The Pipeline Ploy

Cover Date: May, 1983

Scripter: Larry Hama

Penciler: Mike Vosburg

Inker: Jon D'Agostino

Letterer: Rick Parker

Colorist: Christie Scheele

Editor: Denny O'Neil

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Somewhere in Cobra Headquarters, deep below the town of Springfield, Cobra Commander discusses the Alaskan situation with the Baroness. The Joes have stumbled on the pipeline operation too soon. Baroness suggests causing an accident at the nuclear power plant near the pipeline. The commander disagrees, saying that the operation requires "a subtler hand." He introduces the Baroness to a "specialist" (his face is not shown). He will act as Cobar Commander's surrogate field commander. Cobra Commander is taken aback when Baroness tells him she has already met the specialist.

Hours later, the Joes have caught up to the Cobra tanks and spy on them from the top of a hill. They are at the pipeline's Pumping Station #1. They notice the strange cargo the Cobras are unloading in stainless steel canisters. Soon one of the tanks moves on with most of the soldiers. Hawk asks what the Joes think about the situation. Rock 'n Roll suggests that the team splits up. Gung-Ho disagrees, and Snake-Eyes and Hawk agree with Gung-Ho. Rock 'n Roll tells Snow Job he's having a tough time liking Gung-Ho, and asks if he's right about his sister. He answers, "Would I lie to you?" Meanwhile, the Cobra specialist is driving the Cobra tank along the pipeline with the soldiers following along. He reports to Cobra Commander, who reminds him that the Joes are probably watching the station by now. The specialist says he's already taken that into consideration.

Back at the pumping station the Joes attack. The Cobras tell them their fire just broke open the stainless steel containers that were filled with a plague toxin. They all have six hours to live, and the specialist has the only antidote. Suddenly, the stolen Cobra tank explodes, destroyed by a Cobra soldier on the hill with an RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade), along with several other Cobras. The second HISS tank they left behind is destroyed, too. The Cobras continue to fire on the station, as Rock 'n Roll and Snow Job get the Battle Bear under cover inside the station. As the firefight continues, Hawk orders Snow Job, Doc and Snake-Eyes to take the snowmobile to get the antidote and he tells Snake-Eyes to neutralize the RPG. Back at the helicopter landing zone, Breaker radios hawk and tells him one helicopter will ferry the wounded Joes to field HQ, and pick up reinforcements and a medical team. Wild Bill will take another helicopter to the pumping statinon with Zap and Airborne, another new Joe. Back at the station, Doc, Snow Job and Snake-Eyes leave in the Battle Bear, leaving Hawk, Rock 'n Roll and Gung-Ho inside. They plow right through the Cobras, and Snake-Eyes steals the RPG. The tank tracks lead to the nuclear power plant. They aren't there, but the plant has been attacked, and the Cobras stole some plutonium. Later, the snowmobile is attacked by two Cobra hang-gliders. Wild Bill drops off Airborne in a G.I. Joe hang-glider. He tricks the Cobras into lining up for a single shot from Snake-Eyes' RPG that shoots them both down. Airborne introduces himself and gets on the Battle Bear. At the pumpig station Wild Bill arrives and is about to be shot down by the Cobras who have a surface-to-air missle. Rock 'n Roll thinks Gung-Ho is crazy, but he manages to take out three Cobras single-handedly. Zap and Wild Bill arrive at Pumping Station #2, Wild Bill goes inside while Zap monitors the radio. Meanwhile, the specialist radios the commander that the plan is on schedule. At station #1, reinforcements arrive and the Cobras are captured. Rock 'n Roll asks Gung-Ho if they can celebrate later, "just you, me and your sister?" Gung-Ho gets very upset -- his sister is nine years old!

The Battle Bear arrives at station #2, where Doc, Snow Job and Snake-Eyes notice Cobra tank tracks. Cobra is inside the station. They radio Zap, who runs in to warn Wild Bill. The Cobras try to shoot them but Wild Bill outdraws them. Suddenly, from the shadows, the specialist draws his gun. He explains that the plague was used to draw attention away from the real plan: to steal the plutonium and transport it via the pipeline, and he has the antidote. The other Joes appear in the doorway. Doc says that the Geneva Convention says he can't fire a weapon, so he disarms the specialist with a snowball. He then tackles the Cobra, they fight in the shadows. Doc loses the fight, but manages to get the antidote. The specialist escapes after destroying the tank and blowing up the Battle Bear with his wrist-mounted rockets. Luckily, Doc managed to grab the antidote while he was "beating that Cobra...about the soles of his boots with my face." Back at G.I. Joe field HQ, Doc injects the Joes with the plague antidote. Rock 'n Roll is furious with Snow Job. It turns out the he was trying to con Rock 'n Roll out of money to set up the "date" with Gung-Ho's sister. Gung-Ho's sister is a child model, and she would like to go out for an ice cream soda. "That's why they call me 'Snow Job'!"

Commentary: "The Pipeline Ploy" is a very fast-paced issue. Larry Hama manages to write a fast-paced story even though several new characters and vehicles are introduced. This is the first issue with "new" Joes from the next series of action figures put out by Hasbro. The Cobra specialist is actually Destro, but his face is not seen and his name is not given. It's a curious way to introduce a character, but the next few issues show Destro in this way, making for some suspense in the series. After ten issues of the same characters, the introduction of new Joes still seems exciting after nearly 15 years. Cobra's HISS tanks a first introduced here, and they become the most easily recognized and used Cobra vehicle, as well as the first "toy" Cobra vehicle in the series.

The story is filled with action but still has some mystery to it. We never know Cobra's true plan until the end of the issue. The new characters introduced are all very different than the original "regular army" characters. We are uncomfortable just like the other Joes. Rock 'n Roll doesn't want to adjust calling Doc, Snow Job and Gung-Ho "a four-eyed medic, a ski-bum and a marine" who runs around "bare-chested just so we won't miss his corps tattoo." Gung-Ho speaks with a cajun accent, which will later disappear from the series. He proves himself by taking out three Cobras at once. Doc nearly gets shot when he tries to remove Snake-Eyes mask. Snow Job "cons" Rock 'n Roll, in a kind of mean way. You have to wonder if he gets punched after the end of the story. In Snow Job's filecard, the quote that discusses Snow Job as a con-artist is said by Rock 'n Roll, so Larry Hama (who also wrote the filecard) must've thought it made sense for Rock 'n Roll to be the first Joe to get conned. Airborne mentions his name is Franklin Talltree. "Is that an Indian name?" Snow Job asks. "No, it's Native American," Airborne quips. Of course, by the end of the story, they all prove themselves. Doc stops Destro, even though he can't use any weapons. WIld Bill outdraws the Cobras like an Old West gunslinger.

One of the funnier scenes comes when Cobra Commander finds out the Baroness and Destro ("the specialist") know each other. In my other reviews I mentioned that Cobra Commander acted very calm and together in contrast to his later unpredictable, tantrum throwing self. His confusion in this scene is the first place we see a crack in his hard exterior. "You know him? How? When?" The Baroness answers, "Tut tut, Commander. I thought you knew everything." This scene is more important then it may first seem. It begins to set up Cobra Commander's paranoid personality that grows as his lieutenants vie for power in the Cobra organization. The constant power struggle in Cobra will become a constant in the rest of the series. Also, since issue #10's developments, the Cobra town of Springfield is mentioned as their headquarters.

Not many problems or mistakes in this issue. One strange thing is that Wild Bill looks very different than he does later in the comic, and he only vaguely resembles the action figure. His clothing is totally different and he's lacking his sunglasses. This is later fixed, but the problem is probably nothing more than Mike Vosburg not getting a good reference picture for the character. Another minor flub comes when Hawk says Snow Job, Gung-Ho and Doc will relieve the Joes at the line. The problem is, Doc later says that he can't fire a weapon since he's a medic.

One mistake will come up later in the series in a flashback story in issue #144. The flashback takes place even before issue #1 of the series. In that issue, Doc and Wild Bill are flying in the medical 'copter. Issue #11 seems to be presented as their first mission with the Joes. But, this might not have to be the case. The flashback story did not actually say Doc and Wild Bill were team members. In this issue, Wild Bill does seem to already know the Joes. It's possible Doc and Wild Bill were not members until now. In the flashback, Doc sees Snake-Eyes get his facial injuries, while here he doesn't seem to know him. But if you analyze the story, he only says "you must be Snake-Eyes." His choice of words could be taken to mean he figures out who Snake-Eyes is because he expects his face to be covered up from the injuries he saw years earlier. Yes, I realize I'm obsessively over-analyzing things, but that's what these fan sites are for!

First Appearances:

• G.I. Joe team: Airborne, Doc, Gung-Ho, Snow Job, Wild Bill
• Cobra: Destro (known only as "the specialist"; face not shown)
• G.I. Joe Vehicles: Polar Battle Bear skimobile, Falcon hang-glider
• Cobra Vehicles: H.I.S.S. tank, Viper hang-glider

• G.I. JOE Comics Magazine #4 (June 1987). Digest format from Marvel Comics. Includes issues #9 and #10.
• Tales of G.I. Joe #11 (November 1988). Reprint series from Marvel.
• G.I. JOE: Volume 2 (June 2002). A trade paperback collection from Marvel. Includes issues #11-20.
• Classic G.I. JOE: Volume 2 (March 2009). A trade paperback collection from IDW Publishing. Aside from some slight changes made to the cover, this is a reprint of the earlier Marvel collection. Includes issues #11-20.
• G.I. JOE: Best Worst of Destro (June 2009). Part of a series of reprints from IDW. Also includes issues #14, 33, 57, 78, 87.
  
  
  
  
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