Zartan
From Transformers Wiki
- Zartan is an affiliate of Cobra from the G.I. Joe portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Zartan is the leader of the Dreadnoks, the mercenary biker gang often employed by Cobra. He is also a master of disguise and occasionally a ninja. Destro considers him uncouth and thus hates his guts.
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Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
G.I. Joe and the Transformers
Cobra Commander berated Zartan after his Dreadnoks jumped the gun and attacked Power Station Alpha too soon. Zartan was ordered to have Zarana pick up Torch, Ripper, and Buzzer, which she did. Blood on the Tracks Later, Zartan accompanied Serpentor and Dr. Mindbender to a meeting with Cobra's newly found Decepticon allies. Though both sides maintained a facade of camaraderie, they had already begun plotting betraying one another. Ashes, Ashes... Later still, Zartan was briefly seen inside the Ark after Serpentor formed an alliance with the Autobots and G.I. Joe against the Decepticons. ...All Fall Down!
Marvel Generation 2 comic
When Destro and Baroness, escaping from Cobra Commander to the abandoned Cobra Island, they found the Commander awaiting them, but he was really Zartan in disguise. Destro and Baroness didn't recognise Zartan, who had a new appearance with a leather jacket and an orange mohawk. He resumed his original appearance for brief seconds to allow them recognise him; Destro was happy to see him, as he'd helped save the Baroness some time before. The three former Cobra members and Hawk found that Doctor Mindbender's cloning chamber had been taken away, and deducted that it was likely as part of a plan to revive the doctor. Realignments Zartan next helped Destro recover his castle in Trans-Carpathia, currently occupied by Cobra Commander's forces. After triggering an alarm to have the troops within swarm to him, he tricked the Vipers into thinking he was Cobra Commander, back from Canada for a surprise inspecting, thanks to his shape-shifting powers. "Cobra Commander" ordered them to drop their weapons, before returning to his true form, and holding the Vipers at gun-point alongside Destro and the Baroness. The trio could now retake the castle with minimal resistance. Goin' South
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
Zartan and Firefly were hired by Destro to participate in Cobra's attack on the SPS Research Facility, during which Zartan would infiltrate the complex and steal a module necessary to control the SPS Satellite. Using stolen Cybertronian cloaking technology, he turned himself and his Flight Pod invisible and sneaked into the facility, where he knocked out Quick Kick, Mutt and Junkyard and got his hands on the module. When Quick Kick and Mutt woke up and chased after Zartan, he sicked Ravage at them and escaped in an air vent. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #3 He returned to Cobra Island and asked for the second half of his payment, only to be attacked by Soundwave when Cobra's captured Transformers were suddenly freed from their reprogramming. After getting chased across the island by Rumble, Zartan and Destro were saved by the Baroness. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #4 The Cobra group was later attacked by a group of Autobots, but it is unknown what Zartan did about the situation. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #5
Two years later, Zartan was among the Cobras and G.I. Joes sent to Cybertron by a malfunctioning wormhole computer connected to Teletran 3. It soon turned out that malfunction had also sent various Cybertronians to different points in Earth's timeline, and if they weren't retrieved, time travel "feedback" would cause the destruction of Earth. Zartan formed a rescue team with Storm Shadow, Snake-Eyes and Lady Jaye, but he was not happy about having to experience the 1970s again. Although Lady Jaye didn't agree with his suggested methods (killing people), Zartan helped track down the three time-lost Transformers in San Francisco and returned with them to the present. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #1
During Cobra Commander's attack on Area 52, Zartan reminded his leader that there was no need to deliver rousing speeches to a bunch of mindless robotic soldiers, and also ordered the formation of Cobratron. He and Cobra Commander then used a Buzz Boar to infiltrate the complex, where Zartan joined his sister Zarana in killing the guards inside before defeating Bumblebee with an electromagnetic scrambler. The three activated the sentient bioweapon Serpent O.R., who sadly had no intention of serving Cobra, and attacked them. Zartan managed to plant a control device on Serpent O.R.'s neck, but it had no apparent effect, and he was knocked into a wall and fell unconscious. The Art of War #1 By the time he woke up, a team of Autobots and G.I. Joes arrived and captured the Cobra members. Fortunately, Serpent O.R. attacked the heroes, allowing Zartan and the others to escape in the confusion. The Art of War #2 After returning to the Cobra Terrordrome in Siberia, Zartan got curious about Cobra Commander and Doctor Knox shutting themselves inside a tech room for days on an end. He attempted to spy on them, and made a deal with the Baroness to tell her anything he found out. The Art of War #4
Several months later, Zartan was on G.I. Joe's list of Cobra members who were still eluding capture. Black Horizon, Part 1
Transformers/G.I. Joe
When G.I. Joe and the Autobots attacked Cobra's headquarters on the Fera Islands in 1939, Cobra Commander sent out Zartan on a special mission. Transformed Sneaking up on Breaker, Zartan murdered the Joe and stole his identity in order to infiltrate Flint's squad and find out about their battle plan. Trial by Fire His disguise and acting were flawless, but unfortunately, Flint recognized that the radio "Breaker" was operating wasn't one of theirs. Revealing his true face, Zartan fought with Flint, while simultaneously observing his every move and learning how to act like him. After figuring that he had learned enough, he ordered Soundwave—disguised as the radio—to capture Flint and take them both back to headquarters. After all, there was no need to infiltrate the enemy if they could just torture their battle plan out of Flint. Wolves
Disguising himself as Flint, Zartan went to greet Lady Jaye and Duke when they reached the shores near the Cobra base. As he stopped Lady Jaye from killing Major Bludd (punching him out personally instead), he claimed to have escaped from Cobra's captivity. Unfortunately, Lady Jaye saw straight through his disguise, saying that the real Flint would've happily let her kill Bludd. Before Zartan could process this, Lady Jaye killed him with a makeshift javelin. The Iron Fist
Shattered Glass
Zartan's grinning face was part of the logo for the band Cold Slither. The Desert Heat!
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
Under the guise of a badly injured Wild Bill, Zartan stumbled to the Joes' base camp after they (rightfully) believed Bill had died in a kamikaze attack. He collapsed into the arms of Snow Job and Scarlett, warning them that Wheeljack had followed him to the camp. This proved not to be a problem for the Joes, as the Autobot triggered a perimeter trap and became their first P.O.W. in the inter-planetary war. Targetmasters After the Autobots and the Joes formed an alliance and stationed themselves within Metroplex, Zartan used his disguise to let Decepticobra troops into the mobile city. He then abandoned his disguise and scurried away from the battlefield. Everybody Hates Metroplex
Several Joes and Autobots were captured in the battle's aftermath. Destro and Zartan used Cobra's technology in consciousness-mapping to control several of their prisoners in fighting one-another for their amusement. Zartan made a bet with Destro over which one could beat the other's "toy-soldier," but he called it off when it was revealed that his plaything, the Autobot Galen, was in fact a human in disguise! Expelled from the Garden
Using his Wild Bill disguise, Zartan infiltrated the Pit established on Cybertron by the Joes. His cover was blown when the body of the real Wild Bill was discovered, prompting him to get in a Dragonfly and use its rotors to attack the Joes, mowing down several of them before being sniped and killed by Stalker. Earth: R.I.P.
2005 IDW continuity
Years after his leaving the Dreadnoks and the collapse of Cobra, Secret Raiders Zartan took an interest in the newly established Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. Posing as an old friend of M.A.S.K. agent Brad Turner, Zartan lured Brad into a loading zone opposite a Miami nightclub where the team was relaxing. Knocking the former DEA agent out and having his henchmen lock him up, Zartan took on Brad's appearance and took his place within the M.A.S.K. team. M.A.S.K. #5
Posing as Brad,[1] Zartan was deployed alongside G.I. Joe members Tunnel Rat and Stalker to retrieve a portion of the remains of the Decepticon Astrotrain from the Congo Basin, and carried Tunnel Rat down to the surface from the Joes' Tomahawk aboard the flying Condor motorcycle. Though he detected the Cybertronian's remains in a cave below the ground, the two were pursued by Vanessa Warfield in the Manta; Zartan, however, managed to make her crash by projecting holograms of elephants with Turner's "Eclipse" Mask. When "Brad" reached the target—Astrotrain's arm—he was attacked by Bruno Sheppard; Tunnel Rat, however, shot the V.E.N.O.M. agent and allowed the two to retrieve their target. The Deathstone
After being informed by one of Brad's connections, Rodrigo Gutierrez, that a stash of Ore-13 was being sold in Ferren Woods, Kentucky, Zartan and the other M.A.S.K. members visited the town to investigate. Though it turned out to be a dead end, on returning to their vehicles the team found that they had been mysteriously disabled; "Brad" noted that the situation was "exactly how most horror movies start". Wrath of Karza #1
Toys
G.I. Joe and the Transformers
- Scarlet vs Zartan & Autobot Powerglide vs Soundwave (Box set, 2016)
- Accessories: hood, body armour, web gear, pistol, shotgun, rifle, 2 swords, sheath, alternate heads (Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow, and unmasked), display stand
- Exclusive to the Hasbro Toy Shop booth at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 and the Hasbro Toy Shop website, Zartan is composed of recolored parts of other G.I. Joe figures; namely, he has the head of 2007's 25th Anniversary Zartan, the torso and waist of the first Snake-Eyes from 2012's Retaliation line, and the arms and legs of Retaliation Zartan.
- He retains many of the latter Zartan's accessories, including his hooded web gear and three of his interchangeable heads to simulate his mastery of disguise; while the first two heads are Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow's masks, the third head is actually Retaliation Zartan's default head, now with a painted on hairline, presumably repurposed here as another disguise. The Storm Shadow and Retaliation heads are designed to feature light-piping, though its effectiveness is neutered by their cold, dead, painted black eyes. He also comes with a removable breastplate, a back-mounted sheath with two swords, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol.
- This set also features a redeco of a (non-transforming) Cobra Rattler vehicle colored as Autobot Powerglide, a Soundwave HISS tank, and Scarlett.
Collaborative
- Soundwave Dreadnok Thunder Machine with Zartan and Zarana (2024)
- Accessories: Pistol, backpack, face mask, chain leash, battle stand
- Known designers: Evan Brooks (Hasbro), Shuhei Umezu (TakaraTomy), Mario Carreiro (packaging)[2]
- Part of the Transformers Collaborative line, this 3.75" Zartan figure comes in a set with a properly scaled Soundwave Dreadnok Thunder Machine, his sister Zarana, and Ravage.
- Zartan himself is a newly recreated replica of his original 1984 toy, part of the concurrent G.I. Joe Retro Collection and its "O-Ring" subline. He comes packaged on his own Retro Collection card inside the main Collaborative box to the glee of Joe collectors. He comes with faithful recreations of his original pistol, face mask, and backpack along with a new battle stand, and can ride inside Soundwave's cockpit in vehicle mode or ride his back in robot mode.
Notes
- Zartan's trademark hood, as it appears in his original animation model, looks rather like hair, to the confusion of many over the years.
- The 1993 Zartan from Generation 2 made a cameo as an opponent of Team Extreme and '90s Action Man in Revolutionaries #7 but is probably a separate individual from the actual IDW Zartan.
- A handful of Transformers alumni have voiced Zartan over the years, including Marc Thompson, Steve Blum, Colin Murdoch and Brian Bloom.
References
- ↑ "Brad Turner" isn't shown or implied to be Zartan at any point during the M.A.S.K. Annual or Wrath of Karza; however, the only points at which they could take place would be during Zartan's impersonation of Brad.
- ↑ The Hasbro Transformers Panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 with Mario Carreiro, John Warden, Evan Brooks and Nate Purswell, recorded at the "Memo's Collection" YouTube channel.
