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"Malfunction"
Written by Josh Blaylock;
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Summary: At an airport in Chicago, a man in being watched (by Flint, Stalker and Lady Jaye, we'll learn) as he puts a briefcase into a locker. He is then quickly apprehended by a group of Joe Greenshirts. Later, a dark-haired woman takes the briefcase form the locker, but stops before continuing. She recognizes the Joes: "Flint? Stalker? Next time you send Joes to scope out a site, try sending someone I don't recognize." They tell her to stop or they'll shoot, but she doubts they'll open fire in a crowded airport and runs for an empty sky-cab. She steals a luggage trolley and makes her way to the entrance of the airport where she takes off her black wig, revealing her pink hair -- it's Zarana. She's met by a car with Tomax and Xamot inside and they speed away. Stalker chases them in the Brawler jeep, but before they can be stopped, a helicopter swoops down and hooks the car. With only ground support, the Joes can only watch them go.
At a clinic in Gary, Indiana, Zartan's doctor performs some blood tests, and finds that his skin condition has been cured. Outside, Zartan tells Zanya that the nano-mites in his system reversed his condition. Zanya is upset that now she owes Destro's son, but Zartan tells her it's his debt to repay. They get on their motorcycles and head for Chicago.
In a computer lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Mainframe updates Hawk on the project he gave him to work on. He's been checking up on General Winters, one of the Jugglers and found that he made phone calls to Congressman Cartright during Cobra's attack on Washington, and many calls since. Cartwright had been cutting the Joes funding, apparently being influenced by Winters. They're both connected to Teletran marketing, a telemarketing company formerly known as Arbco tele-sales, Cobra's old company. Plus, hidden in Cartwright's computer files, Mainframe found a photo with Winters and Destro together. Hawk is very pleased: "Beautiful. Looks like Cartwright was holding onto his own evidence against Winters as a last resort."
At the Dreadnoks' Chicago base, Zarana reports to Cobra Commander via video screen. She's to keep the computer chip safe until Zartan and Zanya arrive. Despite some sarcastic comments poking fun at the Commander's concerns, Zarana assures him the chip is safe. Zartan and Zanya arrive with a few Dreadnoks in tow, though the shipment has yet to arrive. After Zarana and Zanya share a tense greeting, one of the Dreadnoks walks out to an alley for a cigarette, but pulls out a small handheld computer and calls up the Joes instead.
Some time later at a briefing, Duke explains the situation to several Joes assembled. FBI Agent Anthony Beuke has been posing as a Dreadnok for months, using the code name "Sneak-Peek", the same name as the Joes' old recon man. The Joes there are to standby in case the shipment becomes a concern.
The next morning, Beach Head runs Daemon and Firewall through some harsh physical training, despite their complaints. He insists they need to be prepared to do more than play video games. He tells them to watch William (Billy), who does some amazing acrobatics, which the two young hackers find more impressive for a man with only one leg. They start to run another mile and Daemon says "I could've done that."
Back at the Dreadnok compound in Chicago, a truck arrives carrying a large metal crate guarded by Scrap-Iron and several Neo-Vipers. The crate is brought levels below the surface as "Sneak-Peek" looks on. Outside, a limo arrives carrying Dr. Mindbender, and he's directed to an underground research facility prepared for him. After admiring the computer chip, Mindbender calls for a guard, but gets no answer. He finds the metal box opened up and empty, in a room littered with the bodies of lab assistants and Vipers. A figure approaches, much to Mindbender's fearful surprise. He shouts to the figure "Shut down!" That doesn't work and soon Mindbender is grabbed by the throat and picked up off the ground by the figure -- a Battle Android Trooper.
TO BE CONTINUED
Commentary: This issue is mostly an introduction to the next story arc, which is something that will happen often in this series given its format. There is a series of scenes continuing the major plotlines of the comic, including Zartan's recovery from his illness and Hawk's attempt to dig up something scnadalous about the Jugglers. There is also a scene showing Daemon and Firewall being trained by Beach Head. While the scene is funny, it will not be followed up on in this story arc, so it seems wasted. Billy - aka William - makes a brief appearance here as well, but he's been mostly ignored sicne he offered to join the team issues ago. Beach Head, though, continues to be written well enough that you can easily imagine his cartoon persona saying his lines.
The appearance of Zarana makes for a good scene, as we see her in disguise, easily alluding the Joes. Her recognizing the Joes makes perfect sense, as does her certainty that the Joes won't open fire in a crowded airport. It does seem odd to see her so willing to work with Cobra again after years of staying away, but that's no different than any other Cobra shown in this series. There's a hint of tension between Zarana and Zanya, but it's very brief. Hopefully, it will be explored more later on. Scrap-Iron also makes an appearance after years of absence. He was even ignored for much of the Marvel comic. Here, it seems a waste to have him return so casually, with no fanfare and little importance to the story. He's underused as much as he was in the old series. Hopefully, more can be done with him this time around. With the BAT's return, it's nice to see it drawn in its original design.
One talked-about scene involves Duke's mention of a Joe FBI agent going by the name Sneak-Peek, a former member of the team. Scarlett refers to the past Sneak-Peek as "the periscope guy". Some fans had a problem with this joke, mostly because Sneak-Peek was one of the few Joes killed during the old series. While he certainly wasn't popular, the joke makes the Joes seem insensitive. Still, it's not written in that way, and the writer may have just been forgotten that he had died.
One apparent inside joke comes when Mainframe gives Hawk the evidence of Winters' wrongdoing. He finds a connection between Cobra and a telemarketing company. The company's name is Teletran, probably a reference to the Autobots' main computer from The Transformers cartoon series, "Teletran One".
The issue is a fairly fast-paced one, and moves from one scene to the
next fairly quickly. It's obviously leading up to action in the next issue,
but at times its hard to judge part of a story arc without looking at the
entire arc. It's at least an interesting issue thanks to the return of
Zarana and her entertaining first scene.
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