Swampfire!
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Cover Date:
October, 1984
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Script: Larry Hama
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Pencils: Marie Severin
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Inks: Andy Mushynsky
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Lettering: Rick
Parker
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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:
In the Gulf of Mexico, ten miles off the southern coast
of Florida, Torpedo, Tripwire, Mutt and Junkyard in a motorized rubber
raft meet up with the G.I. Joe freighter, the Jane. They are
glad
to be out of the swamp. On board the Jane are Cutter and Deep
Six,
waiting for the three Joes to take over the ship. Duke, Wild Bill and
Roadblock
arrive in the Dragonfly helicopter. Torpedo shows the newly arrived
Joes
where Zartan's swamp shack is, using the map he charted with Mutt and
Tripwire.
At Zartan's shack, Cobra Commander and Firefly are
getting a status
report from Zartan and the Dreadnoks. They are in the swamp and saw the
Joes escape on a rubber raft. Zartan decides to depart "for parts
unnamed."
Cobra Commander contacts Destro, who's onboard the Water Moccasin with
the Baroness and Wild Weasel. He relays Zartan's message that he thinks
the Joes will attack with a heavy assault force. Destro agrees. They go
to an abandoned oil refinery where the Baroness transferred some Cobra
equipment.
Ten miles up the coast, a police car is stopped at a
railroad crossing.
Inside, a police chief and his deputy, R.L., are waiting for a frieght
train to pass. Breaker is sitting on top of one of the cars and asks
the
police if the road is route 56. When he learns they're in the right
place,
the Mobat, carrying Steeler and Clutch, smashes out of the train car.
The
three Joes drive off down the road, accidentally scraping the police
car.
The chief tells R.L. to go after the Joes.
Out in the Gulf, Duke, Cutter, Deep Six and Roadblock
board the new
Joe hovercraft, the Killer WHALE and leave from the Jane. Wild
Bill
and Doc lift off in the Dragonfly. Back at the abandoned oil refinery,
Destro and the Baroness reveal the three Cobra Rattler jets hidden in
the
empty oil tanks. Destro, Wild Weasel and the Baroness both take a
Rattler.
The Baroness returns to Springfield while the others go after the Joes.
At Zartan's lair, Cobra Commander and Firefly check the radar and
discover
the Joes are attacking "by land, air and sea!" He warns Destro, while
Firefly
notices one of Zartan's control panels seems to have no function. He
discovers
another control panel under the fake one, that looks like a video game
that utilizes Cobra troopers and HISS tanks.
Back on route 56, the chief orders the Mobat to pull
over, but the Joes
continue on their mission. As the Cobra Rattlers head to Zartan's lair,
and Wild Bill radios the WHALE to warn them. In Zartan's lair, Firefly
finds that the "video game" controls a force of robotic HISS tanks and
Cobra soldiers, hidden in the swamp. Cobra Commander immediately takes
over the controls from Firefly. Out near the swamp, the Mobat, followed
by the police car, run into the robot Cobra army. The Joes start to
attack
the robots and the chief and R.L. join the fight (armed with a
shotgun).
The Joes defeat the robot army as the WHALE speeds to help them.
Steeler
warns the chief that the fighting's about to get worse. They speed away
when the Rattlers approach and start firing on the Mobat.
In the town of Springfield -- Cobra's headquarters --
the Baroness arrives
at the airport. A taxi driver takes her to the detention area via a
secret
entrance at the "Fresh as a Daisy" carwash. The Baroness stops outside
a cell. "Tell me, Sebastian," she says to the man in the cell, "how
badly
do you want your freedom?" Major Bludd appears at the cell door and
answers,
"Who do you want me to kill?"
Back in the swamps, the Rattlers lose sight of the Joes
in the cypress
groves. As Wild Weasel tries to find the Mobat on radar, the Joes are
dumping
water on their engine block hoping to cool down the engine and fool
Cobra's
heat-seeking radar. Wild Weasel destroys one target: the police car.
Luckily
the chief and R.L. escape into the forest.Wild Weasel returns to the
swamp
shack to pick up Cobra Commander. Destro is about to destroy the Mobat
when the WHALE arrives and fires on Destro's Rattler. The Joes are
injured
during Destro's first attack, and the machine gun turret Deep Six is
manning
is jammed and won't elevate. Roadblock gives Deep Six the elevation he
needs by hefting the turret gun on his back, letting Deep Six shoot
down
Destro's Rattler. Destro ejects just in time.
Cobra Commander tells Firefly there's no room for him on
the Rattler
and leaves him behind. After the Commander takes off, Firefly angrily
destroys
the shick with a hand grenade, vowing to get his revenge. The chief and
R.L., watching from the treeline are glad they decided against going
into
the shack. The Mobat tows the damaged WHALE up on shore and the Joes
tend
to their wounded. They realize that Deep Six is still courageoues in
despite
his "cold fish" personality. Wild Bill and Doc arrive in the Dragonfly,
acting as a medevac helicopter. As Firefly trudges through the swamps,
loudly plotting revenge, Destro appears. "Angry, are you?" he asks.
"Want
to do something about it?"
Further up the coast, Zartan and the Dreadnoks are travelling by
motorcycle.
Zartan is heading North, believing that that's where the Joes come
from.
He intends to find them.
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Commentary: "Swampfire!"
picks up where last issue's secondary
plot left off. The Joes have escaped the swamps and are sending
reinforcements
to attack Zartan's lair. The plot is essentially an action story with
humor
and with a little in the way of importance to the larger storyline.
The plot at times goes a bit too far into silliness. The
robot army
Zartan has hiding under the swamp is a little hard to swallow. Treu,
the
BATs appear later on in the series, but the idea that Zartan would be
building
a robot army as a secret project seems very unlikely. He as only
appeared
recently and doesn't seem to be too dedicated to Cobra. Also, aside
from
his hologram technology, Zartan doesn't seem like someone skilled
enough
to create a radio-controlled army. Also, the use of the local police is
over the top with the chief firing away at robots with his shotgun
shouting,
"Thems ain't anarchists! Thems is robots!" The scene is one of the most
absurd of the comic.
Despite being mostly action-oriented, there are some
character moments
and scenes that connect to other issues. As usual, Cobra Commander is
portrayed
as an incompetent military commander. He loses the battle that Firefly
tried to win, and Destro and the Baroness seem to stage the attack
against
the Joes on their own, with the Commander mostly being an annoyance. On
the Joes' side, Deep Six shows he has some "redeeming qualities"
despite
being a "cold fish." Deep Six becomes one of those characters who could
have proved interesting if new Joes didn't appear every year. It's nice
to see a character being heroic in a way that isn't flashy or
reminiscent
of a superhero.
The issue is also an important stage in the internal
strife in Cobra's
command levels. Destro and Firefly are determine to get even with the
Commander.
Strangely, the Commander did nothing to Destro in this issue. He did
lave
Firefly behind, not caring what happens to him. The most entertaining
scene
is the Baroness' "visit" to Major Bludd's jail cell. The detention area
is underground in Springfield, beneath a pleasant looking car wash. The
Baroness is willing to give Bludd his freedom for a price, and Bludd is
ready to kill for it. This will lead to their bid to take over Cobra
and
their staging of an assassination attempt on Cobra Commander. This plan
doesn't surface until later issues.
This issue marks the first appearances of the WHALE
hovercraft which
becomes a staple of any issue involving water battles, and is one of
the
most distinct of the Joe vehicles. The Joe freighter makes it's first
appearance.
The Jane is not yet named until later issues, but it's name is
an
homage to the only female figure from the original 1960s run of G.I.
Joe,
the nurse "G.I. Jane", not to be confused with the movie starring Demi
Moore...
The artist, Marie Severin, has a style very similar to
Frank Springer's
fairly basic artwork with some occasional bright spots like a ragged
and
evil looking Major Bludd. The artwork, while not outstanding, is
certainly
not bad.
In a few places during the action, credibility is
stretched. While Destro's
jet is being fired upon, his mask is shown as being bulletproof, with
the
bullets bouncing off. While it's possible that it could be resistant to
some types of ammo, here heavy machine gun rounds are used. The same
bullets
are seen penetrating the jet's windshield and even its fuselage. It's
doubtful
that Destro's mask is that strong!
On the whole, the issue works fine as an action story, but sometimes
gets bogged down by some silliness. There are some occasional bright
spots,
but this is a fairly pedestrian issue of G.I. Joe. |
