G.I. Joe: Origins #16—SPOTLIGHT
Chuck Dixon (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Tom Feister, Cal (c)
The Origin of Zartan, Part 1: Who is Zartan? You may think you know the murderous master of disguise but you don’t know the whole story! A hired killer under the command of the Baroness is dangerously compromised. He’s offered the protection of COBRA and sent on a risky mission that ends with a scene that will have Joe fans talking for years. This one is 100% guaranteed to shock!

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I'm disappointed Larry Hama isn't writing this one.

There is a core set of characters that I was hoping to see coming from under his pen, and Zartan is one of them.

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䷾ scryptic
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"The only way to bear the snakes is to become one." - Cobra Commander, Cobra Reborn

I wonder what that other story was Andy said Larry wanted to tell in Origins then? I was thinking this was going to be it. With Larry's moving over to the RAH continuation then maybe we need to accept the reboot books will be going on without him. That is disappointing for those who were hoping he would have a bigger hand in it, but I suppose that I kinda saw that when he was not on the main book from the start and moved to Origins. So yeah, I had my doubts. I still hope this will be good.

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"Those with knowledge and information,not guns and ammo,have the true power over others."

I have mixed feelings on Hama's lesser involvement in the IDW universe. If less involvement in IDW-verse means an ongoing continuation to the marvelverse, I'm fine with it.

Cover looks great. More cool lighting effects (and colours) from feister. Looks like he's in one of those neon mini-golf places!

i'm very weary of having chuck "sci-fi" dixon writing the rebooted origin for a character like zartan. is he going to have him get bitten by a radioactive chameleon, which results in giving him superhero chameleon powers?

my guess is that this one is 100% guaranteed to p*ss off the "less sci-fi" crowd.

hope i'm wrong.

I actually hope the abilities of this Zartan return to using Hama's hologram explanations. While I know the "chameleon" stuff was briefly suggested in the Marvel series, Blaylock's origin annoyed me by not bringing up the hologram technology at all.

Though I'm very interested in seeing the origin for the "new" Zartan.

JMM

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Hey guys,

I'm not sure if it's just me but the colors on this look really off. It's not quite so neon.
I'll try to get it fixed. The folks at Hasbro and IDW let me redesign Zartan for these covers.
There is a version of this cover that features Zartan as he originally appeared but Hasbro decided
that look doesn't fit with the newer, more reality based take on JOE. I agree 100%. One of these days
I'll post the original.

Tom

PS

Wait til you see the cover to #17. There are a few cameos from boardmembers.

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http://www.tomfeister.com/
http://gatchatom.deviantart.com/

Newer and more reality based G.I.Joe? Really? After what I read about issue #16 of the main book has Cobra set up in a moon base in space? I think Zartan with Chameleon DNA would fit right in. I think the reboot universe has officially "jumped the shark" as of #16 of the main book. In my opinion anyway. How long are we suppose to wait for the sci fi to be dialed back? I am almost afraid to see what Chuck does with Zartan's origin.

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"Those with knowledge and information,not guns and ammo,have the true power over others."

16-18 are without a doubt the best arc of ORIGINS so far. Chuck's take on Zartan is very cool and very smart. I consider myself among those that don't care for the more Sci-Fi aspects to the GI JOE universe. When the Zartan toy came out I was a bit torn because I liked the toy, but as neat as the color change thing was it was still pretty goofy as a concept. Don't get me started on Cobra-La and the lame Serpentor crap. That's where GI JOE jumped the shark for me as a kid. SO, the point of all this is that I want to establish some back story for my thoughts on 16-18. There is an element of Sci-Fi, but it's not Sci-Fi that insults your intelligence. I hope you'll wait and reserve your judgment until the books hit the stands. If this is gibberish please forgive me as I'm on two different kinds of cold medicine. I hope the nurse comes to take me back to bed soon.

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http://www.tomfeister.com/
http://gatchatom.deviantart.com/

Tom,

Thanks for your continued presence on these boards. Alright, I'll take your word for the sci-fi. I actually like some sci-fi, but it has to be on the verge of reality. Like if Dixon had some scientist with promising teleportation experiments, I'd buy it, but that they are able to teleport a full human being is just crazy.

As for the covers, thank you thank you thank you.

I am not a multiple cover buyer, I choose my covers.

So far in Origins, there was only the Scarlett cover for which I prefered Padilla's.

I also got the Templesmith cover to the Baroness issue. I loved the Templesmith cover, though I actually preferred yours, but my shop ran out and had only a bunch of Templesmith left. That's how good you are, Sir!

I'd say cheers, but I wouldn't want you to mix alcohol with your two cold medicines!

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䷾ scryptic
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"The only way to bear the snakes is to become one." - Cobra Commander, Cobra Reborn

Padilla. That bastard.

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http://www.tomfeister.com/
http://gatchatom.deviantart.com/

HaHa!

Actually, there was one thing about your cover to #10 that has been bugging me.

It shows the Eiffel tower, but the colors are red-white-blue, the opposite of the French flag. I was wondering whether:

a the intention was to refer to American colors, not French colors

b there was a mistake somewhere

It's been in the back of my mind, but after seeing the sketches below with the blue-white-red pattern, I was assuming (b).

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䷾ scryptic
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"The only way to bear the snakes is to become one." - Cobra Commander, Cobra Reborn

It was originally my intention to make it reflect the French flag, but once I started colring it I thought the red on the face worked better, and since it still worked as the American flag theme I just switched it.

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http://www.tomfeister.com/
http://gatchatom.deviantart.com/

Aha, makes sense.

And actually, one could argue you are still "reflecting" the French flag, since reflected in a mirror, the French flag would give red, white and blue!

ok, sorry, it's late

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䷾ scryptic
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"The only way to bear the snakes is to become one." - Cobra Commander, Cobra Reborn

Sometimes it's best to stop drinking for the night and just go to bed.

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http://www.tomfeister.com/
http://gatchatom.deviantart.com/