Slaughter
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Cover Date: June,
1986
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Script: Larry Hama
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Pencils: Rod Whigham
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Inks: Andy Mushynsky
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Lettering: Joe
Rosen
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| Colors: George
Roussos |
Editor: Denny O'Neil
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Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
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Summary: On the beach of Cobra Island, Destro examines Storm
Shadow cautiously for signs of life, explaining that one can never be too
certain where ninjas are concerned. Dr. Mindbender has the Eels take Storm
Shadow to the cold storage room for later use as genetic material. Days
later on Staten Island, in the snack bar Scarlett comforts Snake-Eyes and
explains that 'vengeance' is what killed Storm Shadow in the end, "You
can't base a life on hate. You have to leave room for love..." She pulls
Snake-Eyes after her to go and cheer up Ripcord in the dispensary.
In the sick-bay on one of the lowest levels of the Pit, Doc is surprised
at how quickly Ripcord's -- Zartan in disguise -- wounds are healing. He
examines a blood sample he took from Zartan and is again surprised when
he finds it does not match with any of Ripcord's. He returns into the room
to find Snake-Eyes standing by the bed, but is uppercutted and left unconscious
on the floor as Zartan escapes.
Meanwhile in Sprinfield Municipal Hospital, the Dreadnoks have brought
Ripcord -- in actuality, Zartan -- some flowers and grape soda. Torch explains
it will hardly make up for Buzzer swiping Zartan's bike and leaves with
Ripper. Buzzer nervously explains he wasn't really stealing the bike, only
borrowing it and explains he was taken to the PIT but escaped with a hostage.
Ripcord grabs him, and Buzzer explains he didn't tell any Cobras about
the location of the PIT, he was saving it for him, but Ripcord is only
interested in what happened to Candy.
In the PIT, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes find Doc recovering on the floor
in the sick-bay. They sound the security alert and the Joes initiate a
search of the Pit, believing the intruder may have taken Ripcord prisoner.
A group of Joes bump into Zartan disguised as Tripwire and he sends them
off on a fools errand down the corridor, but at the end of the corridor
they bump into the real Tripwire. In Springfield, Ripcord attacks Buzzer
when he discovers Candy escaped from him in the middle of
nowhere at gun point, "What did you do to her, you slimy--" Torch and
Ripper pull him off Buzzer, hearing Ripcord muttering "he took my Candy!"
over and over. "Here now! What's he babbling about his chocolates for?
He's bloody bonkers!" Buzzer tells them they have to get him out of Springfield
until he calms down or they will be out of a job.
In Washington D.C., Department of State, a Cobra lawyer explains Cobra
wants to establish diplomatic relations with the United States, otherwise
"what could possibly stop us from leasing some nice beachfront property
as a missile site? So convenient too! Within striking distance of the American
heartland..." Back on Staten Island, Sgt Slaughter has arrived, and one
of the Chaplain's Assistants directs him to the motor pool. In the Pit,
the Joes mistakenly grab the real Snake-Eyes, but Scarlett explains that
the intruder was wearing Snake-Eyes battle-gear. Zartan, disguised as Tripwire,
suggests they keep moving.
Somewhere in the midwest, the Dreadnoks are speeding along the roads
in a stolen ambulance with Ripcord in the back. "We gotta get him back
to our hideout in New Jersey and straighten his brains out!" A police car
chases after them, but as the close in, Buzzer opens the back doors and
chainsaws the front of their car off. In the Pit, Scarlett's search team
bumps into Gung-Ho's which also has a Tripwire. Zartan quickly changes
to Doc, but Doc arrives, "That blood sample I was testing has got some
inhuman properties! Almost like a chameleon -- who's this?"
Upstairs in the motor pool, Sgt Slaughter is greeted with surprise by
the Joes who weren't told of his coming. They suggest dumping out his duffle
bag and poking around a bit, but Slaughter advises against it. Elsewhere
in a takeaways shop, the Dreadnoks are marvelling over the excellent food
-- and the waitress. Buzzer checks on Ripcord who has been in the bathroom
washing his hands for an 'awfully long time' only to find he is not in
there. They find him outside at the phone booth, he tells them he's feeling
better and it's time for them to return to Springfield. As they leave,
the phone hanging off the hook speaks, "...please deposit an additional
$5.75 for the call you just made to Staten Island..."
In the Pit, the Joes have grabbed both Docs. Breaker tells them he's
just gotten a phone call from Ripcord explaining that Zartan changed places
with him and that he is now on his way to Springfield. Zartan shape-changes
and throws the Joes off of him running out of the room. In the motor pool,
Sgt. Slaughter has made short work of the Joes who tried to harass him,
they weakly get to their feet and explain that there is an intruder. Slaughter
tells them that the ventilation system is the weak link and they head to
cover all the vents. On the staging level of the Pit, Barbecue lays down
fire-retardant foam so that Zartan's footprints will show up, Blowtorch
puts a random flame pattern down all corridors, Stalker sets up portable
radar units at all open areas, and Breaker brings the infra-red detectors
on line.
Zartan assumes Duke's form and tries to get to one of the vents, guarded
by Gung-Ho. But when he calls him 'soldier', Gung-Ho realises he isn't
the real Duke, and attacks him. On another level, the Joes hear the ventilation
system alarms go off, "Zartan coud be anywhere in that maze of ducting."
Duke orders all Joes up to the surface to seal the whole of Fort Wadsworth
off. Inside the ventilation system Zartan is pursued by Gung-Ho. They fight
their way out of the duct into the Chaplain's Assistants reading room.
Slaughter finds them, but Zartan has disguised himself as Gung-Ho. Sgt.
Slaughter punches the Gung-Ho on the right knocking him out. The other
Joes are impressed and ask how he knew which one to deck. "I didn't. The
odds were fifty-fifty. Guess I was lucky, huh?"
Meanwhile at the Pentagon, Hawk reports to a secret cabal of generals,
whom Austin previously took his orders from. They ask Hawk what he knows
about them. "You're the Jugglers. When the politicians tell you to throw
away troops in a fight they don't want to win, you decide how many and
who. Your job is to bear bad news and take the blame." The Jugglers tell
him Cobra Island is now off-limits. "Lay-off. Understood?"
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Commentary: Ripcord -- disguised as Zartan -- is wearing
Zartan's face paint, but Zartan never put it on him! Basically it is an
artist error, but could be crudely explained by saying for example, Ripcord
put the face paint on when at the hospital. Unlikely though, especially
since Ripcord still seemed in a 'Candy babbling daze' at the time. Where's
my no-prize?
This issue features Zartan prominently, and the chameleon DNA thing
is brought up. It's not really that easy to dismiss -- Zartan somehow
has some mutation in his genes or genetic engineering. Holographic projectors
embedded in his suit is hard to imagine practically, but mutant powers
are easier to understand -- especially given this info. It's kind of sci-fi,
and future issues had some letters in complaint of Zartan's wild comic
powers.
This issue features a lot comedy, thanks primarily to the Dreadnoks.
Ripcord's babbling about his girlfriend, Candy, and their belief he is
talking about chocolates is hilarious. Also Buzzer's concern over the trouble
he caused by making off with Zartan's bike, which was subsequently destroyed
is a tense yet amusing sight. Particularly when Ripcord only really
cares about "his candy."
Cobra Island establishes diplomatic relations with the United States
in this issue, making themselves even more untouchable by the Joes. This
is not necessarily a good thing for the comic, though it is a cool idea.
G.I. Joe is about the good guys fighting the bad guys, and this only makes
that a lot harder. The Jugglers are introduced and tell Hawk to 'lay off'
Cobra Island. They will become a thorn in G.I. Joe's side due to Cobra's
immunities, and this again will not necessarily be a good thing for the
comics future.
Sgt. Slaughter appears for the first time, and I have to say, he doesn't
suck nearly as much as he does in 'wrestling'. He's handled like a really
tough, buff drilling sergeant, which is essentially, what he is. In fact
he's almost likable in the comic, though this is one of his few appearances.
I wouldn't actually mind seeing more of this Sarge, there's something about
his 'I can wipe the floor with anybody' feel, and the fact he isn't a ninja
-- rather a army guy -- that make him appealing.
The measures the Joes take to find Zartan and stop him escaping are
'extreme.' It really shows just how dangerous Zartan is, as they spray
the corridors with foam, and do infra red searches like they had encountered
the 'Predator'... which isn't a bad comparison. Zartan tells Gung-Ho that
his "strength is quite inhuman" and proves it when neither of them seem
to be able knock out the other -- and we're talking about Gung-Ho here.
This is a great issue, one of the best. Firstly, it harkens back to
the old days, like issue #3, when the Joes had to contain the Cobra Robot
in the PIT. It features a lot of the Joes running around the base, and
is nice to see. Also the Dreadnoks are hilarious and steal the best scenes
easily this issue. G.I. Joe would be truly dull without them. This issue
is top-notch with great writing from Larry Hama, and beautiful art from
Rod Whigham. His pencils are the best G.I. Joe has seen thus far. |
