Cobra
Commander
Captured at Last!
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Cover Date:
May, 1984
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Script: Larry Hama
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Breakdowns: Mike Vosburg
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Finishes: D'Agostino
&
Tartag
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Colors: George
Roussos
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Editor: Denny O'Neil
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Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
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Summary:
On the border of Italy and Switzerland, Snow Job is perched in the
mountains, watching a convalescent chalet fifty miles of Bern,
Switzerland. Through his binoculars, he spots the Baroness, still in
bandages on a balcony of the chalet. He radios to Duke and Roadblock
who have set up their surveillance equipment (a camera and Duke's
radio/briefcase) at a table in a sidewalk cafe across from the Hotel
Bern. As Duke orders Snow Job to stay put, Roadblock complains to the
chef about the quality of the food. Soon, Major Bludd exits the Hotel
Bern and gets in a taxi. The cab is followed by a car with Clutch and
Cover Girl inside. Back at the Pit, Hawk tells Breaker that Duke's
request for backup is denied since the Pit is still being renovated and
no one else can be spared.
Back in Switzerland, Major Bludd enters a telegraph office to make an
overseas phone call. Clutch and Cover Girl wait outside. Bludd calls
Cobra Commander and asks him to pay ransom for the Baroness.He refuses,
but Bludd threatens to tell Destro that the commander tried to have him
killed. Cobra Commander gets in a car and orders his masked driver to
take him to the airfield after a stop at the bank and the luggage
store. Back in Switzerland, Clutch and Cover Girl meet Snow Job in the
mountains and they both see Bludd arrive at the chalet. Inside, the
Baroness shows Bludd her new face and her new outfit, and Bludd gives
her one of two tickets to Lucca, Italy. Snow Job can read the ticket's
destination through his binoculars.
The next day, Duke and Roadblock are in Lucca, Italy at yet another
cafe. They see several people in costume, including one man in a
costume similar to Cobra Commander's outfit, but it's not him. The
waiter tells them it's the time of year when the Annual International
Fantasy Convention comes to town and the main event is a costume party.
The streets are filled with people in cosume. Duke realizes Bludd chose
Lucca as a meeting place because the Cobras would blend in. In the
mountains North of Lucca, Cover Girl and Clutch spot a old car built in
1931 carrying people dressed gangsters. The car is driven by Bludd and
the Baroness. After a brief chase, Clutch's Porsche crashes into a
streetlamp. The people in the town just think it's part of the
convention. Bludd's car rounds a corner and spots Duke and Roadblock
readying their trap. They crash into the cafe, where the gangsters
attack the two Joes, allowing Bludd and the Baroness to escape.
At a nearby hotel, Bludd, the Baroness and two gangsters meet with
Cobra Commander and his driver, who turns out to be Storm Shadow. The
gangsters are no match for Storm Shadow. The ninja pulls a sword on
Bludd, but the Baroness pulls a gun on the commander. A stalemate.
Roadblock and Duke break in and attack Storm Shadow and Bludd, allowing
the Baroness to escape with the commander at gunpoint. They speed off
in the commander's car, with Clutch and Cover Girl just behind. Storm
Shadow and Bludd pursue them in a parade float shaped like a dragon.
Snow Job arrives in the Vamp, where Duke is lifting a chandelier off of
Roadblock after Storm Shadow cut it down from above him. They get on
the Vamp and follow the other vehicles into the mountains. A firefight
ensues and Clutch's tire is hit. Clutch swerves, determined to stop the
dragon float from continuing. He only succeeds in tearing off the
float's dragon facade and wrecking the Porsche. The Vamp drives by and
Clutch and Cover Girl "commandeer" a motorcycle. The chase continues
until a cement truck comes from the other direction, knocking over the
Vamp. Clutch and Roadblock set the Vamp on its wheels and get in the
Vamp. Clutch drives over the side of the mountain and manages to tumble
down to another part of the winding road, blocking Cobra Commander's
car. The Baroness escapes by leaping onto the passing float carrying
Bludd and Storm Shadow. When the other Joes arrive at the scene in the
commandeered cement truck they see Clutch and Roadblock holding Cobra
Commander at gunpoint.
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Commentary:
Issue #23 continues on with some of the
leftover storyline from the major story that ended in issue #19. We
finally see where Major Bludd has taken the Baroness and find her alive
and well. Some of the story borders on being silly, but there's enough
action to satisfy readers. As the story opens, it appears that Duke has
taken over Hawk's position as field commander. Hawk only appears back
at the Pit, overseeing the HQ's rebuilding. Hawk's role in the series
will be much the same until his promotion in issue #45. One thing that
is a little confusing here is Mike Vosburg's Duke looks almost exactly
like Hawk. A few lines here and there indicate Larry Hama's attempt to
make Duke an old veteran, like when he calls Cover Girl and Clutch
"young-bloods."
Humor is plentiful in this story, with Roadblock's constant food
critiques in the European restaurants. In those same scenes, however,
Duke and Roadblock's surveillance his hardly "undercover" especially
when Duke speaks into his radio in his briefcase opened on the
restaurant's table. Clutch is as much of a "chauvanist pig" with Cover
Girl as he was with Scarlett. At one point he suggests that they
"make-out" so Major Bludd won't spot them. The exchanges between Bludd
and Cobra Commander are funny as well with the commander insulting
Bludd's poetry. Bludd decides that Cobra Commander is a "Philistine."
The commander's attitude is quickly shaping into that of the unstable
character always losing his temper. He doesn't even acknowledge his
underlings' salutes as he exits Cobra headquarters through a fast food
restaurant in Springfield. The Baroness and Bludd's suspicious
characters come out when both are quite willing to abandon the other to
save themselves. The Baroness' new costume that now matches her action
figure is premiered for the first time in the comic. Supposedly, she
has also had reconstructive surgery and has a new face, but in comic
book terms, she looks the same. A quick appearance of Destro reminds us
that he still believes the Baroness is dead.
In the realm of artwork, this issue displays how the look of a
penciller's art is greatly affected by the inker. It's fairly obvious
where D'Agostino's inking ends and Tartag's begins. The character
drawings get much rougher than with D'Agostino's inks. Roadblock's
mustache seems to disappear between scenes.
There are a few little questionable items in the story that a
commentary has to address. One wonders if anyone can really read the
destination written on an airline ticket inside a building, a valley
away, as Snow Job does. Those are some powerful binoculars! Also, it's
a little silly to think Clutch can tumble down the side of a mountain
in the Vamp without hurting anybody inside. It sounds like complaining,
and it may be anal to notice, but the Joes are tracking the Baroness'
whereabouts with a hidden tracking device behind her ear. Not only is
the tracking a device a tired plot device, it's doubtful that Baroness
could have reconstructive surgery on her face without the doctor
noticing the tracking device.
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Reprinted
in:
- G.I. JOE Comics
Magazine #9 (April 1988). Digest format from Marvel Comics. Includes issues #24
and 25.
- G.I. JOE: Volume 3 (August 2002). A trade paperback collection from
Marvel. Includes issues #21-30.
- Classic G.I. JOE:
Volume 3
(May 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
#21-30.
- G.I. JOE: Best of Duke (June
2009). Part of a
series of reprints from IDW. Also includes issues #23,
48-50, 80.
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