A to Z Challenge Day 26: Zap vs Zartan

For the final entry we actually have two guys with Z names so I didn't even have to do any finagling to make it work.

Zap was one of the original Real American Hero Joes.  He was mostly a basic soldier with a bazooka.  Despite this, he actually appeared a few times in the TV show and maybe in the comics.  Not that he had a spotlight episode or issue or anything.  Still, pretty good for a guy who was basically generic and didn't have much of a gimmick.

More interesting was Zartan, the master of disguise for COBRA.  He could basically take on the appearance of anyone.  And at least once in the TV show he could somehow become intangible and walk through a fence.  I'm not sure what the deal was with that.

Anyway, he came with his own little aqua scooter thing.  His action figure would change color in sunlight, turning a pale blue.  Because that would really help him disguise himself!  But I guess he came with an extra face you could put on so he would look different.  Pretty neat.

He was a frequent part of the Sunbow episodes of the TV show.  In the second season they added his brother and sister.  Then after that he pretty well disappeared for a while.  He was in the comics too along with his relatives and Dreadnoks.

In the live action movie in 2009 he was played by Arnold Vosloo, which was ironic because Vosloo played the face-changing Darkman in two direct-to-video sequels.  At the end of that movie he impersonated the president and they didn't really use him in the sequel, just the president.  And for some reason they said Zartan killed Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes's master, despite that Zartan was supposed to be a master of disguise mercenary, not a ninja.

So there you have it.  Now you know...and knowing is half the battle!