StarDestroyer.Net BBS

"More," because of this thread.



Here, the Cobra Commander arrives at an undisclosed location, and is greeted by eight sideboys. Notice that his shoulderboards display two batons in saltire surrounded by wreathing and surmounted by a Cobra sigil -- the Cobra-ized version of a British field marshal's insignia (which bears a St Edward's Crown in place of the Cobra sigil).



Here the Commander meets with Javier Pérez de Cuéllar de Guerra, Secretary General of the United Nations Organisation (1982 - 1991), following the 1985 recognition of Cobra Island as a sovereign nation and its admission to the UN. In addition to his familiar 'dress uniform,' the Commander is holding a marshal's baton.



The Commander is seen sharing a laugh with Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985 - 1991) and President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1990 - 1991). The good cheer between the two is obviously forced; like the United States' Special Counter-Terror Group Delta, the Warsaw Pact's October Guard repeatedly clashed with Cobra, and in any event Gorbachyov had reason to be jealous of the Commander's prestige among nations like Fidel Castro's Cuba, Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi's Libya and the Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran.

Like Castro's habit of appearing in public in fatigues, the Commander has dressed in his battledress uniform, including his distinctive helmet.



The Cobra High Command assembles for a diplomatic reception sometime in the late 1980s. From left to right, Major Bludd (wearing an Australian Army officer's mess dress uniform, with nonregulation pin symbolizing his subsequent service with the French Army's Légion étrangère), Tomax, the Baroness, the Commander (still clutching his marshal's baton), Destro (in Highlands white tie), Xamot, and Dr. Mindbender.




The Commander appears alongside a number of other prominent terrorists and criminals. From left to right, the Cobra Emperor Serpentor (briefly the Commander's rival for control of Cobra), Wilder Vaughn (leader of the eco-terrorist cult the Red Shadows), Destro (chairman and chief executive of the Military Armaments Research Syndicate and leader of its private military, the Iron Grenadiers), the Commander himself, the Headman (a drug lord who had the poor judgment of incurring the wrath of Cobra), M. Bison (overlord of Shadowlaw, operating mainly in the Far East), and Baron Ironblood (leader of the fascist Red Shadows, in many ways a European counterpart to the Commander himself).

And lastly, something more on the comical side (see here):

I always enjoy your drawings, and that article is hilarious.

In an interesting coincidence, Baron Ironblood (described in the caption as a counterpart of Cobra Commander) looks a lot like the Black Knight from Monty Python.

"Counterpart" is a bit misleading. In the continuity of the British comics, Ironblood actually is Cobra Commander, having betrayed his original terrorist group, the Red Shadows, and stolen a ransom paid to him by the United Nations. He adopted a new persona and went on to become mortal enemy to Action Force.

The switch to the Cobra Commander persona not coincidentally accompanied a substantial decrease in jokes at his expense. The Baron Ironblood persona's "stovepipe" helmet may be regarded as an excess of the 1970s.

Man, now I want to roll up to the staff party as G.I. Joe

Hrm...Plubius' arts are always awesomes, but I wonder...since when has he ever drawn anything featuring the protagonists?

Hrm, good guys aren't really fun. The bad guys are always coolest.

Lol Publius you don't happen to be Max Fischer under that nom de plume, do you?

Publius wrote:The Commander is seen sharing a laugh with Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov *snip* Destro (in Highlands white tie) *snip* Ruthless Dictator Brings Experience, Fresh Perspective to Table

That was awesome, thank you.

Very good, Publius; why don't you do drawings of Cobra Island with it's landmarks and Cobra facilities?

"Guns, Germs, and Steel: A Modest Proposal on Conflict Resolution" made me laugh out loud. Very good, Publius, as are the sketches. Cobra Commander's uniform in the first picture is extremely well done.

The latter image is particularly appropriate; Cobra had a fortress inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, and G.I. Joe met with armed force from Iranian border guards while pursuing Cobra in 1983 ("Walls of Death," G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #7).

These are simply stunning. Great attention to detail, you've made me dust off some old toys!

now all we need is Kim Iljong, papa doc/baby doc, and maybe Cobra commander in a pro-provo pub in county clare....

Publius, you are a geek's geek.