Thanks to the glorious wonders of YouTube and sneaky convention attendees. Woop!
From what we can see, pretty neat stuff. Sure, mostly gun fire and Snake Eyes beating crap up, but the animation is fluid…the action is crisp and well choreographed. Looking forward to seeing more!
Well, not holy crap because of his name, because it’s pretty likely you’ve never heard of him before. I know I hadn’t. But if you’re a self-respecting geek, you’ve no doubt seen some of his work. His name is Henry Gilroy, and the guys at the Terror Drome confirmed at SDCC that he is one of the lead writers for G.I. Joe: Renegades.
So why is this important? Why is it a “Holy Crap” moment? Check out his resume:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animated Series (Writer)
The Secret Saturdays
Transformers: Animated (The Sound and the Fury)
Bionicle
The Tick
The Adventures of Batman and Robin
Batman: The Animated Series
Uhhh yeah. I think Renegades is in pretty good hands. As I’ve already covered in this post, we’ve got some very experienced veterans involved here, and experienced veterans with a great background. Some of the folks who worked on some of the greatest animated series in the past 15 years now have their hands in G.I. Joe, and I think that can only be a good thing. I can understand how some of the art and character designs might be a turn off to the adult Joe fan, but I still think we need to give the actual content a try before we prepare to write it off.
Information was absolutely flying around the ‘net today with the Renegades panel, and I’m endeavoring to gather it all into one sensible location. Been a bit challenging so far! I’ve been following the Cover It Live stream over at HissTank, and also following the fantastic coverage at Toy News International… the tweets coming in from Action Figure Insider have also been terrific.
This is what I’ve gathered together so far:
As discussed at JoeCon, Renegades is a “Year One” event. See things as they began.
Cobra is a large, mostly benevolent Pharmaceutical Company
“The Joes” start off as grunts mostly, on the run from the law for a crime they did not commit (no word on whether or not they drive a black van or are afraid of flying).
The Joes may not even start off with code names.
Current cast of characters: Duke, Scarlett, Tunnel Rat, Roadblock, Snake Eyes, Ripcord
Yes, ROAD-FREAKING BLOCK. And no, he is not a “rapping chef”.
For the style, they did not want to compete with Resolute, so went back to a more 50’s like “artistic” style.
Cobra tech is futuristic, but a familiar “15 minutes into the future” type of style.
We will learn about characters as they learn about themselves. See the evolutions of characters like Zartan, the Dreadnoks, Cobra Commander, etc…
They’ve worked with Joe fans in the industry trying to make sure the spirit and the mythology are alive.
Yes, voice actors for Scarlett and Duke will be in the series, but not AS Scarlett or Duke
Characters will have a slightly different look and take, but the spirit of the character is intact.
Obviously the cartoon will not be as violent as Resolute, but it will also NOT be dumbed down. Expect a similar level of action and violence as Batman: The Animated Series (I just squealed).
Epic stories that have ramifications throughout future episodes
Stories will be very character driven, sometimes focusing on one or two characters at a time
Speaking of two characters, expect to see Tomax and Xamot down the line
No concrete timeline for toys, but expect some news at Toy Fair, 2011 (I most certainly WILL BE THERE).
Renegades will focus on the small core team, but lots of fringe characters will come and go. Nobody is off limits!
Heavy Duty will make an appearance in the show as well.
A good balance between fantasy and reality. There will be some fantasy elements, but they will be grounded in the real world.
Lifeline and/or Doc will likely make an appearance
I think that about covers it. There was a video clip shown, but recording was not allowed. 🙁
Apparently a few folks still had vid cams rolling, so it may show up on YouTube eventually. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and Hasbro will get it out there somewhere as well. Apparently the video clip showed Snake Eyes “kicking ass”, Scarlett in a helicopter and various other action shots. Dying to see it.
Here are some links of interest:
As of about 4:00pm Eastern (50 minutes from now) the Hasbro and Renegades panel should be kicking off in San Diego, and GeneralsJoes is ready!
I’ve got full computer and online access, and I’ll be streaming live coverage from folks who are there, and will be posting updates as they happen through my Twitter and Facebook pages. Of course I will also gather all relevant information and have it for you right here on GeneralsJoes.com.
Normally I am not envious of the people dealing with the SDCC madness, but I’m so keyed up about Renegades that I wish I was there to soak it all in in person. I have a feeling it will make a lot of folks happy eventually, even if it doesn’t right off the bat.
Here we go… Yo Joe!
So as SDCC is just getting ramped up, and the Renegades panel is about six hours away, I need to take a few minutes to just express how much I’m looking forward to seeing what’s to come from G.I. Joe: Renegades. I know, I know…I’m a G.I. Joe fanboy, I look forward to everything, right?
No, believe it or not, that’s not the case. I’m not always jumping in feet first, and immediately open to whatever is to come.
But I’ve got a good feeling about G.I. Joe: Renegades. Maybe it’s just the interactions we had with the crew at JoeCon…maybe it’s just the vibe I get from the character designs, or the confidence I have after hearing Alan Hassenfeld’s commitment to quality entertainment (a comment he aimed squarely at one of the Renegades producers when he was speaking in Providence). Perhaps it’s just because after seeing how far animated action features have come in the past fifteen years, I have a lot more confidence that we’ll get something more akin to Wolverine and the X-Men rather than Sigma 6. Sure, it won’t be Resolute, but how could it be? I do think Hasbro learned something from Resolute, though, and I think they will be willing to stay more true to the franchise roots as Renegades goes forward.
Comments from the producers during JoeCon (which I recapped pretty thoroughly here) indicate that they are taking this property seriously, and this is something that is very important. It was obvious from the start that Sigma 6 was just tossed together rather haphazardly, just hoping it would catch on…but I really think Hasbro and The Hub are planning on building the brand around the Renegades animation, and that’s a good thing.
Something good is coming at SDCC this afternoon… I think if anyone wants to jump on the Renegades bandwagon, they may want to do it soon. As of 2:00pm Pacific (5:00pm Eastern) I imagine it might end up getting a lot fuller.
IDW Publications has revealed their comic solicitations for October just in time for SDCC, and there are some interesting news nuggets to be had.
First and foremost is the beginning of a G.I. Joe: Renegades comic based on the animated series starting this fall! Excellent. That is probably the thing I’m most looking forward to at SDCC…more info about Renegades.
Also of note is the cover for the October issue of the main G.I. Joe title. Up until now, Storm Shadow has been notable by his unexplained absence throughout the title, but apparently that’s going to change very soon… also, it looks as though G.I. Joe #23 will finally debut Helix in the mainstream G.I. Joe book.
Click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below to get the rundown on all of the October G.I. Joe solicits.
A big thanks to The Terror Drome for gathering this info so I could get it posted more easily while on the road this morning. (more…)
So as SDCC is just getting ramped up, and the Renegades panel is about six hours away, I need to take a few minutes to just express how much I’m looking forward to seeing what’s to come from G.I. Joe: Renegades. I know, I know…I’m a G.I. Joe fanboy, I look forward to everything, right?