A few years ago I wouldn't have even considered blending MASK or Eagle Force into the Joe universe, or at least my Joe universe. If I were able to write a Joe story line for comic book format, I would want to weave in characters from MASK and Eagle Force.

For me, it comes down to is the other continuity "almost real with a dusting of futurist science fiction" (the category I would largely frame the Joe universe)? If it is, then I can consider it something that could be meshed.

Hasbro made it easy by including Matt Trakker, though my MASK customs have done away with the more over-the-top helmets. I also see the characters as either Joes or Cobras, not MASK or Venom agents. The Venom characters lend themselves fairly easily to either being Cobras or Drednoks. The MASK agents, being a bit more civilian in appearance, are a research and development group protected under the GI Joe umbrella. I could even see a story under which Miles Mayhem quietly assembles a team of Cobra/Drednok/MARS defectors to become Venom.

Eagle Force is even easier. Instead of being UN-sponsored (or whatever agency sponsored them) soldiers, Eagle Force are mercenaries (ethically righteous, of course) led by Captain Eagle. They frequently take jobs in Africa that bring them into conflict with the ruthless dictator General Mamba, who brutally destroys his enemies with his RIOT army.

Throw in the urge to make these customs, and it's easy for me to open the door to outside characters.

Though I haven't made customs of them (yet), I could easily see James Bond characters or Mission Impossible characters overlapping with a Joe universe.

What are your guidelines? Do you have any? For those of you that include Joe as part of the same universe as Star Wars, Marvel/DC, Star Trek, etc.- from a creative perspective, how do you make that leap?

What universes do you blend into your Joeverse? Any strange ones?

Great question.

As a kid, anything went.
Then, I got very strict with it (when new sculpt was released) and only allowed arah, even with my customs - they had to fit into the marvel joe-verse.

Now, with my kids, it's wide-open again - especially with mu figs - cobra works hand-in-hand with hydra, aim, and the skrull for total toy room domination.

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MASK is an easy one these days, thanks to the Matt Trakker figure, and really, the two concepts do have a large number of similarities.

I think there have been enough crossovers between G.I. Joe and Transformers to assume that they could exist within the same universe, just not encounter each other all that often.

Given the Hasbro-based figures from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, I think both of these concepts could be worked in without too much difficulty.

COPS, although the figures are certainly not compatible, clearly has a connection to G.I. Joe in the form of Checkpoint.

Visionaries? Yeah, okay, sure, but how would they meet?

Another Kenner concept -- Centurions. Perhaps an outgrowth of Star Brigade Armor-Tech?

Monster Hunter: International. I just have this vision in my head of Earl Harbinger and Snake Eyes fighting back to back against unspeakable horrors.

Might be a little meta, considering that the MHI author is apparently G.I.Joe's accountant.

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When I was a kid, I had no problems mixing up other continuities with Joes like Star Wars & Transformers. I remember blending universes with Star Trek too. I justified it because they were from the future so it was definitely timeline based (for me back then).

However, as I got older I just gravitated toward keeping them separate. I prefer that the official Joe canon (whether it be comics, tv series or product lines) keep other continuities out.

I am definitely in the minority who thought that the Matt Tracker figure should not have been produced in the Joe line.

It would have been really nice to see a resurrection of the MASK line as a whole by itself.

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C.O.P.S... definitely C.O.P.S.

how about Sky Commanders and Spiral Zone as sub-teams?

and finally, for something weird and impossible... Pokemon. Because every single joe needs a pet companion.

I am in the process of putting together a UN sanctioned Storm Watch team to integrate into my Joeverse. The team include characters like Battalion, Backlash, Winter, Fugi, Hellstrike, Flashpoint, and more. They are not superheroes but are highly trained soldiers from all over the world, with special weapons reflective of what their comic counterparts abilities were. They would be the UN version of the Joe team and would be able to either work along side of them, or operate on their own.

The custom figures are slowly being pieces together, but I am nowhere near complete yet. I'd also want to design them a transport maybe based on the Avengers Quinjet or something Star wars, and a space station base of operations.

I always enjoyed reading the comics and wanted to splice those characters into my Joeverse.

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Definitely Centurions. Futuristic armor/weapon systems manned and designed by the men who use them in battle seems like a perfect fit. I would drop the space station and beaming the weapon system to the operatives though. Keep their female mission planner though but put here back at the Pit to keep track of the guys.

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Anything in Godfrey Ho's Ninja movies ever. I think GI Joe could use Brian O'Riley and Ninja Master Harry at the very least.

I might have considered Jurassic Park if the AWE Striker repaint and its driver were more readily and cheaply available, even if not in an official capacity.

Maaaaaaaaybe the American Godzilla movie? I really liked Jean Reno's character in it.

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Stargate.

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I have to think that the only limits are those that each sets to what they feel is 'right'. Myself, I see many of the action hero movie characters and all of the spy characters (Rambo, Commando, Bond, Bourne, Hunt and Steed & Peel. Beyond that, I would think that non alien comic characters can possibly fit in (not those with fantastical or such powers) such as Batman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Man and others along those lines.

If you included some sci-fi to your verse then you really open the door and allow for things likd Star Gate, Aliens, Predators and all sorts of races to pepper your world & verse.

MIB, MASK, and HALO. Those would fit in so seamlessly it isn't even funny.

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Like most have said, when I was a kid it was pretty much anything goes. My only limitations was figures that were similar size and articulation to Joes. So Buck Rogers, Micronauts and The A-Team were all in there. As the Joes got better articulation they became my primary focus but I would still battle them against a friend's Star Wars collection.
Now my Joeverse is mainly a mix of Marvel Universe and traditional Joes (with some other stuff thrown in here and there). The main thing to determine what gets in is if it something I like and is a similar size and articulation. The closest thing (right now at least) to a super powered hero is Captain America (who leads the Joe team) with other lesser powered and/or "gadget" heroes (and villains) in the universe. The Joe team is the public face of Shield and mostly operates to protect America from the Red Skull and his Cobra army (with Destro as one of his generals). Nick Fury still runs Shield but mostly handles their black ops stuff with Omega Squad (Black Widow, Snake Eyes, Sabretooth and Crossbones so far).
Once the MU Beta Ray Bill comes out it is going to be hard for my not to introduces alien races into the mix but I'll cross that bridge later.

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I really like MASK and VENOM being added to their respective teams.

Matt and I are also working on including Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and the CORPS! (well, mostly me on the last one).

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*like*

A similar concept also easy to cross over is the Spooks/Omega Team comic verse...

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