G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #255

Summary

Scarlett is on the Staten Island Ferry and flashes back to issue 36 (Marvel) and their encounter with the Crimson Guard.

Back in Fort Wadsworth, Scarlett recounts to Rock & Roll, Snake-Eyes II (Sean Collins/Throwdown) and Clutch the helicopter accident that seared off Snake-Eyes’ face (see issue 27). Once Snake-Eyes was out of plastic surgery and the burn ward, Scarlett took him to see a costume effects guy in Harlem. Named Anthony, he’s the guy who supplied Snake-Eyes with all those latex masks, over the years. Stalker then gave Snake-Eyes his distinctive all-black fatigues.

In the present, Scarlett then gives Sean his own latex mask. Umm…ew?

In a back-up story, set at Ranger School in Fort Polk, LA: two instructors are surprised that Dawn Moreno survived the “E&E” (Escape and Evasion) phase; lasting longer than anybody else. She duct-taped her captors to the ceiling, then drove off to Waffle Shack.

Notes

• The flashbacks are shown in black and white— except for Scarlett’s red hair. Nice effect.
   
• Sean is seen wearing a white, medical, facemask, before he receives Scarlett’s latex mask.
   
• Scarlett mentions that she and Snake-Eyes were “very serious” and she even says “I love you” a few times.
   
• Scarlett’s narration of the helicopter answer a BIG question I always had about the original mission: who was in that other helicopter that blew? Her explanation that, in the early days, GI Joe operatives were “farmed out for other covert missions with other special operators”. Good enough for me! Basically, it was nobody of note in the other helicopter (but I could see some uber-fan retconning the victims as being significant).
   
• In the flashback, Grunt mentions that the mission was slapped together, quickly, they didn’t get “desert cammies” and (apparently) were given cheap/inappropriate transportation.
   
• Scarlett says that the mission was to a mid-east “backwater country that changed names and governments a dozen times already”. No further explanation, beyond that.
   
• The helicopter crash flashback completely ignores the extraneous stuff that was tacked-on in issue 144. I think most fans are okay with that.
   
• FWIW, Anthony’s shop is above a place labeled “Chicken Shop”.
   
• Weird continuity glitch in Fort Wadsworth, as Scarlett says: “we were right here in the motor pool, over there by the tire changer”. Yet you may remember that the original Pit Motor Pool was destroyed in issue 19 and was a pretty big subplot until issue 32 or so. Fort Wadsworth was attacked, again, in issue 53. So to think that the motor pool is exactly how it originally was, is a big stretch.
   
• You can “NOH Award/No-Prize” this by saying all sorts of things: there was a second motor pool on Fort Wadsworth; the Joes rebuilt it EXACTLY how it was; etc. Whatever works for you. Sorta’ reminds me a mid-90’s scene in “X-men” where Storm returns to her room full of plants after several years away…despite the fact that the X-Mansion was completely destroyed in the late 80’s.
   
• Another esoteric “error”: Scarlett refers to a Hummer as a “VAMP”. Who knows, maybe the current Hummers used by the Joes are the “VAMP Mk 3”?
   
• Big note in the back-up story: the Ranger instructors mentions: “Moreno has been holding out for five days. That’s almost as long as Eric Freidstadt… and that was years ago”. I figured that name was an “Easter Egg” and it is: it’s the real name of Short-Fuze! Did not expect that (and yes, I had to look the name up. I don’t have immediate recall on the Joes’ real names. Thank you, Internets).
   
• This is officially the 100th issue with IDW. Final issue for this version of “Special Missions”, too.
   
• The story alone was about average, to me. Add in all these wacky details and it bumps up the rating.

Appearances

Characters (figures): Scarlett, Stalker, Clutch, Rock & Roll, Snake-Eyes II, Snake-Eyes (flashback), Grunt (flashback)
Characters (comic-only): Dawn Moreno, Anthony, Colonel Park, Sergeant Masters

Vehicles & Stuff (toys):none
Vehicles & Stuff (comic-only): Hummer, Blackhawk helicopters

Firsties:
Characters: Anthony, Colonel Park, Sergeant Masters
Vehicles: none

Rating: 4 Flag Points