Reviews, ruminations, and (occasional) ramblings.
G.I. Joe #23 (May 1984) – “Cobra Commander Captured at Last” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino, John Tartagione
This one starts with Snow Job observing a chalet in the Swiss Alps where Baroness is recovering from her plastic surgery (and reading Cosmo … maybe she likes the quizzes). Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 23, G.I. Joe 24”
Life on the Line – Director: Adriana Maggs/Writer: Keri Ferencz
Frankie and Flo are hanging out, talking about Flo’s upcoming tests to become a doctor. Flo’s worried she may not handle living patients as well as she does the corpses in the morgue, but Frankie reassures her. They come across a guy who’s preparing to jump off a railway bridge and try to talk him down. He says someone’s been trying to ruin his business (and his life) and Frankie convinces him she can find out who it is. Frankie and Flo drag the guy off the bridge, but he says he’s reserving his gratitude until after they find out who’s wrecking his life. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 6”
Conan the Barbarian #23 – “The Shadow of the Vulture” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Sal Buscema, Dan Adkins, Chic Stone
This one starts in Pah-Dishah, a city three weeks’ ride from Makkalet, where Conan has come to deliver a plea for help to the king (Ghannif), whose daughter Melissandra is Queen of Makkalet, currently under siege by the armies of Prince Yezdigerd. Conan has a little trouble getting in to see the king, who doesn’t seem too worried to hear his daughter is in trouble. Continue reading “Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 23, Conan the Barbarian 24”
G.I. Joe #21 (March 1984) – “Silent Interlude” – Larry Hama/Steve Leialoha
As the title implies, this issue is completely silent, with no dialogue or captions to aid in the storytelling. Larry Hama did the breakdowns as well as the overall story, so he obviously had a vision of what he wanted this to be. It starts with a ninja in white (who fans will immediately recognize as Storm Shadow) bringing a prisoner to a Cobra mountain fortress. Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 21, G.I. Joe 22”
Things Better Left Dead – Director: Ruba Nadda/Writer: Cal Coons
This one starts with Frankie bringing some guy back to her office at night. It looks like they’re about to bang right there on the steps, but there’s blood on the floor and their passionate moment is shattered when Frankie sees Trudy’s lifeless body on the floor. Yeah, apparently Trudy’s dead. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 5”
Conan the Barbarian #21 – “The Monster of the Monoliths” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Dan Adkins, Craig Russell, Val Mayerik, Sal Buscema
Last issue, Conan was part of the Turanian force that attacked Makkalet, a Hyrkanian city who had kidnapped the living god Tarim, resident for many years in the Turanian capital of Agrhrapur. The Turanian prince Yezdigerd led the attacking fleet, but his motives seem to be less about religion and more about eliminating a strong trade rival on the Vilayet Sea. Continue reading “Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 21, Conan the Barbarian 22”
G.I. Joe #19 (January 1984) – “Joe Triumphs” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino
This one starts with the Joes building a fake operational headquarters right above the real Pit under the motor pool at Fort Wadsworth. After the Joes brought Scar-Face back last issue, he told them he was carrying the plague toxin and was meant to infect everyone at Joe headquarters. Scar-Face even managed to steal the antidote and willingly hands it over to the Joes, hoping they’ll use it to cure him. Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 19, G.I. Joe 20”
A Brother in Arms – Director: Mina Shum/Writer: Karen Hill, Ley Lukins
This one starts with Frankie and Trudy hanging out at Wendy Quon’s new speakeasy. They notice a newspaper headline about a local Chinese factory worker (Li Chang) who’s been sentenced to hang for murdering his boss and Wendy speculates that it’s racism more than facts that got him convicted. Flo comes in and complains about her new morgue assistant, Bart, who’s blessed with neither brains nor looks. When Frankie and Trudy return to the office, they notice a light and go inside to find a guy making himself at home. He claims to be Jack Drake, Frankie’s brother. Continue reading “Frankie Drake Mysteries Reviews: Season 3, Episode 4”
Conan the Barbarian #19 – “Hawks From the Sea” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor Smith/Dan Adkins
Last issue, Conan and Fafnir were picked up by a Turanian war galley commanded by Prince Yezdigerd. He’s leading a force against a city across the Vilayet Sea and allowed (or forced) Conan and Fafnir to join his army. As the ship makes its way across the Sea, Conan sees a soldier (Balthaz) lashing a broken wooden statue to the mast. Continue reading “Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 19, Conan the Barbarian 20”
G.I. Joe #17 (November 1983) – “Loose Ends” – Larry Hama/Mike Vosburg/Jon D’Agostino
Last issue, Hawk was shot in the back by Cobra Commander while struggling with Destro and left for dead. Turns out Hawk was wearing Kevlar but the impact of the bullets still did some damage, possibly internal, because Cobra Commander was so close. While Doc works on Hawk, Scarlett fills the others in and Gung Ho trashes the car of an annoying commuter (who has the misfortune to be driving a Shelby Cobra). Continue reading “G.I. Joe Reviews: G.I. Joe 17, G.I. Joe 18”