Forever War: GI Joe 52

[knight_moves]

Cobra Commander, who moved fast and broke things before it was cool, is realizing for the hundredth time that it might be a good call to workshop ideas like creating a super Cobra warrior from the genes of the greatest leaders in history. But it's not like he has to worry, his organization would never put in charge a day-old clone running around half-naked in a snake hat.







I like that we're going straight from Cobra Commander trying to lay a trap for Serpentor like he's the Roadrunner, all the way to Cobra Commander being Zack Morris in Saved By The Bell when a more popular kid shows up and starts digging on Kelly. GI Joe makes for an underrated work-com about feuding terrorists.

Meanwhile, Storm Shadow stuck around in the Pit after helping the Dreadnoks break in and now he makes himself known during one of those Danger Room training sequences that all comic book characters spend at least half their time doing.





Wouldn't he drown after spending days in the Warm Liquid Goo phase of the experiment? I'll shut up.



"Hey, Larry, cool revenge plot, but we'd really like to sell more Zartan toys, so is there any way you could have Storm Shadow decide he doesn't want to kill or imprison the guy who ruined his life? That'd be great."



Okay, so Stormy is off to Snakes' cabin, which you may remember is a lot more open-air than it used to be, while Cobra Commander unsuccessfully tries to knock off Serpentor and make it look like the work of the Joes (I've cracked the code of the perfect GI Joe adaptation--it's The Death of Stalin only with Steve Buscemi dressed like Dr. Mindbender). Meanwhile--



GI Joe is a fantastical work of science fiction involving clones, ninjas, and the US military being investigated for war crimes.



Cobra Commander and Serpentor really would be a world-class slash ship if only they didn't have the most rizzless costuming imaginable.

Comments

[tcampbell1000]

I didn't read this series much after the first couple years, but I remember this one. I also remember Scarlett in a scene not shown here making a brave stand in defense of Snake Eyes, mostly with words. It's a nice change of pace from Snake Eyes always defending her through silent action. And by the end, Storm Shadow respects the bond between Scarlett and his "brother," and she respects that brotherly bond in turn. That’s a big shift from that famous story where Stormy just came on to Scarlett and she bit his hand in reply! Good stuff.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

When was that story?

[tcampbell1000]

It was in G.I. Joe #21, the "Silent Interlude" issue. Since it was a silent issue, I guess this might be open to interpretation. But just before the bite, Stormy cradles her face like a lover, or more accurately, like a really big creep taking liberties with a captive... or more sympathetically, someone who's drowning so much in his moral compromises, so desperate to believe that others might see good in him, that he's committing more wrongs just to try to get that reassurance under duress. That'd be reason enough for Scarlett's reaction...though since he was then her best shot at escape, it also showed her courage.

But in the story above, we find out she was *always* worried Stormy would be the death of Snake Eyes: "I know...he loves you like a true brother. That no matter what you have become, he will not harm you or raise his hand against you!" It lends some extra meaning to the end of "Silent Interlude," where Scarlett is clearly willing to die herself rather than let Storm Shadow kill Snake Eyes, back when the latter was a real possibility. (Well, in-universe, anyway. The toy tie-ins wouldn't let any of them die, but they didn't know that.)

[beyondthefringe]

Cobra Commander in the "find out" stage as Serpentor upstages him.

Imagine Gung-Ho and Snake-Eyes having to bunk with Percy and Reginald. What a potentially wacky scenario.

[full_metal_ox]

Fun Fact: the Arashikage clan tattoo is the I Ching hexagram #63, After Completion.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I have to say, I'm rather enjoying this portrayal of Serpentor. He seems less angry-shouty than his cartoon counterpart, and it lets his cunning shine through more.

[lonewolf23k]

I guess having Sgt Slaughter as a gene donor made Cartoon Serpentor much more... intense.

[cainofdreaming]

Good thing that the breaking distance from breakneck speed to full stop of a Cobra heli is less than an inch.