CHUCK DIXON, RELOADED - DIXON TALKS GI JOE

[MattBrady]

It’s like peanut butter finally finding jelly. Come December, Chuck Dixon will settle into the writer’s seat on Devil’s Due’s GI Joe: Reloaded series with issue #10. The series is, as Newsarama readers will recall, not the straight ahead comic book adventures of GI Joe, but rather, a more “realistic” look at the GI Joe mythos, as seen through the lens of the modern day.

We sat down with Dixon for a chat about landing the book, and what plans he has for the likes of Hawk, Duke, Cobra Commander and the rest of his cast.

Newsarama: First off, how did you get on the series? Were you actively looking for work from Devil’s Due, or did they approach you out of the blue?

Chuck Dixon: I think the balloon went up when it was announced that everyone at CrossGen was being released from their exclusives, prior to being let go entirely. Mark Powers contacted me about taking part in their Aftermath imprint. I guess they liked what they saw and invited me onto the Joe team.

NRAMA: This is the first time you’re writing a GI Joe comic, right? What kind of wrongness is that, that you’d have to wait so long before getting to the property?

CD: You’re right - it seems like a perfect fit. But I never pursued any GI Joe work while I was at Marvel ‘cause that was Larry Hama’s turf and there was no touching the excellence he was producing on the title. And I was tied up at either DC or CrossGen when Devil’s Due brought Joe back.

NRAMA: You’re writing the Reloaded title. In your view, what separates Reloaded from the other title and, “universe?”

CD: Basically, it’s GI Joe that’s freed from prior GI Joe continuity. The whole thing is recast and the relationships, goals, missions and conflicts are all different. The major characters are basically the ones that you’re familiar with but their backgrounds and destinies have been altered. It leaves room for lots more surprises and wild action.

NRAMA: Broadening that a little, what’s something we won’t see the team do in Reloaded compared to something that would show up in the regular series?

CD: This series is a bit more grounded in reality. We won’t been seeing the more outlandish aspects of the GI Joe franchise. No snake men or robots or anything beyond today’s technology. But there’s not much beyond today’s technology, so Reloaded still has lots of wild, wild craziness.

NRAMA: So let’s talk about that wild craziness - what kind of stories will we see in Reloaded?

CD: This is very much going to be a war book. Not a military fantasy in superhero drag. The Joes will go on missions with set goals and exit strategies in place. But there’s an old military adage that says, “No plan survives the first contact with the enemy.” So look for everything to go wrong whenever possible.

NRAMA: That said then, where’s the line for “too real” that breaks the suspension of disbelief with the book? For example, would the Joes go into Iraq? North Korea, or other locales that are current political hotspots? Would Cobra team with Al Qaeda?

CD: As much as I would love to see that, there’s a million reasons why it’s not a good idea. GI Joe is escapist fiction and I think it should stay that way. It’s also a franchised character so you’re limited there. No one wants the book to become political. I had experience with that on American Power at CrossGen. But where AP was meant to be in your face and politically incorrect GI Joe has to remain more accessible and timeless. So, while much of the zeitgeist of the War on Terror will invariably be a facet in Reloaded, we’re not turning this into a docudrama.

NRAMA: So are the Joes of Reloaded mostly a domestic action response team, or international? Take us inside their inner workings…

CD: They work pretty much at the behest of the NSC. And they act internationally. I’m thinking of them like the many hunter/killer teams the US military has operating in countries all over the world hunting down terrorists. That zeitgeist, you see? The Joes go anywhere and at anytime to break Cobra.

Currently they’re under the command of Colonel Hawk and they work as a small, secret group funded through hidden channels. They get their funding kind of like the way the guys in Office Space ripped off their employer. They take spare change and “rounded off” figures from different government agencies. That’s a lit of nickels and enough to fund them without Congressional, or even Pentagon, oversight.

NRAMA: Let’s talk about their opposite numbers – even in Reloaded, it’s still Cobra. But, given the basis in reality, these aren’t the moustache-twirlers that they can sometimes be in the more fantastic approach. What are the motivation and goals of Cobra in Reloaded?

CD: On the surface they seem like a home for every disgruntled mental patient that likes guns and has a chip on their shoulder. From guys who carry pictures of Hitler in their wallet to foreign terrorists with a mad-on for the USA. Imagine a “big tent” terror organization that welcomed bile-filled zealots from every race, creed and nationality. A kind of equal opportunity hate organization. A place that Timothy McVeigh and Osama Bin Laden could sip lattes or shoot
some hoops.

But underneath that - or on top of that - the Cobra Commander has more immediate, more worldly, goals.

NRAMA: In joining the book with #10, you’re coming in kind of midstream – Cobra has taken Duke, Beach Head, and Kauii as their own – how did that happen?

CD: Cobra took over Kauai, a major island in the Hawaiian group, and handed the Joes their butts. But poor Beachhead was left behind to fend for himself. Or should I say poor Cobra? Duke has had a change of heart and has defected to Cobra. If you think that doesn’t cause some tension then you don’t know Joe.

NRAMA: So who’s leading in the field now?

CD: Colonel Hawk, a hardcharger and all-army. He bleeds olive drab.

NRAMA: So tease – how do things work out from there?

CD: A small group of Joes are going to take back Kauai with the help of the stranded Beachhead. That’s a half dozen Joes on an island with thousands of Cobra goons and the entire roster of Cobra superstars like Baroness and Destro. And they have a very narrow window for taking the island back before the place is nuked on orders from the president. You don’t think the USA would let Cobra keep a tourist destination like Kauai, did you? And Duke is on that island and very much under probation while Cobra sorts out whether they can trust him or not. And his defection causes as much tension amongst Cobra as it does among the Joes.

NRAMA: From this storyline – are you free and clear and going ahead with your own stories, or is there a framework in place?

CD: There’s not a framework - it’s more of an understanding between me and Josh and Mark. It took a while to work out an approach for the book that we were all happy with but we have it nailed down now and I’m having fun. Three issues in the can and the book has come alive for me with tons of intrigue and action and nastiness. And the body count and the stakes are up, people. Way up.

[Aaron]

While I'm certainly on the other side of the fence in terms of Mr. Dixon's politics, I've always enjoyed his comic work. Given the military theme of GI Joe, I think he's a perfect fit and look forward to where he takes the book.

In regard to the question as to whether or not GI Joe would (or should) deal with real-world issues like Iraq, I have to say I don't see any problem with them not getting involved. That's why we have a regular armed forces. Taking on the Iraq situation would completely invalidate the covert nature of GI Joe, and, given the size of the team, be a near-impossible task.

Instead, the book should stay focused on the similar-but-more-covert actions of their archnemeses, COBRA. It allows for a less heated real-world interruption in what is and should be escapist fiction. Just like Mr. Dixon said. (Bravo to him on that.)

As for the tone of RELOADED, I don't see it as very different from the mainstream JOE books. Yeah, the continuity has been rebooted, but they're both written with a similar tone. I enjoy both series for different reasons and hope to see DDP continue to publish both continuities for a long time to come.

Aaron

[PhilKost]

Excellent interview.

I agree that this seems like a perfect fit with Chuck Dixon and GI Joe.

Between his comments here and the comments in his Joe Reloaded.com interview (Here) Things are getting really exciting in the world of Joe. Both Reloaded and the main book are getting better and better with each issue.

[jeffcope]

Here's hoping this book picks up under Dixon. I've stuck with it thus far just 'cause I'm a huge GI Joe fan (and, apparently, a sucker) 'though I've been far less than impressed with the Reiber's run. Between the storyline and the poor art (very difficult at times to even tell who's who, let alone what's going on!) it's been hard for me to get into the book -

- especially when Brandon Jerwa and Tim Seeley have the regular Joe title pumpin' on all cylinders, putting out the best Joe comics ever (imho).

Jeff

[Fresno Bob]

Am I the only one who finds it interesting that comics portraying the President of the United States as a sniveling coward who urinates on himself at the earliest sign of trouble (Marvel comics, I'm looking in your direction) is perfectly acceptable, but having a military team (or other as in American Power) fighting a group of people whose stated goal is the elimination of everyone and anyone who is not a Muslim fundamentalist is making the book "political" and turning it into a "docudrama"? Having George W. Bush (or at least a close likeness thereof) groveling in front of a mutant terrorist is apparently not politically-motivated. Ret-conning Captain America's history to have him intentially frozen in ice by the EVIL U.S. GOVERNMENT is not politically-motivated. Having Tony Stark admit that he's a "closet liberal" (because, hey, he's a genius, and clearly all intelligent people are liberals) is not politically motivated. But having a covert military action team acting against butchers who behead defenseless foreign aid workers? Well, now that's political, and we certainly can't have that in comics.

[reddragon1978]

After rereading TEAM7....I know Chucks right for this project....I love Grifter and hope the he writes the Joes to be just as friendly.

[MicroZone]

Originally posted by Fresno Bob
Am I the only one who finds it interesting that comics portraying the President of the United States as a sniveling coward who urinates on himself at the earliest sign of trouble (Marvel comics, I'm looking in your direction) is perfectly acceptable, but having a military team (or other as in American Power) fighting a group of people whose stated goal is the elimination of everyone and anyone who is not a Muslim fundamentalist is making the book "political" and turning it into a "docudrama"? Having George W. Bush (or at least a close likeness thereof) groveling in front of a mutant terrorist is apparently not politically-motivated. Ret-conning Captain America's history to have him intentially frozen in ice by the EVIL U.S. GOVERNMENT is not politically-motivated. Having Tony Stark admit that he's a "closet liberal" (because, hey, he's a genius, and clearly all intelligent people are liberals) is not politically motivated. But having a covert military action team acting against butchers who behead defenseless foreign aid workers? Well, now that's political, and we certainly can't have that in comics.

I suspect it's because the audiance base of modern comics is largely college age boys, who tend to rebel against "the man" at that age and lean towards liberal emotions instead of conservative thinking.

Being a conservative comic book fan is sorta like being a Mac user in a Windows world.

[Aaron]

Originally posted by Fresno Bob
Am I the only one who finds it interesting that comics portraying the President of the United States as a sniveling coward who urinates on himself at the earliest sign of trouble (Marvel comics, I'm looking in your direction) is perfectly acceptable, but having a military team (or other as in American Power) fighting a group of people whose stated goal is the elimination of everyone and anyone who is not a Muslim fundamentalist is making the book "political" and turning it into a "docudrama"? Having George W. Bush (or at least a close likeness thereof) groveling in front of a mutant terrorist is apparently not politically-motivated. Ret-conning Captain America's history to have him intentially frozen in ice by the EVIL U.S. GOVERNMENT is not politically-motivated. Having Tony Stark admit that he's a "closet liberal" (because, hey, he's a genius, and clearly all intelligent people are liberals) is not politically motivated. But having a covert military action team acting against butchers who behead defenseless foreign aid workers? Well, now that's political, and we certainly can't have that in comics.

That's a fair point. Of course those situations are just as politically motivated; not sure where anyone contended that they weren't. It's all about the writer's politics, which is why I'm careful to avoid books by authors who give their voice too fully over to a fictional character. Based on what I read, I would not have read American Power for just that reason.

I believe there should be a forum for all viewpoints, especially in this day and age where our country is split almost evenly down the middle on virtually every topic under the sun.

But the question here is, is GI JOE the forum for a viewpoint? I'm going to say no, it's not. It's a property, owned by Mattel. Dixon's AMERICAN POWER book would have been a great forum for his viewpoint; I'm sorry that Crossgen folded before he had a chance to express it. Just because I wouldn't buy it doesn't mean it shouldn't be published.

But I can totally understand why the scenes you described would have bothered you. I feel much the same way whenever I encounter sequences in fiction that run against my political grain. Mike S. Miller, for instance. Not to digress, but I won't read anything the man is involved with because of his vocal stand on gays. That's a personal decision. If GI Joe turned into a forum for neo-conservative beliefs, I wouldn't read that either. Fortunately for us both, I think DDP has done a great job of walking down a decent middle ground. Do you agree?

Aaron

[Aaron]

Originally posted by MicroZone
I suspect it's because the audiance base of modern comics is largely college age boys, who tend to rebel against "the man" at that age and lean towards liberal emotions instead of conservative thinking.

Being a conservative comic book fan is sorta like being a Mac user in a Windows world.

LOL, good analogy, and probably spot on as well. :-)

As for the median age, I think most comic companies would KILL to have an audience base of collegiates. Unfortunately, I think the last time such a thing was measured it was revealed that the average age of a comic book reader is around 28. I'm almost 31, but I think by 28 my value system was pretty well established and I'd eliminated any unreasonable youthful extremes.

Aaron

[GeorgeG]

This is a good article and has me interested in the comic, one I have never bought.

I just wished this article was done a month ago, since that's when I pre-ordered my comics for December (did January's before this article as well). I'm now getting my comics from an online source and haven't been in a shop for months, so maybe in the future publishers (maybe even news sites) will think of that part of the comic buying audience.

Maybe I'll walk into a shop in December or January to get this, but it would have been more convenient to have this information beforehand.

I'm not trying to gripe, just adding my two cents for publishers to think about.

[Nakedmanatee]

Originally posted by Fresno Bob
Am I the only one who finds it interesting that comics portraying the President of the United States as a sniveling coward who urinates on himself at the earliest sign of trouble (Marvel comics, I'm looking in your direction) is perfectly acceptable, but having a military team (or other as in American Power) fighting a group of people whose stated goal is the elimination of everyone and anyone who is not a Muslim fundamentalist is making the book "political" and turning it into a "docudrama"? Having George W. Bush (or at least a close likeness thereof) groveling in front of a mutant terrorist is apparently not politically-motivated. Ret-conning Captain America's history to have him intentially frozen in ice by the EVIL U.S. GOVERNMENT is not politically-motivated. Having Tony Stark admit that he's a "closet liberal" (because, hey, he's a genius, and clearly all intelligent people are liberals) is not politically motivated. But having a covert military action team acting against butchers who behead defenseless foreign aid workers? Well, now that's political, and we certainly can't have that in comics.

You're probably right that there are more liberals creating comics than not... I don't know why that is, except maybe that liberals are more likely to be artsy-fartsy types instead of getting real jobs.
As far as your examples go... let me see, was the George W. scene out of Ultimate X-men? If so, that's Mark Millar. He's just a sick bastard. If he had written it while Clinton was president, trust me, you'd have the same scene with Clinton.
The whole Cap "The Truth" thing was basically a parellel to the whole Tuskegee experiments, something that really happened. I don't think Marvel sat down and said, "Hey, let's make Cap a liberal." I think they just wanted to tell an interesting story that parelleled real-world crap.
As far as Tony Stark being a "closet liberal," I'm not sure the whole "liberals are geniuses" thing was what they were going for. I mean, you can see what you want. The first thing I thought of was that they were equating being an alcoholic womanizer with being a liberal.
Now if they would have had Cap saying that line: "I'm a closet liberal," THEN they'd be wearing some agenda on their sleeve.

Dave,
going to watch Michael Moore films and Sean Hannity back to back

[NoisyDvL5]

Escapist Fiction is such a ridiculous concept.

"Well, we really don't want the JSA fighting Hitler and Nazis because people don't want to be reminded of their present day woes. They read comics to get away from our overly harsh reality."

This isn't a personal dig at Chuck Dixon, just to the silly notion that comics shouldn't deal with reality so people can feel better about themselves.

[upstart]

that first pic is much-too-obviously referenced from the poster of the bourne supremacy.

[KentL]

Originally posted by jeffcope
- especially when Brandon Jerwa and Tim Seeley have the regular Joe title pumpin' on all cylinders, putting out the best Joe comics ever (imho).

I'm a huge Joe fan, but I'm on the verge of dropping the original title. Jerwa's writing does nothing for me. While I think he's got some good ideas, and I actually like the direction he's taking the title, his execution is very rough and unpolished, and there are times when I think I'm watching a soap opera with that dialogue. Seeley's work is usually pretty strong, but I noticed recently that there's almost always a page or two in an issue that throw me a bit because of unclear layouts. This title has lost its shimmer for me, but I'm hoping that will change. I keep hoping Jerwa's writing will get better, but so far, no luck. Any other title probably would've been gone by now.

KentL

[djcoffman]

Not that I wouldnt buy GI JOE before, because I'm one of the biggest GI JOE fans on the planet... but With Chuck this, I may actually HAVE to drive an hour to the nearest comic shop to pick this up regularly.

And I have to publicly thank Blaylock again for keeping the Joes out there and alive, when other people just gave up on them and threw them away. GI JOE has the stuff to be one of the greatest comics of all time.

[Hebime]

Originally posted by Fresno Bob
Ret-conning Captain America's history to have him intentially frozen in ice by the EVIL U.S. GOVERNMENT is not politically-motivated.

As a conservative who enjoyed Reiber's and Austens's MK Cap run, I feel a little obligated to point out that there is no proof this was what actually hapened. The whole thing was revealed to be a plot by the Engineer to mess with Cap, frustrate him, and turn him into a killer. The General never confirmed anything, and never explained what it was he felt bad about. So, as far as I am concerened, the evil government didn't freeze Cap. The thing is, you had to read it to the very end to get the 'punchline' and I think lots of folks dropped the boook before the end...

As far as Millar, if I see one more specious interview with him making up 'facts' about the war, well, Ultimate, pretty as it is, gets dropped. That is, unless he is the sell out media whore we all know him to be, and the book is actually not a left wing screed(which is my guess....)
Hey, maybe he could do the comics adpatation of Fahrenheit 911.....

As for Dixon,(finally arriving at the point of the thread...*S*) I can't wait. Really, Reloaded isn't 'more realistic' Maybe they will evade some of the sci-fi stuff that Hasbro mandated in the regluar continuity. I must admit, the handling of Snake Eyes is my break point- if Dixon keeps me happy with Snake Eyes, and his involvement with Scarlett and Storm Shadow, I will put my cash down every month. Reiber has been stretching it a bit thin lately, but I'm so far still buying it. Dixon's take will very likely keep me around for some time.

As for American Power, I was just a litle disgusted by treatment Dixon got over it. Because a super hero is punching out an Arab on the cover, well, gosh he must have been symbolically punching out every Arab everywhere, right? The point seemed to be that Dixon was going to drop political correctness to take a look at the fact that yes, there are alot of very very very bad people wrapping themselves in the banner of Islam and Arab nationalism. To call out the people who actually wish to muder and destroy isn't racist. Whether or not you agree with the war in Iraq, certainly you can all agree that the people who wish to fly airplanes into building are evil and must be stopped somehow, don't you?
(and yes, I know for a fact there are plenty out there who will say no, no, we deserve it, but they are fuckwits and not invited to participate...)

The story could have examined these facts, carefully, insightfully, looking at that line, weighing the inviolate right we have to defend ourselves vs. going to far. The struggle of hunting monsters, but not becoming monsters ourselves. But no, he was shouted down by every liberal who couldn't stand the site of a poor defenseless terrorist(who looked astonishingly like bin Laden) getting his clock cleaned by an American superhero.

Why don't you people get your panties in a bunch every time Cap punches out the Red Skull, because, hey, that's just symbolically punchng out every German, right?

Whatever.

(BTW- before somebody starts on me, no, I didn't vote for Bush...neither did I vote for Kerry. I am an athiest conservative and the war is just about the only thing I support the president on. And I will probably vote democrat in 08, just even things out...unless it's Kerry again....)

[Davinder Brar]

Originally posted by Hebime
As for American Power, I was just a litle disgusted by treatment Dixon got over it. Because a super hero is punching out an Arab on the cover, well, gosh he must have been symbolically punching out every Arab everywhere, right?

The problem I remember people having was less the possibility of racist implications of the cover and more that Crossgen was putting out a product intended to profit off of 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

--Dav

[walterk]

looks/sounds pretty cool.

Just wish there'd been a spoiler warning for this article--totally spoiled the surprise from issue # 9.

I've been a recent "convert" to the Joes' comic stuff--and enjoying it, aside from the fact that I don't have money to plop down $25 for 4 more Marvel TPBs, and 6 or 7 more of the Devil's Due Joe/Frontline TPBs right now...

just my $.02,

~Walt

[Supreme Convoy]

A place that Timothy McVeigh and Osama Bin Laden could sip lattes or shoot some hoops.

Cobra the YMCA?

In anycase, I'm looking forward to Dixon's run. I agree with the comments on Reiber's run, it hasn't been that stellar. It's good, but not as good as it could have been. The highlight of his run was the Cobra Reborn special, and it's great partially because it's dedicated to the villains. (Let's face it, bad guys are fun). Nonetheless, Reloaded has to be the best 80s book out there and with Dixon on it I'm sure it'll become even better.

I just wish the interview didn't have any info on Beachhead since it appears he died after an explosion. While I'm glad he's alive since he's the coolest, hardcore member on the team, the interview slightly took away the surprise.

[Kintoun]

Originally posted by Aaron

But the question here is, is GI JOE the forum for a viewpoint? I'm going to say no, it's not. It's a property, owned by Mattel.

Aaron

Actually, G.I. Joe has always been a Hasbro property. Masters of the Universe & Barbie are owned by Mattel.

Kintoun

[avengingtitan]

Damnnit i wish that the traitor was reveled here i didnt get my mail order yet. But i really do love this book and i love Chuck so i cant wait.

[Kintoun]

Originally posted by Supreme Convoy
In anycase, I'm looking forward to Dixon's run. I agree with the comments on Reiber's run, it hasn't been that stellar. It's good, but not as good as it could have been. The highlight of his run was the Cobra Reborn special, and it's great partially because it's dedicated to the villains.

G.I. Joe: Cobra Reborn was written by Paul Jenkins so it can't be considered the highlight of John Ney Reieber's run.

Kintoun

[Scavenger]

Originally posted by NoisyDvL5
Escapist Fiction is such a ridiculous concept.

"Well, we really don't want the JSA fighting Hitler and Nazis because people don't want to be reminded of their present day woes. They read comics to get away from our overly harsh reality."

I've felt that in part it's a mater of ..well tact. Having GI Joe rush into Iraq and beat up the bad guys does a disservice to the real soldiers that's there, who aren't finding it a comic book world.

So either GI Joe is better than our real soldiers and can get the job done, or they fail in the mission, which makes it unintersting.)

Comics work best as allegory to the real world, not as a retelling.
(I similary didn't care for things like the Spider-Man 9/11 story)

[Supreme Convoy]

Originally posted by Kintoun
G.I. Joe: Cobra Reborn was written by Paul Jenkins so it can't be considered the highlight of John Ney Reieber's run.

Kintoun

Oh yeah, I forgot about that... then I take that back.

[ActionSpeedo]

The fact is that both of these titles wouldn't have lasted 10 issues without the G.I. JOE logo on the cover. And the reason the G.I. JOE label carries any weight at all is down mainly to the creativity of one person: LARRY HAMA.

I know it's the nature of the beast in the "real world" of corporate creative work, but it still really irks me that Josh Blaylock has basically built the prosperity of his studio on the success of a comic that owes almost everything interesting to it to Hama's creative mind. I mean really, if the series had been created by DD and called Action Team One and had the same writing and art no one would be reading it. I bought it for over 30 issues hoping that they would eventually involve me with the characters the way Larry did all those years.

Instead, I got crap shoveled onto my head like DD G.I. Joe #25, singularly one of the worst comics I have ever read (and I have read many). Seriously, even if one doesn't have a problem with the IMO mediocre-at-best writing and art, there are some matters that go beyond subjectivity... Like, say, lack of common sense continuity within the span of a few pages in one issue.

Like long-time undercover operative Chuckles getting slaughtered on panel for no narrative purpose whatsoever (what the hell was he doing there anyway?) by Overkill just feet away from Duke (complete with Duke going "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO") and then as a follow-up... uh, what? Somehow with no transition Overkill is in his vehicle getting updates from Dr. Mindbender, gets hit by weapons fire and then Duke (suddenly running up from the far distance) says some detatched line "looks like we caught one of the big fish." You were close enough to spit on Overkill a moment ago, on open ground! He had just killed your comrade of 16 years (which is not mentioned again in the issue)! You were engaging in hand to hand combat! What the hell just happened?

I guess that's the result when one person is both writer and "President" of the company and no editor is listed.

Larry's JOE had some rough stretches toward the end of it's 155 issue run and wasn't always perfect, but the regular DD series has been amateur night from the beginning. And before someone says "Don't like it, don't buy it!"... I don't anymore. And considering I'm an obsessive JOE fanatic, that's really saying something.

Please, Chuck Dixon, give me a G.I. JOE comic to care about! Reloaded has been passable so far but mostly a wasted opportunity. Chuck's Team 7 was pretty good so I have hopes. For art on Reloaded, may I suggest getting his "Objective Hell" artist Chris Warner? Ever since that mini-series I thought he would be a fantastic JOE artist.

Sorry for the ranting. But without Hama's past body of characters and stories to draw from, where would Devil's Due be now? Would they have been able to launch "Aftermath" after the success of "Radiskull" or whatever that's called? To think we could have had 30-odd issues of the Godfather of the Joe universe continuing his G.I. Joe vision by now rather than Blaylock's amateurish mishmash and Jerwa's fanboy fluff. Oh, well...