The Commander approached the mercenary Firefly for the job, but Firefly realized he was no match for the target and instead referenced Cobra Commander to another assassin, Zartan, who took the job and infiltrated the clan.

His first act was to imprison those who had betrayed him ( those who tried to murder him or come to know of the act subsequently ): Fred VII, Raptor, Firefly, Dr. Mindbender, Zartan, Billy, and numerous Cobra troops, all of whom he had buried alive within a volcano on Cobra Island.

Joe disbanded and Cobra was defeated, Zartan expanded the Dreadnoks, spreading his gang to over fifty cities in the United States.

Zartan eventually was overcome by a problem with his genetic experimentation, which left him unable to go out into sunlight.

Storm Shadow chased Zartan, who was able to escape in a helicopter piloted by Firefly.

After discovering it was Zartan who killed his uncle, he left Cobra and joined G. I.

Cobra Commander killed the judge, and swear revenge against Snake Eyes, resulting in him hiring Firefly ( who in turn subcontracted Zartan ) to kill Snake Eyes while he was training in the Arashikage Clan.

During the conflict, Serpentor met his end at the hands of Zartan, and was killed by an arrow to the eye.

When Zartan was originally released in the toy line, it stated on his file card that he suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder.

He was later named Zartan, an anagram of Tarzan, by writer Larry Hama.

Zartan was sold with an accompanying " swamp skier " called the Chameleon, which also contained thermal reactive plastic.

The Chameleon could be disassembled into several parts and loaded into a small cart that was included with the action figure ; the cart, loaded with the vehicle's parts, would act as part of a disguise, making Zartan appear to be a parts or junk dealer.

Zartan was updated in 1993, as part of the Ninja Force line.

Zartan was released only once in this four year period ( 1997 – 2001 ) at the tail-end.

In 2004, Zartan was redesigned again for Valor vs Venom.

A repaint of this figure was released in 2007, featuring a new version of Zartan called " Toxic Zartan " featuring a new purple uniform, and green highlights.

Zartan was also released on the G. I.

Zartan was released in the second wave of figures for the Pursuit of Cobra line in 2010.

Using one of Storm Shadow's arrows, Zartan accidentally killed Storm Shadow's uncle the Hard Master, who was impersonating Snake Eyes at the time.

Zartan was featured in issue # 48, where he had been brought into The Pit, the Joe's Headquarters, disguised as an injured Joe, Ripcord.

It was also around this time that Zartan sported a new look, including an orange mohawk and black jacket.

It was also around this time that Zartan's daughter Zanya found him and Zartan took her in.

Zartan and his siblings, Zack and Zoe, grew up sometime during the early 1970s ( 1970s based on print date of comic ; stating that it was 30 years ago when Zartan was a child ).

As the situation grows tense, the Baronness arrives by chopper from New York, at which point the Baronness says to Zartan that she knows what the Commander's face looks like, and she can identify him.

Zartan can alter his skin color at will to blend in with his environment, and is a practitioner of several mystic martial arts.

Zartan and the Dreadnoks ( at the time only Buzzer, Ripper and Torch ) were used by Cobra as hired muscle for jobs that required his unique skills, or jobs that required absolutely no finesse at all.

When he was confronted by the local police, he gave them the name " Zartan " that he saw on a movie poster behind them, eventually adopting it at the beginning of his named career.

They accomplish their task, but Zartan himself is curiously absent from then on, and is not seen during the final battle at the film's climax.

Zartan is taken down a notch when Snake-Eyes easily escapes at the right moment, and uses the chains as a weapon.

After making the joke, Zartan's off-screen wife yells at Zartan that they have to leave for Seder causing Zartan to bemoan to the camera about marrying into a Jewish family.

* Zartan at JMM's G. I.

* Zartan at The Inner Sanctum fansite

The 1984 Zartan action figure featured UV reactive plastic.

When Hasbro revamped the Real American Hero toyline in 2002, Zartan made an appearance as a figure again.

In a review of the action figure, MTV said that Zartan " one of the few JOE-verse characters that weren ’ t stripped of all their coolness in the recent film ", though still praised the action figure for not referencing the film, calling the figure " all-around amazing ".

Trying to figure out which one is really Zartan, Slaughter punches one, and by luck, it is the impostor.

and more recently, a South African Mercenary named Colonel Coetzee ( loosely based on Eeben Barlow ) in the film Blood Diamond, a Middle Eastern terrorist named Habib Marwan in the television series 24, and Zartan in the film G. I.

Recruiting new members from many nations and controlling assets across the world, Cobra became so large that Cobra Commander could no longer control it on his own and created a " High Command " of his most skilled ( if not trusted ) lieutenants, which included Zartan, Baroness Anastasia DeCobray, the Scottish arms dealer James McCullen Destro, and Australian mercenary Major Sebastian Bludd.

Also, Zarana is shown leading the Dreadnoks with no mentionings on what happened to Zartan.

In the episode " Dreadnoks Rising ", Zartan takes off his visor but puts it back on and says, " you need it more than I do ".

There were a few missions carried out under Fred, such as the attempted theft of plans for an orbital laser cannon, an attack on Zartan, and an attack on Destro's castle in Scotland.

He and his siblings lived in an orphanage for some time, before Zartan killed a bully who was picking on Zandar in a fight.

After that incident and the U. S. crack down on Cobra, Zartan and the Dreadnoks abandoned their Florida base, and moved the operation to Toronto, Ontario.

Joe: The Movie, Zartan is seen being angry with Cobra Commander, for blaming his lacking courage on the troops.

According to Vosloo, Zartan is still in disguise as the U. S. president and he's got the world leaders all under his thumb, war heads headed towards innocent populaces, and some new heavies on the payroll, to keep G. I.

His first appearance is in the episode " Joint Point " in the segment " Welcome to the Terror Dome " ( a parody of The Office ), Zartan is seen in a non-speaking role as a new Cobra recruit ( along with several Cobra Troopers ), being taught by Doctor Mindbender on Cobra tactics.