G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #302

Writer: Larry Hama | Pencils: Chris Mooneyham

Summary:

On Cobra Island, Serpentor Khan rallies the newly zombified populace (but not before blowing off ones head, to illustrate a point). Feeling upgraded and unstoppable, they plan to invade Springfield and take over Cobra (and then, the world, like all good bad guys). Meanwhile, in Springfield, Cobra Commander relays the situation on Cobra Island to the people of Springfield, and calls in all Cobra military reserves. Alpha-001 and Revanche are also keeping tabs on the escalating situation between the Cobra factions. Not to be outdone by Revanche and Cobra, Mainframe and Duke are also monitoring things.

In Arlington cemetery, the Joes put Wade Collins to rest. His family is present and Mrs. Collins is presented the folded flag. Later, at the Pit, Mongoose asks Stalker about Wade’s history, and is brought up to speed.

Finally, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes are having some R&R. One of Timber’s offspring brings a new wolf pup (awwww) to their cabin. Snake-Eyes SPEAKS to Scarlett, but she tells him to shush.

Notes:

• Yea, Snake-Eyes SPEAKS. Sure, he’s a brought-back-from-the-dead clone with transferred memories, but still a big deal. Also, who knows? Maybe Scarlett liked having a silent dude around, thus the shushing.
• The Arlington cemetery scene has several call backs to issue 42 and Wade’s encounter with Stalker and Snake-Eyes. There’s even a close-up on the same statue.
• Oh, no surprise, but it’s RAINING at the funeral.
• Revanche clarifies that they also evacuated from the radius of the Mutant Zombie Bomb, since a good chunk of their flunkies are cyborgs and could have been affected.
• The citizens of Springfield are concerned about their family and friends that were on Cobra Island. Cobra Commander basically tells them: tough cookies; get ready to fight.
• A caption mentions: “The G.I. Joe base know as The Pit underneath Camp Greer“. Have they mentioned Camp Greer, before?
• Tail-end of this issue has 2 pages of Mooneyham’s sketches, then a 4-page preview of Skybound’s new “Duke” series. Important to note that it’s part of the new “Energon Universe”, which is a modern take on a combined G.I. Joe and Transformers world. I haven’t been reading these, and don’t plan to. I have nothing against them; just don’t have the time or energy. I read exactly TWO comics a month, nowadays (G.I.Joe: ARAH and Avengers), and I’m content.
• The appearances at the funeral and Pit are tough to score, so I’m only scoring the distinctive characters that I can clearly identify.
• After hearing about Wade’s history from Stalker, one Joe at the Pit says: “Magkakasama Tayo”. From what I gather, this is Japanese for “we’re all in this together”; so I’m assuming it’s Storm Shadow saying it.
• Also: they still haven’t named Wade’s daughter, have they?

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Snake-Eyes, Stalker, Hawk, Storm Shadow, Scarlett, Duke, Roadblock, Mainframe, Gung-Ho (?), Cobra Commander, Dr. Mindbender

Characters (comic-only): Throwdown/Sean Collins, Mongoose, ALPHA-001, Wade Collins (casket and flashback), Mrs. Collins, Collins’ daughter, Ramon Escobedo (flashback), Dickie Saperstein (flashback), Serpentor Khan

Vehicles & Stuff (toys): Cobra Mamba (cameo), Cobra Ferrett , Cobra HISS

Vehicles & Stuff (not toys): Cobra Aspid

Firsties: none

Rating: 4 Flag Points