G.I. JOE started off as a range of toys that was designed for boys in a similar vein that Barbie had been for girls. In the U.K., the toys
their equivalent was Action Man, made by a different company. They were the same size and fought against the same kind of enemy. The Cobra
Organisation didn't appear until the early eighties when the toys were reborn for a new set of followers. The Joes toys had a variety of
different characters from Frogman to Parachuter to Snowman. Each man had a different specialism.
Cartoon/Comic
In the eighties with the reborn of the toy, a cartoon/comic series was launched. Cobra Organisation appeared with its array of leaders such
as Cobra Commander, Destro and the Baroness. Influenced by Spectre of the James Bond films, the organisation wanted world wide domination.
In the UK, the comic was known as 'ACTION FORCE' and some characters that had been Americans were now British, for example Flint was the
leader of the British side of the organisation. Duke remained the head of the US Organisation. The cartoon series in the UK was limited to
video whereas in America, they were shown on television. Staying true to the toys, each character had a different specialism whether it be
Intelligence (Lady Jaye), Chemical Warfare (Airtight) or Firefighting (Barbecue). In 2005, an attempt to bring the cartoon uptodate was
made. It was known as GI JOE Sigma 6. The artwork was very much along Manga style of artwork.
Movie Trilogy
With the success of the Transformers conversion to film, Paramount decided to turn the comic into a live-action film and hopefully a trilogy.
The first attempt at a movie bombed in the US and it was released straight to video in the UK. One thing that has annoyed a lot of fans is
that the Joes are less American Hero now and more of an International Force. The film will only showcase a number of the characters from the
genre. Notable missing characters are Flint, Lady Jaye and the Dreadnoks for Cobra. In the comics, they used to wear a variety of uniforms
depending on what their specialism was, that has all been replaced by a simple black suit.
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