SAS Panther & Stalker Review

“The behind the lines team, skilled in sabotage and disruption. They are usually the first to go into action, they are the SAS Force”

In wave 1 (1983) of the Action Force SAS Unit – Special Operations. The Original U.S V.A.M.P was recoloured and packaged with a different figure which was also repainted. The Vehicle was renamed SAS Panther and the driver packaged was Stalker. The UK Stalker figure/character is a repaint of the U.S Snake Eyes.
I will start with the most glaringly obvious. The colours on used on the SAS Panther are well suited to it’s team and operation. But is this vehicle a simple repaint of an American release or was there something more substantial to the vehicle and it’s design? Let’s have a look.

In 1982 the G.I.Joe Vamp was coloured Green and featured the driver Clutch. Over here just a year later the same vehicle mold was used but they selected a different figure to operate the vehicle. Was this a colour choice only because the U.S Snake Eyes looks better in SAS Colours as opposed to the Olive Drab Green of Clutch?
The SAS Panther has two variants. Most of the early released Panthers have black rollbars while the later released have yellow rollbars.

Having studied both vehicles carefully. Looking at the comparison pictures side by side everyone will always point to the obvious colour change. The decals applied are different and reflect the styles and designs of the respected teams.
One of the best things I really like about the SAS Panther is the wheels & Tyres. This is the big difference I feel which makes this vehicle standout from the U.S release. You’ll notice that the SAS Panther’s wheels & tyres are smaller. However they are also more realistic. The Green VAMP’s tyres are made from a rigid plastic which when rolled across concrete gives the impression of someone scraping their own knuckles against a brick wall. Should this really matter?
During heavy extended playtime back in the 80s yes, I think it does matter. Primarily as the scratches and scuffs on the plastic would wear down and make the VAMP look incredibly tacky. When rolling the Panther across concrete there’s an element of realistic feeling from the soft rubber or whatever material they used to design the tyres makes the vehicle have a bit more give in the wheels which is really how a proper tyre should react.

I won’t turn this review into a Panther beats VAMP debate, where a toy succeeds is in the elements of longevity, value, fun and design. You could have just as much fun with either. The designs are similar as stated and the colours are great on both. I just prefer the Panther over the VAMP because of the wheels and tyres issue, the blueprints state the wheels and tyres are off-road tyres on alloy wheels and using reading this blueprint and playing with the toy that’s the feeling you get.The Panthers features according to the blue prints are a top speed of 140Mph and a 7.62mm computer synchronized machine gun mounted at the rear.

Onto the character. Stalker’s file-name is Ragnar Ragnarsson. An Icelandic rough terrain driver from Reykjavik is depicted as his primary role in the SAS. Although he’s adept at heavy machine guns and his two accessories of an explosives pack and Uzi reflect his character design really well.

My final scores:
Design: 8/10
Durability: 7/10
Accessories & Playability: 7/10
Creativity and Innovation: 7/10
Multiple Personnel Transport Rating: 5/10
Overall: 8/10

Urban Saboteur

Andrew Wildman interview!

British comic artist Andrew Wildman was penciller of Marvel’s GI Joe series from issue #120 to #137 in the early 90s. He is perhaps better known for his work on various UK and US Transformers comics and at the end of 2006 he returned to both the Real American Heroes and Robots In Disguise, providing art for Devil’s Due’s GI Joe Vs. Transformers: Black Horizon mini-series (originally planned as a 4-issue series but rushed into 2 due to Hasbro’s desire for the Transformers’ 2007 appearances to follow their live-action movie styles).

At the May 12-13, 2007 Bristol International Comic Expo, Mr. Wildman kindly took a few minutes to give this exclusive interview for GIJoeUK.com!

How did you get the job on GI Joe?

Basically, the way it came about was one of these situations where editors shift from one book to another. I was doing Transformers and it was coming to an end – we were told that it was going to be cancelled.

The editor on Transformers at the time was Rob Tokar and his assistant was Chris Cooper. Chris, just prior to the book being cancelled, had moved to a different office and he was now the assistant editor to Bobbie Chase, who was the editor on GI Joe. When they knew that Transformers was going to be cancelled, Chris obviously was aware of my work and he said, “We’re probably going to have a gap come up for GI Joe, would you be interested in having a look and doing that?” So I said yeah, great; I got into a conversation with Bobbie and they asked me to do a 2-page sample, which I did. They wanted to see that I could draw vehicles – well, yes, you know?! – but I think more importantly they wanted to see that I could draw people, having been on robots for quite a long time. So I did it, they really loved it and that was it, they gave me the book!

Were you familiar with GI Joe (or Action Force) beforehand – the characters, or the toys?

I was familiar with it through Action Force. I don’t think I ever did any UK Action Force stuff, did I? You probably know… [Issue #10 of Action Force Monthly (GI Joe: European Missions) featured a 5-page strip, “War Correspondence!” with art by Andy Wildman and Stephen Baskerville – looking rather different from their later GI Joe run!] I wasn’t THAT familiar with it; I knew what it was, I knew about it, but wasn’t really familiar with all the characters.

Larry Hama has got a reputation for handing out a lot of reference to his GI Joe artists because he’s a real military & martial arts buff; did he send much to you?

Uh, yes! [laughs] He was great; he would send me everything I asked for, he would send me stuff that I didn’t even ask for, and he would send me stuff that I didn’t even see was in any way relevant at all! But it was great, he was so helpful.

I mean, this took place back in the day before the Internet and Google and all that kind of thing, so it was just really useful that he had his own whole library, the way I understood it, of magazine clippings and just… stuff about everything. And it wasn’t just military stuff either. I had been to New York but I wasn’t that familiar with the New York landscape and there was a particular one or two issues that we did on GI Joe where there were characters moving between the Chrysler Building and what was then the Pan Am Building, the MetLife Building. I didn’t really understand the geography. He sent me some amazing maps and all sorts of picture reference for the Chrysler Building; it was just great.

And what about Hasbro? Being a book licensed out for their toy line, did they send you a lot of visual references or toys themselves to base the art on?

Well, everything I ever had came from Bobbie, so it didn’t come directly from Hasbro, but then Hasbro had supplied Bobbie with all the reference that we’d need. But the amazing thing for me when I was first doing the book was I had some reference, mostly visual reference, but there was a point at which she said, “Look, we’ll send you some toys.” The doorbell rang a few days later; there was a guy standing there with a box that was bigger than him and he just dumped it on the doorstep. So I dragged this thing in, opened the box and started getting these toys out, and my lad — who’s now in his 20s, he was just a little nipper then — he was just enraptured, he could hardly contain himself and I’m like, “No, son, this is REFERENCE.” [laughs]

Did he get his hands on them eventually?

Yeah, he did. I mean initially I wasn’t even going to get them out of the packets, all the little figures, I was trying to keep them together because they’d got all the [file]cards and the pictures on them but gradually, one by one, we took them apart and he played with them.

With Hasbro’s influence – I don’t know if it was all through Bobbie Chase? – did they exert much control over what you did? Did you ever have to re-draw anything to change the depictions of their property?

No, I didn’t. Bobbie was a great editor to work with, she really knew what she was doing as an editor, it was fantastic. But the thing was, because he designed the original line of GI Joe characters, I think Hasbro would not tell Larry that there were things that he couldn’t do in terms of writing the story, so that was all clear. In terms of visuals, I don’t think I was ever picked up on anything drawn, no. Because having such good reference, there was no need.

Had it been similar with Transformers, the Hasbro connection again?

Transformers was fine, too. The Transformers reference was different in as much as there was toy reference, there was movie reference and TV – a bit more simple compared to the movie. It was a bit mixed so there was a certain amount of interpretation which was kind of okay, which is maybe why different artists get a different look to Transformers. The GI Joe reference was quite specific, but good reference.

At the time in GI Joe that you were on the book, the toy line was known – and is now a little bit infamous – for having different sub-teams within GI Joe; the Eco Warriors, Ninja Force. Did you like the variety of having these different sub-groups, or was it a bit much to have to keep jumping between all these different styles?

It didn’t affect me really, no; it was fine.

Did you have any preference; did you prefer the sci-fi stuff, or the straight military, or the ninjas?

I liked all the ninja stuff. I did like the ninja stuff. I mean, there was a particular — I can’t remember what issue, I’m sure you probably know the one [#124 & 126] — there was like a swamp theme; they’d just come from the Silent Citadel I think, and there was – I don’t know who was there, Storm Shadow… Anyway, it was the first proper swordfight scene we’d got with ninjas, and all that kind of thing. Larry had sent me some reference for that and I thought “This is the one thing that, if he picks me up on anything, he’s going to pick me up on this.” So I did go to great lengths to really study some of the poses & things; I mean, “it’s only a comic” and it’s just drawings, but nevertheless if you look at it a lot of those poses are pretty much straight out of the book because I didn’t — for his sake, because it meant a lot to him — I didn’t want it to be wrong.

In terms of favourites, were there any characters in particular that you liked drawing more than anyone else?

Yeah, Snake Eyes is an old favourite; interestingly Snake Eyes I did like despite the fact that you couldn’t see his face and I’ve always preferred characters whose faces you can see. Even Transformers; I like the ones with “faces,” you know. But I did like Snake Eyes, and… Lady Jaye, I always quite liked Lady Jaye. And Flint I always thought was pretty cool.

What were your reasons for leaving, in the end?

Two reasons for leaving. One was from a purely professional point of view; I’d started doing the X-Men Adventures book, they’d asked me if I wanted to do that and I thought, “This is the right career move to make, to move into kind of more mainstream characters.” Even though it was only an animated [TV series adaptation] version of the book, nevertheless it was X-Men so it was a good opportunity to work as part of the X-Men office, to work with [then-X-Men Group Editor] Bob Harras, all that sort of thing. So I was doing two books at the same time and the workload really was becoming too much. Now, [inker Stephen] Baskerville was an absolute diamond, I mean, the amount of finishing that he did on my GI Joe VERY loose pencils towards the end was phenomenal. Which is why it starts to look more like Baskerville and less like Wildman…!

But the other thing was I became very aware of the whole gun thing, the whole gun-culture thing, and as I say, my little lad was not very old then. He was starting to ask questions, you know; “What you drawing, daddy?” “Oh, I’m drawing GI Joe.” “What they doing, dad?” “Oh, they’re…shooting…each other…” And I just really felt that it was an uncomfortable situation. Morally as much as anything, and so I thought; [mainstream] comics are inherently violent in one sense or another but for the most part they don’t contain guns. So it just seemed like the right point to step away from it.

Was it coincidence that the Transformers guest-starred in GI Joe in a crossover storyline right when you left? Did you know it was coming when you made the decision?

Pure coincidence! In fact, for me, in some senses I was quite glad to leave Transformers; I’d had my fill of robots. I did like it, I really did like the stories – I’d never collected the toys or anything but I did like it — but it was time to move on so it did seem like history kind of biting me on the backside when suddenly Transformers popped up. I’m trying to get away from this stuff and it’s coming back in! But it was pure coincidence.

With the recent series of GI Joe/Transformers, Black Horizon, it finally gave fans of your art on both titles the crossover they’d been waiting for – how did you come to get that job?

I was at a point where I’d got a gap in my work, I really had not got much work; I’d done Transformers again by doing The War Within for Dreamwave, then that all finished [when the company folded] and I wasn’t so much involved with [current Transformers comic license holder] IDW, just bits & pieces, covers. I thought, what else could I revisit? What would be cool? And I thought it’d actually be cool to do GI Joe again, given that my son is now nearly 20, you know…! So I literally just sent an email to the Devil’s Due offices, I didn’t know who it was going to go to. I sort of said, “Hi! My name’s Andy Wildman, I used to draw GI Joe, have you got anything?” And they just got in touch and said “That’s wicked, yeah, we’ve got a project you could do!” So, it was just me asking and it was just fortuitous that there was something that they thought I was suitable for.

Did you have a sense of familiarity doing that series – I know the Transformers in it, Bludgeon especially, you’d done quite a lot with before – but some of the designs of the Joes are a bit more “classic era” as opposed to the 90s ones that you were doing, so did it feel similar?

Yeah, it did, because a lot of those classic GI Joe characters did appear in the stuff that I did, back in Marvel, so there were familiar characters. And they felt like… it’s kind of like Transformers, you know? The core team that there always was for me, when I got onto it, with Prime, Kup, and all those characters; same with GI Joe, these really are the core characters. Yeah, I felt really comfortable.

Would you be interested in doing any more? Either crossovers again, or just GI Joe on its own?

Yeah, I would. Yeah, definitely.

With GI Joe & Transformers, you’ve also done Thundercats, Power Rangers and Action Man art in the past; do you have any kind of affection towards licensed properties/toy line comics, or do you think you’ve become a good go-to guy for that kind of thing?

I think, as much as anything, that has a reflection of the UK comics industry. It wasn’t by choice, it’s just that’s what’s available when you live & work in the UK. So in some senses I was fortunate to have that background in Transformers, and then GI Joe just because it worked out that way, so that had it that I was [known as] somebody who does licensed books. So then it was a natural step – a few years ago now – but a natural step to Action Man and Power Rangers. And I’m fine with it, absolutely fine with that. I know that there are some people who will do an amount of that; like, they’ll do Thundercats because they think it’s cool, and they’ll probably do Transformers because it’s got kind of that “cult cool” to it, but generally they would tend to steer away from licensed books. They just prefer to do Marvel, or DC, or… But I don’t have that, I’m fine.

I would have thought there’d be more of a built-in market for the licensed books; you’re going to reach the fans of that and it’ll get your art out there and possibly to an even wider audience than might otherwise see it?

Yes; I think it’s possible that artists’ & writers’ perception is that they feel labelled as somebody who creates for “children’s comics” as opposed to the scenario that we’ll kid ourselves about, which is that all the rest of the comics are not for kids, you know…!

Have there been any licensed properties that you’ve seen, cartoons or toys, and thought you’d quite like to draw a comic of?

Um…yeah, I’m sure there are… I can’t think of any off the top of my head, I’ll get back to you on that one!

And finally, what can fans of your work look forward to in the coming months? Licensed properties or otherwise!

Well, there’s the UK Transformers [live-action movie-based] comic coming out, I’m doing an issue of that – they’ve broken it down into different artists to do different issues so I’m doing one. It’s mostly Transformers at the moment; I’ve done a 10-page strip that’s for a giveaway comic that’s being given out in American cinemas when the movie comes out, and I’m doing a 22-page mini-comic that’s going to go in the DVD release of the Transformers movie when that comes out later in the year. Other than that, I’m moving into children’s books and all that kind of thing. I have got 2 potential graphic novels that I’m putting together with Jason Cobley, who’s a big name in the small press world. We’ve developed a couple of projects, one of which I’m really passionate to get done & out there. It’s a bit more adult than it seems; it’s a psychological drama. So I’m working on that – it doesn’t have a publisher or anything, but…

Here’s hoping!

It’s possible!

Sounds good. Thank you very much for your time!

 

Interviewer: Andrew Mortimer

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

It hath arrived!

So here we are then with our very own widdle blog. My, aren’t we the lucky ones. Suffice to say it’s been a very hectic 6 days since GIJoeUK.com was launched, with the general concensus being that of excitement and anticipation for what is to come.

So just what is all the fuss about then? In short, GIJoeUK will serve as an Archive to all manner of UK and European merchandise and has been a long time dream of mine. Having been somewhat disgruntled over the last few years with the lack of decent UK / European Joes sites out there I decided to bite the bullet so to speak, and make one myself.

Now you may at this point be mildly bemused at the fact that there is currently no main site content -a factoid that we plan to rectify soon enough- but making such a site is no small task, which is why the forums and blog were set up to get people talking. Consider this: GIJoeUK – Lite.

So what will the site contain? To name but a few items of interest: UK and European Figures, Vehicles, File Cards, Comics, Specials, Intelligence Profiles, T.A.C. Files, Original Artwork, Annuals, Catalogues, Sticker Albums and Special Offers.

And maybe a few more specialist items, but that’ll do for now. We also plan on offering the latest news on this side of the pond, in addition to in-depth articles and interviews.

I make no bones about it, it’s a big project, BUT it can and WILL be done, and rest assured it will be worth the wait. So check back here for news and other little special offerings as we keep you up to date on our progress.

While you’re at it, why not sign up to our forums as well, show your support, give us your suggestions, idea’s, feedback, say hi, play Soduko and be apart of something pretty damn tasty.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::