Destro tries to bring order to chaos, while Zartan tries to track down Storm Shadow.
Detailed summary
Recurring Themes
On Broca Beach, the Dreadnoks want to enter a Cobra meeting in the lodge hall, but several Iron Grenadiers block their path. After a Grenadier kicks Zarana on the face, Road Pig gets angry, so Darklon comes out of the hall and shoots him enough tranquilizer darts to sedate an angry moose, then he says Zarana, and no one else, is wanted in the assembly hall.
Inside, Destro presides the meeting claiming that the inner conflicts and personal ambitions have been running Cobra into the ground, so he will provide some organization. Voltar brings a chart that Destro reads: Cobra Commander (Fred VII) and Voltar will run operations and manufacturing from Cobra Island, which will become a luxury resort for weapon buyers; Baroness and Zarana will jointly head up funding, covert operations and intelligence from Broca Beach; Destro will head up sales and marketing, with Darklon and Dr Minbender directly reporting to him. Nobody is happy with their assigned partners, but Destro says it is not open for discussion, and they are all going to have to keep an eye on each other.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a real estate agent is trying to sell Storm Shadow's recently abandoned building[1] until a news report mentions a russian seaman who was picked up by a tugboat and escaped when the soviets insisted they had no missing sailors. When the agent recognises his buyer's face on the TV set, the buyer (Zartan) quickly changes to a different face and claims to look nothing like the news guy.
In Broca Beach, since Zarana is now forced to work alongside the Baroness, she finds better to fill her in on their latest projects. Zarana brings the Baroness to a bowling alley, behind the automatic pin-setters, to a prison where they have Clutch and Rock 'n Roll. When Road Pig opens their cell, both Joes try to escape, but are soon subdued and taken to the Brainwave Scanner to implant information in their minds.
Meanwhile, in Fort Detrick, Maryland, Zanzibar refuses to give any info about Clutch and Rock 'n Roll's whereabouts, confident that his Cobra lawyer will come any minute. Right then, Cover Girl entes with Zanzibar's lawyer, who presses the Joes with charges of illegal search and seizure, violation of civil rights, improper procedure under Miranda, excessive use of force, attempted murder and conspiracy, so they must let Zanzibar go.
In San Francisco, Zartan enters the Presidio disguised as General Hollingsworth, but Breaker turns the silent alarm on when "Hollingsworth" doesn't follow due procedure to ask for Jinx. The other Joes try to ambush Zartan, but they mistakenly intercept Breaker while Zartan leaves disguised as a MP. However, the Blind Master finds Zartan outside, and his blindness makes Zartan unable to trick him with hologram disguises. The Blind Master wants to avenge the Hard Master's death, so he and Zartan agree to settle it in an alley away of prying eyes.
Back in Broca Beach, Destro has a talk with Dr Mindbender, revealing that the B.A.T.s have some components provided by a little-known subsidiary of M.A.R.S., which has allowed Destro to get data-feed from the B.A.T.s, including the fact that Mindbender hasn't cut Serpentor's body for organ transplants, but instead keeps him in one piece as he seems salvageable. Mindbender guesses that Destro wants him to buy his silence.
That night, high in the Sierras, Jinx gets a call from Breaker about Zartan seeking her earlier. Storm Shadow knows he did it to track him down, but Storm Shadow doesn't want to take the offensive because he has decided to break the cycle of revenge. Snake-Eyes pushes Jinx and Scarlett out of the way of a sudden ninja arrow, and Timber goes out bto check it out, but returns wounded with a scrap of red cloth in his teeth, which Storm Shadow identifies as part of a Red Ninja's robe, and decides to seek the ninja alone.
Appearances
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
G.I. Joe | Cobra | Civilians |
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Memorable quotes
"I hear it took a plastic surgeon 10 hours just to get your face to a point where it wouldn't nauseate buzzards!"
- --Zarana may have just been trying to pick a fight, but Baroness (or was it Chameleon?) really was worked on extensively by a plastic surgeon.[2]
Other Notes
Errors
- M.D. Bright is not so good at drawing dogs, is he?
- On the final page of the story, a word balloon points at Snake-Eyes. Given the balloons' placements, in can be assumed that it actually belongs to Jinx, while Jinx's word balloon actually belongs to Scarlett.
Items of note
- Destro takes over and restructures Cobra.
- The Broca Beach Lodge Hall belongs to the Cryptic Order of Benevolent Reptilian Apostates.
- Zartan disguises himself as a Russian sailor, a random civilian, General Hollingsworth and an MP.
- Who were Destro's spies on Cobra Island in Divided We Fall was never specified. After this issue's events, it can be assumed that they may have been the B.A.T.s giving info to Destro.
Real-world references
- All the movies being shown at the Broca Multiplex Theater are references to famous horror movies:
- Additionally, the Ronco Veg-O-Matic is a real product.
Footnotes and References
- โ SFX
- โ G.I. Joe #22
- โ This issue was published in 1989, four years before Bill Murray starred in the real Groundhog Day.
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