Category: Comics Reviews

G.I. Joe #138 (July 1993) – “Unfoldings” – Larry Hama/Andrew Wildman/Stephen Baskerville

This one starts with Scarlett having a nightmare about frying Hawk and Stalker last issue. Of course, she doesn’t know that the whole thing was a ruse to make her undercover infiltration of Cobra look more convincing, so she’s wracked with guilt over killing her friends. Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 138, G.I. Joe 139”

G.I. Joe #136 (May 1993) – “Reversals and Betrayals” – Larry Hama/Andrew Wildman/Stephen Baskerville

This one continues from last issue, with the Joe ninjas (Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Jinx, Nunchuk, Tjbang, and Dojo) heading for Storm Shadow’s old water tower hideout to confront the Night Creeper ninjas there. Snake Eyes goes ahead and runs into six Night Creepers, but of course he takes them all down by himself. The Joe ninjas head inside the water tower, hoping to get at least one Night Creeper alive for interrogation. They don’t realize that the Night Creeper leader and Cobra Commander are watching via body cams. The Night Creeper leader assures Cobra Commander his field operatives know nothing that could compromise his master plan. His hackers have been monitoring Joe financial activity and found Scarlett has taken a leave of absence in Switzerland and even changed her insurance beneficiary, dropping Snake Eyes after her blow-up last issue. Zarana and Road Pig take a team to Switzerland to offer Scarlett a deal. After the usual misunderstanding fight (this is a Marvel comic, after all), she decides to listen. At Andrews Air Force Base, some more Night Creepers try to hijack a stealth bomber, but a team of Joes (including the Joe ninjas) is waiting for them. The Night Creepers are captured and admit that Cobra Commander is trying to revive Cobra by selling arms to anyone on Earth who’ll meet his price. He refuses to say where Cobra’s new secret headquarters is, though. We soon find out, as Slice and Dice bust into Destro’s castle and take him and Baroness prisoner. Cobra Commander shows up (with Scarlett and the scientist from last issue as prisoners) to claim the castle for himself, using its machinery to reconfigure it to match his own taste. Cobra Commander tosses Destro and Baroness in an oubliette and makes Scarlett and Dr. Biggles-Jones an offer to join Cobra and make an enormous profit, while getting to use their unique skills. They both accept, but Cobra Commander says they’ll have to prove themselves. This is a pretty good issue, with slightly less focus on the ninjas and more on the revitalized Cobra. I don’t believe Scarlett will really join Cobra, no matter how pissed off she is (and her whole disaffection thing could be a ruse anyway), but I’m not sure about Dr. Biggles-Jones; Cobra Commander appealed to her pride and the glass ceiling is pretty thick for women in science (even now), so her acceptance of his offer might be genuine.

G.I. Joe #137 (June 1993) – “The Traitor Strikes” – Larry Hama/Andrew Wildman/Stephen Baskerville

This one continues from the above issue, with Scarlett and Dr. Biggles-Jones (who I’ll be referring to by her first name of Sidney from here on to keep things easier) being formally initiated into the ranks of Cobra. Of course, they still have to prove their loyalty, Sidney by sabotaging a rival to the company she used to work for (which seems to please her) and Scarlett by assassinating Hawk. Meanwhile, Destro and Baroness try to escape the dungeon using a laser in Destro’s mask. They attempt to swim out to the moat but Cobra Commander lowers a gate to trap them and sends a couple of Eels to kill them. The Eels return with Destro’s mask, but when the bodies float to the surface, the Vipers realize it was Destro and Baroness wearing the Eel suits. Destro has secret tunnels and caches that even Cobra Commander doesn’t know about (since Destro’s the one who built the castle) and they crawl through to the throne room to spy on Cobra Commander. At White Sands, a new railgun is being tested with the Joes there as observers and security. Cobra infiltrates the test and Sidney blows up the competing railgun with the one she designed (which is recognized by the scientist heading the new project). The Joes chase Cobra and in the confusion, Scarlett takes a shot at Hawk. She misses, which makes Slice and Dice suspicious, but her shot severs the gas line and blows up the APC, frying Hawk and Stalker (which impresses the hell out of the Cobra ninjas). The Joes pursue and Snake Eyes boards the Paralyzer, but gets distracted when he sees Scarlett is the one who fried Hawk and Stalker. Slice cuts him and he tumbles off, leaving Scarlett to escape with the rest of the Cobras. As I suspected, the whole thing turns out to be a ruse: Scarlett was sent to infiltrate Cobra and Destro tipped them about the assassination. The exploding APC was Hawk’s idea (which is why Scarlett looked so shaken by it) and they didn’t let the ninjas in on the plan, hence Snake Eyes’s shock. We’ll have to wait until next issue to see how things work out.

G.I. Joe #134 (March 1993) – “Throw Down in the Citadel” – Larry Hama/Andrew Wildman/Stephen Baskerville

This one continues from last issue, with Firefly about to attack Snake Eyes with a bunch of red ninjas in the deadly scorpion configuration. Snake Eyes attacks the ninjas, disrupting the formation and forcing Firefly to retreat. The sound of battle inside the citadel brings the other Joes (Duke, Lady Jaye, and Roadblock) to back Snake Eyes up, but they’re confronted by waves of BATs. Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 134, G.I. Joe 135”

G.I. Joe #132 (January 1993) – “Bump in the Night” – Larry Hama/Rurik Tyler/Stephen Baskerville

This one starts with four Joes (Duke, Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes, and Roadblock) in a plane high above Cobra Island getting ready to make a HALO ump. They’re there to get some payback for Cobra Commander’s attack on the Pit last issue, but they don’t know that attack was just a way for Cobra Commander to advertise his new stealth technology. They also don’t know that Cobra Commander has abandoned Cobra Island to Firefly. Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 132, G.I. Joe 133”

G.I. Joe #130 (November 1992) – “Point and Counterpoint” – Larry Hama/Andrew Wildman/Stephen Baskerville

Continuing from last issue, this one starts with Cobra Commander leading a large force against the Pit, the location of which he’s finally figured out. Thanks to their new stealth tech, the Cobras come in undetected and go after the Quonset where Spirit is on guard duty. Spirit takes a few of them out (thanks to his eagle and a fragmentation grenade) and gets below to let Duke know Cobra’s troop strength. Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 130, G.I. Joe 131”