: ...is that I think that Halo 4 is chock full of G.I.Joes, and it's worse off
: for it.
: When someone mentions G.I.Joe, I think of a Saturday morning cartoon show
: whose characters were more like superheroes than soldiers, where too much
: focus was put on gadgets and easily-thwarted C.O.B.R.A schemes.

: You know that cringe-inducing scene in Spartan Ops, where Majestic loots
: Gek's corpse and plays around with his gear like frat boys? Feels like
: G.I.Joe. You know how the Covenant bound you up with energy manacles and
: didn't bother to remove your armor? Probably straight out of the C.O.B.R.A
: handbook.

: I'm not saying that I want more brooding anti-heroes in Halo (/hypocrisy).
: I'm just ready for Halo to move beyond plotlines like "Supersoldiers
: roll out to foil the Co bra venant's latest nefarious scheme."

: And yes, I'm incredibly hard on the crap I watched when I was a kid. Though I
: still have a soft spot for Recess and Doug.

: Won't post again until I read Mortal Dictata.
: Heh. It's sitting right here next to me. If it was most any other novel, I'd
: have started reading it when I left the bookstore and got back to the car.
: But I think I'll play some CoH first.

The GI Joe Cartoon was definitely more over the top, but I still think they weren't the "frat boys" of Spartans IVs as you mentioned. Anyway, the comic by Larry Hama was where it was at and that's what I think of when I say "GI Joe". The guns fired bullets, not lasers! That comic, in the early days, did some especially cool things for the type of tie-in property it was, like having one of the first 'silent' issues of a comic, told with no speech bubbles. Blew my mind as a kid. Actually, still does!

Anywho... I totally agree we don't need anymore super-soldier-squad-shooting-some-Covies stories -we've got that covered. But I still think there are plenty of interesting stories WITH those characters as the primary actors left to be told, without forcing Halo to delve into morality plays. Especially in the realm of comics. Peter David's story almost got close to being about something truly interesting in the realm of sci-fi, but in the end, still fell back on a soldier story. Usually that's all we get, when there's so much to explore out in this universe, from its history to its unknowns!