G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe Special Missions 15, G.I. Joe 79, G.I. Joe 80

G.I. Joe Special Missions #15 (November 1988) – “… and Into the Fire” – Larry Hama/Herb Trimpe/Andy Mushynsky

Last issue, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Chuckles, Iceberg, and CIA agent Anderson went to a hidden valley in the Himalayas to find a renegade CIA operative named Esterhazy who supposedly died twenty years ago. Esterhazy’s original mission was to help the people of Chomo Lungma (a fictional stand-in for Tibet) fight the Chinese imperialists, but when Nixon and Mao settled some of their differences diplomatically, that meant Esterhazy’s mission was no longer needed. But Esterhazy went with his conscience instead of his orders and kept helping the freedom fighters, even though it was politically embarrassing for the Americans. After believing him dead for years, the CIA recently found out he was alive and sent Anderson and the Joes to bring him back, although Esterhazy figures they’re really there to kill him. Their argument is put on hold when the valley’s monastery is attacked by Colonel Peng, the Chinese officer who is also looking for Esterhazy. Some of Esterhazy’s men attack the Chinese and are wiped out and the others (led by a man named Tenzing) want to rescue the monks in the monastery since they helped the rebels in the past. Esterhazy figures he can save what’s left of the rebels by surrendering, which is fine with Anderson since Esterhazy being killed by the Chinese will fulfill his mission. Now that the Joes know Anderson meant to kill Esterhazy if he didn’t willingly come back with them, they decide to help fight the Chinese and free the monks. The monastery sits on the edge of a sheer cliff, so the Chinese are only defending it on three sides. Naturally, the Joes choose to scale the cliff, with Iceberg and Snake Eyes going up first to secure the ropes for the others. They sneak into the monastery and Esterhazy starts giving orders, sending various people to sabotage the Chinese vehicle, procure their own escape vehicle, rescue the abbott, and prepare to open the gate. But two of Esterhazy’s men go after Colonel Peng to avenge their dead comrades and get themselves killed. Peng realizes what’s happening and chases the rescuers in an armoured car he had hidden under a pile of hay. Peng has blocked the pass leading out of the valley, which stops the Joes cold. Esterhazy decides to stay and hold the pass while the others escape on foot, since he’s the reason they’re al there in the first place. After they escape, Anderson decides to go back with Tenzing to continue the rebellion and the abbott gives him Esterhazy’s copy of “The Art of War” by Sun-Tzu, thus completing the great karmic circle. This is a pretty good ending to this two-parter, with a bit of Eastern philosophy thrown in to spice things up. I assume we won’t be seeing Anderson again, but it’s interesting that he decides to carry on Esterhazy’s mission even though it’s still against international policy and his own orders from the CIA.

G.I. Joe #79 (November 1988) – “Dreadnoks Rule” – Larry Hama/Marshall Rogers/Randy Emberlin

This one starts with Cross-Country, Mutt (and Junkyard), and Law (and Order) in the HAVOC stuck in traffic on the Jersey Turnpike. A passing helicopter dumps some garbage on them and Cross Country flattens an abandoned car to go off-road. The garbage was thrown out by the Dreadnoks from a chopper on its way to the Cobra Consulate in New York. A Tele-Viper finds the bug the Joes planted there (in Special Missions 7) and Zartan realizes the Joes have been listening to their plans for a while now. We see Mainframe, Dial-Tone, and Cover Girl in an underground listening post (hidden under a newsstand right across the street from the Consulate) packing up their commo gear since their bug is destroyed. Out in the wilds of New Jersey, Cross Country and his partners have staked out Zartan’s gas station to monitor any activity there. Not far away, Zarana and Zandar are running a real estate scam, trying to hook potential investors, so the Dreadnoks head to the gas station to hang out. On the way, they fuck up a column of Army vehicles, which the Joes hear about over the radio. When the Dreadnoks show up at the gas station, the Joes see that they’ve stolen an anti-tank missile from the convoy, so Mutt and Junkyard crawl through some tall grass to get a closer look. Thrasher smells Junkyard (or maybe Mutt) and Buzzer goes into the field to slice and dice. Junkyard leads him away from Mutt, but gets sliced by Buzzer’s chainsaw. Mutt freaks out and starts shooting and Cross Country brings the HAVOC into the fight, so the Dreadnoks roll out the Thunder Machine. As the two vehicles joust with each other, Buzzer tries to blast the HAVOC with the missile but Order attacks him. Cross Country flattens the Thunder Machine and captures Thrasher and Monkeywrench, while Mutt takes Buzzer into custody and the rest of the Dreadnoks take off. Law finds Junkyard, hurt but still alive, which stops Mutt from killing Buzzer (although he does kick him in the face just to let him know how pissed off he is). This is a pretty good issue; I always liked the Dreadnoks, so it’s cool to see them in action here, although they don’t do too well in the fight. Cobra’s newest scam reminds me of the pyramid scheme that Cobra Commander used to fund Cobra way back when he first started. I guess they figure they might as well stick with what works.

G.I. Joe #80 (November 1988) – “Rolling Thunder” – Larry Hama/Ron Wagner/Tom Palmer

This one starts in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from Cobra Island. A new rocky islet has risen from the sea (probably due to the seismic activity caused by the explosion that created Cobra Island way back in issue 41) and both Cobra and the United States want to lay claim to the new territory. The islet is still unstable, so both teams are reluctant to land on it, but Cobra Commander is impatient enough to send choppers and armoured vehicles to get things moving. Dr. Mindbender is in charge of taking the islet, with Firefly his second-in-command, hoping to get back on Cobra Commander’s good side. A contingent of new Joes (Hardball, Charbroil, Muskrat, and Hit & Run) led by a couple of veterans (Outback and Ripcord) land on the islet to keep the Cobras off. Mindbender dumps some BATs onto the islet, so the Joes have to deal with them first. Charbroil takes out Mindbender’s chopper with his flamethrower, forcing the Cobras to crash land on the shore. Lift Ticket is bringing Duke and Rumbler with the Rolling Thunder, but Ghost Rider has to blast a couple of Mambas who attack them in flight. Before the Rolling Thunder can reach the islet, Cobra deploys some Buggs and Maggots to blast the Joes, but the islet is too small for them to get the right trajectory. Firefly asks to take over the operation and orders the Maggots to blow the tp of the island away, taking the Joes with it. The Rolling Thunder shows up for reinforcement and a huge firefight takes place, with Cobra dropping more BATs on top of the Joes. The Joes get an advantage, but the islet is so unstable it starts sinking back into the ocean. The Joes take off and Dr. Mindbender (who can’t swim) agrees to take the blame for the debacle if Firefly saves him. This was an action-filled issue that highlights the futility of some military operations, since they were fighting for a chunk of rock that ended up disappearing anyway. We did get to see a few new Joes and some new vehicles, but overall it was basically just filler.