Cobra Commander's Delusions

The opening story arc to Devils Due Publishing's G.I. Joe series; "Reinstated", tells the tale of how Cobra returned and the G.I Joe team was reformed after the end of the original Marvel series. Shortly after his attempt to reunify Cobra, Cobra Commander is infected with nano-mites by Destro's son, Alexander (who is disguised as his father). Locked in a padded cell, the infected Commander experiences paranoid delusions and nightmares - which artist Steve Kurth draws in classic Sunbow style! 

Note the freakish two headed Tomax/Xamot!

ARAH in "Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles"

In 1994, Hasbro released a spinoff G.I. Joe toyline called "Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles". The new figures were in a slightly larger scale from the old ARAH (A Real American Hero) toyline and introduced a new character; Sgt. Savage. Savage - not unlike Marvel's Captain America - was a soldier from World War II who had been placed in cryogenic suspension and re-awakened in modern times. 

To support the new toyline, a direct-to-video cartoon was produced called "Old Soldiers Never Die" which explained the origin of Sgt. Savage, and was packaged with certain figures in the toyline. The Sgt. Savage toyline was ultimately short lived; but Savage himself would go to appear prominently in Hasbro's next G.I Joe spinoff, "G.I. Joe: Extreme". 

The half hour Sgt. Savage cartoon therefore acted as a bridge between the classic series and the new storyline introduced in G.I. Joe: Extreme, and featured several ARAH characters. 

General Hawk returns as commander of the Joes, introducing Savage (who had been one of his heroes as a child) to the modern world and assigning him command of his screaming eagles. Hawk's design here is a slightly updated version of his 1992 figure, which was featured in the second season of the DIC cartoon. David Kaye, who took over the role of Hawk from Ed Gilbert in the DIC series, returns to voice Hawk. 

Lady Jaye also appears, sporting an update of her classic design and a new, blonde hairdo. Here, she was voiced by Kathleen Barr. 

Doc, a character who had not been seen since "G.I. Joe: The Movie" returns here to assist with the unfreezing of Sgt. Savage. His design to quite close to his original Sunbow character model, but he now sports a white lab coat instead of his original yellow Medic's uniform. 









Cobra Commander makes a brief cameo, talking to the new villain; General Blitz, on a monitor. Blitz sternly warns the Commander not to interfere with his plans, and hints that he actually helped to create Cobra. Like Hawk, the Commander's appearance is based on his 1992 action figure, as it was in the second DIC season. For the first time, the Commander was not voice by Chris Latta; instead, Scott McNeil took on the role, and managed to perfectly emulate Latta's sinister tones. 

Beneath the Mask

Cobra Commander's face remained a mystery throughout the Sunbow series; from what little the audience could see, he was a Caucasian male with dark brown eyes, but otherwise, very little was known about his true face, or why he wore a mask. 

The first glimpse of the Commander's true face is seen in "The Revenge of Cobra: In the Cobra's Pit" when the Commander changes from his battle helmet into his hood. The back of the Commander's head is colored the same as the front of his silver face plate here - which could hint that he wears some extra protection, even beneath his hood. Or it could be that this is simply an animation error. 

The next time we are given an incling as to what lies behind the Commander's mask is in the episode "Lights, Camera, Cobra!" in which Destro walks in on an unmasked Cobra Commander, who is eating dinner (and making some strange, slurping noises). Destro sees the Commander's face and turns away in disgust, demanding that the Cobra leader put his mask back on. Cobra Commander is amused by this, and jokingly remarks, "it takes a strong stomach to watch me eat, doesn't it Destro?". Destro's horrified reaction appears to indicate that the Commander had some sort of unsightly deformity. 

An unmasked Cobra Commander is seen eating once again in "The Traitor: Part II", before being interrupted by Tomax and Xamot. He quickly puts his mask back on, revealing a very brief glimpse of what lies beneath. 









The Commander's face was finally revealed in "G.I. Joe: The Movie" which revealed him as a Nobleman of the ancient, reptilian civilization; Cobra-La. This stands at odds with all previous depictions of Cobra Commander in the series; which had, at the very least, established him to be human, with brown eyes. The movie shows the Commander to clearly have pale blue/green skin. In addition, it reveals that a laboratory accident with mutagen spores left him with a dozen extra eyes, necessitating the use of his silver face plate. 

This is, of course, an obvious retcon of the previously established canon of the series - as the Commander's skin tone, eyeballs and origins bare little resemblance to what had been previously established in the show. Indeed, his hood would be hugely uncomfortable to wear with all those extra eyes, and it is hard to believe that Destro would not have been more surprised when he saw a multi-eyed, blue skinned Commander. 

The Chain of Command

In the first season of Sunbow's G.I. Joe, Duke was the leader of the Joes. In the first mini-series, Duke was answerable to General Flagg, who did not re-appear in the series - but no clear command structure was established until the second season.

In "Arise Serpentor, Arise!" General Hawk was introduced as the leader (and founder) of the G.I. Joe team. Though there was no on-screen explanation for General Hawk's sudden appearance - and Duke's apparent demotion - Buzz Dixon stated in an interview for "G.I. Joe: Yearbook #2" that Hawk had previously been in Washington with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Duke was then established as Hawk's second in command, followed by Flint, Sgt. Slaughter and Beach Head.