G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #193

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Sergio Cariello

Summary:

In the bottom of the Pit, the Joes discover a deeper complex beneath them and a gigantic door reminiscent of Al Capone’s vault. By most appearances, it seems like it’s an old post-WWII bunker. Duke hints that he might have heard about it and that the (new) Pit was built on top of an existing structure.

At a televised news conference in Sierra Gordo, Grunt (in his “civilian guise” as engineer Robert Graves) is part of a group of diplomats and executives, taken hostage by violent terrorists. The Joes watch the whole thing on TV and mobilize, almost instantly. Hawk is at the Pentagon, negotiating with the Jugglers on when the Joes can attack. Until then, Duke has almost the entire team prepped and in the air, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

In the (new to the “Joe Universe”) country of Olliestan, Pale Peony and Jinx are undercover at a sweat-shop subsidiary of Revanche Robotics. They interrogate the shop’s foreman and find a robotics lab in the basement, with connections to the Blue Ninjas. Pale Peony deduces that they’re trying to build a new, entirely robotic, unstoppable trooper. One such trooper steps out of the shadows to confront… looking fairly similar to the terrorists in Sierra Gordo.

Notes:

• There’s not a lot of slam/bang action in this issue, but it moves at a very intense, full-throttle, pace. Seeing the Joes mobilize and get ready for an all-out attack is always exciting.
• I’m guessing that things will culminate in a big 200th issue. With the way comics move today, 6 more issues of build-up seems about right.
• Of course, if we get another build-up to a huge battle and it’s called off AGAIN… well, I’ll be upset.
• Recent solicitations have mentioned stuff like GI Joe and Cobra ramping up for “final conflict”, so rumors of the title ending with issue 200 have stirred up. Honestly, if that happened I wouldn’t be surprised.
• The Revanche subsidiary is titled: “SOTD Tech”. I think there’s a joke or connection behind that name, but I’m drawing a blank right now.
• The capital of Olliestan is identified as Lauhar.
• One of the Jugglers at the Pentagon (presumably the main mouthpiece) remains in shadows and is never fully seen.
• As the Joes are talking about Grunt meeting his significant other, Lola, Ripcord pines: “There was only one girl for me”, referring to Candy.
• There are a lot of “easter egg” cameos in the Pit, again. I tried to indentify as many as I could, but Cariello’s style isn’t very distintive, while the coloring and inking do it no favors. In these cases, I’m thankful for characters with distinctive outfits, like Recondo and Cutter.
• Furthermore, some of the characters appear in their modern, post-2001, outfits. Like Alpine and Torpedo. It appears that Torpedo looks like his “Chief Torpedo” action figure, circa 2003. I’m not 100% on all of these figure updates, so please feel free to correct me, below. I couldn’t clearly tell if the following were depicted and didn’t want to score them as “maybes”: Spearhead, Cross Hair, Backblast, Dart, Salvo
• Lift-ticket and Slipstream are mentioned, but I couldn’t spot them in the crowd shots. I’ll assume they’re in there and include them under “Appearances”.
• Cover Girl, and Cross-Country are clearly seen…despite the fact that the last time we saw them, they were captured in Benzheen in issue 174. For the second time this year, the story of issue 174 seems to have been completely forgotten. You can “No-Prize” this and surmise that some sort of off-screen deal was cut to get them back home.
• Cracks me up that Duke specifies “Junkyard” as part of the mission’s Alpha team!
• Polly is learning. He has his usual “SQUAWK”, but then says “down in front!”
• We also get what is seemingly the first appearance of Red Dog in a group shot. Yeah, the guy from “Sgt. Slaughter’s Renegades”. If nothing else, I loved that figure as a kid, so I’m kinda’ glad to see him pop-up.
• Oh by the way, Lt. Falcon is clearly seen, with his cheeks looking none the less for wear, after getting a bullet through them a few issues back.
• First appearances of Skystriker and his Tiger Rat (Tiger Force Rattler), too.
• One of the executives at the news conference is Haydn Strawhacker, the brother of George Strawhacker. A new character, unknown to the Joes until this point.
• We meet the president of Sierra Gordo, Sofia Velez. Somewhat progressive that the perpetually strifed Sierra Gordo was able to stabilize for awhile and get a female president.
• The terrorists’ eyes and arms are the only thing visible through their outfits. Certainly possible that they’re cyborgs of some kind, underneath.
• The North American Banana Monopoly execs are on-hand, as well. One is named: “Vice President Fitz”, but he wasn’t named in previous appearances of the NABM, circa issue 69. So I’ll count this a “firstie”.
• While watching the newscast and Duke’s briefing, the Joes actually holler “Yo Joe!” for the first time in awhile. That battle cry is one of my pet peeves, in case ya’ didn’t know.

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Duke, Hawk, Stalker, Hardtop, Roadblock, Rock & Roll, Clutch, Psyche-Out, Jinx, Airtight, Mainframe, Muskrat, Gung-Ho, Torpedo, Cross Country, Shipwreck (w/Polly), Flint, Recondo, Cutter, Lady Jaye, Mutt (w/Junkyard), Cover Girl, Zap, Grunt, Lt. Falcon, Rumbler (?), Alpine, Iceberg (?), Armadillo (?), Ripcord, Cutter, Tunnel Rat, Downtown, Repeater, Red Dog, Bazooka, Dial-tone, Wild Bill, Beach head, Lowlight, Red Dog, Skid Mark, Lifeline, Lightfoot (?), Leatherneck, Dogfight, Skystriker, Shockwave, Ghostrider, Lift-ticket, Slipstream, Steamroller (?), Stretcher (?)

Characters (“comic-only”): Pale Peony, Haydn Strawhacker, Vice Chairman Fitz (NABM), K.T. Cheng (China Herbal Coucil), Vassily Osenko (Trans-Ural Petroleum Consortium), Dinah Lum (news reporter), Sofia Velez (President of Sierra Gordo), Foreman Singh (SOTD).

Vehicles and stuff (toys): Tomahawk, Mauler, Mudfighter, Tiger Rat, Phantom X-19, Vamp Mark II (cameo), Skyhawk (cameo), Mobile Command Center (cameo)

Vehicles and stuff (not toys): GI Joe C-130

Firsties:
Characters: Skystriker, Red Dog, Haydn Strawhacker, Sofia Velez, VP Fitz, K.T. Cheng, Vassily Osenko, Foreman Singh

Vehicles and stuff: Tiger Rat

Rating: 4 Flag Points