Tag Archives: Mike Vosburg

Pages [1-5] [6-7C] [7D-10] [11-15] [16-19]

Something that simultaneously delighted and bothered me as a kid watching G.I. Joe was how obvious certain traps were that the Joes walked headlong into.  Whereas in Larry Hama’s comic-verse, a Cobra military academy in the next state over would have felt right at home with Broca (note the anagram!) Beach and the Cobra Consulate Building.  But here CEC was trying to have it both ways — secret and yet in plain sight.  So it bothered me then, though amuses me now, that Leatherneck tools over on the Silver Mirage, outnumbered a thousand to one, and is actually surprised when what are clearly bad guy cadets turn out to be bad guys.  But Barbara Petty and Steve Mitchell crafted a strong script with great characterization, that delivers something new for the series — a rivalry begun in the past — and manages to be filled with tension and action — mostly sans weapons, while eschewing the “regular” Cobra Command.  No small feat.  Clunky animation, yes?  (See still above, YIKES)  But great boards, of which here are five more pages:

Pages [1-5] [6-7C] [7D-10] [11-15] [16-19]

Pages [1-5] [6-7C] [7D-10] [11-15] [16-19]

Back to the storyboards for the Season 2 episode, “The Rotten Egg.”  These pages below are drawn by two or three artists, unusual for a Joe board as one artist tended to handle each act.  There may have been deadline trouble, or a change from the director (or Hasbro) necessitated altering shots, and perhaps whoever originated these had already moved on to the next episode.  What is certain is that Mike Vosburg drew some of what’s below — everything but the Wet-Suit close-up on the first page, the top tier of the second page, all of the third page, the first two panels of the fourth page, and probably none of the final page.  Vosburg’s figure work (see big panel above) is angular, and he spots blacks — no sketchy pencil lines, no rounded or bulbous anatomy.  Vosburg is a tremendously talented artist, a post for another day, but for fun trivia I’ll point out he was the only artist who both drew the monthly Marvel comic and also storyboarded for the daily cartoon.  Coincidentally, to boot.  Pages 7D, 8, 9, 9A, and 10:

Next five pages!

Pages [1-5] [6-7C] [7D-10] [11-15] [16-19]