Yes, I know technically it started yesterday, but as G.I. Joe fans we all know the good stuff is coming today! At 11:00am eastern this morning, you’re going to want to scream over to the Hasbro PulseCon page and check out the livestream– who knows you might even see some familiar faces.
Just this past week, I actually received a fantastic surprise in the mail as Hasbro sent along a great PulseCon fan package, which was, no doubt, the absolute highlight of my week! Any time I get toys in the mail I’m happy– but FREE toys? Dopamine-city…
Yeah… fan-freaking-tastic!
This box was chock-full of all sorts of fantastic Hasbro goodies– from Star Wars to Marvel Legends to Ghostbusters and Power Rangers– it was a great reminder of just how many fun collector-geared toy lines Hasbro is working on right now. I gotta tell you, the new Fortnite stuff looks really, really fun!
Of course, there were a couple of highlights in this box… first, as a huge Beast Wars fan, getting the PulseCon exclusive Ravage absolutely blew my mind! This is a figure I’ve been waiting for for nearly 25 years. I still remember watching this sequence on television when it first aired, my mouth hanging open as I realized Beast Wars actually took place in the G1 continuity… mind– blown.
But I think we all know what I was REALLY waiting for in this box– I wasn’t sure he’d be in there, but imagine how ecstatic I was to see him. That’s right — Master of Disguise ZARTAN.
Based on the spectacular Classified Zartan tooling, the Master of Disguise version is like Zartan on steroids. Spare Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow heads, plus masks for Gung Ho, Soft Master, Hard Master and a fun Skull– very, very cool. But of course, I think we’ll agree the neatest touch is the actual COLOR CHANGE SKIN. This requires exposure to cold temperatures to work instead of sunlight, but the effect is the same. Purely awesome.
The packaging is amazing as well.
Once again, I cannot thank Hasbro enough for this amazing gift box. As I write this, we are in countdown mode, with a little more than an hour left until the G.I. Joe stream on PulseCon 2021— I hope I’ll see you there!
First and foremost, it’s always a great day when you get a free package from Hasbro in the mail. Huge thanks to the folks at Hasbro for sending along this great gift box of free product!
As awesome as this stuff is, though, to me, the best gift of all is going to be seeing what Hasbro has to share April 9th. They’ve promised that Snake Eyes himself, Henry Golding will be in the house to share some exciting news about the Snake Eyes film, and we’re more or less guaranteed to get our first look at Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins movie figures!
Recently it’s also been revealed that Major Bludd, one of the most anticipated figures in the Classified line, may be revealed this week as well, but will likely be revealed as a Target: COBRA Island exclusive.
I will, of course, be celebrating Fan Fest with my good friends at The Full Force Podcast, so make sure you’re following them over on Facebook and subscribing to their YouTube channel to get our opinion on the sure-to-be-exciting reveals to come.
Meanwhile, check out some of the really fun contents of this awesome Gift Box.
Thanks, Hasbro, now I’ve fallen in love with Power Rangers Lightning and Star Wars Black Mandalorian figures. You get me. You really get me.
Star Wars Black Bo Katan
Yes this figure is just as amazing as Katie Sackhoff herself. Two pistols, removable helmet (with flip-down scope!) and a removable jetpack… SOLD.
Marvel Legends House of M Cyclops
Love the vintage feel of this Cyclops and the energy beam? Chef’s kiss.
Power Rangers Lightning Dino Thunder Blue Ranger
I have never ever in my life cared about Power Rangers until this very moment. I was absolutely shocked at just how damn fun this figure is. The accessories are great, articulation is spectacular. I don’t have a clue what Dino Thunder is, but I’m for it!
Transformers: Kingdom Paleotrex
I’ll admit– while I’ve dug deep into Kingdom figures mostly out of a love for Beast Wars, I hadn’t sampled this one yet. It’s really neat! The transformation gimmick involves taking the dang thing apart and putting it back together– differently. I really dig how the dinosaur ends up strangely larger than the robot. What kind of sorcery is this?
G.I. Joe: Classified Zartan
What else do I need to say that I didn’t already say in my review. BEST CLASSIFIED FIGURE EVER.
The Full Force has posted Series 4, Episode 9 of their awesome podcast, this time featuring a plethora of content about Transformers! They speak to former Hasbro Transformers and G.I. Joe manager Marc Weber and dig into the awesomeness that is Transformers lore for a solid NINE HOURS.
It’s bound to be some good listenin’! Check out the latest episode on Podbean (also embedded below and be sure to check out the show notes on the Full Force Facebook page, they always have a ton of images and great details straight from the show.
No doubt, from a G.I. Joe perspective one of the most exciting things we learned about ComicCon this year was that Hasbro would be releasing a spectacular Revolutions Boxed Set featuring G.I. Joe scaled figures of several different characters throughout their properties, including MASK, Visionaries, Transformers, Rom, and Micronauts.
Well, good friend of GeneralsJoes and noted author James Kavanaugh, Jr. managed to get his handsome mitts on one of these Revolutions sets early and has been kind enough to put together an early review and look at the set!
You can find the review right here and eventually I’ll pop it up in one of the menus above, as soon as I can figure out where it belongs.
Humongous thanks to James for taking time out of his busy life to grab some pictures and do a fantastic write up of this great set. As an added bonus, here are some images of the COBRA Missile Command Center he sent along as well, featuring better looks at the COBRA’s within and filecards!
Hi, all! James “KuuKuuSon” Kavanaugh Jr. jumping in and I think this is my first review, at least first for GeneralsJoes.com. Justin, is that correct? Eh, he’s probably off hob-knobbing with all the other big shot toy reviewers.
Well, here I am, off to the good stuff (the review if you’ve listened to too much What’s on Joe Mind? and thought other ideas). I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Hasbro/IDW San Diego Comic Con 2017 Revolution crossover set and, let me tell you, this. set. is. AMAZING! If you’re out of the loop or kept your heads in your vintage Marvel Joe comics, IDW has merged their existing G.I. Joe and Transformers universes together and brought in the new classics Action Man, ROM, Micronauts ,and MASK (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) to take action and adventure to new levels. Children are notorious for mixing their various toy lines in their play (admit it, at least tried it) and this premise really helps to bring back that feeling.
At this point, I’ll clarify by saying I self-identify as G.I. Joe guy through ‘n through, though I own a copy of almost every Transformers comic and have picked up every IDW copy of every title listed above in the Revolution universe. I’ve always felt review readers should know where the reviewer is coming from as well as where I’ll be going in regards to my preferred brands and explain why my perspective may not nail other brands. I will say, seeing each brand come together certainly made me excited for everyone. I was born in 1977 in the United States to round out my perspective.
So is this a review of the set or biography? Why not both? (que the Old El Paso taco girl). I am laying the foundation of “me” because the undertone of this set will seem like the overtone by the end of the review and that undertone is nostalgia. At least half of this set hasn’t had much of a presence since the 80’s and it’s quite the welcome feeling. Of course I remember Joe and Transformers, I also loved watching MASK every day and the holograms on the Visionaries toyline were hypnotic. My age tells you I was a bit too young for Micronauts but caught up when they made a resurgence in the early 2000s. ROM was a new one to me but those I trust to have a well-rounded and educated understanding of comics were stoked to see his return. Apparently, in a pop culture sense, the comic surpassed the toy in many ways and developed a devout cult following. The final reason why I felt it was important to give a background on “me” is every 4” action figure in this set derives from 2007+ G.I. Joe tooling, which is almost like they designed the set to dangle in front of me. Eh, they would’ve had me anyway.
The set is $100 and I find that more than fair. I put current 4” action figures at $10 a piece MSRP and there are six of them so divide the $40 between a mid-sized Transformer and nine Micronaut figurines. You’re hard pressed to convince me that alone isn’t a win. What those figures consist of makes this set worth waaaaaay more than $100 as we’ll discuss in the review.
Transformers
I thought I’d start with, from my perspective, the easy one and that’s Jetfire. I had the original Jetfire as a child so I’m biased towards him. This one, however, is way more dynamic. He is currently in more of the forefront (of a flashback) in IDW’s current story but a great character to speak for his brand. When this set was announced, I was made aware that this mold has some fan demand to it, so I’m glad they’re able to have another chance to obtain him. He’s a pretty straight forward Transformer. The modern designs are structural masterpieces and almost puzzle–like. My age also reminded me of the old adage, “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it” and that refers to my transforming skillz. It took me a minute but I chalk that up to quality design. I have every bit of confidence I could’ve tossed it to a kid and they would’ve transformed him as fast as a Rubix Cube champs works his cube. The paint apps are solid, the plastic is durable, and the quality is fine. I’ll take this time to clarify that, when it comes to action figures like this and we know this is a rare figure rerelease, I am more than confident there are better reviews of the toy out there and I would be doing the toy a disservice by expanding beyond the pictures.
Micronauts
I’ll get the “bad” out of the way for you and clarify/state the obvious that all nine Micronauts are unmovable figurines. However, I’m not going to say that’s a bad thing. Micronauts are what their name implies (you’re going to have to educate yourself if you don’t know what I’m getting at) and they are just that. I think the figurines are the perfect size for everyone to play with as is and within the crossover experience. Plus they’re nine of them. Reading the Micronauts comics, I find the designs to arguably be the most dynamic and perfect fusion of vintage foundation with innovative redesigns. And that is a huge compliment from me as someone who thinks tweaking nostalgia can be a very slippery slope for vendor and customer. I liked and agreed when I read the comment online about a potential figure/game combo coming from these figures. They could certainly work as table top pieces. The plastic is decent, slightly bendy, yet able to stand with little falling (something I’ve noticed to be a problem with cheaper figurines). And to wrap this portion of the review up as a bad/good/bad clarification sandwich, I can take a step back see this set as a whole and dub the approach as using “strategic tooling” to hit a specific price point. The review will round out this comment but, for now, I’m confident nine Micronauts fit in with six 4” figures and a decent Transformer guides the Micronauts into a figurine format and that’s fine the moment you have them in hand. Micronauts forged the 1:18th scale action figure phenomenon, so I’m confident we’ll see larger and movable Micronauts in the near future.
MASK
Onto the first of the six 4” action figures and I thought, once again, I’d start with an easy one. Matt Trakker is easy for a “Joe guy” because we received Matt Trakker in 2008 and he was deemed a member of G.I. Joe. The 2008 Matt Trakker suggests that the crossover universe was on Hasbro’s mind as far back as them and only helped us out now. This version reuses previously seen G.I. Joe body tooling and accessories and, the parts choice more accurately reflects the stylized approach IDW is taking. The reds are richer and the greys are darker. This figure seems to really punch. Side note, I understand the output of the 2008 version, he is a product of the tooling available at the time whereas the Revolution Matt Trakker had the advantage of a much larger tooling catalog. Neither is better than the other. Speaking of difference, yes, there is one very noticeable difference, the IDW version is no longer a blonde, white male but a black male. I need to make a point to confirm this but I am confident the change derives from a certain team we all know already had a blonde, white leader. Seemingly unrelated, early super hero costumes’ simple and bright tropes derive from easy recognition on the reader’s part. I’m sure Duke will be interacting with Matt Trakker in the storyline and these minor tweaks will help move the story along for the audience. This assumption doesn’t wash over the point that diversity has been actively addressed in all facets of modern society and sited as an important component of the shared universe going forward. I think it’s safe to assume we will be seeing more gender and ethnicity changes in the future if we haven’t already. Outside of that, the head sculpt is simply stunning! This very charming head sculpt will certainly be appealing for expert customizers and LBC’s alike. Yes, I can admit an action figure is handsome.
Action Man
Another handsome chap in plastic form is Action Man. If you’re unaware, Action Man was a direct cousin to the G.I. Joe 12” line and has been seeing a resurgence across the pond. I seem to recall Action Man specifically hitting US shelves at a certain point but I’ve always been a 4” fanatic (except for MOTU, that’s another story). Action Man in the Revolution set looks like he’s peeled right off the comic pages. The body is familiar tooling but the blue with orange striping really makes Action Man pop. Orange has been made a staple of Action Man’s color palette and the combination makes him look ready for action. I think you have to say action as much as possible whenever you’re having a conversation about Action Man. His accessories are also familiar and the plastic and paint quality is the same for all the 4’ figures. I am a bit of a stickler for paints and this entire set checks all my boxes (a big plus in my book). The win for this figure is of course the head sculpt. Another dashing head that has a slight comic/cartoon tinge, but a head sculpt works with the paint scheme. His hair is tussled, his smirk is brazen, he’s a young James Bond ready to do the impossible mission and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
ROM
Like I said, when IDW first announced the shared universe, ROM was a new concept to me. Also, like I said, if my cadre of “experts” says it’s a go, I’ll give it a shot. And (while I’m adding conditions) since the comic overshadowed the toy, ROM moved away from a blocky robot and gained a blocky/humanoid hybrid esthetic. The designer accurately chose Battle Armor Cobra Commander’s legs to set the ground work and gave him muscular arms to bridge the gap. FYI, ROM is a humanoid encased in the robotic armor and sworn to fight the Dire Wraiths, having an element of humanity in the character is important. The chest and head sculpt (as well as his iconic blaster) are all new. Plus he’s shiny. Kid James liked shiny. I’m going to leave for a bit and stare at the shiny. Just kidding (or am I? You’ll never know when this was stopped and resumed). These parts are great and very accurately reflect the ROM seen in the comic books.
The Dire Wraith also captures the pages of the ROM comic. Dire Wraiths are aliens that kill humans and assume their form, typically assuming roles of those in powerful positions. So, the underlying tone of the comic is you never know who is a Dire Wraith until they reveal their true form. This figure in particular represents the point in the story when Doc is revealed to be a Dire Wraith. Oh, did I spoil it for you? Well, the bad news is you were spoiled the moment you looked at the figure because the satchel and body motif tells you exactly who it is…er, was… The arms are from the infamous Zombie Viper and do a great job to bridge the comic character to action figure form given the grand scheme of the set(see my budget comment in the Micronauts write-up). The arms are great, the paint apps help punch up the tentacles and the darker approach to Doc’s uniform helps punch the Dire Wraith blue while darkening the overall tone of the villain. The money on this piece is again the head sculpt. This head wonderfully portrays the Cheshire grin that is the staple of a Dire Wraith. They are an arrogant villain set on dominating Earth and ROM is intent on wiping that smile of their evil faces.
Visionaries
This figure should’ve been last but, if you’ve read everything so far (my apologies), you’ve probably figured out my progression. Why did I just waste your time there? Because Visionaries are not yet in the IDW universe, nor do they have an active comic nor any press release announcing any plans. Leoric certainly took us by surprise. And, if you like Visionaries, he looks great! Again, I leave the parts knowledge to the gang at joecustoms.com and other experts but, as far as I can tell, looks great. The overall military (with a tinge of ninja) motif in G.I. Joe doesn’t leave much for sword and sorcery tooling, but the legs look great. Besides, Visionaries had a bit of a modern take to them anyway. Much like ROM, the big pay day is the chest, head, and helmet. The head is fantastic and the helmet and body totally nailed his vintage look. Did I say pay day? Because this figure is money. If the new parts weren’t enough, the staff is new and, along with his chest, have holograms in them! I’ll be honest, that was my immediate concern when I first saw the press release and it is indeed a lot more holographic than the pictures assume. They aren’t as holographic as the original (or how holograph stickers tend to look) but I have a feeling that it falls under my budget/price point commentary undertone in this review. The blues are striking and accurately reflect the vintage toy and give it the 80s feel.
G.I. Joe
So that’s all the new concept, some of which haven’t been seen since the 80s. Everyone discussed above is enough to put this set on the “must have” list. So why did I save the G.I. Joe last? Biased, of course. Yes and no. This Joe isn’t just any Joe, it’s Roadblock. Oh, huh… No, not huh, this isn’t just any Roadblock, this is the cancelled Renegades Roadblock head, chest, and overall build. So, backstory, Renegades was a G.I. Joe cartoon in 2011 that, for reasons that are too long to write in an already long review, left Roadblock stuck in the “unreleased” queue. The only member of the main G.I. Joe Renegades cast to be unreleased. And, it’s argued that the cartoon Roadblock had the most personality out of the entire main cast. This figure also had a second failing in 2012 when a Retaliation movie four pack was cancelled, a pack he was a member of. Word that the figure was waiting in the wings has left collectors waiting in the wings for a future release and, after six years, the time has finally arrived!! I need to ask around, but I am confident this is also his intended Renegades deco pattern. It’s not exactly in sync with the comic palette but who cares!? Long awaited Renegades Roadblock trumps crossover Roadblock any day. This figure is so great, I am confident a more comic accurate version will sell just as well. But back to the figure at hand, if the pictures don’t paint the picture, this Roadblock fits with the Renegades figures seamlessly! I can’t say enough great things about this figure. The weapons assortment appears to be the Pursuit of Cobra’s “Jungle” Duke but, again, who cares? It was probably the set from his internal SKU number and there are plenty of “Ma Dueces” out there in weapons bins to load him up as you see fit. The body is one we’ve seen a few times by now but it great to see it in its originally intended form. Finally receiving this figure is as significant as finally receiving the characters above. Big “KuuKuu” points (non refundable and I wouldn’t suggest you eat them) to Hasbro for providing us with this one.
So, if you’re still awake and reading, here we are. Like I’ve eluded throughout the review, the set sells itself. I hope these pictures satisfy those who can’t wait to see and obtain this set. I’ll confess that mild mannered James is a bit helpless without his heavily artillery used for the Rank & File guides and I’m going to milk this “first review evah” crutch as long as I can. If you picked up on my whimsical approach to this revue, it’s because this set did indeed make me feel like a kid again. Archiving is probably the most “adult” think one can do with his toys (no, I’m not trying to convince myself I’m doing anything actually adult with my toys, though I probably should) and not very fun in the moment (first world toy guide problems). It’s more of a delayed gratification. From start to finish, this set was all about fun. It was great to see these characters receive action figure form once again and the only way to accurately review them was to have fun with them. And, like I said, I am a G.I. Joe guy (mostly dictated by my wallet fyi) so getting a chance to transform a Transformer and pit my various toys against each other was a great thrill. The Ohio weather isn’t polite to talk about, but being outside with my toys play working will be a highlight for this summer. I will be curious to see the overall reception of this set as well as what the results will bring in the future. Joe Con told us something is changing for Joe and something can only change for every other property in this set beyond G.I. Joe. But don’t wait for the future, live in the moment with this set and get it however you can. This set jazzed me enough before I even received it to start the page layout for an upcoming guide. Yeah, it’s not much but I thought this could at least double as an insight into where I start and where I’ll finish. I am currently hashing out where these crossover action figures in the grand scheme of archiving but, again, I can’t stress enough that this set allows you to put all the “where does this belong in my ‘Joeverse’” malarkey and have fun. Fun and action. And action fun.
First and foremost, a HUGE thanks to Josh over at YoJoe who has been doing spectacular work with their comic archive, tying the IDW Universe together, even as G.I. Joe has been criss-crossing continuity with other Hasbro properties. He’s managed to make it easy to follow and make sense, and with the latest reveal of Marissa Fairborne, he goes above and beyond! He’s written a terrific guest post for GeneralsJoes.com which you can read below. Again, big props to his loyal and devoted following to the ongoing IDW continuity and how this all ties back to history. Some really great stuff!
Big News in the GI Joe and Transformers world has just happened in the IDW comic Optimus Prime #3!
An event literally 30 years in making has finally been confirmed (In continuity).
Summaries of all of the different series can be read at YoJoe.com, so you can follow the stories.
Yes, its official, Marissa Faireborn of The Transformers Earth Defense Command is the daughter of GI Joe’s Flint. And they actually sit down together in a coffee shop and talk.
For 20 years it was only rumored that Marissa was related to Dashiell and the mother was a mystery. Outside of a DVD commentary, no cartoon, comic or other media has ever confirmed their relationship.
Now for the first time ever and within the IDW continuity, the Joe and Transformers worlds have been combined allowing a long time meeting between Flint and Marissa to happen.
Both GI Joe (not ARAH which is written by Larry Hama) and the Transformers along with Action Man, MASK, ROM and Micronauts are all included in the IDW continuity. The mini-series Revolution recently tied all of the Hasbro properties together into one universe.
But one mystery that has never been solved officially in any cannon is who is Marissa Faireborn’s mother?
Let’s dive into some Transformers and GI Joe history that got us to this huge reveal.
First, in 1985 Series Four of GI Joe A Real American Hero toys, a character named Flint aka Dashiell Faireborn was released. He actually premiered in GI Joe: the Revenge of Cobra cartoon episode #1 “In Cobra’s Pit” on Sept 10th 1984, he is voiced by actor Bill Ratner. Flint has been a leader of the Joe since his first arrival in toys, comics or cartoons. And in both the comics and cartoons his love interest is fellow GI Joe Lady Jaye aka Alison Hart-Burnett, who also was released in Series Four. Flint’s in continuity cartoon stories took place in the 1980s.
On September 16th, 1986 a new character named Marissa arrived in the second episode of the third season of the cartoon The Transformers. The title of the episode was called the “Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2”. Marissa Faireborn was part of the Earth Defense Command (EDC) that was helping and fighting the Transformers on Earth. In the timeline of the Transformers series continuity, Captain Faireborn was living in 2005.
At the time of Marissa’s premiere on the cartoon, GI Joe and Transformers had no official connection between the toy lines. This was the first hint of many crossovers to come in the 30 year history of Hasbro toys and the Faireborn family.
In The Transformers cartoon episode called “The Killing Jar” with had an airdate of Sept 29th, 1986. Disguised as a shuttle, the Transformers Quintesson ship docks with an EDC space station, and Marissa Faireborn is lured on board by an illusion of her father. Although not officially called Flint, this character is voiced by the same actor Bill Ratner who performed Flint in the regular GI Joe cartoon. “Flint’s” appearance in this episode has him with grey hair in his 60s, still active with the military and in good if not distant relations with Marissa, at least well enough for the projection to fool her.
Happening in another part of the Hasbro universe, released in January 1987 in Marvel comics, was a completely different kind of crossover between GI Joe and the Autobots. Writer Michael Higgins wrote an official in the ARAH continuity 4 issue mini-series called GI Joe and The Transformers. Now this mini-series does not contain nor reference Flint, Marissa or even the Earth Defense Command. But forever became official A Real American Hero cannon, whether the fans liked it or not.
Over in the United Kingdom, on August 8th, 1987 issue #125 of Marvel’s UK The Transformers is released with an original crossover story called Ancient Relics Part One. The rest of this story also appears in the Marvel UK Action Force comic #24 titled Ancient Relics Part Two, #25 is Part Three, #26 Part Four, #27 is Part Five. Flint is the leader of Action Force in the UK, when in the London underground a Transformer is discovered and it’s Megatron. Autobots Wheeljack, Grimlock and Blades all fight with Flint and his Action Force team against Megatron. Additionally, the Ancient Relics storyline was reprinted in 5 parts in the UK’s Action Force Monthly (Issues #1-6) in 1988 which in America is called European Missions (Issues #1-6) as in 1988. It has always been debatable whether European Mission is officially part of the ARAH continuity. But either way it is still an original story that crosses over Flint with The Transformers, presumably before Marissa was even born.
6 years later in 1993, The Transformers appear within the GI Joe A Real American Hero comic starting with issue #139 until #142. Now this is officially within the ARAH continuity. Megatron shows up and partners with Cobra Commander and of course the Joes fight them. At the conclusion of #142, Marvel’s The Transformers Generation 2 becomes a spin off comic book series starting with #1. The GI Joe’s only appear in 3 issues of the series and Flint appears in Transformers Generation 2 #6.
Since GI Joe and Transformers first official crossed over they have since crossed over in comics numerous times with several different publishers since 1993. Generally, each of these is their own continuity and the publisher’s were Devil’s Due Publishing, Dreamwave and IDW. The Dreamwave Transformers GI Joe series has the Joes fighting in World War II against The Transformers. This series introduces Nathaniel Faireborn who is Flint’s father and Marissa’s grandfather. In the Devil’s Due crossover series Flint actually goes to Cybertron. In Dreamwave’s G1 Transformers series Marissa now holding the rank of Commander, rather than Captain, portrayed as a member of the EDC, which in the Dreamwave continuity clandestinely handles terrestrial/extraterrestrial encounters. Following the Transformers’ return to activity on Earth early 21st century, The Transformers plans were stopped, but Marissa’s superior officer did not share her fondness for the Transformers. Dreamwave’s bankruptcy and subsequent closure left remaining stories of Marissa Faireborn untold.
Marissa was a key character in US the Transformers cartoon series but never appeared in a Marvel comic in the 1980s. In the 1990s in a comic in Japanese, Manga style, that was never released in America and connected to a radio series, this is called KISS Players. Marissa as a child in the 1990s, lived in New York, where she met and became friends with Shaoshao Li, who developed an extremely strong attachment to her. The young Marissa resented her military father, so when one of his missions went awry and she and her father had to be rescued by Optimus Prime, she quickly came to view the Autobot leader as a surrogate father figure… and perhaps a little bit more.
Ok, so that covers comics and cartoon references between Flint and the Joes and Marissa and the Transformers. In recent years the toys have started to crossover Joes and Transformers and the Transformers and GI Joe Collector’s Club in 2015 released a Marissa Faireborn toy, see the GeneralsJoes toy review.
But who is Marissa’s mother.
Fans speculated for two decades that the character Marissa Faireborn in Transformers is his daughter, since they both share the same last name. The writers of both shows remained coy whether Marissa Faireborn was actually Flint and Lady Jaye’s daughter or not. However, cast notes for “The Killing Jar” refer to Marissa’s father as being “a 60-year-old Flint”. The mystery was finally solved on November 7, 2006, with the 20th anniversary DVD release of The Transformers: The Movie. On an interview on the DVD, Flint Dille, story editor for Transformers, confirmed that Marissa Faireborn is indeed Flint and Lady Jaye’s daughter. This would subsequently make Marissa a distant relative of Destro as well. However, in an interview with G. I. Joe fansite Joe Headquarters, Dille added the caveat that “I’ve always thought of Flint as being too young to have a daughter that old.”
And now you know and knowing is half the battle. But we don’t know who Marissa’s mother is within the IDW continuity. Stay tuned.
