Too many Joes nowadays...

[repoman10001]

In response to Guilty Pleasurer's question if there is a list of who got killed off. I know that the DDP comics Battle books (there were 3, one joes/one vehicles/one cobras) had a list of the Joes who are dead. The #0 or preview issue of DDP's GI Joe: America's elite may also have had it but I'm not 100%.

[freak4ll]

I don't mind joes retiring from active duty with the team, or taking a leave of absence - but should never be killed off. Capt. Grid-Iron was mentioned as one that should die, he was my childhood favorite, you can't do that to my childhood favorite. He was also a main character of the DIC animated series and the GI Joe Nintendo game. It's best to leave characters alive.

[SoulcatcherX]

I think there are better options for lessening the amount of Joes that have to be accounted for rather than killing them off.

First off, they can simply down-size the dept. in terms of personnel or merge the greater part of the Joe unit into a different (read: more broad force of service) dept. of the military. Individual retirements and very select death choices are an added option. Having a base suddenly explode or some other scheme seems a rather too contrived event to swallow.

[Dreadnok4life]

The last few were stupid because they were meaningless deaths. The writers have to make them matter so that you care about those who die

I already care about the characters, that's why I don't want them to die. I believe a good writer can make just about any character interesting. I have noticed over the years, even during the Marvel run, that there are certain readers who always want characters killed off. I'm not sure why. Maybe they like to keep things dangerous and fresh, or maybe they just get off on it. I don't know.

Personally I like to keep characters alive. Whether it's Mainframe, Sneak Peak, Doc, or Dr. Mindbender. I believe Devil's Due has made a tremendous error in judgement. For instance Lady J's death. Now they have Flint running around like Frank Castle. Eventually either they are going to have to kick him off the team, kill him off too, or "cure" him someway. So Flint fans will be angry with options one or two, and Flint haters will be angry with option three. It's a no win scenario for them.

I believe killing off characters is a sign of weak writing skills. I've wrote it before on here, and I'll write it again... GI Joe has hundreds of diverse characters on both sides, if a comic book writer can't keep the series interesting, then he shouldn't be a writer.

[Dreadnok4life]

Doesn't anyone agree that there are over 200 Joes, why not have some more killed off. There's plenty of goofy and useless ones that never appear in the comics anymore: Hardhat, Payload, Downtown, Back Blast, Spearhead, Scoop, Footloose, Keel Haul, Psych Out, Backstop, Taurus, Red Dog, Light Foot, Wild Card, Windmill, Dog Fight, Hot Seat, Long Range, Long Arm, Mace, Ambush, Capt. Gridiron, Freefall, Topside, Ozone, Clean Sweep, Major Altitude, Cross Country, Outback, Fast Draw, the list goes on and on and on. Most were just in the Marvel comic once and never appeared again, have something big come around and get rid of a few.

Who else would you want killed off?
For me, I'd love to see the Fridge go out in a longdrawn out battle with Road Pig.

By the way, is there a list of everyone killed off?

I doubt "The Fridge" would ever appear in a comic. DD would have to get permission from the real guy to use his image, to kill him off.

[Bigtattoo]

I believe killing off characters is a sign of weak writing skills. I've wrote it before on here, and I'll write it again... GI Joe has hundreds of diverse characters on both sides, if a comic book writer can't keep the series interesting, then he shouldn't be a writer.

I think its also a barometer of declining sales. When the comic fails to sell as many copies, they ususally kill off major characters to attempt to shock the readers. Unfortunately, its such a tired formula that it invariably hastens a comics demise. Also, as stated severel times- there will always be fans of the characters that get killed. That said, I think the introduction of the Greenshirts was genius. This allows for deaths without killing off any potential fan favourite.

[Periscope]

None of them.

The problem with killing characters it two-fold. First off, no matter who you kill, you take out somebody's favorite. Even if it's a nobody like LongArm, there's somebody out there that loves the character.

The second problem is once you kill them, that's it. Sure you can get one good story out of their death, but that prevents any other god stories from ever being done with the character. A good writer can get tons of decent stories out of a character without killing them.

Personally, I have no problem with there being a ton of Joes. It's a big organization with a huge enemy. It needs the people.

I totally agree. This is a comic. Marvel didn't kill off every character they didn't know what to do with. Sure, Kwinn, Dr. Venom, Flagg, and the Soft Master, Candy and other non-figure characters, but there was a reason for it. I think that DD needs to lighten up. They killed off Joes that either had a limited appearance or no appearances in the other comics, and it seems like they brought them back just to kill them and for no other reason. I mean, why not just have the characters there in the story when their speciality is called for? Like, Spirit is on R and R, or he's on another assignment, so, call Tracker or Dart in. Not, well, here's this random guy walking along the beach, "Hey, Tracker!" "What?" Boom! He's dead. I mean, what is that? Deaths in the new comics (and in Marvel issues where people were taken out en masse), are as disappointing as the first time I watched the Mission: Impossible movie. It doesn't seem like what it's supposed to represent. I mean, DD said that they killed off Lady Jaye because she was a favorite, and because they needed something like that to have a better story, or, more likely, because they ran out of ideas and needed a significant death to spark up new story ideas and characterizations, but I think the same basic effect could have been shown if a family member was killed, as opposed to a wonderful main character. That was like killing off Luke or Leia or even Han in a Star Wars movie. It would have ruined the whole thing and made a lot of people mad, not to mention not making any sense.

[snarf5181]

I don't agree with the people who are on DD for the deaths in their run, though I respect their opinions. These writers are however telling a story about military men & terrorists. It adds realism that Daemon didn't make it past that first encounter with Serpentor, and that when the Joes took the fight to Cobra Island they lost a few more boys. I am sad that Chuckles is gone, but its a story. Its not weak writing to write deaths in a war comic, its the natural progression. They are the best of the best, not immortal. Too bad for LJ, but I'm sure people felt the same way for Breaker, Doc, Quick Kick, Sneak Peek, etc. My two cents anyway.

[Chainsaw Viper]

No. I still stand by the fact that it's weak writting. Not the fact that people died, but how it was written.

Lots of those dead DD Joes didn't even get any real pannel time before they died and after they died, nothing was really shown following it up. There wasn't any drama, angst, or even basic characterization. Lady Jaye's death was simply used as a cheap plot device to completley change the character of Flint.

[Dreadnok4life]

No. I still stand by the fact that it's weak writting. Not the fact that people died, but how it was written.

Lots of those dead DD Joes didn't even get any real pannel time before they died and after they died, nothing was really shown following it up. There wasn't any drama, angst, or even basic characterization. Lady Jaye's death was simply used as a cheap plot device to completley change the character of Flint.

Agreed. In my opinion a writer who kills off a major character to try to gain reader interest is just a weak writer. There are so many stories to tell, yet they have to kill Lady J off by some skinhead biiiaatch who had been in the series for five or so issues. Baloney.

Honestly when was the last time the Joe team actually went on a mission? It seems they are always standing around whining about something. It's ridiculous.