay away from using real world U.S. antagonists as enemies in the cartoon.   Instead, the unspoken guideline (I haven't seen it stressed in print) was to show other countries as allies against Cobra. In this first mini series Cobra's second major target of their M.A.S.S. device attack is Russia.  Cobra burgles an entire battalion of their tanks and soldiers, teleporting them to the temple base.   I do have to stress that I thought it was odd that this army didn't put up any fight when they arrived, unlike Duke who practically took on the entire Cobra army by himself twice by this point.



Ron Friedman is the man responsible for the heavy lifting on the writing duties in this mini series (as well as the other three Joe Minis and the G.I. Joe & Transformers movies), and if there is one reoccurring theme that I kind of dig, it's his inhibition when it comes to potentially offing or downplaying beloved characters.  Granted I'm sure these were decissions that the entire writing staff disscussed, but they tend to occur in his contributed episodes.  Of course his most famous coup in this department is killing off Optimus Prime in the Transformers flick, but he also intended to kill of Duke in the Joe Movie (changed after the animation was finalized and the reactions were coming in to Prime buying the farm), he helped Buzz Dixon depose Cobra Commander in the Arise, Serpentor, Arise! mini, and in this episode basically left Snake Eyes for the soon to be eradiated dead.  Honestly, the show hadn't been on long enough to really garner Snake Eyes the "beloved character" status, but it was still a gutsy cliffhanger in my eyes.  I mean, unless you’re James Bond or Ursula Andress in Dr. No, there really isn't any coming back from radiation poisoning so bad your entire body beings to glow.  The "good bye" scene with Scarlett was pretty touching too, with nice shot of Snake Eyes slowly backing up into the radiation cloud.



If the show was every going to be accused of product placement, it's probably in the scenes involving Duke's crazy escape from the Cobra compound.  First Selena insists that the only way out is by stealing a Cobra Viper Glider, which Duke of course does, and then proceeds to go on a wacky trip with a bunch of Cobra troopers in tow.  I say wacky because not long after Duke is airborne, he crashes into a tree, and then falls directly into the waiting cockpit of an idling H.I.S.S. tank.  He then speeds away in the tank, through a nearby swamp where he again crashes into an embankment, and then ends up falling into a pit of quicksand.  It's daring and exciting, but a little bit too Benny Hill for my tastes.

Something interesting I noticed during this chase sequence was another (almost) product placement in the form of the Cobra Water Moccasin.  For a brief second while in the water we see a white Moccasin speed by the frame…



…which is kind of interesting in that the toy hadn't been released yet.   Most everything that ended up in this first mini series, from characters to vehicles, was already available in the 1982-1983 toy line (with some exceptions like the Baroness, the S.H.A.R.C. which will show up in the next episode, and Duke – who was only a mail-away at the time.)  There was also an appearance of a Rattler-like jet which shows up in the fourth part of the mini, but my guess is that wasn't tied in with Hasbro.  So the Moccasin showing up, in a different color no less, seems to point to the idea that the writers/designers of the cartoon had access to upcoming vehicle designs.   Either that or their rendition of the water craft struck a nerve at Hasbro who then put it into production.



Anyway, like I mentioned above, the last we saw of Duke he was all but drowning in a pit of quicksand.  What I love about this sequence, and it's something I never would have thought to watch out for if it hadn't been for Mark Rudolph's description of camera angles and blocking in the original Star Trek show (on an episode of the Art & Story podcast), is how interesting it is when a scene is framed by close-up objects in the foreground.   I love the shot of the two Cobra troopers with their legs framing either side of the screen and Duke breast-deep in quicksand.  Not only is it visually interesting, it gives the scene a menacing tone with the soldiers towering over duke and being so close to the "camera" that viewers get a feeling of being too close to the enemy.  It's a little thing, but it's a nice touch.

What's really weird about this sequence though, and what makes me wonder if there is something missing in this segment of the episode is Dukes sudden memory loss and almost death.   Honestly he seems to be playing possum until the Cobra troopers leave, and in the next scene he's on a gurney being attended by Doc and all of a sudden everything is tense.  If nothing else, why exactly does Duke forget about the whole affair in the Cobra fortress?  It seems like a very weird cliffhanger ending to me.



In the final episode of this mini series there is a segment where Doc is trying to help Duke remember in some sort of sensory deprivation chamber (that looks an awful lot like the bacta tank in the Empire Strikes Back), and his memories are projected onto a screen.  In this sequence we get a glimpse of Duke's childhood and young adult years where he's fighting off bullies and being a football hero.  When we talk about this in the Saturday Supercast Jerzy recalled the fact that this sequence of Duke's younger years was cut on the copy of the official FHE VHS tape for the miniseries.   It points to the idea that there are different versions of the episodes floating around.  I'm pretty positive that there are differences in the original broadcast episodes and the later syndicated ones, if only because as the years go on the restrictions of cutting in commercial time get harsher.  So I'm sure there are a lot of episodes that are missing segments and I have to wonder is Rhino, when they were putting together this mini series DVD might have gotten an edited set of the masters that was missing something.  It's just a thought.

Anyway, this commentary brings us up to date with what we end up talking about in episode 19 of the Saturday Supercast.  Also, we should be posting the follow-up show, episode 20, in which we discuss the next three episodes as well as touching on some of the more modern incarnations of the franchise, namely the new live action film set to debut in August, the Rise of Cobra, as well as the lead up cartoon even that debuted this past spring called G.I. Joe Resolute.  Also, and I'm sure you're tired of hearing me mention this, the season 1.1 DVD set of the original G.I. Joe cartoon (featuring this very episode) hit store shelves yesterday and is current available on Amazon for only $17.  Alright, pimp mode off.

I recently had a fire lit under my butt to get back into podcasting and the result was re-launching the Saturday Supercast as a co-host alongside Jerzy Drozd and Kevin Cross.  The Supercast was originally intended as, and still is, a behind the scenes look into the Sugary Serials all ages comic anthology, which as readers of Branded have no doubt heard me speak of in the past, is inspired by the Saturday morning and weekday syndicated cartoons the creators grew up with throughout the 70s and 80s.   So it seemed fitting to relaunch the show taking a deconstructionist's view of cartoons to the Supercast.  Jerzy and I were inspired by Anthony and Ted of the Horror Etc. podcast, and the format they've chosen to take a focused look at the genre, sometimes with a fine tooth comb, examining a single film, and sometimes on a broader scale, taking in an entire subgenre.   We also all feel that this is an examination that’s largely missing from cartoon themed podcasting and we hope we can take a shot at starting the conversation.  You can find the first part of episode 19 of the podcast over at Sugary Serials right now or you can download it by right clicking and selecting save as here.

As we tackle each subject, I figured it would be a great opportunity to pour any excess research and any of my personal observations that don't make it to the show into a revitalized Cartoon Commentary column.  Anyway, we recently recorded a couple episodes, a two part series looking at the original five-part G.I. Joe mini series, A Real American Hero, so I thought I'd take a minute and breakdown some of my thoughts on the very frist episode of G.I. Joe.  The show was produced in 1983 by Sunbow Productions in tandem with Marvel cartoon Productions and Hasbro.  Sunbow had previously worked with Marvel on the Incredible Hulk cartoon, as well as animating the commercials for the Marvel G.I. Joe comic book series.   This first mini series debuted on September 12th and ran the entire week.   It wasn't followed up until the next year when the second mini series, The Revenge of Cobra, debuted.  The first episode in this mini is titled "The Cobra Strikes"…



One of the initial things that jumps out at my about G.I. Joe is just how much action there is in the show.  The more and more I look back at the output of the 80s the more and more I fall in love with the freedom that cartoon studios found in the wake of industry regulations being loosened as Ronald Regan took office.  Though this G.I. Joe mini series debuted only a week after He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, I think it directly benefited from the behind the scenes machinations of Filmation and Mattel circumventing typical Saturday morning scrutiny by the network watchdogs (by selling the show to first run syndication) as well as the FCC looking away from television programming developed off of existing toy lines.  Some might look at this as a bad thing, but in the wake of an entire decade of cartoon programming strictly devoid of most action and adventure elements, it seems like a breath of fresh air to me.

The opening images of the credit sequence explode into frame literally as the battle between G.I. Joe (the codename for America’s daring, highly-trained special mission force) and Cobra (a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world) is introduced to the audience very succinctly in under in a minute.



As the episode opens it manages to keep up the action as a squadron of Sky Strikers is being tested out.  We're introduced to the core of the Joe cast as a jet flown by one of their own does an all to close fly by forcing Duke to go on the rampage, only to be taken aback as it’s revealed that the Sky Striker in question was being piloted by Scarlett, the team's resident girl of action.  What's so great about this scene is that so much information about the tone and look of the show, as well as character archetypes are cemented in a very short amount of time.  Not only do we get some pretty great and very dynamic "camera" work in the animation but the in the four or five lines of dialogue we get Duke's personality and his relationship to Scarlett in a nutshell.   There are two scenes of really great animation angles in this sequence; one where the p.o.v. of the camera is hovering off the ground, about 25 feet up pointed down a landing strip and a Sky Striker goes zooming overhead into the frame and then lands.  The second shot is a worm's eye view, flipped 180 degrees down the runway as the jet comes to a stop right before it would "crush" the camera.  After years of Filmation and Hanna Barbera controlling the cartoon landscape with a lot of side scrolling and limited animation cartoons, again, this is just an exciting breath of fresh air.



There are also a lot of great textures in the background paintings that really add depth to the images while allowing the flat colorful cels really pop.  As far as storytelling goes, I think visually it was kind of interesting that the designers chose to use the IAI Kfir Israeli fighters as the model for the Cobra aircraft that attacks the Joe base in the first few minutes even though the writer's guide sort of frowns on the use of other nations as villains.  Sure, most kids aren't going to pick-up on that sort of imagery and think that Cobra is getting their arms from Israel, but it's still sort of strange.  It's another shining example of the cold war xenophobia that was so prevalent in 80s action entertainment like Top Gun and Iron Eagle.   If it wasn't the Israelis and their Kfirs, then it was the Russians and their Migs…



Actually, for the most part the writers did a pretty good job of keeping Cobra separate from being visually allied with any of the obvious U.S. aggressors.   In fact looking at the screen shot of the Cobra compound above, it would be easier to believe that Cobra was aligned with Vlad Tepes or Vicktor Von Frankenstein (which Kevin Cross astutely points out in the Saturday Supercast.)  I love this crazy 1930s Universal horror version of a Cobra base (right down to the superstitious peasants helping to lug the M.A.S.S. device elements for a very druid-ish clad Destro) even for its amazing over branding of the snake theme.  I think even some of the cobras has Cobra symbols on them.  It's also interesting to note that this same creepy castle design for the headquarters was echoed in some of the early Marvel comics issues, again pointing to the fact that the cartoon designers were taking nods from the comic and not necessarily Hasbro.





The scene where Destro approaches the temple is a great example of one of the most stressed tenants in the G.I. Joe writer's guide, which was encouraging the inclusion of an element of the fantastic in each script.  The fantastical elements could range the gamut of improbable technology, to monsters and mysticism, and the almost living giant cobras surrounding the temple mix all of these into one great visual.  Not only can these robotic cobras scare the bejesus out of passers by, but they are also functional as laser defense and as scanning devices.  I think it's really interesting that when Destro enters his hand for the recognition software to process, it displays in an almost X-ray style exposing an apparent cybernetic nature to his hands.  This is another example of how weird a character Destro really is.  Besides his insane metal mask, unlikely voice (he sounds very African, yet later we discover he's really of Scottish decent), and his glowing green eyes there's the hint that he may be part machine.



I really do love the intense set design of these early episodes of G.I. Joe.  I know later the crazy temples are replaced by a similarly cool Terrordrome, though it's much more toned down in its modern design, and not nearly as creepy.   But I love Cobra Commander's throne, it's just so over the top in its evil design. Speaking of evil design, I thought it was kind of odd that the shading on Destro's face seems to subtly point to a visual reference to Hitler's mustache.  His upper lip divot is always overly shadowed in this first mini series, a visual cue that's abandoned in the second mini series and in the subsequent syndicated episodes.



One of the conceits of this first mini series that really works for me is the three catalytic elements needed to power the M.A.S.S. devices.  It sets up the five episode arc in a very fun way with an introductory episode, then three episodes which all deal with one of the elements, and finally a conclusion episode.  Ron Friedman, the writer of this mini series (as well as the rest of the G.I. Joe mini series episodes, the movie and Transformers the movie) does a great job of spreading these elements all over the globe which creates the opportunity to showcase the Joes in all sorts of different environments.



We had a fun discussion on the Saturday Supercast about the branding of Cobra.  Particularly in this mini series, anything that can be branded is, even the tiniest microchip sports the Cobra insignia.  This is far from a complaint though, and it's something that I think is missing from other 80s action shows that featured differing factions.  I mean where were the iconic symbols in He-Man or the Go-Bots?   I wonder if this was something that Hasbro contributed, or if staffers from Marvel were in talks with the toy company at the design stage?   It's certainly something that is strong in comics, and Marvel was involved to an extent in the development of both Transformers and G.I. Joe…



One of the things that I was looking for while re-watching this mini series is interesting aspects to the animation.   I always remembered G.I. Joe for having some of the better visuals, what with taking on a more anime feel to the art as well as having great acting.  I think this mini might slightly stand apart in the acting realm, at least on how far the expressions on some of the main characters go.  The shot above of Duke is great, comically perplexed and goofy.   I was listening to an episode of Ted Seko's Idiot Engine podcast recently and one of his guests A. L. Baroza made an excellent point about the hamminess of acting in cartoons.  Basically American animation studios strive for a 1930s acting style from their characters as it's this ham-fisted overacting that really comes across well in animation, whereas the quieter brooding performances that we tend to laud in live action films doesn't translate all that well and comes across boring and static in cartoons…



Alongside the great acting, and going back a bit to where I was talking about the rich textures in the background work, another very strong aspect to the BG work in G.I. Joe was all the modern mechanical paneling in the show.   I'm flabbergasted by the level of detail in the electronic and metal paneling in the various settings of the show.  It's an aspect to the overall design of the cartoon where noting is boring to look at.  I'd love to have some of these paintings, sans characters, framed and on my walls, that's for sure…



Something that I thought was kind of interesting in the first half of the episode was the dichotomy between the over the top action and some of the subtlety in the character action.  In particular the scene that strikes me the most involves the Baroness in disguise during the tour of the satellite compound.  The character keeps fingering her earring throughout the tour, but it really doesn't draw all that much attention to itself, at least not until she takes off the earring and it's revealed to be a Cobra tracking device.   It's one of the cues in the writing translated into the animation that shows the forethought of the pacing and reveal.   A similar thing happens in a later episode of the mini series with Duke's Joe class ring, which sparkles a couple times before he eventually gives it to another character.  Not everything in the show is this subtle, in fact it's more likely to see some over the top bits, or convenient Deux Ex Machinas, but it's nice to find both in a series like this from the 80s.



In fact, just after the subtlety of the earring, we get the craziness of Duke's pre-guessing the reason he was invited on the tour, which was to have his Joe team initiate a break-in on the compound to test its security.  Of course seeing this coming Duke has already mobilized this mission which conveniently kicks off seconds after the request is given to him.



Getting back to the fantastical elements of the series for a second, the major one for this mini series is the introduction of the M.A.S.S. device, which has the ability to teleport matter via an energy beam.  This sets the tone for the various crackpot schemes that Cobra will attempt over the series.   I like the mixture of mad science and mysticism of the design in that it needs these crazy catalytic elements to work.



In the scene where Cobra stages a surprise attack on the satellite installation, it's kind of interesting to note that there are a couple of weird visuals and sound cues.   First off, the general and Duke are carrying handguns, which is something you don’t typically see in the show, at least not realistic looking ones.  I think a handful of the toys came with them, but usually they were just molded onto the figure and couldn't be removed.  As for the sound cues, up until the last episode of this mini series, whenever the Joes are firing their weapons they typically make realistic gunfire noises (mostly machine gun fire.)  This is something that was probably a complete no-no as far as the networks standards & practices, not to mention the lobbyists from Action for Children's Television were concerned.  The question I have though is whether or not these were the same sound effects which aired back in '83 and eventually in the show's syndication run.  The version of the mini series that I own was released by Rhino in and around 2000, and I've read a number of times that they either replaced some of the sound effects or used ones from the original masters and not the eventual fixed broadcast tapes.  Either way, it's something that would disappear very quickly from the show as both Cobra and the Joes fire lasers almost exclusively.



One of the aspects to this mini series that Jerzy, Kevin and I had a lot of fun talking about on the Saturday Supercast podcast is the character of Duke.   Jerzy asserted that Duke is basically the 80s equivalent of William Shatner's depiction of James Kirk on the original Star Trek.  They're both one part man of action, one part lady's man, and both wouldn't hesitate to roll right from knocking down a fellow officer a peg or two to hitting on a woman in peril.  Another example of his tenacity, and really all the Joes express this trait, is how much he fights when captured by Cobra.  He get's sucked into the cloud of energy from Cobra’s M.A.S.S. device as it teleports their troops and the satellite back to their temple, and even though he has no idea what's going on or where he is, he hits the ground running, punching and kicking everything with a Cobra symbol.  It literally takes like 10 officers to drag him down and knock him out…



In fact, after Cobra makes their demands on the world and they take a moment to have some fun with Duke in their battle arena, Duke is at it again.   He's left alone for a couple of seconds before he jumps up onto a huge banner lining the wall under Cobra Commander and Destro, and starts climbing it to get to them.  This guy just never stops fighting Cobra.

I'm jumping ahead a bit, but in this arena sequence, there's an awesome nod to the Atari 2600 in that Destro and Cobra Commander can control the contestants via headband and a joystick controller that looks a whole heck of a lot like the 2600 controller.   It makes for a very fun and slightly dated reference to the home systems of the time, and is for all intents and purposes the laying the groundwork for the very first fighting game, pre-Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter.



Anyway, back to the chronology while at the same time tributary-ing to talk a bit about the trailer for the upcoming G.I. Joe live action film.  On the whole, I really don't care for most of the footage I've seen so far of the new flick.   It doesn't help that I'm not a fan of the director (having been mildly amused by the first Mummy movie, and downright hating Van Helsing), but it also doesn't help that I'm a fan of the look and feel of the 80s cartoon.   Before I sound like a mighty curmudgeon I have to admit that I'm also not a fan of the 60-70s G.I. Joe either, and I realize that the new film really isn't being made for guys and gals like me, it's being made for a new audience.  What I did like though was the centerpiece, the Cobra (well, I think it's still just M.A.R.S., Destro's outfit at that point) attack on the Eiffel Tower.  I'm pretty sure Larry Hama was used as a consultant on the flick during the script revision process, and I'd be willing to be this may have been one of his suggestions.  See in the first episode of G.I. Joe the first major target that Cobra goes after with the M.A.S.S. device is the Eiffel Tower, teleporting it to god knows where.  Granted, in the aftermath of Independence Day and the million similar summer blockbusters that followed, it's sort of trite to see a well known international landmark destroyed with crazy CGI, but at the same time it really warmed my heart.



Also, I think the costume designers did a pretty good job of nailing the look of the Baroness in the new flick, though honestly, how could you go wrong?  Well, I sort of have tunnel vision when it comes to the Baroness as I only really remember her in the skintight black leather (pleather?) outfit from the later episodes of the cartoon and from her first toy.  Part of this is due to the fact that I never had a Baroness figure growing up.  I actually didn't have any of the female characters except Jinx, and probably only because my mom didn't realize she was a girl in her red ninja pajamas.   Looking back, I only had one female action figure, Evil-Lyn from the He-Man line, and I ended up scraping the paint off her breast plate to try and get a look underneath, and I'm sure that made my parents worry.  My friend had the Baroness figure though, and I coveted it as I did with most of his figures and vehicles because it seemed like he had all the stuff I never had.

Well, when the 25th anniversary figures started coming out you can figure that the Baroness was right there at the top of my list of figures to procure.   I bought the Cobra 5-pack just to get her and hoped beyond hope that Hasbro would release a single carded version so I could have the card art as well.  Unfortunately, of all the original 10 figures in that line, the Baroness was the one fire that didn't get the single card treatment, at least not the black leather version.  Instead the version released had her in a blue and yellow getup with green sunglasses, the polar opposite of what I remembered, and I just chalked it up to a silly repaint.   Lo and behold though, when I re-watched this first mini series, that this was the original Baroness costume as you can see above.  After doing some research I noticed this costume matched the early appearances in the comics, which at this point maybe Sunbow only got a vague description of the character.   These properties were being developed in tandem but without a lot of communication over the various mediums, toys, cartoon, and comics, so maybe the cartoon was taking a nod form the comics.  I know her first figure didn't come out until 1984, and if I remember correctly, she was in her trademarked black suit in the second mini series.  Anyway, after holding a grudge against the blue and yellow version in the 25th line for the last year, it was a shock to see her in that getup in the first episode.





One of the other interesting things I noticed about this episode was the penchant for closing out the cliffhangers (both while cutting to commercial and the end of the episode) with evil characters grabbing toward the hero who is serving as the point of view.  You get these giant hands clutching in towards the camera.  It's pretty darn effective.



I also came to the conclusion that the villains wear a lot of masks.  What with Destro and Cobra Commander in general, and later Storm Shadow and Zartan, but we even get the Baroness and Major Bludd sporting Mission Impossible style masks.   It's almost a theme that the masked characters are bad, but then there’s the glaring exception to the rule in Snake Eyes.   Not only does he wear a mask (that we never get to see under), but he's also completely clad in black (well, except for his gloveless hands in this mini series), and his name is "Snake" Eyes.  I mean in a show where every single reference to a snake points toward Cobra, it's kind of weird that the character was designed as he was.   Maybe Hasbro realized the potential in the popularity of villains at that point and decided to bring a little of that to the heroes' side?



Last but certainly not least for this episode is the introduction of Remar, the gargantuan 15 foot tall ogre of a man that Cobra uses as a gladiator and slave.   Again, this is yet another example of the writer's credo that nothing is off the table in the series.  I think this is one of the strongest aspects of the show and why it has the longevity and replay-ability that it does.  Straight combat between Joe team members and Cobra would get pretty boring after awhile and the addition of these sorts of fantastical characters and situations really make the show fun and adventurous.   I guess it's sort of functioning on the same level that makes the Indiana Jones franchise work so well.

Next time on Cartoon Commentary! episode 2 of the A Real American Hero mini series, "Slave of the Cobra Master".  Again, you can listen to Jerzy Drozd, Kevin Cross and I talk about this series on the Saturday Supercast podcast. Also, this mini series will finally be released on DVD again this Tuesday on the awesome season 1.1 DVD from Shout! Factory.