Not sure how many people saw these on Facebook groups, but I've been creating painted versions of my vision of G.I. Joe starting with the OG 13.

If anyone wants, I can post Wave 1, but here's Wave 2!

Up first is Airborne, one of the first Wave 2 Joes I got as a kid. I loved that he fit in perfectly with the Dragonfly, so he got plenty of use in our Joe Universe. I wanted a modern HALO look at him, complete with Airborne patches and a modern helmet with vision enhancements.



EDIT: Updated Airborne patch.

Let me know what you guys think!

Please post wave 1.

- Signed Everybody.

_________________

Up first is Breaker. Instead of just pure communications, I see Breaker as someone who can utilize both spy satellite and drone technology to give the Joes a constant all eyes and ears view of any battlefield, while being part of said field himself. If you notice his sleeve, he has a NROL-39 spy satellite patch, which says "Nothing is beyond our reach." I see each Joe as cutting across various military branches and intelligence agencies, with each representing the best of the best. I've created nearly all of the original 13, so keep looking and let me know what you think!

Clutch is up next for my reimagined G.I. Joes. I was thinking that it’d be funny if the guy who "greases his hair with motor oil, rarely shaves, chews on the same toothpick for months and still calls women chicks" had a daughter. It’d be like his own personal hell, because he’d know what trouble guys like him would be, so he’d be overly protective and push her to be a tomboy (despite her looks) and to be a better driver than him. I went all in on her tattoos, so you can see a Punisher skull (ala the Navy SEALs), a daddy heart, a MOPAR “M” and, of course, a NO STEP sticker. Anyways, I’m sure this one will either be liked or not liked, but whatever. I had fun creating her.

Up next is a Cobra soldier. I loved how in Renegades, it seemed like Cobra had already won. I love that they are part of the militarized police force style conspiracy theory on that show, so I wanted something that looked like that. I also wanted to create the Cobra sigil as an in your face, fast attack last thing you ever see part of their helmets.

I wanted to put together what I love about the original, mix in some of the armored look and then put in some Krake and mix it with modern combat armor. I wanted a Cobra Commander who doesn't need to sit on a snake throne any more. One that gets out there and leads his army into brutal and violent combat. I wanted to keep the theme of the sigil broken up onto body armor and wanted the face shield to mimix the sigil and a snake ready to strike.

For my next reimagined Cobra, here's the officer. More armor, more blue, more of the sigil being broken up across body armor. Again, I wanted to create a more streamlined, more today's combat ready Cobra.

Flash is up next in my reimagined G.I. Joe series. I wanted a darker hued laser trooper, someone who stood out from Grand Slam. Again, I went with a more realistic laser that’s in testing and did a mix of red and green digi camo. I wanted him to both blend in and stand out from the team. For not being one of my favorites, Flash really turned the corner for me once I drew him.

My next reimagined G.I. Joe is Grand Slam. The jet pack he used in 1983/84 is still too futuristic today. My suggestion is a modified Martin Jetpack, which can reach a maximum speed of 46 MPH with a flight duration of 20 miles. My thought is that Grand Slam is used for quick rescues or extractions. The laser rifle he used (not the HAL, which isn’t real yet either) has been substituted with my version of Mission Systems Pulse Energy Rifle. It’s for the Marines, but I kind of made Grand Slam as an amalgamation of Marine/Air Force lookwise. I kept his digicamo very urban focused, as I see him being able to swoop into urban hostage situations, get the pack on the roof, create a diversion or opening for the team and get out. Grand Slam has always been a secondary repaint guy, so for my set, I wanted him to be more front and center.

Instead of Grunt being just a grunt, I wanted him to be the best of the best - the ultimate infantry man. He's not a troop builder, but closer to a one man army. He takes the codename as a joke, as he's anything but a pawn on the board. I wanted something a bit meaner and more mysterious for him, so I went with the dark woodland camo and face mask. Let me know what you think.

This is a grizzled, battle ready not yet a General Hawk, thinking of how he can stay on the front lines when the last thing he wants to do is command from behind a desk. A man caught between his future and now. Plus, I threw in the missiles in the background as a nod to his first boxed incarnation.

My next reimagined Joe is Rock ‘n Roll, who is one of my all-time favorite Joes. I wanted to combine what I love about his V2 look with a more realistic look. So much of the inspiration, obviously, comes from the awesome Sideshow figure. But I wanted to take it further, having him push his love of music front and center. He has Black Label Society patches mixed in with his gear, as well as forearm tattoos that were based on his look from Resolute. He kept the MK-43 M-60 Machine Gun that the Sideshow was armed with, but I went with an overall darker color palette for his gear.

Scarlett is my next reimagining and the biggest departure costume wise that I could make. I could never understand why she would go into combat in full neon and with high heels on. I realize it’s silly escapism, but I wanted to create a Scarlett who is strong, capable and smart as hell. She has the 22nd Military Airlift Squadron patch on her arm. Their mission was to pick up classified aircraft from aerospace plants in Southern California and deliver them to classified locations for testing and evaluation in the dead of night. When these missions happened, they would remove all other patches and Velcro this one on. This is a takeoff of this patch to symbolize that Scarlett knows way too much and is incredibly dangerous. I kept the red highlights on her gear, as well as her hair and gloves. The only real nod to the original are the throwing stars on her gauntlets and her crossbow. And no high heels for combat!

A mortar soldier doesn’t seem as futuristic or cool any more, so I switched Short Fuze to a Foster-Miller TALON operator, specifically the SWORDS TALON (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System). Whereas the TALON is an amazing robot that can travel through sand, water, and snow as well as climb stairs, the SWORDS goes even further, with the ability to shoot precisely when controlled by an operator either using a video game controller or VR goggles. SWORDS can carry and fire an M16 rifle, 5.56 mm SAW M249, 7.62 mm M240 machine gun, .50 cal M82 Barrett rifle, a six barreled 40 mm grenade launcher or quad 66 mm M202A1 FLASH incendiary weapon. Short Fuze is now a one-man, one robot armory and army that can either support or fight alone.

My next reimagined Joe is Snake Eyes. He was based on the Sideshow version, with less constrictive pants. More of a nod to the V1 1983 version of Snake Eyes. Fun trivia – my parents didn’t want me playing with military toys and until wave 2 of GI Joe, Snake Eyes was the only figure we were allowed to have. I wanted to do a nice mix of ninja and commando here, along with some armored pieces.