G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #187

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: SL Gallant

Summary:

Things conclude in Trucial Abysmia. Lt. Falcon’s team storms the outside of the compound, just as Zartan’s crew dishes out havok inside. Airtight saves himself and Dusty from execution by feigning vomiting and throwing “anthrax” on the guards (in reality, he used his old favorites: plastic vomit and sneezing powder).

Meanwhile, Jinx had infiltrated the Revanche HQ (Blue Ninjas) in Bern, Switzerland. She acquires “some important tidbits” form their computer systems and, after fighting off some Blue Ninjas, uploads it to the Pit.

The nuke is defused (apparently by Tunnel Rat) as the Tomahawk shows up to officially cancel the mission. The info Jinx acquired was enough to forget about the krytron. An injured Pale Peony is turned over to the Joes, while the formerly captive Emir now takes Zartan, Zarana and Road Pig prisoner. “The reins of power are so ephemeral in this region”.

In the port city, the Baroness is concerned that this whole mess has just given nuclear power to an unstable region of the world. Destro confides in her that a trojan horse was built in to the krytron and it never would’ve work. But the thought of opposing sides thinking the other has a nuke is enough to keep them in balance. Destro considers it: “my contribution to world peace”.

Notes:

• During the raid, Falcon is shot through the mouth. He continues on, single-handedly disabling a hummer, but eventually relinquished mission command to Spirit Iron-Knife.
   
• Road Pig becomes slightly fond of Pale Peony, since she blocked a bullet for him. This gets more screen time than expected, so it’s possible the mentally unbalanced Road Pig will have a crush on her.
   
• After Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow and everybody else had trouble with the Blue Ninjas, last year, Jinx easily dispatches them in their own HQ while copying stuff to a USB drive.
   
• Dusty is curious how Airtight smuggled the plastic vomit and sneezing powder past a strip search…then stops and says: “Don’t tell me”.
• This is basically the end of this Trucial Abysmia arc. Overall it was decent, even though they seemed to forget about the Joes who were captured in Benzheen in issue 174! A big point of the last three issues was how Falcon’s crew was fired up to rescue their teammates… but apparently nobody gives a darn about Cross-Country, Steeler, Cover Girl and Wild Card.
   

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Duke, Scarlett, Mainframe, Stalker, Clutch, Rock and Roll, Dusty, Tunnel Rat, Airtight, Lt. Falcon, Zap, Leatherneck, Ripcord, Wild Bill, Lifeline, Jinx, Lift=ticket (cameo), Destro, Baroness, Zartan, Zarana, Road Pig, Darklon

Characters (“comic-only”):Pale Peony, Col. Faroud, the Emir, Trucial Abysmia Minster of Defense

Vehicles and stuff (toys): Tomahawk

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

Firsties:
Characters: none

Vehicles and stuff: none

Rating: 3 Flag Points