Ok, I just got Master & Apprentaice #1 and 2 and T'Bang now talks??? Why? He had taken an oath of silance, and now he talks. DD is really messing up here! First Saw Viper somehow lives and now T'Bang talks, do not get me started on the "super Bat"

Michael Richards
Bulletman Big B
All Hail DOB!!

He also talked in issue 27.

Here's Brandon Jerwa's response...

http://brandonjerwa.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=general&num=1077754721&action=display&start=15

"Yes, I chose to ignore T'jbang's oath of silence.

Why?

One, we already have a mute Ninja.

Two...well, you think people complain about too much Ninja action now? Had I taken the time to explain about Onihashi and T's vow, it would have taken up space that was better served by actual story. Not to mention the added continuity burden for new readers. That isn't to say that continuity isn't vital to me, but...

Three...it's been years since he took the vow, and to run a school, infiltrate a ninja clan, etc...talking is important. Not to mention warning your homeboy when he's about to get slizz-iced in the bizz-ack. "

He also talked in issue 27.

Here's Brandon Jerwa's response...

http://brandonjerwa.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=general&num=1077754721&action=display&start=15

"Yes, I chose to ignore T'jbang's oath of silence.

Why?

One, we already have a mute Ninja.

Two...well, you think people complain about too much Ninja action now? Had I taken the time to explain about Onihashi and T's vow, it would have taken up space that was better served by actual story. Not to mention the added continuity burden for new readers. That isn't to say that continuity isn't vital to me, but...

Three...it's been years since he took the vow, and to run a school, infiltrate a ninja clan, etc...talking is important. Not to mention warning your homeboy when he's about to get slizz-iced in the bizz-ack. "

Oh come on!!! That is a cop out! That is so lame! I like want to like Jerwa, but I am afraid he is going to be only slighty better then Blaylock!

Michael Richards
Bulletman Big B
All Hail DOB!!!!

Not to mention warning your homeboy when he's about to get slizz-iced in the bizz-ack. "

Ok, well I was OK with his explination until he started talking like Snoop Dogg.

what he forgot to say is unlike larry hama he can not make a mute ninja interesting. devils due, pay hama what ever he wants you'll sell more books.

Jerwa's Explanation works for me.

If you want to see a Mute ninja, Snake eyes is your man. I'm surprised that anyone even cares about Tj'Bang's oath...

In the Marvel Ninja Force comics, TjBang always ended up as a minor character because as part of s group, but a non-speaker, he never contributed much.

In the Marvel Ninja Force comics, TjBang always ended up as a minor character because as part of s group, but a non-speaker, he never contributed much.

He never contributed much because Hama wanted it that way. Saying he never contributed much because he was a non-speaker isn't logical, because Snake-eyes contributed more than any other character (unfortunately) and he only spoke a single word the entire series.

I think the new writer either 1. goofed up and is trying to cover his tracks or 2. chose to ignore the old continuity. Number 1 is no big deal, but number 2 disappoints fans of the original series because it goes against the established continuity. It is his decision what to use and what not to use from the old series, but I think if you decide to acknowledge the old stuff, then don't start changing the old stuff around. Not that I care either way, as I rarely read the new series anyway. It just lacks everything that made the Marvel series great.

Since I love the old series so much, I would have actually preferred to see the old continuity die with Hama's leaving the series. That way it couldn't be twisted with all the new stuff coming out. Hama wrote the cheesy stuff (like the twins and serpentor) because he had to, but Jerwin's love of the cartoon drives him to actually include the stuff on purpose. Again, it's just my personal preference, but if I were writing the series I would have left serpentor dead, ignored most of the science fiction and I certainly wouldn't have killed the old computer guy and left the new glut of techie characters still breathing. Mainframe gets axed but High-tech, Hacker and Harddrive stick around? :(

I know I come off as a comic snob in this case, but it's just because the old series was my absolute favorite comic ever and the whole reason I loved Gijoe so much. That being said, I still pick up the new stuff occasionally just to see the Joes in action. I even admit to liking some stuff, like seeing Claymore in the comic and some of the characters never used by Hama. The writing to me will always seem like some fan fic writer won a contest and was given creative control of the series though. I long for the old issues, like the single-issue story where lift-ticket, wild bill, muskrat, lifeline and repeater had to fly into the jungle loaded with extra fuel to pick up scarlett, snake-eyes, chuckles and iceberg for an extraction. There was more heart, action, intelligence and quasi-realism in those little single issues than in all of the new guy's stuff put together.

Sorry for the big post :P

Maybe the vow of silence was not forever. That was never stated explicitly in the Marvel comic (perhaps because T'JBang was such a minor character). Kamakura took a vow of silence (according to his FC) but it was only for 6 months. Maybe if you wrote in you could get a No-Prize.

Maybe the vow of silence was not forever. That was never stated explicitly in the Marvel comic (perhaps because T'JBang was such a minor character). Kamakura took a vow of silence (according to his FC) but it was only for 6 months. Maybe if you wrote in you could get a No-Prize.

The No-Prize was a Marvel thing, but otherwise I agree with your take. So we've got one less silent ninja. Forgive me, but really, is it that big a deal? Not every vow is forever, even for a ninja. Perhaps, if the DDP writers think about it a little, they can give us a one shot story explaining the circumstances surrounding T'JBang's now infamous ability to speak.

And about the twins and the miracle of the Saw-Viper's return. I like the twins. They're interesting. While it's pretty unlikely twin brothers, especially mirror twins (which do exist but are very rare), would just happen to be businessmen who join up with Cobra Commander, they are realistic. There are numerous reports of identical twins "sensing" things about each other, including pain.

With Saw-Viper. . . well, they really need to address how the heck he's still alive, but I'm not quite ready to say it was a bad thing bringing him back. He is, after all, the Cobra with the highest Joe body count.

Serpentor should never have been brought back. That was stupid. The Super Bat story in the DDP run was better than the one issue one with Scarlet in late Marvel run IMHO.

Just my two cents. And long post.


Richard J.

The Super Bat story in the DDP run was better than the one issue one with Scarlet in late Marvel run IMHO.

That story wasn't written by Larry Hama; it was a filler story. Check here to verify: http://yojoe.com/comics/joe/joe153.shtml
As to which one was better, well, I think they both stunk.

You're right though, the twins aren't that unrealistic, but the fact that they feel each other's pain and communicate telepathically is unrealistic and lame. No big deal though, it doesn't bug me that much. Still, if I brought them back I wouldn't have demonstrated these abilities at all.

That story wasn't written by Larry Hama; it was a filler story.

Whoops! Sorry about that, it's been a while since I read it.

Should have guessed though. That BAT didn't even look like a BAT, it looked like Terminator after one too many tune ups.

As for the Twins, well, I've always liked Xamot and Tomax. But I do conceed there are some flaws in their characters. I respect your opinion, though I do not embrace it myself.

I didn't say it earlier, should have, but you are absolutely right about them killing Mainframe. That was just wrong. They kill Mainframe and leave us with the H-Squad? Makes me shake my head.


Richard J.

As a huge Hama fan myself, I must say T'Bang talking is not a big deal to me. I don't think it's fair to refer to Jerwa as a fan fiction writer who won a contest. I believe it's a positive thing that he was/is a fan of the 80's Joe line. He is someone who understands how important the license is to it's fans and I'm sure he does the best he can. I enjoy a lot of his work. The Chuckles storyline was excellent I thought.

I was not happy with Mainframe or the others getting killed off. Of course I wasn't happy when Doc and company bought it either. However I was glad to see the hacker punk get wasted by Serpentor. He annoyed me to no end. Serpentor would be more palatable to me if he was just one of C.C.'s generals. But as we all know, everyone in Cobra wants to be in charge. All Chiefs and not enough Indians.

I have often thought about how great it would be if Hama took over again. But when I really think about it, I conclude that it would more than likely be an incredible let down. I have hyped his work in my own mind so much that nobody could ever compare to what he created in the original series. Probably not even the guy who actually wrote it.

My only comparison would be my Kiss experience. Being a child from the 70's I was a huge Kiss fan. I bought all of their albums, had the posters on the wall, dressed up as Gene on Halloween, etc. I went to one of their concerts in 1979 and I thought I died and gone to heaven. Well a million years later they are doing the reunion concert tour and I went with one of the same friends I went to the 1979 show with. The concert was great. They sounded just like they ever did. They had the same tricks, flash pots and explosions as always. However it just wasn't quite the same.

You can never duplicate the original.

I have hyped his work in my own mind so much that nobody could ever compare to what he created in the original series. Probably not even the guy who actually wrote it.


Ain't it the truth. I've had the same experience, loving something so much that, in the end, I'm not even enjoying it for itself anymore. It's sort of like gold plating. You try to forget there's any defect, any little flaw, by making the whole thing seem even better than it really was.

Before anyone goes berserk, I loved the Hama times. Some wonderful stories. But even the best of anything has flaws. Mr. Hama didn't always make it perfect, sometimes there were real problems, but he did an amazing job overall and that's what counts.

Even the best writer, the best actor, or the best athelete is going to have an off day. Hama just didn't have many.


Richard J.

...Perhaps, if the DDP writers think about it a little, they can give us a one shot story explaining the circumstances surrounding T'JBang's now infamous ability to speak...
Richard J.
For the sake of the fans and continuity, T'jbang's rejection of his former vow should have been addressed. I hope that B. Jerwa rectifies this oversight in the future.

did the saw-viper die in the marvel series?

did the saw-viper die in the marvel series?
I believe he got diced up my the ninjas and left for dead.

and I certainly wouldn't have killed the old computer guy and left the new glut of techie characters still breathing. Mainframe gets axed but High-tech, Hacker and Harddrive stick around? :(


The only problem with that is the fact that Hasbro wont allow those three to buy the farm, and they probably had no need for Mainframe (ie copyright problems)

I believe he got diced up my the ninjas and left for dead.
In what issue? 111?

The only problem with that is the fact that Hasbro wont allow those three to buy the farm, and they probably had no need for Mainframe (ie copyright problems)

You're probably right about that. I'm curious, how exactly did Hasbro end up with all these weird copyright problems anyway? I thought they owned all the rights to GI Joe.

It stinks that Hasbro would let something like that interfere with good story telling though. Mainframe may have gone out in a blaze of glory, but couldn't they have toasted some of those losers along with him?


Richard J.

I realize Hasbro won't let the comic kill the new guys that they are still featuring in movies and selling in the stores, but killing mainframe was just stupid in my opinion. Wait a while until hacker or high tech isn't in the spotlight and then axe them...there are way too many lame computer tech characters to dx before you get around to a cool one like mainframe.

Death is death though and mainframe was never one of my favorites, but at least he had a little history behind him (the issue with dusty and the arab kid).

Mainframe may have gone out in a blaze of glory, but couldn't they have toasted some of those losers along with him?


They did...... His name was Flash.


Ohhhhhhhh... SNAP!

:cool:

Not being particularly familiar with message board lingo, what the heck does that mean?

To clarify, I know Mainframe died with Flash. I've read the comic. I just wished they would have fragged some of these new guys instead of old Joes. Most of these new characters just seem. . . well boring.


Death is death though and mainframe was never one of my favorites, but at least he had a little history behind him (the issue with dusty and the arab kid).

Man, I just re-read that issue. Makes me miss Mainframe more.

And, just to ask, does anyone remember that we were originally talking about the no-longer-silent T'jbang? Question: what issue did they discuss his original oath of silence?


Richard J.

And, just to ask, does anyone remember that we were originally talking about the no-longer-silent T'jbang? Question: what issue did they discuss his original oath of silence?


Richard J.



Was digging through old comic threads and found this one. Thought I would add my thoughts about T'bang's vow.

I don't remember T'bang's silence ever being formally addressed in the comic per se. I do recall it being mentioned on his filecard. The figure originally came out in 1992 I believe, if anyone wants to double-check me. The "vow of silence" was taken for unknown reasons--thus, T'bang could easily have resolved whatever his original issue was and now speak again. I think that he and Storm Shadow were related (second cousins), and that Storm Shadow alone was actually aware of the purpose of this vow. Just to throw out my own guess: a logical reason would be something related to Zartan's actions years ago and the suicide of Professor Onihashi (since T'bang was Onihashi's apprentice).

Someone asked earlier about the "death" of the infamous SAW Viper who shot so many Joes in the old Marvel series. I think it occurred in issue #112. The GI Joe Ninja Force was attempting to exfiltrate Benzheen by boarding a low-flying Cobra helicopter (which contained the SAW Viper and was attempting to target the ninjas). We surmise that Snake-Eyes personally got ahold of the SAW Viper and physically beat him to death before the helicopter reached the GI Joe lines.

The copyright issues are simple.

If you don't use a trademarked name after so long, you lose the trademark to that name and can't use it anymore. You can always reapply for the same trademark when you want to use it again.........provided somebody else hasn't bought it already.

The Transformers line has had to deal with this for a 'lot' of its older characters, such as Onslaught and Hot Rod.

The Joe line has had to deal with it Too--with problems such as Hawk having to become General Tomahawk, eventually.