Way overloading this, but it is something I feel strongly about.

I agree that this IS a continuing storyline, without an ending.

A few companies have tried, and have gotten RAZED about it.

You can't finish this. Each character has a background. which makes them REAL to the reader. and whether major or minor roles, it's all about the reader's reaction to them. Blame Hama.

He did such an outstanding job with not only the comics, but the backgrounds on the filecards, that ANY fan, ANYWHERE in the world, can identify with one Character or another.

Me? I should identify with Grand Slam...Chippewa Falls WI, while I was born in Waukesha WI, not all to far away, and one of the VERY FEW Joes in WI. I identify more with Flash. Lodi CA. Simply cause that's the fig my dad bought me first. He was Air Force and a HUGE Sci-Fi buff, Flash is a laser Rifle Trooper. Granted, Army...but the correlation is there.

28 years later. Flash is still my fave (RIP Popa)

All I'm saying is this. JOE has been around for a LOT of us for all our lives. It's an ungoing saga. Timeless, while bringing us into the now. All at the same time the rememberance of what was and what is now collides. I cherish it.