After the events of 9/11, the nation was at the height of its manufactured nationalistic fervor. We knew who our enemies were who had caused this outrage and they had to pay. I'm going to run a bit fast and loose with history right now. Just kind of surface level stuff. Through the Bush years, the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan served as the proving grounds for those men and women would become the new GI Joe team.
While there were successes in those wars, there was and still is great tragedy in those events. A quick commentary - is the Middle East really in better shape without Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi? I'm just a simple soul, beyond my pay grade to evaluate. But an unstable Middle East works quite well for the shadowy Cobra organization.
My thoughts of this alt history is that things were much worse for the US military, primarily because the "enemy" were better armed. Much like the private military contractors of our reality, the armed security side of Cobra Industries served, at times, alongside US troops, often coming to their aid, often being seen as rescuers and heroes. Building up a positive reputation of an insidious cancer growing from within.
As the Bush presidency winds down, the nation is in turmoil, much like it was, but even worse. The population is disheartened and beaten down by economic disaster, caused, no doubt, by the machinations of infiltrated Cobra personnel.
This is really getting into some crazy New World Order stuff, isn't it? Fun stuff!
The nation is ripe for leader, a voice that will promise to restore Hope and Change. To fundamentally change the United States.To further weaken a nation.
One young Senator fro Illinois, educated at the hands of radicals, socialists, communists, and infiltrated Cobra agents.
So where does GI Joe rise in all this madness? During the Bush presidency, Cobra is widely public knowledge in all of its various public forms, but is usually portrayed positively by their media lapdogs. Only in the conspiracy websites and scattered militia groups, is there talk of the possible evil nature of the organization. Enough patriots still exist within Bush's government to revive the GI Joe team, which last existed in the Reagan years as a response team to that minor terrorist activity back in the 80's.
GI Joe serves admirably during the ending of the Bush presidency and does successfully transition into the Obama presidency. Obama genuinely supports, the GI Joe team, but has goals to "transform" the team to serve his needs.
Nearly the last bastion of honor and courage for the American people, the GI Joe team attempts to maintain their honor and integrity and inspire their nation.
The events of IDW's Cobra series, GI Joe: Renegades, and GI Joe: Retaliation serve as a stew of ideas of what Cobra looks like in this modern era. Cobra, in its business ventures, is a force to be reckoned with across the world. Cobra International serves as the primary peacekeeping force within the Middle East, keeping ISIS at bay as Terror Dromes are built across the region. The Cobra Hierarchy understands the inherent instability that will be caused by allowing radicalized immigrants into once strong nations, but does have plans when those peoples become too much of a threat.
That's pretty much it for my alt-history world view of the GI Joe/Cobra conflict. A world much like ours, but quite a bit uglier. While there is violence in our cities, it is generally worse. But Cobra is there to the rescue, with the support of our government.
And, if that's not enough, let's stir up some more stuff! The Cobra science division has been working on all sorts of crazy stuff. Supposedly zombies have been used as weapons. There have even been reports of odd aliens or supernatural events occurring.
That's only so I can get away with incorporating Hellboy, Bossk, and some other odd 3 3/4"-4" figures into my GI Joe/Cobra pictures.
These are the events that will drive much of my action figure photography efforts in the coming months.
There is so much more that I could write about, but I think that's about it for now. Maybe I'll through in some other alt-history bits here and there as I get back into taking pictures again with this alt world in mind.
That's a pretty well thought out modernization with room for fringe strangeness in it. I like it.
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