The 3 faces of Cobra Commander

[adamdevry2012]

Ok so I always wondered about cobra commanders in the 80s toys ok so we all know the common blue hemlet one but whats the bulky silver helmet verson is it a differrnt guy or the same guy that was turned into a snake and the same ? For the cloth madked one and what is the timeline of which came first

[80s Action Figures]

well in the comic its was a guy named fred 7, a crimson guard and a flame, for a short while, of the Baroness, he was the first to wear the armored gear, or cobra commander V3.

[funkyterrance]

Cobra Commander (w/Battle Armor)

"This is the first figure in the line that actually lists this character as Cobra Commander and not "Enemy Leader". In the Marvel comic book the Cobra agent who wore this suit of battle armor was not the real Cobra Commander but an imposter (a Crimson Guardsman clone from the "Fred" series [Fred VII, see G.I. Joe #64, Marvel Comics]); eventually the true Commander would return to power (G.I. Joe #98)."

Excerpt from: Mark Bellomo's The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe, 2nd Edition

[sf1378]

Yeah well its clear that Hasbro made the Battle Armour CC before Larry Hama integrated it into the comic in 1987, Hama made the story be that CC was shot dead, Fred VII takes over, fan backlash at this lead to the 'real CC not being dead, returning and weirdly even putting loyal high command in the freighter with his son even'...Essentially Hasbro designed a new version of CC, logically thinking about it, probably designed in 1986 for an 87 onward release - a Leader who led from the frontline hence the armour to show hes no coward, Hama changed that into another guy inside a suit that 'anyone could be inside' as Fred VII himself said in the comic...I actually, in hindsight liked Fred VII as the 'new' CC...as a kid I didn't. I remember in one issue the letters page even said 'lets give the new guy a chance'...but the fans spoke out so the real CC came back...I do miss the old Marvel G.I.JOE, it was much better than the convoluted shit the new comics come out with...One of my favourite figures is the 25th Anniversary sculpt of Fred VII as CC in his armour.

And to answer the original question:

the first toy of CC had the mirrored mask and helmet, light blue uniform circa 1982 - 83 - 84. Then came the mail - in hooded CC with dark blue uniform, around 1984/85 I think. In the comic from 1982 onward, CC was either shown in his battle helmet and mirrored mask, or his hood (when not in some military engagement). The last time you see the original CC in his helmet and mask is during and in the aftermath of a story called 'Pitfall' when he and Destro and hordes of BATS attack the original underground base of the Joes - The PIT...He then takes on a disguse in 'mufti' as Destro says to go undetected as they make their way back to Cobra (well, plans change, Destro buggers off to Scotland and CC finds his Sauron's eye of a Son, Billy and takes him to Fred VII, in Denver, a covert Crimson Guard whos a wizz at techno shit); anyhow, the next CC, both as a toy and in the comics is seen in the Battle Armour, in the comic, when Fred VII shoots CC he takes over and wears that armour. When the original CC returns, he's in a hood for most of the time...I could go on but your best bets to check out yojoe.com and see the figure entry for CC, it'll show you all the CC's since 1982 consecutively.

[funkyterrance]

Wow, you said a mouthful, sf1378! Or wrote a pageful if you want to be correct. I never read the comics and had no idea how convoluted the whole business was. I used to have the figure back in the day and thought he was pretty cool and assumed he was just cobra commander in his new fancy battle gear (what was I thinking?!!).
I guess the important thing to know is that its not the same character as the original cobra commander and that this guy was sort of a "fill in" in his absence, except of course when it really IS the original cobra commander? I'm guessing Hasbro made this figure because he looked very late 80's cool and kids would want him .
So sf1378, if I'm reading you right, you're saying that the action figure came out before the character appeared in the comic?

[sf1378]

I'm saying Hasbro probably designed the toy of the figure in Battle Armour way before it appeared in print. The figure came out in 1987, Hama wrote those stories in 87 - unless someone can pinpoint the exact date when the comic featured the battle armour, my reckoning is that Hama was given a model sheet by Hasbro of what the armour looked like - they always did that with Transformers or Joe back then to help the artists - around mid 1987 so by the time the figure was released, the armour was featured in the comic. Many fans remember they also showcased the Cobra Pogo as well and in the stories with CC, FRED VII, RAPTOR, BILLY, in Denver the toy of the POGO had CC piloting it - so it went hand in hand in the comic to show it that way too....essentially, from the moment CC goes to Denver with Billy and meets FRED VII, you basically start seeing the entire 1987 JOE line of toys - POGO, SLAM, OUTBACK, HAVOC, RAPTOR, MAMBA, etc, etc...but the toys were always designed a year or two in advance, released the following year or two later, with the comic writers and artists being shown the finalised model sheets or in some cases the toys just prior to release so they could use them in stories - essentially the comic was one giant catalogue of the toys.

[rihia2k]

I loved having the option to 'armour-up' my CC. Ah, Hooded Cobra Commander, the first action-figure I ever received in the mail. Certainly not the last

Thanks for letting us pick your brains on this, sf1378.

[funkyterrance]

While this story is very interesting its making my skin crawl a little as I am seeing Hama as the G.I. joe counterpart to George Lucas. Yuck!

[sf1378]

Hama's never been as bad as Lucas - that bloated git disgusts me nowadays, all he does is regurgitate the already rotten carcass that is Star Wars over and over again...I'm actually sick of Star Wars. He should have ended after Revenge of the Sith but NO....Hama's just a comic writer/artist - he created a great backstory in the Marvel Comics in the 80s which compared to the modern shit is far better. He even did all the filecards to the characters and the throwaway second paragraphs like someone was commenting on either an enemy or colleague....compared to Lucas, the guy has brains and talent. All Lucas is is a vague prat who gets others to fill out his crap, he didn't come up with any of the actual designs for the characters, worlds and look of anything, others did...the guys a fat shit.

[negat]

Larry Hama has said he only "killed" off the original Cobra Commander because someone at Hasbro insisted on it because Cobra Commander "dies in the [cartoon] movie". Even with the battle armor figure coming out, the Hasbro suit(s) pressed the issue.

Of course, Cobra Commander didn't die in the 1987 cartoon film, just became snake (and was later made humanoid again in 1989). But Hama had to occassionally deal with Hasbro people pushing stuff on him like that, often relenting. He refused to include Cobra-La, though.

[funkyterrance]

Apr 12, 2012 13:08:52 GMT -6 @sf1378 said:

Hama's never been as bad as Lucas - that bloated git disgusts me nowadays, all he does is regurgitate the already rotten carcass that is Star Wars over and over again...I'm actually sick of Star Wars. He should have ended after Revenge of the Sith but NO....Hama's just a comic writer/artist - he created a great backstory in the Marvel Comics in the 80s which compared to the modern shit is far better. He even did all the filecards to the characters and the throwaway second paragraphs like someone was commenting on either an enemy or colleague....compared to Lucas, the guy has brains and talent. All Lucas is is a vague prat who gets others to fill out his crap, he didn't come up with any of the actual designs for the characters, worlds and look of anything, others did...the guys a fat shit.

Agreed on the Lucas remarks 100%, he is a fat shit. I loved hearing how he likes to hang out with Hugh Heffner at the Playboy mansion like the nerd who always wanted to be one of the "cool kids". In fact I might like to add, if I may, to your description of him by calling him a bloated, pathetic, money-hungry, has-been, sellout, "fat shit" (I mean the fat part metaphorically).
As far as the Hama bit, the filecards may be his saving grace in my eyes since I used to really look at my figures differently after reading them, gave a whole new dimension to the toys and seemed to make every figure, however dorky, instantly cool. Now that's talent!

[sf1378]

Very true - I really liked the filecards - each Joe had an individuality. The UK versions of certain filecards changed their birthplaces to Europe or the UK, Flint became DAVID R FAIRBORNE instead of DASHIELL R FAIRBORNE and was English, same with FASTDRAW, he changed to being born in Bracknell, Berkshire UK. Hasbro UK did that but left all the other details including Hama's bios on each character the same. There were loads of others that had birthplaces changed, can't remember them all but I also recall ALPINE being changed to being born in Algiers or something else French like that and AIRTIGHT being West German, Barbeque being Italian to give the UK/EU version of G.I.JOE a more European feel...