G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #12

“Three Strikes for Snake-Eyes”

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciller: Mike Vosburg

Summary: The Joes are once again pursuing a Cobra contingent. This time, it’s in midtown San Francisco and the Cobras are escaping with a crate of missile guidance chips. Clutch, Scarlett and Breaker are pursuing a Cobra van with markings for the Naja Hanna video company. The van crashes and a scar-faced Cobra officer makes a break for it with a briefcase. The Joes chase him on foot, but Breaker runs into some bikers who start beating the crap out of him. The Cobra, Scar-Face, grazes Clutch in the knee and gets away. But Scar-Face let it slip that this whole caper wasn’t just about guidance chips. The Joes survey the van wreckage and salvage part of a crate: adressed to “Senor K. Winn” of the Naja hanna Computer Corporation in Rio Lindo, Sierra Gordo. Later, Hawk and General Flagg meet beneath the Pentagon and decide to send in an undercover unit to Rio Lindo. Breaker and Stalker go in, disguised as business men in banana shorts, while Gung Ho and Snake Eyes wait in the treeline as support. Breaker and Stalker knock on the door of the Naja Hanna building and meet Dr. Venom. Their sham doesn’t work, as Venom quickly exposes them as Joes and the shit hits the fan. Snake-Eyes had been watching from the trees and immediately stormed in when he saw Dr. Venom. Gung-Ho and Snake-Eyes arrive to save the other two, but that’s when “Senor K.Winn”, otherwise known as Kwinn the Eskimo, appears with his Browning .50 Cal machine gun. Kwinn’s currently working for Cobra and easily disarms the Joes.

Stalker, Gung-Ho and Breaker are tied up and loaded onto a Cobra boat, while Dr. Venom pistol-whips Snake-Eyes. Believing he’s killed Snake-Eyes, Venom tosses him into the Naja Hanna building and lights it on fire. The Cobra boat then motors up the river to a fortified island bunker. Halfway there, Venom realizes that Snake-Eyes has tricked him, once again, with that “fake death” thing. After some antagonistic words with Kwinn, Venom arrives at the Cobra bunker, to conduct a toxin exchange between Scar-Face and the Baroness. Cobra has a bio-terror plot to ferret out the location of the Joe HQ. The Joes in the boat break their bonds and prepare to storm the bunker, when Snake-Eyes suddenly appears and orders them to finish the mission and get the chips back to HQ. The Baroness flies away in a sea plane, leaving Kwinn, Venom and Snake-Eyes on the island. Venon is about to shoot Kwinn in the back, but Snake-Eyes jumps Venom and starts beating the living shit of the doctor. The Baroness fires a missile at the escaping Joes (who jump overboard and avoid it), then doubles back and bombs the bunker. Kwinn appeared to be pushing both Venom and Snake-Eyes into the bunker.. but it appears to the three Joes that Snake-Eyes is really gone, this time.

Notes:

• Once again, Kwinn likes to narrate everything.
   
• This was a big cliifhanger ending and it kicked off the 7 issue “toxin” storyline. That helps the rating a bit.
   
• It’s not a person or thing, but this is the first appearance and mention of Sierra Gordo, the consummate Cental American country that was under constant revolution. Stories would often take place there in the future, as it became a fairly significant part of the “Joe Universe”.
   
• Stalker appears to be crying when they realize that Snake-Eyes is dead. While they partnered up before, this is the first sign that they might be good buddies in addition to teammates (they served together in Vietnam).
   
• Stalker still uses his “Dag!” catchphrase. He’s kinda’ like Ron Simmons.
   
• Snake-Eyes orders the Joes to complete the mission, or “Charlie Mike” if you remember the later issues from 1993.
   
• Once again, Snake-Eyes is unmasked, but we only see his face in silhouette form. He appears to make his way upriver unmasked, but at the beginning of next issue he’s wearing his trademark mask again.
   
• During the chase in San Francisco, the Joes and Cobras crash through a punk rocker’s car. He was listening to a radio program that was airing “live coverage of Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics trashing a car”. Hilarious. So he’s overjoyed when HIS car is smashed apart.
   
• Kwinn has his weasel skull necklace. Guess he has a bunch of them, since a big part of issue #2 was the fact that he left the necklace on the ice as an offering to the gods.
   
• Baroness refers to Dr. Venom as a traitor. Okay..but I’m trying to figure out how he betrayed Cobra. He will, later, but right now they wouldn’t have a beef with him.
   
• When the Baroness strafes the Joes in her seaplane, the Joes try to shoot it down with machine guns. Breaker complains: “that only works for Sgt. Granite of Difficult Company”– referring to the Sgt. Rock concept of blowing up anything with a machine gun.
   
• Stalker and Breaker were undercover trying to buy video games from the Naja Hanna Computer Corporation. Since it was 1983, everyone thought the only thing computers were good for was playing video games.
   
• Kwinn calls Snake-Eyes “Shadow Man”, his pet name for him. He also refers to Venom’s “weasel” qualities.
   
• Kwinn’s contract seemed to be providing security for the Cobra transaction. Nothing more. Once that happened and the Baroness is airborne, he was off the clock and on his own.

Appearances:

Characters (with figures): Hawk, Scarlett, Clutch, Breaker, Stalker, Gung-Ho, Snake-Eyes, Cobra Commander (cameo)

Characters (no action figures, or “comic-only” characters): Dr. Venom, Kwinn, Baroness, General Flagg, Scar-Face

Vehicles and stuff (toys): VAMP
Vehicles and stuff (not toys): Cobra Seaplane

Firsties:
Characters (comic only): Scar-Face

Vehicles: None

Rating: 4 Flag Points