Since 2010, Larry Hama has continued the continuity of his original Marvel Comics run on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero for IDW. Two years ago, he dramatically altered the series when he killed off Snake Eyes, the most popular G.I. Joe character. He has since replaced the original Snake Eyes with two new Snake Eyes, including a brand new version that is a teenage girl. Read on to learn how we came to have a female Snake Eyes!
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It all started with a storyline appropriately titled "The Death of Snake Eyes." Snake Eyes sacrificed his life to defeat a resurrected Serpentor in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #213.
In the same storyline, a new member of the G.I. Joe squad, Throwdown, was badly disfigured. Throwdown's real name was Sean Collins. He was born as Sean Broca, the son of a former Cobra Crimson Guardsman. After his father died, his father was replaced by a new Crimson Guardsman, Wade Collins, who had fought alongside Snake Eyes in Vietnam. In the final issue of the Marvel version of G.I. Joe, Sean wrote a letter to Snake Eyes, asking if he should join the Army. Snake Eyes wrote back with his own thoughts on military service. That was significant since we rarely got to hear Snake Eyes' thoughts on any topic, as he was mute. Obviously, Sean eventually did enlist and ended up a member of the G.I. Joes.
After Snake Eyes died while also killing Serpentor, the Joes needed a new Snake Eyes. They could not admit to their enemies that Snake Eyes was dead. Throwdown's disfigurement also badly damaged his vocal cords. He was the perfect choice to take over as Snake Eyes. Sean had to fake his own death, however, to take on the new role. He could not even tell the truth to his own family. So Sean was now, for all intents and purposes, Snake Eyes.
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Sean and the Collins family lived in Springfield, which was a town that Cobra owned and operated. Everyone there worked for Cobra in some capacity. In G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #226 (by Hama, S.L. Gallant and Ryan Shearer), we met a teen girl who lived in Springfield. Her name was Dawn Moreno and she quickly proved herself to be a gifted athlete when she defeated an entire lacrosse team.
Her strong physical abilities brought her to the attention of Cobra Commander. He quickly adopted her as his own bodyguard. He held her in reserve as a sort of secret weapon. She was quickly pressed into service when Destro attacked Cobra Commander the next issue, in an attempt to change his business arrangement with Cobra.
Destro and Cobra Commander settled their differences. Dawn was then trained by the Baroness. Baroness and Zarana put her through the paces in G.I. Joe #228, the notable issue where every character in the issue was a woman.
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The citizens of Springfield were routinely given treatments in the Brainwave Scanner. The Brainwave Scanner was a machine invented by early Cobra operative, Doctor Venom. It could be used to interrogate people and also brainwash them. Cobra Commander had his current chief scientist, Doctor Mindbender, use it to brainwash the Springfield citizens into loyalty to Cobra. In the past, Venom had used it to interrogate Snake Eyes in an early issue of the series.
In G.I. Joe #229, Baroness decided to use the brainwave scanner to re-affirm Dawn's allegiance to Cobra. However, something went wrong. As it turned out, when Venom had put Snake Eyes into the brainwave scanner, a copy was made of Snake Eyes' mind. That copy was now transferred into Dawn's mind.
She escaped Cobra custody and went on the run. She struggled with these new thoughts in her mind. In G.I. Joe #232, she met Snake Eyes' best friend, Storm Shadow, and he brought her into his Arashikage ninja clan.
He had her go to work for Obake Obaasan (translated roughly to mean Demon Granny), one of his relatives in the clan. She owned a storefront and Dawn went to work for her in the store while she trained Dawn after hours.
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The problem for Dawn continued to be the memories that she kept seeing in her mind that were not her own. For instance, in G.I. Joe #237, she re-lived the battle that led to Snake Eyes' disfigurement.
More importantly, what she discovered is something that shocked some people who were close to Snake Eyes. You see, Snake Eyes has always been seen as the model of moderation. He was always calm, no matter the situation. That's literally what the classic silent issue of G.I. Joe, "Silent Interlude," was about. However, it turns out that Snake Eyes' ability to maintain his cool was particularly impressive considering how much rage he felt in his heart. He was a killing machine who managed to keep himself from actually being a killing machine. The problem for Dawn is that she experienced some of his memories without his ability to cope. She then became what you would call "unhinged." She had all of the physical tools to become a ninja and now she had the training (via a dead man's mind) to match, but since it was someone else's mind, she could not control herself at all times. Sometimes, she literally just became Snake Eyes in her body, only a Snake Eyes who could not control himself.
At the same time, as soon as he killed him off, Larry Hama was looking to tell stories of Snake Eyes' past. This current setup allows Hama to easily tell old stories featuring Snake Eyes, as they will be like memories for Dawn, but new stories to the readers.
In G.I. Joe #244, she finally gained her new ninja attire and she more or less officially became the new Snake Eyes (which makes her the second Snake Eyes in the series at the moment).
She made her cover debut in her new costume the next issue...
Gallant finished out a multi-year run on the book with #245. New artists Netho Diaz and Thiago Gomes join Larry Hama to tell new stories featuring the physical replacement for Snake Eyes and the mental successor. It is a clever way to keep Snake Eyes' legacy going, while also diversifying the main characters in the series.