G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 59, G.I. Joe 60

G.I. Joe #59 (May 1987) – “Divergent Paths” – Larry Hama/Ron Wagner/Bob McLeod

This one starts in Denver at the garage hideout of Crimson Guardsman Fred (that’s Fred VII for those keeping score), where Cobra Commander and his son Billy are staying. Fred has built a prosthetic leg to replace the one Billy lost in the explosion, but Billy’s having a little trouble getting used to it. He catapults into a martial arts stance to keep from falling, surprising himself as much as the others, since he still has no memory of his old life. They’re interrupted by Raptor, a weirdo who dresses in a bird costume and wants to use razor-taloned falcons to help Cobra against their enemies. Naturally, Cobra Commander thinks he’s nuts. In Utah, some Joes are testing a new artillery piece and we get a look at a new Joe named Tunnel Rat. When some of the others complain about their new nomadic existence playing hell with receiving their pay, Tunnel Rat shows them a new sort of credit card that lets them draw their pay in the field, without worrying about all the paperwork. In Denver, Raptor (who’s an accountant as well as a bird-fancier) uses his financial acumen to tap into the Army’s pay records and figure out that a contingent of Joes are close by in Utah, probably headed for Fort Carson. The Joes are heading that way, but first have to stop and pick up another newcomer, Outback, a survival specialist. He was supposed to test some new equipment and food under field conditions, but his reviews aren’t exactly glowing. In Denver, Billy sees some students practicing in a dojo and his memories come flooding back, especially the ones concerning Storm Shadow. After class, Billy sneaks into the dojo, but the sensei detects his presence immediately. In the mountains, Raptor uses his birds to find the Joes and Cobra Commander takes Fred’s Pogo assault pod to go after them. Cobra Commander engages with the Joes and things get pretty intense. After almost smashing into each other inside a tunnel, they call it a draw and go their separate ways, but Cobra Commander now has some ideas about the future of Cobra. Back in Denver, Billy meets the sensei (who’s blind) and another student, who does the same sword-catching test on him that Storm Shadow did. Billy passes the test and reveals that the girl who tested him (she isn’t named but I’m assuming it’s Jinx) has the same Arashikage clan tattoo as Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. This is a pretty good issue, introducing us to several new characters (Raptor, Tunnel Rat, Outback, Blind Master, and Jinx) and pieces of equipment (the SLAM, the Pogo pod). When Cobra Commander first meets Raptor, he goes on a rant about being tired of nutcases in stupid costumes like Dr. Mindbender. I think that might’ve been Larry Hama’s way of venting his frustration over having to add ridiculous characters dictated by those in charge of Hasbro’s toy line. We also get a surprise with the first appearance of Jinx and her ties to Storm Shadow. If it seems like a bit of a coincidence that she just happened to be in Denver, she mentions that they’ve been watching Fred’s place for a while and knew that Cobra Commander was Billy’s father, so we’ll have to wait to see where that goes.

G.I. Joe #60 (June 1987) – “Cross Purposes” – Larry Hama/Todd McFarlane/Andy Mushynsky

This one starts with Hawk arriving at Newark airport and being picked up some strangers (an MP named Law and his dog Order and a Green Beret called Lieutenant Falcon), who seem to know a lot about him. In the wilds of New Jersey, Zarana and Buzzer return to Zartan’s gas station hideout and find a couple of renegade Dreadnoks (Zanzibar and Monkeywrench) stealing gas. After getting pounded for a bit, Zanzibar says he has some important info about the Joes. Near the Jersey Shore, Hawk is taken to a failed resort where he meets Fastdraw and Chuckles, who’s with Army Intelligence. Chuckles tells Hawk that he was investigating extremists within the Pentagon when he and the others were supposedly assigned to the G.I. Joe team and told to guard a surplus missile system hidden here in the resort. But the missile is aimed at Cobra Island, so obviously the Pentagon hardliners are taking matters into their own hands. Zarana and the Dreadnoks show up and overhear the conversation, so they engage Hawk and the others while Buzzer heads to the Cobra consulate building in New York to warn them about the missile. The Pentagon rogues set the missile to launch remotely, but the Dreadnoks think the Joes are trying to protect it when they actually want to stop it from launching. So the two sides fight each other while both try to disable the missile, which ends up launching. But Buzzer made it to New York in time and brings a Cobra chopper to destroy the missile and pick up the Dreadnoks and Zarana. Chuckles is pissed off about all the trouble the renegade Generals caused and goes to the Pentagon to confront them. They’re worried he’s going to kill them, but he just forces them to resign. This issue reads like filler, with a shitload of new characters being introduced and a weird plot. The art is different too, with Todd McFarlane’s style not really fitting the Joes (although his art isn’t as wild as it would be in a couple of years). Most of these characters will stick around, and I think Chuckles actually becomes fairly popular, but it seems like they’re introducing too many new people and concepts at once. It threatens to overwhelm the story and characterization that made this comic so good in the first place.