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Urgh. This is why I learned never to get involved in these "debates." They always degenerate into a ridiculous argument about why people hate a character that was, in all honestly, pretty evenly represented back in the old days. Sure, he was a super-main character on the TV show, but he was a bit-player in the comics! It all evens out, so let's just let it be. If you don't like him that's fine, but don't try to change other people's minds. It's not going to happen!

Those of you that hate him-- Fine, you obviously won't alter your opinion, just as those of us who are fans of the guy won't either. Such is the nature of Duke.

And even though I don't want to get involved, I would like to at least voice my feelings on the character. Call me a hypocrite if you like for condemning this argument then adding to it, but I just want to get my opinions out there so everyone knows where I'm coming from.

The following is a cut & paste job that I put in a Target Range: Duke reply thread about a year ago, and it was originally taken from a post I'd made on the JoeCustoms boards several months before that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Self-Modifier on JoeCustoms' message board

He's my favorite Joe. I didn't discover the comic book till years after the cartoon, so as far as I was concerned, going by the show, Duke was the G.I. Joe leader, and Hawk was the Johnny-come-lately. I've sometimes wondered why I liked him so much-- I guess it comes down to how all-around cool he was in the original mini-series, and the fact that his voice was supplied in a take-charge, no-nonsense manner by Michael Bell, the first voice actor I learned to recognize, even at age 7, in all sorts of cartoons (Bell also played my second-favorite Autobot, Prowl).

When I was a kid, I also resented Flint for stealing the limelight from Duke. I must've missed all the Duke episodes, of which I've learned from the DVDs there were many, because my childhood memories had Flint as the main character in pretty much every single episode I ever saw. I've since learned to appreciate Flint almost as much as Duke (and I especially like when the two of them team up, though that seldom happened in either the show or the comics), but I still don't like Hawk too much. As far as I'm concerned, he should sit behind a desk while Duke leads the team on field missions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Self-Modifier on JoeCustoms' message board

Most people seem to dislike Duke due to the overexposure factor. It's true that Hasbro has tried to make him Mr. G.I. Joe, and that he is, along with Snake-Eyes, the co-poster child of the brand.

My observation is that being a Transformers fan, I seldom see people resent Optimus Prime for the same reason. Prime is just as overexposed--if not more so--as Duke (he appeared in 64 of the first 65 cartoon episodes!). He's also just as much of a "super hero". Are Transformers fans a more accepting group? I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that Prime never came in and "usurped" the leadership role from anyone else-- but can that be the only reason? Other than that factor, they're very much alike, and yet only one seems to be so reviled among the fandom.

And then when someone said this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeCustoms' message board

I never really cared all that much for him in the toon because he always struck me as one sided and boring. The guy didn't have any flaws. He was too perfect. He fit the stereotyped blonde haired, blue eyed hero. Especially in the first miniseries. Football hero. Althlete. Helped those weaker than him. Meh, that's not a character. That's a cardboard cutout.

I replied thusly:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Self-Modifier on JoeCustoms' message board

You just nailed on the head why I like him so much. There are a lot of folks out there, myself included, who love characters like this, which is why the likes of Captain America and Superman have endured for 60+ years. In fact, your description of Duke above could be substituted for a description of Captain America with no words changed.