See, everyone has their preferences for how GI Joe was accepted back when. For you, the cartoon carried a lot of weight. For others, the comic carried weight. Then there were some really weird kids who thought the filecards were canon and the cartoon and comic detracted from it. I remember as a kid, wondering why characters that were used in the comic weren't portrayed right in the cartoon. And then, why some characters got a lot of love in the cartoon but not the comic. I didn't understand a lot back then.

So when I watch the cartoon now, it's pretty much a joke. Yes, it's a big ad for the toys and for it's time, the show was good. I demand a lot more now. lol. What I've found though is that it works best to pull a little bit from each medium. The cartoon filled in some holes that the comic never bothered with. And the comic did some wonderful things that the cartoon could never do. Take Shipwreck. Everyone sees Shipwreck's personality from the cartoon. The Marvel comic never really did much with him except make him a hard@$$ about painting the TTBP. It wasn't until America's Elite that DD made him the bad@$$ he supposedly was. But in a way, it was too late for a lot of fans who grew up with goofy Shipshape from the cartoon.

Certainly, Leatherneck, Wild Bill and Wetsuit got better personality treatment from the cartoon that helped shape our minds. On other hand, the comic gave us a lot of interpersonal relationships and insight between characters like Stalker, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Even Jinx and Ripcord, y'know?

But for the record, yes, SUNBOW is my definitive cartoon. I enjoyed the S6 cartoon for what it was worth BUT I only saw the mini-series. DiC, that's when I threw in the towel. Mind you, the comic went downhill after the Cobra War for me so... GI Joe Extreme was a joke and well, The Screaming Eagles, missed that. I remember when Extreme was getting ready to be released to the public. It was supposed to be this huge gnarly, gritty, dark, more adult-oriented GI Joe... Without Cobra and without our favorite Joes. To think, I actually bought a few issues back then. Guh. And you thought the toys sucked now...