God I hope not. I'm sure the answer is no.
It sure does sound like it:
"Just as he was in the first season of the
Sunbow G.I. Joe series,
Duke is clearly designated as the G.I. Joe commander. He is also recast as a much younger man, someone who appears to have just come to his 30s than a man going to his 40s.
Scarlett, who has always been a major character, had her position in the team upgraded to second in command after Duke. Like Duke, she has been aged younger for the series though their youth may be attributed to the fact that the artwork is done in an anime style. She is however still the team's
counterintelligence specialist.
Tunnel Rats appearance and personality varied greatly from his appearance in A Real American Hero series. Here, he is a bug-eating, unorthodox infiltration and demolitions expert. Heavy Duty seems to have retained his personality from
Spy Troops and
Valor vs. Venom, serving as the team's weapons expert. Added to the team is tracker,
Spirit Iron-Knife, and his falcon Billy, who retains his strong and shamanist personality, as well as the team sniper and transportation specialist Long Range. Hi-Tech serves as the team's technician, mechanic, etc. Jinx, Kamakura and Snake-Eyes function as the team's ninja unit. Snake-Eyes has remained the silent deadly ninja commando with Jinx and Kamakura as his students. Hawk was last seen in a healthy state at the end of Valor vs. Venom but his appearance in Sigma 6 indicates otherwise. He is seen in a hospital where Duke visited him. In the start of Season 2,
Lt. Stone (an apparent old friend of Duke's) arrives and joins the team under orders and provides them with a new seafaring base as well as his personal attack copter, the
Dragonhawk, which will also be used as a drop ship for the team's vehicles that can be carried by the Dragonhawk, like the
Ninja Hovercycle, the
Night Ranger Quad and the
V.A.M.P.. Along with Stone is the soldier
Firefly (who betrays the team and captures all but Duke and Hi-Tech in season 2 episode 7 "Revelations").
The changes are not limited to the Joe Team. Cobra Commander had his appearance greatly overhauled and, likewise, his personality. No longer comical, he is now a more deadly adversary, closer to his standard portrayal in the comics, however he has retained his cartoon counterpart's love of grandiose schemes.
Destro is now more clearly aligned with Cobra and together with the Commander and the
Baroness, they truly form the Cobra Triumvirate. Meanwhile,
Overkill is upgraded from a lowly lab assistant to a scheming cybernetic chief scientist who is stuck inside a giant glass tube.
Zartan remains Cobra's master of disguise, however his shape shifting and stealth abilities are due to his suit rather than skill and genetic enhancements as in A Real American Hero. The Dreadnoks are now Torch, Buzzer and Machete, a new character. Storm Shadow serves as Cobra's ninja, however seems more inclined to work with Cobra B.A.T.s, leading the Ninja B.A.T.s into battle. This differs from his original portrayal in Real American Hero as he's always had more faith in a well trained human as opposed to machines. Though the series is supposed to continue from Valor vs. Venom, in episode 2 "Escape", Cobra Commander says to Overkill that
all his troops should be welcoming him, implying that Overkill was the only absent COBRA member. That claim ignores the presence of characters such as
Dr. Mindbender or
Slice in Valor vs. Venom.
Sigma 6 also has a recurring
man vs. machine theme. Cobras forces are often seen to be primarily composed of the Battle Android Troopers or B.A.T.s, while the members of the Cobra Triumvirate all possess some form of cybernetic enhancement or
enhanced armored suits, with normal troopers wearing full armored uniforms."