G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #284

Summary:

Still in the city of Si Thxng in Phan Chang, Sherlock leads the Joes on a hunt for Al Kawbra. Using her detective and forensics skills, she’s able to track him/her, but always one step behind. Al Kawbra sets two bomb bobby traps, which the Joes avoid just in time. He/she even send “a gaggle of local thugs” after the team.

They finally think they’ve tracked him/her on a flight to Osaka. Lady Jaye infiltrates the flight as an attendant, but it turns out to be a dud enamed Deepak Balabong, who swapped passports with Al Kawbra for $20,000. Balabone was supposed to be heading to Manila, but Chuckles and Black Hat determine that Al Kawbra did another swap with a guy named Ricardo Redondo. As the story ends, “Redondo” is seen deplaning in the country/city of “Amara Wapoor”. He states he’s there for business and pleasure.

Notes:

• Hey kids! In case you’re into the podcasting thing, you should check out the next installment of “Talking Joe“, which has a guest spot from Yours Truly, “Chuck x Goren” (the clown who writes this site) in my FIRST EVER Podcast appearance, of any type. So it’s kinda’ like Incredible Hulk #181, in that regard. We discuss issue 284, in depth, along with my own “GI Joe Origins”. Fun stuff, so check it out.
• You can also check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aGwkWgZTqhI
• The action in this story almost seems like something that would’ve happened off-panel, and then explained via a character’s word balloons. Just two panels in the Pit, where Mainframe explains to Duke something like: “Sherlock and her crew tried nabbing Al Kawbra in Pyt Chang, but he had warhead boobytraps and did a double switch with passports thanks to a wad of unmarked cash. Black Hat was able to trace his credit trail through Springfield, though”.
• I’ll say that it’s quite entertaining that we’re 4 issues into this story and we still don’t have a clear idea of who Al Kawbra is. Well done, on Hama’s part. Maybe.
• I haven’t seen anything “on-screen” as a dead ringer of Al Kawbra’s identity, I do have a BIG theory: it could be BILLY. Resurrected and brought back to life via Revanche, somehow. His cybernetic leg and eye could then somehow tie into the leg and arm of Sightline and Sherlock, respectively.
• I’m still trying to remember the EXACT issue Billy died… but recall that it happened fairly early in the Blue Ninja/Revanche introduction, circa issue 178 or so.
• UPDATE: Billy died in issue 172. Surprisingly, in my recap for that issue, I actually say: “a somber Storm Shadow acknowledges that Billy has died (well, as dead as you can get in comics)”.
• Cobra Commander was given Billy’s body and he swore revenge on Revanche. Then that motivation and plotline was quietly dropped and forgotten. Later, Cobra was working with Revanche. Hmmmm. I could definitely see Cobra Commander striking a deal with Revanche after they resurrected Billy, gave him some personality “adjustments” via the Brainwave Scanner and he then went off to become “Al Kawbra”.
• Although…with the weird random tease of Bongo the Balloon Bear’s truck showing up in “Snake Hunt”, it could be Candy coming back from the dead as Al Kawbra. That might even be more “Hama-y” than bringing back Billy.
• A Bongo/Candy/Al- Kawbra wouldn’t need Brain wave Scanner shenanigans. She would already hate the Joes for getting her mixed up in their conflict and destroying her life. The Revanche connection could still fit in. She was also went into a coma in issue 43 and somehow became plugged into machines and became the brains behind Revanche. Hasn’t the master “hive mind” or Revance (BN-0001 or whatever) used feminine pronouns to present herself in the past? Hmmmm…
• It would also explain why the Revanche Blue Ninjas hate the Arashikage. Candy somehow blames the SOFT MASTER for her death, since Softie was involved in the big fire/explosion in issue 43 (and was trying to save Candy and Billy, if I recall correctly).

• One of the first leads the Joes follow is to the pizzeria, “Va Fa Napoli Pizza”, that Al Kawbra ordered from. The Joes determine that his credit card was run through Springfield and he ordered a “Special pie with pineapple, Lap Cheong and Kimchi”. The Springfield connection is obvious, but I have no idea is the pizza ingredients are supposed to be a clue.
• The Joes also track Al Kawbra to an airport hangar for the “Nghuea Air Freight Cover. We’re told that “Nghuea” means “Cobra”, but I’m not sure in which language.
• In another obvious clue, the plane at the hangar has the semi-famous “winged Cobra” logo, which ahs been seen in the past to designate Cobra’s air force (and also, quite erroneously, on the cover of issue 95).
• I usually ignore the exclusive and alternate covers… however the two “Con Exclusive Covers” for this issue are worth tracking down. They contain traditional “Action figure art” for the new Joes that have been introduced (Multo, Black Hat, Sherlock, Caseload and Bottom Line) and also feature file cards, written by Hama! In fact, these file cards bumped my rating of this issue up to “4 Flag Points”.
• Black Hat is listed as “Computer Hacker” in the file cards. I only mention this because I hope it puts to sleep any holdover Devil’s Due fans pining for “Firewall” (my opinion on Firewall is that she was a worthless cliche’ character, created in about 2 minutes. Along with her partner, “Daemon”).
• Since folks I know would like it: Caseload got his BS from Texas A&M. Gig ’em.

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Chuckles, Roadblock, Lady Jaye

Characters (“comic only”): Sherlock, Black Hat, Multo, Bottom Line, Al Kawbra

Vehicles and stuff (toys): VAMP (mark 1)

Vehicle and stuff: (not toys): Nghuea plane

Firsties: None

Rating: 4 Flag Points