I'm thinking about being more critical in the dios that I read. It is VERY hard to take out the personal stuff (what I don't like, etc) and remain focused on the work at hand. But at least I'm trying now.

I only read ones that appeal to me. Like if it shows effort I'll give it a look, but if it's got something like a G.I. Joe preacher yelling about something that doesn't fit in with my line of beliefs I ain't gonna follow through with it.

Most things that follow established continuities too the button bug me, just as much as ULTRA HARD STRICT MILITARY REALISM, where the joes aren't really the joes.

my thoughts exactly. i cannot follow something that someone else did in either the cartoon or the comics. if i do then its not me creating anything. and as for strict military realism, well that isnt G.I. Joe at all now is it. if you want that, well you need to find a new hobby. just the fact that they have a first sgt. leading colonel and majors is proof enough, oh, and ninja's and bad guys wearing mask.

Unfortunatly there are those who think it should be 100% military all the time. Honestly I don't really pay them much attention its just not my cup of tea.

But another thing that bugs me is when people try to copy someone else, to me it not ony lack originality but it also is kind of boring.

I dunno how you can you have hard core military realism and still have Cobra involved. Look at people in actual Cobra Commander costumes....they look absurd. Destro? Please.

I think people go for the stylized idea of military realism - or to put it in another way its the same as "fuzzy" science is to science fiction. You just have to make it believable or credible enough for it to make some sort of sense.
I think that is what attracted me to Gijoe in the first place - its an amalgam of ninjas, commandos, terrorists and military stuff all rolled into one giant pie of fun.

I mean just to make a point - is the KKK as bad as it is, that hard to take seriously? They dressed up in white sheets for crying out loud. - For some Terrorists to dress up in bright blue with huge red cobra markings on them, well I find it believable enough.

It is definitely in the "fantastic" view of things, but I do believe that its not that far of a fetch to make Cobra work as a credible or even serious terrorists. If you checked out the Devils Due WW3 story, it made Cobra really into the terrorist organization that they always had the opportunity to be (well for me at least).

Not in my Joeverse! :)