Hmmm, the cartoon WAS a low point for me. Everyone had SnowJob V1 Laser Rifles, no one got killed, Cobra Commander sounded like a sniveling Idiot, Destro sounded more like Issac Hayes than Sean Connery, snake eyes was delegated to third string nobody, bazooka was an oaf. Hard to think of these as two hard corps military/para-military organizations going against each other.

I watched the cartoon, but mainly out of Morbid curiosity. I liked the comic until the slaughter of all the joes in Trucial Albismia....it kinda lost touch with reality there.....and went downhill from there....especially with all the Eco/Def/ninja crap!

Sorry, just ,my $.02

this is when i use to like snake eyes, i think him being third rate was a good thing. much better then the comic snakes

Never tried to watch Extreme.

Dic's voices and writing were fairly awful.

Sgt. Savage's one shot was kinda crappy, but at least tied into ARAH (Gen. Blitz helped create Cobra...figure that one out...)

Sigma Six had the animation (when characters were actually moving) but the plotting was repetative, the characterizations mostly flat, and stories glacial.

Sunbow was spotty, but they had better writers and better voice actors. I think the Movie left a bad taste that never went away. Also, people fail to understand that it was totally impossible for an American produced children's cartoon to show the level of violence the GI JOE comic book was allowed. In fact, it's surprising Hama was given as much leeway as he was, probably because the comic book was just a stop gap until Hasbro could legally make an animated show. And that parents didn't read their kids' comics, but did pay attention to what they watched.

perfect point. if you own the dvd sets they speak of how they wanted to use bullets but were not allowed. it was after all, a cartoon. some talk about how no one gets killed, tell me one where anyone did back in those days. its realistic to see people die, yeah. but does anyone want their 7 y/o kids watching torture and murder?

Funny, thing is. All those lasers (that never hit anyone) and parachutes, and parent/teacher groups still complained about the GI JOE cartoon's violence. Joes were still allowed to punch and kick bad guys, which is actually more than then the heroes on SUPER FRIENDS were allowed.

I'm with you on that one man.

The over ninja-fication of the comic is what really hurts the comic in my eyes.


The lowpoint of the cartoon Sunbow wise was the movie. Cobra-La, ousting Cobra Commander, Falcon as an ass-clown, etc.

With that said, I loved the toon and comic because they both bring different things to the table, but they both gave us some great G.I. Joe stories and characterizations IMHO.

I think preference for comics verses cartoons has a lot to do with age. How old you were during the golden era of 1985. I was 8 years old in 1985. The cartoon was aimed at kids age 6 to 12 more or less and I fell right into that age group during the good years. I never saw any cartoons past the 1987 movie as a kid. They just weren't on where I lived.

When the comic began in 1982 I was 5. Not many 5 year olds buying comic books. the comic books obviously target a different age group. Probably 10-16 more or less. By the time I was 10 in 1987 the franchise had already started to tank. I'm guessing guys a few years older than me (Outrider, Ender) were probably beyond the target age group of the cartoon when is began. I've read the comic as an adult and enjoyed it, but I find the Snake Eyes/Ninja/Scarlett storylines so tiresome.

Guys who discover GI Joe past the 1985-1986 heyday of the cartoon probably came in a an older age and prefer the comics. What do you guys think? What age were you guys back in the golden years?

The funny think to me is that obviously both the cartoon and the comic were invented to sell toys. The age of kids buying toys I think is pretty similar to the target group of the cartoon. I don't remember any kids beyond 10 or 11 years old buying the toys. But the comic target age had to go well beyond that.

I was 8 when I got my first Joes and the 1st oversized comic book. I enjoyed both but found by 1985/1986 that I was enjoying the comic more. The movie was ok. Didn't have any thoughts on Cobra LA other than, "That's nice". Now, when DiC came into effect, that's when I started losing interest. That would be about the same time the Cobra War was over and I was losing interest in the comic, wanting something more interesting.

I didn't mind anything that happened in the comic. I wasn't around to deal with the ninja action stuff. I think the last figure I had at that time was the Sky Patrol Airborne so I was pretty much out of Joe. Until 2002.

i have to agree that this is what makes the difference between those who like the cartoon and those who prefer the comic. i like both, but i was to young to probably be able to read the comics so i went with the cartoon. it was first and foremost the influence in my joe verse. i can see how those who were like 14 wouldnt be as much into the cartoon, and they had probably already read the comic, so age would probably be the main factor.