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I know there has been a lot of recent discussion about the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club newsletter, especially with the announcement of Dial Tone as the 2011 incentive figure.  Well, in my mind, even if many fans weren’t wild about Dial Tone, the newsletter is still a pretty cool commodity, and John Warden is a big reason why.
Warden is the lead designer on the G.I. Joe line these days and has a deep impact on the figures you see on store shelves, and over the past few months, he’s contributed to the newsletter with some fantastic articles about recent figures.  He’s already spoken about the SDCC Exclusive Sgt. Slaughter, the upcoming Wave 3 Snake Eyes, and this month, he talks at great length about the awesome Jungle-Viper.  Some of the insights are fantastic.
He mentions that he came up with the figure in a dream, and immediately sketched the basic idea, and yes, the Cobra Night-Vipers were a very strong influence on the overall design.  The red dots scattered throughout his optical “ghille suit” are actually miniature cameras, which give him a great view around him and “eyes in the back of his head”.
Speaking of eyes, many Joe fans have wondered why Jungle Viper’s eyes are white…according to John Warden, the “…eyes are a ghostly white, a side effect from relying on the optics for sight for months on end.”
Insight like this is awesome, and really makes for an interesting read.  The details I mentioned above are just scratching the surface…there are three whole pages of text and great pre-production images that answer a LOT of fan questions about this character…and it sounds like there is plenty more to come!  If you like what you hear, hit up GIJoeClub.com and join up!  It’s worth it.