G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #128

“Winds of Change”

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Andrew Wildman

Summary:

In Borovia, Lady Jaye, Hawk, Magda and the White Clown elude the Bezpo and make a stand in a soccer stadium. Hawk was privvy to some top-secret military intelligence and remembers a secret cache of gold bars buried in the stadium. He makes a deal with the Bezpos for one gold bar a piece. Roadblock and the Battle Wagon crew burst into the stadium to back them up. An American TV crew gets the whole thing on video, while Magda grants the Joes safe passage out of Borovia.

Meanwhile on Cobra Island…Firefly arrives in a hi-jacked airliner with his brainwashed ninjas, willing to deal with Cobra Commander. After verifying the location of the Pit, CC orders Firefly tossed back into the remains of the Arbco Star. Cobra heads out to assault the Pit in Utah. The lats page shows Spirit Iron-Knife, meditating in the Pit’s central quonset hut and sensing something.

Notes:

• The dealings with the gold bars is more than a little reminiscent of the movie “Kelly’s Heroes”. But that’s a great movie, so I didn’t mind.
• While filming the action in Borovia, a TV news reporter says: “I want footage hot enough to pre-empt STUDS”. Remember THAT show? This issue came out around September 1992, so it’s definitely dated.
• Hawk tells Magda that the gold was actually the property of the people of Borovia. You can fill in the blanks and figure that Magda leverages the gold to restore order to Borovia, at least temporarily.
• Firefly demanded 2.5 million in a Hallibruton briefcase. When Cobra Commander turns the tables and has Road Pig toss him into the cave, Firefly reconsiders and frantically asks: “would you consider ONE million in a K-Mart bag?” Funny.
• Cobra Commander checks Firefly’s info with NAVSAT coordinates and mentions that he won’t be fooled like the idiotic Fred and Dr. Mindbender.
• Firefly had the Ninja Force (plus Slice and Dice) render themselves inert and undetectable, while hiding in the airliner’s floorboards. They used the technique called “the Sleeping Phoenix” to stop their bodily functions and not show up on any heat detections. A bit of an inconsistency, since Snake-Eyes used “The Way of the Anvil” to stop his bodily functions and simulate death waaaaay back in #10. “The Sleeping Phoenix” was what Storm Shadow went into when he was shot by the Baroness in issue 48.
• GI Joe Dossier is of Torpedo. For some reason, it mentions that he’s not too popular among his teammates. Something that had never been displayed in the comics… but Torpedo wasn’t developed much in his few speaking roles.

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Hawk, Lady Jaye, Roadblock, Rock n’ Roll, Ambush, Big Ben, Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow, Tjbang, Nunchuk, Dojo, Slice, Dice, Cobra Commander, Cesspool, Zarana, Road Pig

Characters (“comic-only”): White Clown, Magda

Vehicles and stuff (toys): Battle Wagon

Vehicles and stuff (not toys): none to speak of

Firsties:
Characters: none

Vehicles and stuff: none

Rating: 2 Flag Points