If knowing is half the battle, what is the other half?

          Well look true believers it's another crazy Thursday and you get to share it with your old pal the Shadow. What pray tell does the Shadow know today? Whelp I dug down deep for this one. I have this one on good authority. So listen up you folks with allergies. Are you ready for it? Peanuts, contain peanuts! I know what a revelation! I just saved your life. I could see you reaching for that can of peanuts only to read my blog and discover that there were peanuts in there, and you with a peanut allergy. Well folks that is what I am here for, to help those who cannot help themselves. Perhaps I am a member of a highly trained, special mission force and then again perhaps not. I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you. Now on to How I Geeked, on podbean.com, with your favorite pop stars Greg and the Gang. Our topic for your podcast entertainment will be a commentary on Maximum Overdrive. This is a really great movie and I think it could be fun. Just as long as we don't manage to muck it up. For those who don't know Maximum Overdrive is a story by Steven King, in which all machines come to life and want to kill humans. So if machines really freak you out now, then you should really check this movie out... good times, good times. So without further ado, "On with the show this is it!" - Bugs Bunny

      So what is the topic of discussion this day? Aww thanks for asking, I knew you appreciated my efforts into this out of control spiraling of my psyche. Any who, the topic of today is that Greatest American hero G.I. Joe. This is not to be confused with the Greatest American Hero airing from 81-83 and starring William Katt and Robert Culp. That could very well be a show for another day as it too was sha weet! G.I. Joe got it's start as a Hasbro product in 1964 (yes G.I. Joe is now 50 years old). Seeing that boys were not all that impressed with it's Barbie line (imagine that boys not wanting to play with girl toys how very weird) Hasbro decided to make a series of military based figures and with them coined the phrase action figure. This was an instant success and the line survived over a decade with other countries like the UK getting in on the band wagon by creating their own version known as Action Man. The 12 inch action figure would reign supreme for about 14 years and all was well until a little know movie called Star Wars hit theatres. Kenner Corporation released a 3 and 3/4 inch toy line and they were a huge success. The success was so great that by 1982 Hasbro decided to end it's 12 inch G.I. Joe line in it's current incarnation and revamp the property altogether. That is where we come to G.I. Joe as we know it today. This revamping as it were, spawned a very successful toy line, comic line, cartoon series, and later two and soon to be 3 big screen movies. To follow I will touch base with these aspects of this great franchise.     

     G.I. Joe the animated series ran from 1982-1994, with a 3 year break from 86-89. It got it's start as a 5 part mini series in 1982, and was an immediate hit amongst us youngsters of the day. I remember waiting impatiently for this mini series to air again and again. The first mini series is still my favorite of all the episodes. Quite frankly I still watch it every chance I get. In 1983 working off the success of the first mini series Hasbro in conjunction with Sunbow productions, (also responsible for the first mini series) created a second mini series entitled "The Revenge of Cobra." This to was a huge success and with the success of the other Hasbro franchise, the Transformers series Hasbro decided to make this to into a series of its own. A third five part mini series was used as a spring board to introduce this new series (the title of that was the Pyramid of Darkness). That first season was a huge success and was most popular amongst its viewership young and old alike. It must be mentioned that at this time of TV cartoons the toy companies made deals with the animation studios to target kids and sell toys. So it is with no surprise that the toys and figures went hand in hand. It just always surprises me that Hasbro went with such a horrible line of toys for Transformers, but made such awesome toys for the G.I. Joe franchise... alas I digress. With the end of the first season a second season was planned with another 5 part min series to kick it off and the introduction of several new characters, including the awesome Sgt. Slaughter. This season too was as popular as the previous and G.I. Joe became one of the most popular cartoon shows on television. This is where things get weird for the franchise. Sunbow was beginning to lose money from three bad movies they did connected to toy lines (Transformers, G.I. Joe, and My Little Pony for those who wish to know) and as a result cut all ties with Hasbro. As a result G.I. Joe was canceled waiting for another company to pick them up. Three years later G.I Joe was finally picked up by DIC the animation company responsible for M.A.S.K. the animated series. I do not understand why this, being one of the most popular shows on TV at the time took so long to be picked up. This seems asinine to me and greatly hurt the franchise in the end. DIC was in a decline at this time with poor writing and animation. So it is no surprise that the G.I. Joe we got was not the one we wanted. Almost all of the old cast was left out because they did not have available toys at the time and as I mentioned they were about selling toys not a show. This really did not help the series at all and with Sgt. Slaughter playing a bad guy in wrestling he too was removed from the series. So poor planning, poor judgment, bad animation, no original voice actors,and bad writing caused this show to hemorrhage into an early grave. I really wish that DIC would have picked up the awesome writing staff that Sunbow had or at the very least take a page out of the type of writers they used. Sunbow used prime time TV writers who really did a great job. This could have been way better, but instead was a dismal failure. I own these two season as they are considered original G.I. Joe, but I assure you they are not watched that often (damn it if I am not a completest). After the end of this series we get a few more serials over the years like Sigma Six and Renegades. Each one had it's own merit, but none ever really comparing to that original series. So what's next?

     Now just like Transformers G.I. Joe also had comic book series that was released along side the cartoon series and just like Transformers the two stories differed greatly. Before there was the Real American Hero G.I. Joe started as a comic series in Yank magazine in 1942. G.I. stood for government issue and Joe because at the time of the second world war the average person was named Joe. If you called out yo Joe in your unit chances were at least half of them would say, "What." This is where we get the term average Joe. This was a short run and eneded about the same time the war did. Ziff Davis, D.C. Comics, and Custom Comics each had their own versions of G.I. Joe and each taking place during the war issues at the time of publication. In 1982 Marvel are the next to take a stab at this franchise in parallel with the animated series and toy line. This series of comics was done much better then the Transformers series that was released at the same time and for the same reasons. This success was due to the very talented Larry Hama. Hama was also responsible for the file cards that you find on the reverse side of the action figures sold. In fact he originally created them so that he could have a guide for each character he was making. The studio loved them and they were added to the toy line. There were as I mentioned differences between the comic and animated series. One of the major differences is the romance between Snake Eyes and Scarlett. This does not appear in the animated series and as a matter of fact it seems more like Duke and Scarlett have a thing rather then her and Snake eyes. Also some characters like Stalker appear way more in the comic then the show and Ship Wreck who appears more in the show and less in the book. Finally with a whole no bullet rule at the animation studio Joe's used lasers and never got hurt in the show, but they used regular guns and often got hurt in the comic. Characters like Doc, Serpentor, and Quick Kick die in the comic, where as nobody dies in the animated series. I read this comic series as a kid and could not get enough of it. Unfortunately where I lived, growing up comics were few and far between to find and no store kept up with their stock very well when it came to the oddball series (isn't that right Oz?). This is a series that I am trying very hard to get a complete run and back issues are hard to come by these days. I hope to complete this as I do love Hama's writing. Over the years many other companies have picked up the license until like Transformers it has ended up in the hands of IDW. I have heard good things, but as with Transformers I haven't read them. One day I will pick a few up and report back, but alas not on this day or anytime soon. So now onto the next.

     So in 2009 Paramount Pictures released a live action G.I. Joe movie, The Rise of Cobra. Larry Hama himself was tapped as a consultant on the making of this movie and I believe is why this movie was as good as it was. Sunbow tried to release a G.I. Joe animated movie back in the 80's but it did not do very well due in part I believe to poor writing and execution. This to was the downfall of the ill-fated Transformers animated movie. It only seemed logical that here 25 years later at the time of the release that we get a live action movie. I for one am glad they did. It did not follow the original plots and concepts, but over all I feel that this was a fairly decent movie and if you are a G.I. Joe fan I do suggest it for you. Four years later in 2013 we got G.I. Joe Retaliation. I will start out by saying I liked the Rock in this movie. He did pretty well as Roadblock, even if he didn't do any rhyming. The rest of the Joes were ok as well, but only just ok. What I have trouble with is well everything else. This movie was actually pulled for a redo and they still failed the fans. No Destro, killed Duke and the other Joes, and well very weak plot points all added to the downward spiral that was this movie. I mean Killing Duke, really, really!? His character was important enough that they changed the ending of the animated movie to save his life instead of him dying in it. They really should have paid attention to this. I really wish that they would tap true fans when they make movies of preexisting franchises. It would save these execs an awful lot of pain when their movies don't work out. In a few years we will be getting another movie and I have to admit I am scared to see where they go next with it. We will see, but I am not expecting more then just flying monkey poo... ugh!

     Well Shadow fans once again this is it and I have run out of time. Join us next week where we see Larry Hama monkey stomp Paramount Picture execs in the head and crush them like grapes. So what do you think Shadow fans? Will they make better movies? Is Duke really dead? Will we see a return of Destro? Did you ever learn anything from knowing is half the battle? I did, I learned how to swim in the one that taught you how to tread water. I wish they still did this with modern cartoons. Maybe kids today wouldn't pull the crap they do. Then again maybe they would anyway... ahh such is life I suppose. Anyway tell me what you think and I will see you next time from the Shadows.

     UPDATE: It is with great pleasure that I can report of Larry Hamas returned to G.I. Joe awhile ago. IDW restarted the series and began it where Marvel's numbering ended. I have about sixty or so back issues to find, but find them I will. Larry Hama was the reason I read this series and I can't wait to dig into this series again... FIN