Well, here it is folks. Beware, there are SPOILERS below.
==============================================
Today I am please to introduce to the Joe Reloaded.com
community, Mr. Chuck Dixon. Chuck will be taking over
the writing duties on GI Joe Reloaded starting with
issue #10, due in stores in December.

Joe Reloaded.com (JR): My first question is did you grow up with GI Joe?

Chuck Dixon (CD): I was young enough to get the very first GI Joe toy
for Christmas the year they came out. Most of the kids
in the neighborhood got one. I remember that it was
the Army Joe with red hair. I got the Joe and some
accessory packs. The tent and backpack, I think. For
my birthday a few months later I got the Marine to go
with him and a flamethrower. The next Christmas I got
the deep sea diver. But I was getting older by then so
I think that was my last Christmas for that kind of
thing until I got older and became a nostalgic old toy
geek.

JR: How do you like the idea behind GI Joe Reloaded?

CD: As a writer it’s a great gig. I get to take classic
characters and a successful franchise and play with it
with very few restrictions as far as characterization
or continuity. It’s also bigger, wilder and more tech-
oriented.

JR: I have seen it mentioned on other sites that you
worked with Larry Hama in the past, will that have any
influence on you as you write GI Joe Reloaded?

CD: Larry is a huge influence on me. He and Archie Goodwin
served as my Jedi masters coming into comics and I can
never repay all the guidance they gave me. For
anything military oriented that I write I think of
Larry and how he might approach it. On Joe is even
more important to follow his footsteps. I really want
to get back to the important themes that Larry dealt
with in his run on GI Joe at Marvel. Loyalty, courage,
honor and sacrifice. Those HAVE to be at the core of
any soldier story and that’s what GI Joe is
ultimately. It’s about soldiers and what they do to
survive and win.

JR: Can you share with us what direction you plan on
taking the series? Or what can the fans look forward
too?

CD: Action, action, action. This is a war book and the
Joes are going to war! Espionage and intrigue are all
very cool stuff but the Joes belong on a battlefield.
I’ll be re-introing some heroes and villains in new
and interesting ways. I had fun bringing Zartan back
into the series. And the romance between Destro and
the Baroness is VERY twisted. Duke’s story is going to
take some very severe twists and I’m doing a lot to up
the coolness factor of Beachhead.
Cobra is also going to become more and more of a
global threat as their true motives are revealed.

JR: I must say that I was a huge fan of your Team 7 run;
will we see any similarities between that series and
the future of GI Joe Reloaded? (Minus the whole
genetic mutation thing I hope)

CD: I certainly want to bring some of that hard-edged
toughness to Reloaded. My goal in Team 7 was to
present a tough unit who’d do what had to be done to
win and damn the cost. I think that scenario fits the
Joes as well.

JR: Of the Joe characters you have had to work with so
far, which is your favorite to write?

CD: Beachhead has been a blast. My first issue has him
stranded alone on an island populated by Cobra. And he
kicks serious tail. He has an acerbic, fatalist
attitude and his dialogue and narration has been fun
to write.
Also, Duke makes some disastrous choices in upcoming
issues and I’m looking forward to exploring what
brought him to where he is. Let me just say that Joe
fans are gonna be rocked by what happens with Duke
starting in the final issues John Reiber wrote.

JR: Same question, but on the Cobra side of the house.

CD: Also digging the Baroness. I’ve always liked the
character and I know a bit about angry women and I’m
putting that experience to good use here. And I’m
fascinated with the Cobra grunt. What makes someone
join an outfit like Cobra? I want to paint a picture
of the kind of loser who’d sign up for this kind of
organization.


JR: So, can we expect some stories focusing on those
characters?

CD: It’s an ensemble book but I plan issues spotlighting
various Joes. I plan side stories and back history for
these guys.

JR: Speaking of characters, I read the synopsis for
Reloaded #11 and it talks about a new member on the
team, can you shed any light on who that is?

CD: Mainframe. So much has changed in the world of
computers that I thought this character needed a
severe update. I think readers are really going to
like him.

JR: Will we be seeing more new Joes and Cobras appearing
in the future?

CD: Absolutely. The fun of a book like this is to play to
the longtime fans and throw hints and Easter eggs out
there for them to find. Lots of in jokes flying in the
background here.

JR: Well, I know when I speak for everyone when I say that
I am looking forward to the future of this book.

CD: Not half as much as I am!
Thanks!

JR: Now, switching topics, you are also writing Breakdown
for Devil’s Due’s new Aftermath line. What can you
tell us about that?

CD: It’s about a celebrity superhero named Paragon by the
media. He has no secret identity and is adored by
millions like a rock star or movie idol. Then his
family is killed and he’s left for dead. He re-emerges
as a darker, more sinister character to find the
animals who killed his wife and daughter and make them
pay. From there it’s an exploration of his origins and
what made him extra-human. I’m really deconstructing
the usual superhero formula here and having a blast.

JR: Josh Blaylock has said that the Aftermath titles take
place in a shared universe. How do you feel about
future cross-overs between Breakdown and other
Aftermath titles?

CD: I LOVE crossovers! You get to deal directly with
readers’ expectations of what a meeting between groups
of disparate characters would play like. Then you defy
those expectations! And I tend to play well with
others so working with the other writers will be fun.

JR: Finally, how did you end up coming to write at Devil’s Due?

CD: They invited me! Crossgen was floundering and I had
been released from my exclusive so they scooped me up.

Chuck thank you so much for taking the time to answer
our questions, and I hope we can get together in a few
months to talk about GI Joe Reloaded again.

Well, there you have it. Discuss the interview here.