Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow Origins pt 2

[northstarfan]

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #26 (1984) - Larry Hama and Steve Leialoha

The Soft Master takes over Snake Eyes’ and Storm Shadow’s origin story, and it’s not any less dramatic than part 1. Snake Eyes’ family, including his twin sister, died in a car crash while he was away. He heads off to find the closest person he has left to kin in the world, his friend Tommy.





Insert training montage and...








And here we come to the Mighty Whitey portion of the program, wherein Snake Eyes is more skilled, more compassionate, and generally a better person than Storm Shadow, to the point where, after knowing him for a couple of years, Storm Shadow's uncle would favor bringing Snake Eyes into the "family business" over his own nephew. (Snake Eyes would never accept, of course, because he's too noble!)

The first movie managed to go one worse when it stripped Snake and Storm of their wartime past together. Storm doesn't get to be the guy who loved his best friend so much that he'd dive into the path of live fire, not just to save his life, but to retrieve a cherished photo of his sister. He's just the bad kid, and Snake Eyes is inherently superior for reasons we're sure aren't at all racist.

But at least Hama pulls the rug out from under things a bit with the next issue. Sommers just left a mess for Chu to clean up.

Comments

[lazaefair]

I do take some glee in focusing all of our GI Goodnight fic on Storm while Snake Eyes gets reduced to, essentially, "Storm's college frat bro who helps or hinders as convenient."

[northstarfan]

The thing about Snake - and, I suspect, a big part of his success - is that he has character traits, but good luck pinning an actual personality on him. So he's a badass cipher readers/viewers can easily project themselves onto.

Even in the comics, I find Storm Shadow a lot more interesting for his anger, his short-comings, and the paths he didn't take. He always has room for growth and reflection. And then the movie version has all that dialed up to eleven PLUS Lee Byung-Hun's face. WINNER!!! XD

(Though I will say, full props to Hama for killing off the most popular character in the franchise and replacing him with a kickass teenage Latina. She's been a LOT of fun to read about.)

[poemsingreenink]

The more you post about Storm Shadow’s comic stuff the more I’m sad there isn’t a full on Storm Shadow movie.

[northstarfan]

If there ever is one, it won't have LBH, alas, despite his being contracted for one more film. The new Snake Eyes movie is going to be a soft reboot for the franchise, and doubtless all the characters will be recast.