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167-409: Action Force is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle from 8 October 1983 to 29 November 1986 by IPC Magazines ; for most of the period the comic was retitled Battle Action Force . The story is based on the toyline of the same name produced by Palitoy , and portrayed multinational Europe-based anti-terrorist military organisation Action Force's attempts to thwart

334-821: A fanzine style publication, before, in 1989, becoming the biggest-selling comic in the country. Based upon bad taste, crude language, crude sexual innuendo, and the parodying of strips from The Dandy (among them Black Bag – the Faithful Border Bin Liner , a parody of The Dandy's Black Bob series about a Border Collie ), the popularity of Viz depended entirely upon a variant of Sixties counter-culture; and it promptly inspired similarly themed titles, including Smut , Spit! , Talking Turkey , Elephant Parts , Gas , Brain Damage , Poot! , UT and Zit , all of which failed to achieve Viz' s longevity and folded, while Viz remained one of

501-460: A tabloid form. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also appeared in the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine . While the bestselling comics in the UK have historically been native products, American comic books and Japanese manga are also popular. The description comics derived from the names of popular titles such as Comic Cuts , and from the fact that in the beginning all

668-683: A Z-Force training exercise in Norway , hoping to capture a new experimental tank, but Steeler was able to prevent the theft. Leviathan's Q-Force investigated a number of disappearing warships in the South Atlantic, eventually defeating the Red Shadows behind it. Disturbances in equatorial Africa saw Z-Force called in to investigate, leading to a confrontation with the Ironblood-backed Mamba cult. SAS Force again clashed with

835-439: A book, except that they were somewhat shorter and that typically the story was serialised over many weekly issues in order to maintain sales. These serial stories could run to hundreds of instalments if they were popular. And to pad out a successful series, writers would insert quite extraneous material such as the geography of the country in which the action was occurring, so that the story would extend into more issues. Plagiarism

1002-581: A campaign of revenge against her betrayers, Cobra Commander and Wraith . During her quest, she finds Wraith in a club in Prague, and lures him into a cemetery where she confronts and defeats him, shooting him in the head. She trades his armor to the Red Shadows, in exchange for information on the whereabouts of Cobra Commander. The Baroness locates the Commander in Honduras, but finds that Destro, her husband,

1169-643: A cape and carrying a scepter , depending on the occasion. His distinctively shrill, raspy voice was provided by Chris Latta . He had a knack for concocting creative schemes for world domination – including cloned dinosaurs , giant amoebas , miniaturized troops stowed away inside Christmas presents, and using a super-laser to gleefully carve a picture of his face on the moon – plans which his immediate subordinates, particularly Destro, often blasted as ridiculous. The writers later commented that they only found Cobra Commander's personality when they stopped writing him as an Adolf Hitler -type and started writing him more in

1336-482: A car collision with another family. Devastated by the loss of his brother, the future Cobra Commander blamed the family's survivor: another war veteran, against whom the young Cobra Commander formed an elaborate revenge scheme. Cobra Commander tracked the former soldier to Japan, where he was training to become a member of the Arashikage ninja clan. The Commander approached the mercenary Firefly to assassinate

1503-577: A close, Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes finally battled each other in issue #150. Snake Eyes eventually won against an armored Cobra Commander, but the Commander would have the last laugh, as he captured Storm Shadow and successfully brainwashed him back to the allegiance of Cobra. Shortly afterward, Cobra forces in Europe fell to a unified attack by regular military forces. In the wake of this conflict, most of Cobra's high command disappeared, and Cobra Commander himself became an international fugitive. Soon after,

1670-583: A comic for older boys, it also held appeal for teenage and even adult readers. In the 1960s IPC began to source comic art from Spain , mainly for financial reasons. This trend was continued through to the launch of 2000 AD . Carlos Ezquerra is the most notable Spanish artist to have worked in British comics, having worked on both Battle and 2000 AD , and is credited with the creation of the look of Judge Dredd . Star Wars Weekly , published by Marvel UK, launched in 1977, lasted until 1986. In 1982 Eagle

1837-404: A comic notably grimmer in style than its competitor. Battle's success led to IPC launching another, similarly styled title, Action , which became a success too but also became controversial, due to its violent content, such as a front cover illustration which appeared to show armed children beating up a helpless police officer. Complaints about its tone eventually led to questions being asked in

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2004-590: A competition erupts in Cobra to find who will be the replacement, directed by the Cobra Council. The competition becomes a contest of who can kill the most Joes: competing Cobra agents include Baroness, Dr. Vargas, Major Bludd, Oda Satori, Tomax, Krake, and Raja Khallikhan. Baroness does not believe the Council would make her the Commander as she's a woman – not that this stops her from killing Joes. Krake wins

2171-572: A cultural icon in Britain, but like boys' comics the market was in decline due to the relatively high price of the 12" 1⁄6-scale figure and its accessories. Since 1977, the 3¾" toys based on the Star Wars had been a smash success, and showed the size of the market for vast numbers of cheap action figures based on a franchise. As British distributor of Star Wars figures, Palitoy had first-hand experience and created Action Force in 1982 – effectively

2338-507: A dark red used as the dark colour and the four colour process used on the cover. The Beano and The Dandy both switched to an all-colour format in 1993. Originally aimed at the semi-literate working class (in that it replaced the text-based stories of the story papers with picture-based stories, which were less challenging for a poorly educated readership), the comic gradually came to be seen as childish (in part because, due to gradual improvements in public education, children were eventually

2505-470: A five-issue series of Battle Action , with each issue featuring two complete stories. After World War II , the UK was intent on promoting homegrown publishers, and thus banned the direct importation of American periodicals, including comic books. As a result, U.S. comic books typically arrived in the UK as ballast on ships. Although the comics-reading public in the UK was not always able to get reliable supplies of American comics, it has always enjoyed

2672-710: A flagpole, with a message that no one is untouchable. After the Joes defeat a plan by Cobra Commander to blow up nukes in the Amazon and Antarctica, Cobra Commander and The Plague retreat to a secret base in the Appalachian Mountains, where the first Cobra soldiers were trained. When the Joes attack the Appalachian base, General Colton is shot in the back by Cobra Commander, but survives. The battle ends, when Hawk tackles Cobra Commander, and knocks him out with

2839-578: A large quantity of gold bullion, flying it to a secret location in Egypt , and the new team were sent in to recover it. They were eventually able to recover it after a long battle with heavy casualties on both sides. Action Force were next dispatched to the Yangtze at the request of the Chinese government in response to Cobra activity. Cutter and his unit were ultimately able to foil their attempts to poison

3006-422: A leg and an eye. Unnerved by the discovery, the Commander swore to take responsibility for Billy's condition, and promised to be a better father. Still incognito, the Commander traveled to Denver where he sought out the undercover Crimson Guard agent Fred VII , a mechanical genius. Billy eventually awoke from the coma, with acute amnesia (and a new motorized prosthetic leg built by Fred). After an encounter with

3173-659: A licensed strip, based on Acamas' X-Changers line, was unsuccessful and in January 1988 Battle Storm Force was merged with Eagle . The small volcanic island nation of Ascendancy is suddenly invaded by Baron Ironblood and the Red Shadows, who brutally take control. The Baron then contacts the United Nations, threatening to use a super-bomb to destroy the island unless he is given $ 400m in gold bars. Action Force are activated, and naval arm Q-Force are sent in to scout Ascendancy's coastline. Space Force then drops members of

3340-508: A limited range of football-based comic strips. In British comics history, there are some extremely long-running publications such as The Beano and The Dandy published by D. C. Thomson & Co. , a newspaper company based in Dundee , Scotland. The Dandy began in 1937 and The Beano in 1938. The Beano is still going today while The Dandy ceased print publication in 2012. The Boys' Own Paper , another long-running publication which

3507-727: A living by increasingly illicit scams and con jobs , the soon-to-be Commander blamed all his problems on the American social system, and traveled in search of people who shared his desire to topple big business and the government, using money earned from pyramid schemes to attract followers. It was during these early meetings that he first began wearing a blue hood to mask his civilian identity. He then moved operations to Springfield, an average small American town which had suffered economic collapse. Through his criminal skills he revived Springfield's' fortunes, and used cash and charisma to win converts to his cause. Eventually he seized control of

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3674-474: A man named Vance Wingfield , who once attempted to start a nuclear war and was presumed dead, is behind the attacks. Meanwhile, Cobra Commander, who has been rebuilding his forces since the end of the previous series, infiltrates the U.S. government by disguising himself as White House Chief of Staff Garrett Freelowe. He tries to convince the President to shut down the G.I. Joe team. When he fails, he creates

3841-426: A mask. Despite this deformity, his ambition was recognized by Cobra-La's ruler, Golobulus, and he was chosen to venture from their isolated Himalayan kingdom to establish an army for the razing of human civilization and reemergence of Cobra-La: that army is Cobra. This origin stands in contrast to the episode "Twenty Questions", where the Commander told an interviewing journalist that he was responsible for spearheading

4008-479: A militia around him, he is one of the first villains that G.I. Joe faces. It is also noted that he started the sub-prime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s. Larry Hama had intended him to be Cobra Commander, but this idea was dropped with the introduction of the Cobra Council, and has not been seen since Origins #5. It has not been specified if he was indeed the Cobra Commander that Chuckles murdered. In

4175-440: A new inner circle and organisation, known as Cobra. Unfortunately for Ironblood, his illicit fortune to finance this new army is stolen by former Red Shadow member, Red Jackal, who he is forced to rebuild as a cyborg (and rechristened as " Destro "). Furthermore, both surviving members of the Red Shadows and the retooled Action Force repeatedly foil his plans. In the final Battle Action Force storyline, after an attempt to locate

4342-624: A new team called the Phoenix Guard led by General Philip Rey , a former G.I. Joe commander. The Phoenix Guard infiltrates G.I. Joe headquarters, and manages to capture several Joes, until General Rey discovers the true identities of the Phoenix Guard members. G.I. Joe then captures most of the Phoenix Guard, and after the failed attack on G.I. Joe headquarters, Cobra Commander abandons the White House. The Baroness then pursues

4509-597: A number of issues and periods of time. Whilst some comics contained only strips, other publications such as Jackie have had a slightly different focus, providing their girl readers with articles about, and photographs of, pop stars and television / film actors, plus more general articles about teenage life, whilst throwing in a few comic strips for good measure. For boys there were, historically, similar publications based upon soccer, such as Shoot! , which featured non-fiction picture articles about popular footballers, league clubs, and general football news, accompanied by

4676-540: A number of new publishers who are specifically targeting this area, including Classical Comics and Self Made Hero , the latter having an imprint focused on manga adaptations of the works of Shakespeare. This highlights another recent change, as there has been an increase in British original English-language manga . Self Made Hero's 'Manga Shakespeare' imprint draws on talent discovered in Tokyopop 's UK/Irish version of Rising Stars of Manga , including members of

4843-435: A punch to the face. In the aftermath, the Joes are still active and fully funded, and Cobra Commander is locked away in a special underwater prison. Hasbro later announced that all stories published by Devil's Due Publishing are no longer considered canonical , and are now considered an alternate continuity. In IDW's series, "The Commander" is a title and rank, not an individual, and there have been numerous Commanders in

5010-414: A range of 3¾" Action Man figures, albeit with non-removable sculpted uniforms. Priced at £1.50 – closer to the pocket money of the average British child – sales were strong. The initial batch of figures had largely been modelled on real-life soldiers, much like the uniforms of Action Man . However, for the second year of the line Palitoy decided to push the series in a more fantastical direction, devising

5177-540: A range of weekly titles was being published by 1975. So much so that in 1976 the parent company briefly published a minimal amount of new material specifically for the UK market in Captain Britain . The American reprint material proved to be more successful and continued to appear into the 1980s, at which stage Marvel UK also began diversifying into home-produced original material, both UK-originated strips featuring American created characters such as Captain Britain,

Action Force (comic strip) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5344-507: A repulsive or horrible nature; in such a way that the work as a whole would tend to corrupt a child or young person into whose hands it might fall." Although the act had a sunset clause , in 1969 the Act was made permanent, and continues to be in force today, represented, for example, in the Royal Mail prohibition against mailing horror comics and the matrices used to print them. During

5511-622: A royal visit to Italy. With help from flamethrower operative Blowtorch they were able to prevent Cobra assassinating their charges. The Red Shadows resurfaced once again under the command of the Black Major, attacking the South American country of Valdez; while Action Force were able to battle them the Major got away with much of the country's treasury. Cobra meanwhile made a surprise mass assault on London, and were only forced out of

5678-490: A series of five promotional mini-comics, which were given away as a free gift with the publisher's boys comics ( Tiger , Battle and Eagle ) weekly between 16 July and 10 September 1983. Again the experiment was well-received and Palitoy offered to underwrite a regular "Action Force" strip in Battle . From the 8 October 1983 edition the comic was retitled Battle Action Force and featured three "Action Force" strips. Due to

5845-404: A significant international threat, becoming so large that Cobra Commander could no longer control it on his own. He created a "High Command" of his most skilled lieutenants, which included Zartan, Baroness Anastasia DeCobray , Scottish arms dealer James McCullen Destro , and Australian mercenary Major Sebastian Bludd . This led to frequent power-struggles within the organization, and ultimately

6012-525: A stalemate, leaving Storm Shadow in the control of Cobra Commander. A distress call from T'Jbang leads the Joes to Tibet, where Cobra Commander and Storm Shadow are hiding with the Red Ninja clan. Snake Eyes defeats their leader Sei Tin, and becomes the new master of the Red Ninja clan. The Joes are then sent on a mission to Cobra Island, where Cobra Commander has returned to power. Meanwhile, Destro

6179-635: A trend which the introduction of colour television to Britain during 1969 set in stone. In an effort to counter the trend, many publishers switched the focus of their comics to television-related characters. The television shows of Gerry Anderson , such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , had begun this in the mid-1960s with the launch of tie-in comics such as TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope , which included strips related to Anderson's TV shows (as well as other popular programs of

6346-698: A unit to destroy The Pit , as Cobra discovers a weather control weapon named the Tempest, and moves it to their new Monolith Base in Badhikstan. Cobra uses the Tempest to unleash the Deathangel Virus on the county of Badhi, as G.I. Joe attacks Cobra's new stronghold. Cobra Commander escapes, but not before shooting Dr. Mindbender , who dies helping G.I. Joe to disable the Tempest. The Red Shadows organization then steps forward, targeting members of both G.I. Joe and Cobra. They are defeated by G.I. Joe, and

6513-556: A victory when Action Force driver Anton Nobokov was severely injured, and agreed to undergo radical surgery at the hands of Ironblood to save his life. Renamed the Red Jackal, the highly enhanced driver worked with a cell of Turkish terrorists to wipe out diplomats at a conference in Istanbul in the Red Shadows' new Hyena tank. Ironblood made another attempt to wipe out SAS Force by sending a force to kill them while on an exercise in

6680-574: A volcano. Later, he established a brainwashing program to compel allegiance from those around him, including Destro, the Baroness, Zartan, Storm Shadow, and Billy. The returned Commander was far more willing to kill, pulling the trigger himself rather than relying on others to kill for him, as when he murdered the Borovian rebels Magda and the White Clown. As Marvel's G.I. Joe series drew to

6847-647: A way out of every situation, having become a constant foil for the G.I. Joe Team, who have ended up fighting Cobra almost exclusively. No matter how dire or unscathed, Cobra Commander's hatred and drive have only grown ruthless and more focused. Dangerously destabilized, Cobra Commander's persona runs the gamut from friendly and charismatic, to terrifyingly brutal and psychopathic. His charm can twist intentions and morals, so that his rhetoric actually reads as plausible and relatable to his minions. Psychoanalysts who have studied his case files, have described him as an ingenious hustler with visions of grandeur, which makes him all

Action Force (comic strip) - Misplaced Pages Continue

7014-453: Is also present. After a brief fight, Destro agrees to trade the M.A.R.S. corporation, his Iron Grenadier forces, and his eldest son Alexander to Cobra Commander, in exchange for his and the Baroness' baby. Cobra Commander avoids capture, by revealing that he possesses the personal information of every G.I. Joe agent, because of his time working in the White House. Cobra Commander uses his control of M.A.R.S. weapons to create conflict all over

7181-461: Is believed to have personally led uprisings in the Middle East , Southeast Asia , and other trouble spots, while being held responsible for kidnapping scientists, businessmen, and military leaders, forcing them to reveal their top level secrets. Over the years, Cobra Commander has suffered assassination attempts, and even an imposter posing as him for a time. However, he always manages to find

7348-417: Is captured, and further surgeries see him turned into Destro and recruited to the new Cobra organisation. They recruit a new army of fanatics, including the ninja swordsman Storm Shadow , Australian army deserter Major Bludd and expert saboteur Firefly . In response to the increased activity of Cobra, American intelligence officer Major Flagg is charged with recruiting a new Action Force team to deal with

7515-521: Is double-crossed by the president of Sierra Gordo, and makes a deal with Duke to deliver Cobra Commander. Destro is traded for Cobra Commander, but not before the Commander shoots Hawk in the back, and in turn is shot from behind by the Baroness . Cobra Commander is freed by the Dreadnoks , and revealed to have been Zartan in disguise. Cobra Commander takes back complete control of Cobra, and sends

7682-668: Is recruited by Cobra Commander to find Destro and the Baroness, in order to kill them. Cobra takes over several nuclear arsenals, including one in Suffolk, England . As a warning, Cobra Commander detonates a nuclear bomb in The Empty Quarter , and then broadcasts an ultimatum on television for world leaders to accede to his authority, or he will start choosing populated targets. Billy, Cobra Commander's son, confronts his father at Fort Meade and tries to kill him. He fails, and Cobra Commander kills him instead, hanging Billy's body from

7849-508: Is similar to the sculpt which lay under the hood of the 12" figure, with dark hair, and a half mask covering his nose and mouth. After the line was canceled in 1994, Hasbro made several attempts to resurrect A Real American Hero through repaint series. In 1997, Cobra Commander was released as part of the "Cobra Command Team" 3-pack, using the 1987 Battle Armor mold in a dark blue. In 2000, the Talking Battle Commander mold

8016-631: The Judge Dredd Megazine have seen the release of more adaptations and trade paperbacks , including complete reprint collections of the entire runs of Judge Dredd , Strontium Dog and Nemesis the Warlock . Starting in 2006 the Megazine began a regular small press section which usually features an article on a title by Matthew Badham or David Baillie and a small press story. While British companies and creators have helped create

8183-599: The Blind Master and Storm Shadow's cousin Jinx , Billy recovered his memory and immediately rejected his father, whereupon the Commander renounced the organization he had founded, declaring that his ambitions had cost him the only things that truly mattered. Fred VII, in return, shot Cobra Commander in the back, apparently killing him. Fred VII then impersonated the Commander himself, traveling to Cobra Island to vie for control of Cobra with Serpentor (eventually sparking

8350-476: The Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 . The act prohibited "any book, magazine or other like work which is of a kind likely to fall into the hands of children or young persons and consists wholly or mainly of stories told in pictures (with or without the addition of written matter), being stories portraying (a) the commission of crimes; or (b) acts of violence or cruelty; or (c) incidents of

8517-509: The House of Commons . As a result, and despite the comics' popularity, IPC decided to drastically tone down the content after 36 issues, and issue 37 was pulped. When it returned to newsstands it was far less violent, which neutered the comic's appeal. The title quickly declined and was merged with Battle . Action's position as the UK's most popular title was taken over by 2000 AD , a science-fiction comic launched in 1977 by IPC. Created as

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8684-590: The Hulk and the Black Knight , and wholly original strips like Night Raven . They also began producing television-based material, initially with Doctor Who Weekly , launched in 1979. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, the underground comics movement inspired two new comics in the UK: Oz and Nasty Tales were launched with the underground premise of counter-culture rebellion. Oz notoriously featured

8851-661: The Scottish Highlands , taking over nearby towns under the guise of a historical re-enactment to cut them off. Despite heavy casualties the SAS Force team were eventually able to survive the manhunt and drive the Red Shadows off. The Red Shadows were reinforced when they recovered an ancient sea creature called the Kraken, frozen at the North Pole. A section of the recovery team attempted to mutiny but were put down by

9018-631: The United States for Fiction House 's Jumbo Comics , thus exporting the character back to her country of origin. Beginning in the 1940s, the available American comics were supplemented by a variety of black-and-white reprints of Fawcett's Captain Marvel , characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician , The Phantom , and Marvel Comics ' 1950s monster comics. Several reprint companies were involved in this repackaging American material for

9185-508: The ZX Spectrum , mainly used for gaming, became available from 1980). Although new comics titles were launched in this period, none seemed to find a sustainable audience. Notable comics of the period included Deadline , Toxic! , Crisis , and Revolver . Deadline was conceived by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins , and mixed original strips with reprints of U.S. strips, notably Love & Rockets , and articles and interviews on

9352-516: The 1950s and 1960s, the most popular comic for older age-group boys was Eagle published by Hulton Press . Eagle was published in a more expensive format, and was a gravure-printed weekly, with regular sales of nearly one million. (This format was used originally by Mickey Mouse Weekly during the 1930s.) Eagle 's success saw a number of comics launched in a similar format — TV Century 21 , Look and Learn and TV Comic being notable examples. Comics published in this format were known in

9519-474: The 1960s continued in that format into the 1970s; and others, such as Diana and Judy , changed to become slicks. They found themselves in the same market as teenage titles for girls such as Boyfriend and Blue Jeans , which had changed their content and were featuring mainly product-related articles and photo comics . In 1972 , Marvel set up a publishing arm in the UK, Marvel UK , reprinting American superhero strips. These proved extremely popular, and

9686-536: The Baron when a section training in the Alps stumbled across one of his bases at Castle Arlberg and were captured. The survivors were able to keep the Red Shadows busy until Z-Force reinforcements arrived. The Red Laser then framed a detachment of Q-Force in the experimental Sea Lion submarine for a terrorist attack on Singapore, but they were able to avoid their pursuers long enough to clear their names. The Red Shadows gained

9853-483: The Baroness and Major Bludd enacted a plot to assassinate the Commander, and seize control of Cobra. In a twist of fate, the conspirators recruited Billy to carry out the assassination, but he was intercepted by Destro. Cobra Commander had no qualms about torturing his own son to unearth the conspiracy, yet Billy refused to surrender who had sponsored the hit. Storm Shadow later freed Billy, and they both escaped to New York, where Storm Shadow trained him in ninjitsu . Billy

10020-489: The Black Major, and the creature was cloned to provide the Baron with an underwater army, which caused heavy SAS Force casualties. After learning the Red Shadows were targeting a strategic Pacific atoll, Z-Force dug in to prevent its capture. Despite a gruelling siege led by the Black Major and the Red Laser, they were eventually able to drive off the invaders. Baron Ironblood attempted to frame Space Force pilot Moondancer for

10187-405: The British independent music scene of the time. Tank Girl was its most notable strip. Crisis was published by Fleetway Publications , a company formed from IPC's comics holdings. It was aimed at readers who had outgrown 2000 AD , and featured first works by Garth Ennis and Sean Phillips amongst others. One publication of that period did find an audience. Viz began life in 1979 as

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10354-496: The British market, notably L. Miller & Son , the Arnold Book Company , Alan Class Comics , and the importer/distributor/publisher Thorpe & Porter . Cobra Commander Cobra Commander is a fanatical leader who rules with an iron fist and demands total loyalty or allegiance. His objective is total control of the world's governments, people, wealth, and resources, brought about by revolution and chaos. He

10521-595: The British postal service, the Royal Mail , released a set of stamps depicting characters and series from British comics. The collection featured The Beano , The Dandy , Eagle , The Topper , Roy of the Rovers , Bunty , Buster , Valiant , Twinkle and 2000 AD . In the 19th century, story papers (containing illustrated text stories), known as " penny dreadfuls " from their cover price, served as entertainment for British children. Full of close-printed text with few illustrations, they were essentially no different from

10688-504: The Cobra Civil War). Unknown to Fred VII, he had been under surveillance by another Crimson Guardsman when he buried the Commander's body. This agent discovered that Cobra Commander was not dead, and brought him back to health. Thereafter, the Commander formed an underground network of loyal agents within Cobra, and rebuilt his personal fortune and influence. When Doctor Mindbender went to harvest DNA from Cobra Commander's body for

10855-553: The Commander, G.I. Joe interferes with the gene collection to deny the critical inclusion of Sun Tzu 's DNA, and it is instead replaced with Sgt. Slaughter 's. During the first attempt to create the ruler, Cobra Commander contaminates the DNA mixture with a mutated virus, causing a rampaging monster. The second attempt is successful due to Scrap-Iron stopping Cobra Commander from sabotaging the experiment again, thus giving birth to Serpentor , who immediately assumes charge of Cobra and deposes

11022-871: The Crypt and The Vault of Horror were printed in London and Leicester (by companies like Arnold Book Company ) and sold in "small back-street newsagents." The ensuing outcry was heard in Parliament , and at the urging of the Most Reverend Geoffrey Fisher , the Archbishop of Canterbury , Major Gwilym Lloyd George , the Home Secretary and Minister of Welsh Affairs , and the National Union of Teachers , Parliament passed

11189-699: The European-themed Action Force . This not only meant an influx of characters for the comic but also the outright replacement of the Red Shadows as villains by Cobra. Finley-Day was left with the unenviable job of trying to cope with the overnight change in the strip, coming up with the concept of Ironblood betraying the Red Shadows and taking on the identity of Cobra Commander to raise a new army. While older characters would continue to appear in strips, they were generally only featured in secondary roles. A more serious blow came when Palitoy's owners General Mills decided to sell its interests in

11356-412: The Red Shadows, by secretly informing Action Force of the group's bases. Going into hiding, Ironblood relocated to Southeast Asia, where he had plastic surgery on his face, constructed a new mask and costumed identity (that of Cobra Commander), and underwent extensive treatment to give him immunity towards all forms of snake venom (a process known as mithridatism ). He then began the process of recruiting

11523-610: The Terrordrome. Serpentor even allows Cobra Commander to be the organization's second-in-command, a decision tolerated by the rest of the Cobra High Command. Cobra Commander spends much of Season 2 trying to reclaim his former glory from under Serpentor's domineering shadow, assembling his own secret society called The Coil to that end. G.I. Joe: The Movie explains Cobra Commander's origin in full, while yet contradicting background information previously established in

11690-566: The UK Battle Action Force comic, Cobra Commander was originally known as Baron Ironblood , leader of the Red Shadows, a ruthless terrorist organization. The Red Shadows were legions of brainwashed fanatic soldiers armed with sophisticated, high-tech weapons. The group was declared the single greatest threat to world security by the UN, with Ironblood being labeled "World Enemy #1". In 1985, Hasbro began moves to market G.I. Joe in

11857-489: The UK collective Sweatdrop Studios , who have also contributed to other British-based efforts like ILYA 's Mammoth Book of Best New Manga and MangaQuake . Creators involved in those collections who have gone on to do several manga style graphic novels include British based Japanese creators such as Chie Kutsuwada and Michiru Morikawa, as well as, conversely, a British writer based in Japan, Sean Michael Wilson. Released at

12024-521: The UK, under the Action Force name. This would affect the comic version of Battle Action Force , as the writers were to get rid of the Red Shadows and Baron Ironblood and replace them with Cobra and Cobra Commander. To preserve continuity within the comic, the decision was made to transform Baron Ironblood in to the Action Force version of Cobra Commander. The transition came as Baron Ironblood grew tired of his group's failures and decided to destroy

12191-484: The United Kingdom's top-selling magazines. Beginning in 2000, the British market arrested its long decline. However, there is no sign of any great growth in circulation for the few remaining titles, and no sign of any new launches from mainstream publishers into the comics arena. An ever-increasing number of small press and fanzine titles are being produced, such as Solar Wind or FutureQuake , aided by

12358-739: The United Nations, attacking an Action Force investigation of the wreck of the Titanic , unleashing their new Raven fighter on Action Force's Skystriker jets, drawing forces in the Florida swamps into a trap, and attacking Space Force in orbit. Despite heavy losses, Action Force eventually prevailed against the coordinated assault. Action Force's main infantry force. Members include: – Action Force's covert operations team. Members include: – Action Force's naval component. Members include: – Action Force's orbital space unit. Members include: – A central multi-discipline team created by Major Flagg to meet

12525-651: The United States with nano-mites. Destro is the last to arrive, but after hearing the Commander's plan, he turns the tables on Cobra Commander, and takes control of Cobra. Cobra Commander eventually regains control with the help of Storm Shadow , and creates plans to get revenge on both Destro and Hawk . Later, Storm Shadow breaks free of Cobra's mind control, and contacts Billy for help. Billy recruits Snake Eyes and Kamakura to assist him in rescuing Storm Shadow, but not before Cobra Commander brainwashes him again. A battle between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow ends in

12692-483: The Victorian and early 20th-century weeklies. Comic strips—stories told primarily in strip cartoon form, rather than as a written narrative with illustrations—emerged only slowly. Scottish-born newspaper proprietor James Henderson began publishing Funny Folks in 1874. Writer Denis Gifford considered Funny Folks to be the first British comic , though at first it tackled topical and political subjects along

12859-412: The ambitions of the Red Shadows and – later – Cobra . "Action Force" ended when the toyline's new owners Hasbro discontinued the licence with IPC in favour of a dedicated title produced by Marvel UK . While Battle was still among IPC's best-selling comics in the early 1980s, sales of weekly titles on the whole were sliding. In response, editor Terry Magee and group editor Barrie Tomlinson relaxed

13026-455: The animated series. Cobra Commander was a scientist and nobleman from the ancient, pre-human society of Cobra-La , now hidden in the Himalayas . Although humanoid in appearance, he has pale blue skin, no hair, and eyes with snake-like pupils. He was disfigured by volatile spores in a laboratory accident, mutating an array of eight additional eyes upon his visage, thus explaining why he wears

13193-482: The characters. Palitoy underwrote the costs of the "Action Force" material, effectively halving Battle 's production costs, while also opening it up to a younger audience. Despite this steady source of funding, the strips were not entirely popular with the IPC staff. Tomlinson would later bemoan the slow process of getting Palitoy – who he described "weren't really comic people" to approve the art and scripts while keeping to

13360-580: The cheapness and increasingly professional appearance of desktop publishing programs. It is from this scene that the UK's new talents now tend to emerge (e.g. Al Ewing , Henry Flint or Simon Spurrier ). The English musician Peter Gabriel issued in 2000 The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped comic book as part of the CD edition with the title " OVO The Millennium Show ". The 2000 Millennium Dome Show based on it. After they were purchased by Rebellion Developments , both 2000 AD and

13527-604: The children's character Rupert the Bear performing sexual acts. Both magazines were tried at the Old Bailey under the Obscene Publications Act because of their content. The Oz defendants were convicted, although the conviction was overturned on appeal. The Nasty Tales defendants were cautioned. However, both these comics ceased publication soon after their trial, as much due to the social changes at

13694-460: The city by Action Force with considerable effort. Less ambitious was Cobra's attempt to disrupt the production of Battle Action Force , which Action Force soon put down. The Black Major meanwhile reached out to Destro in the hopes of forming an alliance against Cobra Commander but was unable to sway him, though he did destroy a facility full of modified Cobra cadets. Cobra stepped up their campaign, using Zartan's shape-changing abilities to infiltrate

13861-453: The comic was revamped, and published its final issue on its 75th anniversary in 2012. The BeanoMAX (which also started in 2007) also borrowed some of Toxic' s features. That title was then replaced by The 100% Official Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Megazine , which was later renamed Epic before ending in 2019. The DFC launched at the end of May 2008 drawing together creators from

14028-546: The competition, largely by revealing that he had killed and replaced one of his rivals with Zartan, doubling his kill score and showing the initiative to break the rules to win. Krake's origin would be given in Cobra Annual 2012 : born in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle during a battle and named Tiger Eyes, he grew up as a child laborer and later child soldier for drug gangs. He was named Krake by Major Bludd, who

14195-461: The covert SAS Force onto the island, who pave the way for a landing by infantry unit Z-Force. Ironblood attempts to use an android Muton to activate the bomb before it is frozen by Q-Force, and Ascendancy is freed. However, the Baron and his chief lieutenant the Black Major slip away on a hidden submarine. Ironblood is able to raise a new army at a base in the Andes and attempted revenge by targeting all

14362-527: The creation of a new leader, he discovered the empty grave, upon which the original Cobra Commander revealed himself and seized open control of Cobra. Hardened by his "death" and betrayal at the hands of those he once thought loyal, the resurgent Commander was even more ruthless than before. His first act was to eliminate those who tried to murder him or subsequently learned of the act: Fred VII, Raptor , Firefly, Mindbender, Zartan, Billy, and numerous unnamed Cobra personnel, all of whom he had buried alive within

14529-477: The deaths of two cadets, forcing the pilot to go on the run. He and his team-mate Kiwi were able to uncover a plot to take over a NASA mission to the Moon as a bridgehead; they were able to defeat Red Shadow space pilot Red Wolf and restore Moondancer's reputation. After the Red Shadows undertook a coordinated campaign of terrorist actions, the United Nations passed a special resolution giving Action Force command of

14696-643: The different approach to comics writing from the other side of the Atlantic . Sheena, Queen of the Jungle — a female version of Tarzan (with an element of H. Rider Haggard 's " She who must be obeyed" – She... Na!) — was licensed from the Eisner & Iger studio for a British/Australasian tabloid , Wags , in 1937. The success of this character led to the Sheena stories being repackaged for publication in

14863-421: The end of the counter-culture movement as any effect of the court cases. These were always adult magazines, not aimed at the mainstream children's market. In the mid-1970s, British comics became more action-oriented. The first such title to be launched was Warlord in 1974 . Published by DC Thomson , it proved to be a success, and led to its then-rival, IPC Magazines Ltd , producing Battle Picture Weekly ,

15030-460: The enormous popularity of comics in British popular culture during this period, Anita O’Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum , states: "When comics like The Beano and Dandy were invented back in the 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and 60s – these comics were almost the only entertainment available to children." In 1954, Tiger comics introduced Roy of the Rovers ,

15197-538: The entire town and used it as a base to grow his organization into the paramilitary group "Cobra". This corrupting rise to power distanced Cobra Commander from his son, enough that Billy eventually joined the underground anti-Cobra resistance. From Springfield, Cobra's agents spread throughout the world, overturning or subverting unstable governments to establish criminal networks and profitable arms trades. The organization also explored dangerous and experimental technology, including mind-scanners and battle robots. Cobra became

15364-562: The era). Polystyle Publications already published a TV-related comic for young children called TV Comic , and in 1971 moved into the older market with Countdown (later retitled TV Action ). The teenage market saw Look-in magazine feature strips solely based on popular television programs. Another strand of the reaction to television was the launch of comics focused entirely on association football (a sport as popular as television amongst boys), with titles such as Shoot and Scorcher and Score . Those comics that didn't compete with

15531-477: The erstwhile Commander to the status of "lackey". Serpentor soon orders an attack on Washington, D.C., with the Commander in handcuffs. Cobra Commander convinces Dr. Mindbender to free him, as he knows how to use a weapon, and rescues the high command from certain disaster. He saves himself by convincing Serpentor that he truly needs him as a scapegoat. Thereafter, Cobra Commander seems to be employed as Cobra's primary field commander, while Serpentor leads mostly from

15698-411: The figure with the proper Cobra sigil was released on a card for mass market with "swivel-arm battle grip", which made it easier for figures to hold their rifles and accessories. In 1984, the Commander was offered again as a mail-away exclusive, this time in a darker blue, with the iconic hood that he wore prominently in the Marvel comics. This figure continued to be available as a mail-away figure until

15865-468: The final Pat Mills 'Charley's War' episodes". Writing for Bleeding Cool , Patrick Lennon defended the fiction as being superior to G.I. Joe . British comics Modern ethnicities A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips . It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine , and historically as a comic paper . As of 2014,

16032-471: The first British graphic novel. In 1982 Dez Skinn launched Warrior , possibly the most notable comic of the period, as it contained both the Marvelman and V for Vendetta strips, by Alan Moore . Warrior was a British equivalent of Heavy Metal magazine. Marvelman was a Captain Marvel clone that Skinn acquired, although the legality of that acquisition has been questioned. In Moore's hands,

16199-432: The globe, in a last bid to gain control of the world. G.I. Joe counters by going on the offensive, mobilizing the entire G.I. Joe roster, and launching missions to capture Cobra agents still at large. Meanwhile, Cobra Commander recruits soldier Nick Bailey, making him the last member of a new elite Cobra unit code-named " The Plague ". The main G.I. Joe team heads to Israel, where they help stop an assassination attempt. While

16366-407: The headquarters of the Action Force team fails and leads to a crushing defeat of his forces, Ironblood/Cobra Commander goes insane and collapses into a near catatonic state. In Action Force Weekly , Cobra Commander is a featured character starting from issue #1, where he is depicted as bald. Destro believes Cobra Commander's excesses are the greatest risk to Cobra's success. In the first season of

16533-495: The house of a corrupt Judge who he blamed for the hardships they had both experienced: years before, the judge had presided over a case involving Cobra Commander's brother Dan, who ran a veteran's hospital. The hospital had been burned down by a patient, but the judge ruled that it was insurance fraud; Dan lost everything and turned to drinking, which led to the crash that took his life and the lives of Snake Eyes' family. Realizing where his anger had taken him, Snake Eyes refused to kill

16700-585: The hugely popular football based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers . The stock media phrase "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff" is often used by football writers, commentators and fans when describing displays of great skill, or surprising results that go against the odds, in reference to the dramatic storylines that were the strip's trademark. Other comics such as Eagle , Valiant , Warrior , Viz and 2000 AD also flourished. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in

16867-435: The idea of Action Force being a European taskforce facing off on the conquest-hungry Baron Ironblood and his Red Shadows minions as a unifying fiction. As part of the line's promotional push they contacted IPC, paying them for a four-week strip in Battle , written by Gerry Finley-Day with art from Jim Watson and based on the toyline's background information. The result was viewed as a success, and Palitoy asked IPC to produce

17034-530: The jaw line. Unlike other incarnations of the character, this version of Cobra Commander – usually just called "the Commander" – is extremely reclusive, and his existence is only known to only select high-profile Cobra subordinates (such as the twins Tomax and Xamot and the Baroness). Cobra Commander's personality is also much more passive-aggressive and introspective; having captured the G.I. Joe spy Chuckles , Cobra Commander refuses to allow Tomax and Xamot to kill

17201-501: The late 1930s, which thrived during the Second World War . Their successful mix of irreverence and slapstick led to many similar titles, notably Buster , Topper and Beezer . However, the originators of this format have outlasted all rivals, and The Beano is still published today. The problem which now faces society in the trade that has sprung up of presenting sadism, crime, lust, physical monstrosity, and horror to

17368-524: The later stories". Steve Earles of The Quietus was even more scathing during an overview of Battle 's history, feeling "it undid all the hard work thus far" and objecting to creators, " some of whom had actually been in the army, trying to breath life into stories based on moulded plastic". Luke Williams was more sympathetic in a piece for Down The Tubes, feeling it was an important gateway into comics for younger fans and speculated that without it "the title may never have lasted long enough to have published

17535-556: The latest included the expert anti-armour specialist Scrap-Iron . Another series of attacks came in India; Z-Force were dispatched to investigate but soon found they had been infiltrated by Cobra agents. Skip and his men were eventually able to flush them out and counter the Cobra forces. Another Cobra operative, Copperhead , attempted to kidnap the Action Force diver Torpedo in Rotterdam , without success. Suspected Cobra meddling with

17702-477: The leaders of all four branches of Action Force for assassination. The attacks are unsuccessful, and convince Action Force to begin an offensive campaign to bring the Red Shadows down. SAS Force led the effort, initiating Operation Bloodhound to locate Baron Ironblood's base. Despite several ambushes whittling down the unit, Eagle and his men were ultimately able to thwart an invasion of the Pacific seaboard, though

17869-446: The line ended in 1994. In 1987, a new Cobra Commander figure was designed, this time outfitting him in full-body battle armor. Cobra Commander was given another overhaul in 1991, wearing a blue and black ceremonial uniform, with an ornate redesign of his original battle helmet. Also in 1991, a "Talking Battle Commander" figure was released, featuring a blue and yellow uniform inspired by the hooded Cobra Commander figure. This figure

18036-508: The major Red Shadows once again eluded them. Z-Force meanwhile find themselves trapped in the middle of a coup in the central African state of Duna, but under the command of Slip help stop Major Maddi and his Gibli insurgents from overrunning the country. Baron Ironblood launched a counter-strike by attempting to incinerate SAS Force units searching the Pampas for his base, framing them as saboteurs causing wildfires . The Red Shadows also targeted

18203-468: The man and walked away. Cobra Commander killed the judge himself and vowed revenge against Snake Eyes for having turned on him. Years after the G.I. Joe Team has disbanded, Kamakura finds evidence that Cobra Commander has returned to the United States. Snake Eyes forwards this information to Duke , who uses it to have the G.I. Joe Team reinstated. Cobra Commander calls together the members of his organization, to let them know about his plan to take over

18370-1036: The market for collected volumes there have, with a few exceptions like Raymond Briggs , been very few British original graphic novels published. Briggs himself has said "On the Continent, graphic novels have been as accepted as films or books for many years, but England has had a snobby attitude towards them. They've always been seen as something just for children". However, thanks to the strong sales for Briggs' Ethel and Ernest , and Jimmy Corrigan winning The Guardian ' s best first novel award, publishers have started expanding into this area. Random House UK's imprint Jonathan Cape has tripled its graphic novel output and Random House has also established Tanoshimi to publish manga. Other publishers have also been increasing their output, which, as well as producing original works like Alice in Sunderland , have also been included adaptations of works of literature. There are

18537-501: The mid-twentieth century. His only known relative, an older brother named Dan, enlisted in the military during the Vietnam War , and volunteered for repeated tours to spare his younger sibling from conscription . During this time, the man who would become Cobra Commander worked as a used car salesman. When Dan returned from Vietnam, he displayed deep psychological trauma, and took to self-destructive behavior, resulting in his death in

18704-473: The military disbanded the G.I. Joe team. Among the few revisions Devil's Due instituted was the expansion of Cobra Commander's origin. After his brother's death, the future Commander sought out the surviving son of the family killed by Dan. He found the soldier ( Snake Eyes ) at a bar, where the Commander saved him from an oncoming truck and the two became friends. They traveled from state to state, acting as vigilantes. One night, Cobra Commander took Snake Eyes to

18871-401: The more dangerous. Most dictators are hampered by pretending to pursue a noble cause, but Cobra Commander does not have that problem. He hopes to fray the fabric of society, using terrorism, tyranny, and economic slavery, to uproot the existing power structures around the world. The character was created by Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama , who envisioned the character as "being in love with

19038-508: The more radical elements were removed, the Commander emerged as one of the least extreme make-overs of the line, once again sporting the iconic hood. A second Commander figure was released in 2003 for Spy Troops, featuring a more military look than the Commander has ever had before, and using the Commander's signature Battle Helmet. Both figures went on to be repainted multiple times in 2004's Valor vs. Venom line, including one version with an interchangeable helmet and hood. A 12" Cobra Commander

19205-497: The new Action Force team reached operational status, headquartered under the United Nations Secretariat Building , and began planning a trap for Cobra. However their plans were complicated by the return of the Red Shadows, with the Black Major having escaped and freed a large number of prisoners to gain revenge on both Action Force and Cobra, leading to a three-way conflict. Cobra attempted to steal

19372-468: The ninja clan soon after, to live in seclusion in the Sierra Nevada mountains, until enticed to return to service on the G.I. Joe team as Snake Eyes . Cobra Commander returned to his wife and newborn son Billy , but when his wife found out what had happened in Japan, she threatened to go to the authorities. Cobra Commander abandoned his wife, taking Billy with him. Living on the road and earning

19539-416: The only remaining market for a format designed to be unchallenging for the reader). Hence by the mid 20th Century it was being marketed exclusively towards children. Historically, strips were of one or two pages in length, with a single issue of a comic containing upwards of a dozen separate strips, featuring different characters. In more recent times, strips have become longer and have tended to continue over

19706-405: The original 1980s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero animated series, Cobra Commander is the leader of Cobra, described in the show's opening theme as "A ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world". His face is always covered, either by a featureless chrome mask concealing his entire face or by a hood with eye-hole cutouts. He wears a blue military uniform, occasionally sporting

19873-400: The original launch of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero . To celebrate, Hasbro created three boxed sets of brand new figures, featuring modern sculpt and updated and increased articulation (including the replacement of G.I. Joe's trademark O-ring construction). Cobra Commander was included in the inaugural Cobra set, along with Destro , Baroness , Storm Shadow , and a Cobra Trooper . The figure

20040-406: The past: they have been elected and placed in power by a ruling body called the Cobra Council. The first Cobra Commander was a well-known, famous businessman, operating as the Commander in secret. His uniform was a suit and tie, with gloves and variation of the silver face mask. Rather than having an army helmet over the blank face plate mask, the lower portion of the mask has fangs engraved around

20207-415: The popularity of television began to close down, merging with the few survivors. In the 1970s very few boys' comics in the "slick" format were launched, although Polystyle's Countdown was one exception, launching in 1971 with content similar to TV21 (which had disappeared by then) and TV Comic . Vulcan , a reprint title, was another, in 1976. Girls' titles which had launched in the slick format in

20374-432: The recurring character, was a working-class fellow who got up to various forms of mischief and often suffered for it. In 1890 two more comic magazines debuted before the British public, Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips , both published by Amalgamated Press . These magazines notoriously reprinted British and American material, previously published in newspapers and magazines, without permission. The success of these comics

20541-420: The rigid weekly schedule. Finley-Day felt there was some flexibility, but artist John Cooper was less than impressed after being taken off " Johnny Red " to draw some of the strips, later recalling "I thought it was rubbish... I thought then, 'It's going downhill, this comic'" and particularly disliking Ironblood. The strips did at least allow the title's falling sales to level out, and in addition to paying for

20708-472: The river. The SAS Force meanwhile were called in to battle Cobra-backed insurgents in an Arabian state. Action Force team-member Mutt meanwhile prevented a Cobra assassination attempt against a deposed president under guard in Mexico. While both on separate training issues in a South American jungle, units of SAS Force and Cobra (led by Major Bludd and Baroness) were captured by hidden SS holdouts – including

20875-412: The same lines as Punch . The magazine was heavily illustrated, with cartoons by John Proctor , known as Puck, among others, and benefitted from innovations in the use of cheap paper and photographic printing. Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884) is regarded as the first comic strip magazine to feature a recurring character (Ally Sloper). This strip cost one penny and was designed for adults. Ally,

21042-467: The series with a premise much closer to the American G.I. Joe mythos. For Battle itself, the loss of "Action Force" was a serious body-blow. Not only did the comic lose half its funding but it suddenly had to fill the gap with new content. As such, Tomlinson and editor Richard Burton hurriedly came up with the copycat concept of Storm Force , which became one of the few new stories produced alongside an increasing number of reprints. A second attempt at

21209-448: The small press and manga, as well as figures from mainstream British comics and other fields, including author Philip Pullman . As it transpired, it didn't make it to its first birthday, ending with issue 43. A new more successful comic, however, The Phoenix , began in January 2012, a successor to The DFC which has already reached 500 issues. Starting in May 2023, Rebellion published

21376-493: The soldier, but Firefly referred Cobra Commander to Zartan , another assassin who infiltrated the clan, but ultimately killed the wrong man (the Hard Master ). Storm Shadow was blamed for the murder, and his search for his uncle's killer would eventually lead him to join Cobra, where he would pledge loyalty to Cobra Commander as his personal bodyguard, in order to get close to him and find the real assassin. The soldier left

21543-465: The sound of his own voice", and drew inspiration from famous conservative pundit William F. Buckley . Cobra Commander was first released as a mail-in figure in 1982. Wearing a light blue uniform and his signature battle helmet, early production runs were marked with an early version of the Cobra sigil, nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse" emblem for its more rounded shape. All of the original sixteen figures from 1982 were released with "straight arms". In 1983,

21710-438: The spy, opting instead to personally recruit Chuckles, by taking him into his confidence and promising him revenge against Xamot. In issue #12 of "G.I. Joe: Cobra", Xamot attempts to set up Cobra Commander to be killed and Chuckles to be blamed, only to learn the Commander has outmaneuvered him. Chuckles doesn't manage to kill the Commander, shooting him and missing. This is the first time a Commander has been killed in action, and

21877-765: The start of the 21st century was Toxic , a comic which mixed comic strips alongside game reviews and other articles. Beginning in 2002, this comic proved very successful and is still running. Its influence can be felt on other comics as well most notably when The Dandy , Britain's longest-running comic at the time, became the Dandy Xtreme in August 2007; it borrowed many of the features prevalent in Toxic , mixing articles alongside comic strips. However, The Dandy eventually moved away with this strategy in October 2010, when

22044-466: The still-living Adolf Hitler – which had linked up with the Red Shadows. The two groups were forced to work together to escape in a biref truce, and Eagle defeated Hitler in single combat. Duke meanwhile led an expedition to the South Pole after Cobra attacked a survey party, eventually routing their forces. Cobra continued to back insurgents, and an Action Force response team led by Roadblock found

22211-532: The stories printed in Battle Action Force has been jointly owned by Rebellion Developments and Hasbro. Despite retaining a cult following, retrospective reviews of "Action Force" have been mixed. Pat Mills , co-creator of Battle and writer of " Charley's War " (which ran alongside "Action Force" for much of its run) felt the stories badly affected the comic's maturity, recalling that " Battle lost its edge... I cringe with embarrassment at some of

22378-641: The strip became an "adult" style superhero , and was later reprinted, with the story continued, in an American full-color comic, with the name changed from "Marvelman" to "Miracleman" to avoid any lawsuits that Marvel Comics may have considered. Eventually, Warrior succumbed to copyright issues. Adult comics also witnessed a slight resurgence with Pssst! , an attempt to market a French-style monthly bande dessinée , and Escape magazine, published by Paul Gravett , former Pssst! promotions man. Escape featured early work from Eddie Campbell and Paul Grist , amongst others. Neither comic managed to survive in

22545-474: The strips Palitoy would fund a number of circulation-boosting free gifts based on the toyline – arguably reaching its apex when the 14 July 1984 edition featured a cover-mounted Action Force figure, sold in shops for £1.50, with the 24p comic. However, in 1985 Palitoy took the cheaper route of simply importing figures from Hasbro's own 3¾" toyline, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and simply altering some elements of their toy biographies to make them fit in with

22712-438: The surviving titles published by IPC, Fleetway, and DC Thomson were merged into each other in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics waned further in response to a surge in the popularity of television (a popularity which received another major boost from the late 1970s onward as domestic videocassette recorders became available), and due to the popularity of video games (as inexpensive home computers such as

22879-678: The team is away, Cobra Commander attacks Washington, D.C. , taking over the White House and capturing the President. Cobra also takes over Fort Meade , while Alexander McCullen attacks London and France with the Iron Grenadiers. Cobra Commander then sends Tomax and a squad of Night Creepers to "The Coffin", a prison in Greenland created to hold all of G.I. Joe's captured enemies. Tomax manages to free Major Bludd and several others, while killing those Cobra Commander considered "loose ends". Dela Eden, who had been freed from The Coffin,

23046-449: The team is then deactivated by order of the President, given that Cobra as an organization has fractured, although Cobra Commander remains at large. One year after the previous series, satellites begin falling out of orbit and crashing into major cities, resulting in massive civilian casualties. Thinking that Cobra is responsible for the attacks, the G.I. Joe Team is reactivated to deal with the new threat. The team eventually discovers that

23213-443: The threat of Cobra. The Red Shadows were used by Devil's Due Publishing for their licensed G.I. Joe comic book series in 2005, though the organisation was substantially different to that featured in Battle Action Force . In 2010, Action Force and the Red Shadows were used as the theme for a fan convention set of toys. IDW Publishing also used the group in their own G.I. Joe comic series from 2013. Since 2016, copyright to

23380-406: The threat. Led in the field by Top sergeant Duke , new units underwent rapid training, though Cobra agents such as Zartan attempted to disrupt the process. Other Cobra recruits included Austrian aristocrat and anarchist Baroness while the organisation also captured the plans for Action Force's Hawk helicopter, with Destro making a superior version called the F.A.N.G. Despite these disruptions,

23547-438: The three longest-running comics of all time were all British. British comics are usually comics anthologies which are typically aimed at children, and are published weekly, although some are also published on a fortnightly or monthly schedule. The two most popular British comics , The Beano and The Dandy , were released by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million. Explaining

23714-435: The title's all-war format in favour of allowing stories less anchored in realism. However, this was only a partial success and from 1981 the comic's budget was such that it had to begin reprinting older stories. Meanwhile Coalville -based toy company Palitoy had been producing Action Man since 1966, initially as a licensed version of American company Hasbro 's G.I. Joe . Action Man had gone on to become something of

23881-466: The titles presented only comical (i.e. humorous) content. British comics typically differ from the American comic book . Although historically they shared the same format size, based on a sheet of 30 x 22 inch imperial paper , folded, British comics have moved away from this size, adopting a standard magazine size. Until that point, the British comic was also usually printed on newsprint, with black or

24048-614: The toy industry. Hasbro purchased the company, and while Action Force continued as an imported version of G.I. Joe they moved to swiftly end the agreement with IPC. The American company had experienced considerable success producing a comic based on the Transformers toyline with Marvel UK , and were keen to see if the process could be repeated with Action Force . The final episodes of "Action Force" were printed in Battle Action Force in November 1986, after which Marvel would reboot

24215-414: The toyline splitting up the Action Force organisation into four branches – Z-Force, SAS Force, Q-Force and Space Force – the comic was able to rotate the focus of the strips, allowing the creative teams for each concurrent serial to not worry overly about what others were doing. The third strip in each episode would focus on a particular member of Action Force; another device was flashback origin stories for

24382-441: The trade as "slicks." At the end of the 1960s, these comics moved away from gravure printing, preferring offset litho due to cost considerations arising from decreasing readership. However, the boys' adventure comic was still popular, and titles such as Valiant and Tiger , published by IPC Magazines , saw new adventure heroes become stars, including Roy of the Rovers who would eventually gain his own title. Odhams Press

24549-587: The tribes in New Guinea , Action Force members Stalker and Recondo were dispatched to head up the investigation, but were ultimately defeated by an enemy force led by Zartan and Major Bludd. More successful was a mission for polar specialist Snow Job to recover a crashed Super Tornado jet after a crash in the Arctic by preventing Cobra Commander from reaching the crashed aircraft first. Duke, Scarlett and Torpedo meanwhile were assigned to provide security for

24716-456: The vagaries of the comics market, Escape beset by lack of publisher interest. During this period a number of smaller publishers were formed to provide inventive publications appealing to niche markets. Congress Press was one of these companies, releasing titles such as Birthrite , Heaven & Hell and a graphic novel, Spookhouse . Other small publishers of the era included Harrier Comics (1984–1989) and Acme Press (1986–1995). Most of

24883-490: The vein of Yosemite Sam . Season 2 opened with the 5-episode mini-series Arise, Serpentor, Arise! in which Doctor Mindbender, disillusioned with Cobra Commander, decides to literally create a new leader to replace him. Acting as an operation to create a super-soldier, Cobra agents are sent around the world to collect DNA samples retrieved from the tombs of history's most notorious conquerors and military leaders to genetically craft Cobra Commander's successor. Fortunately for

25050-406: The world like Cobra is overthrowing a brutal regime and fighting the drug trade; it also drives up the price of heroin, a drug Cobra deals in. The Cobra Council are then slaughtered by Krake's agents, giving him full command of Cobra. Writers Chuck Dixon and Mike Costa have said that while the previous Commander allowed his subordinates to "pursue their own goals so long as they kick back to him" and

25217-448: The world's military for a concerted campaign to wipe out Ironblood and his forces once and for all. Sensing defeat, Ironblood transmitted the location of numerous Red Shadow bases to the authorities and headed for a secret hideout unknown to his forces, which he left to be wiped out by Action Force. Instead he reinvented himself as Cobra Commander , and began to set up a new network of terrorist forces. The vengeful Red Jackal pursues him but

25384-529: The young is an urgent and a grave one. In the early 1950s, "lurid American 'crime' and 'horror comics' reached Britain", prompting what in retrospect has been characterised as a moral panic . Copies of Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror , which arrived as ballast in ships from the United States, were first only available in the "environs of the great ports of Liverpool , Manchester , Belfast and London", but by "using blocks made from imported American matrices ", British versions of Tales from

25551-426: Was a company that mainly printed (adventure-oriented) new material; it also reprinted American Marvel Comics material in its Power Comics line, which included the titles Smash! and Fantastic . By 1970 the British comics market was in a long-term decline, as comics lost popularity in the face of the rise of other popular pastimes for children. Initially, the challenge was the rising popularity of television ,

25718-469: Was aimed at boys in a slightly older age group, lasted from 1879 to 1967. There has been a continuous tradition, since the 1950s, of black and white comics, published in a smaller page size format, many of them war titles such as Air Ace , inspiring youngsters with tales of the exploits of the army , navy and Royal Air Force , mainly in the two world wars . There have also been some romance titles and some westerns in this format. On 19 March 2012,

25885-496: Was content to "profit invisibly", Krake "wants to be known and wants to be powerful, and wants to rule the world in the most supervillainy sense... With his leadership, Cobra shifts from a sneaky, shadowy cabal to an actual military presence." G.I. Joe: Origins involves a psychotic ex-stock broker, who murders his family and several law enforcement officers when his crimes are discovered. Calling himself "the Chimera" and gathering

26052-412: Was depicted as an average, physically fit Caucasian with a pony tail, large round green-spectacle sunglasses, and a long slender mustache. Although only a convenient disguise at the time, this civilian look would resurface on subsequent unmaskings. A police officer soon recognized the Commander from a picture carried by an accident victim: the Commander's son Billy, who had survived the explosion, but lost

26219-508: Was impressed when he told Krake he had a spy in his gang and the man responded by killing every other member. Krake was invited to join Cobra, initially resisting but later providing the means to take over several Chinese triads . The first action Krake takes as Commander is to openly invade the Southeast Asian nation of Nanzhao and steal its gold reserves. During the invasion, he destroys heroin poppy fields, so it initially looks to

26386-538: Was later caught in the crossfire between the Soft Master and Cobra agent Scrap-Iron , resulting in an explosion which seemingly killed Billy and several others. During a failed assault on the Pit , the secret headquarters of G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander and Destro were separated from the main Cobra force by an explosion and presumed dead. The two escaped and assumed civilian disguises to travel incognito. Cobra Commander

26553-493: Was relaunched, this time including photo comics, but still with Dan Dare as the lead story. The comic moved it from the front page to the centre pages to allow a more magazine-style cover. In 1978 The Adventures of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot began serialisation in Near Myths (and continued in other comics after that title folded). Luther Arkwright was later collected as a graphic novel , and has been called

26720-517: Was released to coincide with the Spy Troops line, based on the same design as its smaller counterpart. A version of Cobra Commander with no accessories came with the Built to Rule Cobra H.I.S.S. in 2004. The figure featured additional articulation with a mid-thigh cut joint, plus the forearms and calves of the figure sported places where blocks could be attached. 2007 was the 25th anniversary of

26887-438: Was repainted (sans talking backpack) in an even darker blue, with silver highlights, with a new character " Chameleon " (a Baroness doppelganger created to sidestep copyright problems). A second repaint of the 1987 figure was made available in 2001, in a muted version of its original color scheme. It was also a double-pack with the 'Laser-Viper' figure. In 2002, the Commander was initially meant to be redesigned by Hasbro. After

27054-464: Was repainted in black with silver accents, for 1993's Battle Corps subset. A 12" version of the Commander wearing the same uniform (blue with yellow accents) was released in 1993 as well. In 1994, Cobra Commander was suited up for space combat as part of the Star Brigade . Wearing a teal and purple spacesuit, the Commander's domed helmet was removable, revealing a masked head underneath. This face

27221-475: Was repainted in cartoon accurate colors for a second single card release, and the "Cobra Senior Officers" 3-Pack. The hooded version was repainted for the " Crimson Guard " 3-Pack. Cobra Commander first appeared in the Marvel Comics series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1 (June 1982). While Cobra Commander's birth name and childhood are unknown, he is believed to be a North American citizen born in

27388-410: Was rereleased on a single card, and repainted in black and gold for the "Cobra Legions" 5-pack, and in comic accurate colors for a Comic 2-Pack. Mirroring the vintage line, Cobra Commander was released with a hooded head sculpt in the first wave of single carded figures. A second Cobra Commander sculpt, based on the 1987 Battle Armor figure, was released in early 2008. The Battle Helmet version from 2007

27555-541: Was rife, with magazines profiting from competitors' successes under a few cosmetic name changes. Apart from action and historical stories, there was also a fashion for horror and the supernatural, with epics like Varney the Vampire running for years. Horror, in particular, contributed to the epithet "penny dreadful". Stories featuring criminals such as 'Spring-Heeled Jack', pirates, highwaymen (especially Dick Turpin), and detectives (including Sexton Blake) dominated decades of

27722-533: Was such that Amalgamated's owner, Alfred Harmsworth, was able to launch the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail newspapers on the profits. Comics were also published as accompaniments to women's magazines at the end of the century. Jungle Jinks, which held the honor of being the longest running British comic until 1954, first appeared in 1898 as a supplement to Home Chat; drawn by Mabel F. Taylor , it

27889-503: Was the first anthropomorphic animal British comic. Over the next thirty years or so, comic publishers saw the juvenile market as the most profitable, and thus geared their publications accordingly, so that by 1914 most comics were standalone booklets aimed at eight- to twelve-year-olds. The interwar period is notable mainly for the publication of annuals by Eagle Press, and also the emergence of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd . D. C. Thomson launched both The Beano and The Dandy in

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