Forever War: GI Joe 31

[knight_moves]

It's been a while, but let's catch up with Snake Eyes. He's always good for a laugh.



After the attack on McGuire Field went awry, Fred/Smith is back on surveillance duty. I guess he had to spend another ten hours reinstalling the equipment he smashed, probably missing several other Joe missions in the interim. Poor showing by Cobra all around.



Okay, I don't buy that he can't hear literal TANKS right outside his window--those things are not quiet--but let's move on from this rare bit of implausibility in the GI Joe universe.



Snake Eyes is going on leave and, because he's a special snowflake, he can't just drive to his cabin, he has to get an airplane ride to his destination and two other Joes to guard him while he's staycationing. But then, the last time a Joe went on leave, Clutch stumbled across a Cobra jetpack operation, so I guess this is just them being genre-savvy.

Weirdly, both Airborne and Spirit Iron-Knife are meant to be Native American and is it just me? Does it seem a little like Airborne is 'a Joe who happens to be Native American' and Spirit is 'THE NATIVE AMERICAN JOE'? And it's weird that they not only co-exist, but are introduced in the same issue? I know these aren't subtle comics, but SPIRIT IRON-KNIFE feels like it's trying too hard, even for GI Joe.



Hey, this is the first time we've seen Snake Eyes out of his ninja gear since his accident. Good to see him practicing some body positivity, or at least laundry.

Meanwhile, in case you were wondering what Fred is up to, he is now on assignment with Destro and Firefly, who are back in the Cobra fold, to hunt down a transmitter the Dreadnoks planted which leads them to where Snake Eyes parachuted down...



Is there anything that wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora can't cover up when you're in a Marvel comic book?



This leads to the big shootout of the issue and I appreciate that Destro's reaction to Snake Eyes is literally on sight. If he was in New Detroit, he'd probably think of shooting Robocop in the mouth.

Oh, and over in Springfield...



Just when you thought the Baroness couldn't get more attractive, she starts handing out .357 Magnums! "You know how to maintain a revolver, don't you Billy? You just put some gun oil on the barrel and rub."

Comments

[blues32]

Billy is going to go flying if he fires that gun. Look at him! He's teeny tiny! The kick on a .357 magnum would break his bones.

[tcampbell1000]

"You recognize my voice?"
"Starscream?"

[laughing_tree]

"Weirdly, both Airborne and Spirit Iron-Knife are meant to be Native American and is it just me? Does it seem a little like Airborne is 'a Joe who happens to be Native American' and Spirit is 'THE NATIVE AMERICAN JOE'? And it's weird that they not only co-exist, but are introduced in the same issue? I know these aren't subtle comics, but SPIRIT IRON-KNIFE feels like it's trying too hard, even for GI Joe."

Airborne debuted in issue 11, making him the first Indigenous member. Not that I blame you for losing track, given how interchangeable so many of the Joes are. I always find it surprising when Hama stresses in interviews how character is the #1 thing in stories, way more important than plot. Because I agree, but it's so minimal in a lot of his own stories. Can anyone name a single distinct personality trait for Airborne?

And I always assumed him being Indigenous was Hama's invention, while in Spirit's case it was the toy designers', hence the big gulf in their depictions. (I think Hama named the characters in the original line-up, but does anyone know if he did for later characters? I know he did all the file cards, but that's not the same thing.)

[beyondthefringe]

Airborne's big personality trait was making sure we both both he and Spirit Iron-Knife were Native American brothers in um... spirit, if not blood.
(Research tells me that Airborne was from a rich Navajo family, Spirit from a poor Pueblo family, so hey, at least neither's -generic-...)

Sadly, Airborne, (first of his name, there were inexplicably -two- different Joes codenamed Airborne!) never got a chance to really shine beyond this story. He was relegated to cameo co-pilot of various aircraft. This of course is the way of the Joes--get your moment in quickly or watch it be lost forever.

Spirit, by virtue of being more colorful and thus more memorable, would at least be more prominent in appearances, though in later years he got job of "sit meditating in a Quonset hut and guarding secret ladder entrance to the Pit III."
I agree that he really fell into the more obvious stereotypes as the resident shaman/medicine man/tracker and I'd love to see a story written by an Indigenous writer who could really dig into what it meant for him to be on the team.

(My new dream: a series of spotlight issues showcasing a wide variety of Joes, written by appropriate writers... not unlike Special Missions but with a modern sensibility...)

[thezmage]

They've actually changed Spirit to be a sniper instead of a tracker, I've been told.

I just remember thinking he was really cool for fighting Storm Shadow in the cartoon

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I think when you're introducing new toys -- er, characters all the time, some characterization is bound to suffer in service to the story and others.

[laughing_tree]

Definitely, but in the case of Hama's G.I. Joe, it goes beyond that. Even some of the more prominent characters, or characters in stories with only a few other characters, get noticeably little personality.

[beyondthefringe]

Again with the slapstick comedy of Fred being the Worst at surveillance. These days, the entire street would be lined with doorbell cameras that would easily pick up the caravan of heavy metal trundling down in broad daylight... but no, this guy with his house full of advanced '80s equipment misses the parade due to a phone call from the boss. (I mean, not even a video camera to record when you're not there with your binoculars? What, did everyone in the family have to take a shift at the window? "Little Billy, it's your turn to sit and stare at the street for six hours..."

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Okay, I don't buy that he can't hear literal TANKS right outside his window--those things are not quiet--but let's move on from this rare bit of implausibility in the GI Joe universe.

I'd have to check, but wasn't one of the big features when they introduced the MOBAT that it ran quiet? Doesn't mean it applies across the board, of course, but...