[HISSTANK]

Originally posted by: Shin Densetsu @ Hisstank.com

Quote:

While Mike Costa is the writer for COBRA from IDW, the previous 2 titles, (GI Joe Cobra & GI Joe Cobra II respectively) were written by both Costa and Christos Gage. Bleeding Cool chatted with Gage recently about his work, featuring some comments about his previous work on the GI Joe Cobra titles.

In this we see why the Cobra titles were easily accessible by fans both new and old:

KD: You’ve worked frequently with collaborators on scripts: Dan Slott on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, Mike Costa on G.I.JOE: COBRA, and Alex Ross on INVADERS NOW. Considering your contribution to these partnerships, have you found that there are certain strengths that you tend to bring to the table (overall concepts, dialogue, pacing, etc.) while the other writers focus on other aspects of the craft?

GAGE: It’s different every time. I know with me and Mike, he knew who the G.I. JOE characters were and I had no idea. So that was helpful because he’s approaching it with knowledge of their histories, while I’m just out to tell a good espionage thriller. I mean, that’s what he wants too, but I brought the P.O.V. of an outsider, the guy who’s a total newcomer, which is something I can’t do on my Marvel books. So I think as a team, we were stronger than we would have been individually… which is the goal with a team, or why do it? Otherwise, it’s just twice the work for half the money, you know?

He also spoke of his desire to integrate some of the more eccentric fan-favorites in GI Joe Cobra II:

KD: In G.I.Joe: Cobra, the fan-favorite mainstays of the Joe team are practically out of sight. Instead, you focused your attention on characters who some might consider historically as comic relief (Tomax and Xamot), background characters (your hero, Chuckles), and virtual unknowns (Chameleon). Where did the impetus come from to tell this story using these characters?

GAGE: That was all Mike. I had no idea who they were. Now, by the second miniseries, we had kind of hit a groove as far as taking obscure or silly characters and trying to bring out what made them cool. I was hell bent and determined to bring Croc Master into the IDW Joe universe, because the idea of this guy in a wetsuit with trained crocodiles jazzed me as being awesome comics, the way concepts like Kamandi do. Mike was dying to make Crystal Ball really scary. And I wanted to try to think of a way to make Serpentor and Golobulus work in a more real world setting. The current incarnation of Serpentor is probably my most visible contribution to the IDW Joe-verse.

Read More: Christos Gage Talks GI Joe Cobra @ G.I. Joe - HissTank.com.