G.I. Joe: Cobra World Order Prelude

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: SL Gallant

Summary:

Wendy Ling-Torres and her aide, Fred, are given the nickel tour of the Pit. In what serves as a recap of the title’s status quo, Duke brings them up to date on the status of Cobra, Destro, the Dreadnoks, Revanche and even the Arashikage clan. The Joes catch on that the aide is a Fred Crimson Guardsmen…so Duke rattles his cage by mentioning that the Joes have a turncoat mole inside Cobra.

Notes:

• Duke just made up the Cobra mole, on the spot, to torque off Fred.
   
• Duke also mentions that Ling-Torres should forget about Revanche and, jokingly, threatens to kill her. SL Gallant does a great dichotomy on Duke’s facial expressions for this scene.
   
• Wendy Ling-Torres is mentioned as a “dark horse candidate who won the special election after the incumbent got indicted and died in a suspicious car crash”.
   
• Wait– did they ever specify exactly WHAT position Ling-Torres was running for?
   
• Lady Jaye is introduced as “NCOIC of base security”. “Non-Comissioned Officer In Charge”… I actually knew that and didn’t have to look it up (but did anyways, just to be sure)
   
• Fun Easter Egg as Mainframe talks about the various Cobra divisions, including the first full appearances of the W.O.R.M.S and Secto-Vipers, then the very first appearances of the Frag-Vipers and Sea Slugs.
   
• I gave up on scoring the “Firsties” of the various Cobra troopers, sometime around issue 60 or so. Sorry.
   
• For once, the special “subscription cover” is actually pretty darn cool. It’s part of a triptych, which will feature a big panorama “jam picture” of the entire GI Joe universe.
  
   

• It’s a little curious that this cover features Scarlett fighting Serpentor… unless they’re planning on bringing him back already.
   
• Yeah, you could’ve read the previous 63 issues of the series… or read this ONE singular issue and be just as informed.
   
• Interviews with Larry Hama and SL Gallant are included in the back. Nice to see that they don’t take themselves too seriously.
   
• I also find it funny that they have a “road map” of the big event, “Cobra World Order”. 7 parts, which will be presented in the next consecutive 7 issues of the title. May seem silly, but considering IDW’s habit of starting and stopping multiple GI Joe titles in the past 5 years, it’s necessary.
   
• Oh, and because I’m lazy and (think I’m) cool, I’ll be abbreviating the event as “CWO”, because I watched too many episodes of “WCW Nitro” in the 90’s.

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Duke, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, Chuckles, Psyche-Out, Roadblock, Wild Bill, Lift-ticket,

Characters (figures, cameo): Clutch, Steeler, Cover Girl, Scarlett, Stalker, Budo, Jinx, Alpine, Muskrat, Long Range, Torpedo, Storm Shadow, Snake-Eyes I, Cobra Commander, Dr. Mindbender, Dr. Venom (virtual), Zartan, Ripper, Buzzer, Torch, Monkeywrench, Road Pig, Thrasher, Zandar, Zarana, Destro, Baroness

Characters (“comic-only”): Throwdown (Snake-Eyes II), Wendy Ling-Torres, Obake Obasasan (cameo), Joe Colton (cameo), Jane (cameo), BN-001 (cameo), BN-002 (cameo)

Vehicles and stuff (toys): Phantom X-19, Tomahawk, VAMP, Cobra HISS, Cobra BUGG, Cobra Maggot, Cobra Sea Ray

Vehicles and stuff (not toys): C-130

Firsties:
Characters: none

Vehicles and stuff: Cobra Sea Ray

Rating: 4 Flag Points