G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #49
“Serpentor”
Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Rod Whigham
Summary
Destro, Dr. Mindbender and the Baroness have been gathering the corpses of 10 of the greatest generals of all time. They fly back to Springfield to create an “Ultimate Soldier” for Cobra Commander. With the help of the Brainwave Scanner and a surprise eleventh corpse (Storm Shadow), Dr. Mindbender goes to work to create Serpentor.
Rip-cord’s ruse as Zartan is discovered, but not before he calls Breaker with exact coordinates of Springfield. Rip-cord tries to escape in a sportscar with a little girl. But the little girl pulls a .357 Magnum on him (while narrating the type of ammo it’s packing; hollow-point) and turns him over to Cobra. Rip-Cord is then plugged into the Brainwave Scanner.
Hawk mobilizes the entire team and they begin to assault Springfield. Three teams, headed by Stalker, Hawk and Duke. Destro begins to evacuate Springfield, but leaves a skeleton crew with Serpentor, who is eager to fight off the invading Joes….in next month’s 50th issue blowout!
Notes:
- Cobra Commander mentions that the “ultimate soldier” plan was originally concocted by Dr. Venom. But CC’s now turned over all of Venom’s stuff to Dr. Mindbender.
- Notice that Cobra Commander authorized the plan to create Serpentor as the “ultimate soldier”… he wasn’t whipped up to be a new leader. Big difference between the comic and the cartoon/toys. He soon becomes a leader, though– but I forget if that was originally Dr. Venom’s intention. Could very well have been. Guess I’ll find out.
- This issue was promoted with a TV commercial. Fairly famous one, too, with the song: “Serpentorrrrrrrr! The most evil foe of GI Joe!” It continues the annual tradition of pushing a new Cobra baddie. In the 2nd year it was Destro, in the 3rd year it was Zartan, in the 4th year it was Tomax and Xamot, now it’s Serpentor. Destro debuted very well, but they seemed to have decreasing levels of success with each new bad guy they “pushed”. I don’t think they pushed many more bad guys after this.
- The assault on Springfield is hardly shown, as this issue moves way too fast.
- Big GROAN halfway through. After Hawk briefs the entire team on the Springfield attack, they all respond by yelling “Yo, Joe!!” Frick, there it is. Well, they made it this far without uttering that phrase. Later, in the C-130, the strike team responds with “Yo, Hawk!”
- In one panel, it’s supposed to be Slipstream who’s talking and piloting the C-130, but he’s drawn like Lift-ticket (big square visor on his helmet).
- Firefly has a Bad Ass Moment. Destro leaves him behind to watch Serpentor. If Serpentor’s not loyal, he knows Firefly will kill him.
- Serpentor appears as a naked dude with a cape, jeans and a serpent helmet. He doesn’t have the gold battle armor yet.
- Despite the crappy story, you really couldn’t ask for a better event for the 50th issue: the Joes attack Springfield! Finally.
- The letters page talks about two upcoming titles: primarily the new GI Joe Special Missions, which will have a preview in issue 50. Also, a Transformer/GI Joe series is announced as “in the works”. I’ll be reviewing the Special Missions, since they’re a good bi-monthly break from the regular series. The Transformers series I’ll be skipping, most likely. It has some inconsistencies and doesn’t really work with the overall series.
Appearances:
Characters (figures):Hawk, The Entire Joe Team (most as cameos), Dr. Mindbender, Cobra Commander, Destro, Baroness, Tomax, Xamot, Torch, Ripper, Buzzer, Scrap-Iron, Firefly, Storm Shadow (as corpse)
Characters (“comic-only”):none. Maybe the little Cobra girl with the .357
Vehicles and stuff (toys): AWE Striker, Vamp Mark 2, Mauler, Silver Mirage Motorcycle, Tomahawk, Dragonfly, Cobra ASP, Cobra HISS, Cobra Stinger, Cobra FANG (cameo), Cobra Terror Drome (cameo), Cobra Rattler (cameo)
Vehicles and stuff (not toys): Cobra transport helicopter. GI Joe C-130 (x2)
Firsties:
Characters:Serpentor, Lift-ticket, Slipstream, Leatherneck
Vehicles: none
Rating: Rating: 2 Flag Points
