G.I. Joe Special Missions #10
Special Missions #10- “Turnabout”
Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Herb Trimpe
Summary
Chuckles and Roadblock arrive in Oxford, England to escort Prince Ngoto back to his native country of Kalingaland. Ngoto turns out to be a very English gent in his 40’s or 50’s. Along the way, they encounter political assassains, from simple thugs to airplane hijackers, and even the “Russians”. When they arrive in Kalingaville (the capitol…duh), Nogoto is welcomed by the people and promises a true democracy. He then boots out both the Russian and US amabassadors, wanting Kalingaland to establish its own democratic identity. The Joes are happy, because Nogoto might become an ally to the US… one that hasn’t been bought.
Notes:
- Comedy scene as the Joes and Ngoto are flying on a commercial airliner. Some would-be assassains appear and attempt to shoot Ngoto. The villains shout: “Death to the running dog lackey of the imperialist war-monger crypto-fascist military-industrialist captialist cartels!!” Heh…they were apparently political science majors. But Roadblock had already removed the firing pins from their weapons. He scolds them with a dinner knife and sends them back to their seats.
- Trimpe’s warplane indulgence is a Russian MIG.
- Interesting scene as the Joes re-fuel their C-130, in-air. It’s mentioned that Navy tankers have “innies”, while Army tankers have “outies”. But the Joes plane is SPECIAL and can do both. This little factoid would pop-up from time to time throughout
the series. - It seems like Kalingaland is in Northern Africa (Morrocco is cited), and the Joes approach it from the west. So I’m a bit confused over what wannabe-communist country would’ve seen them flying over their airspace and had dispatched a MIG. Libya?
- There had been a Russian-backed faction in Kalingaland: the Kalinga-Rouge army. Title was obviously borrowed from the “real life” Cambodian Khmer-Rouge.
- To remove the MIG, Roadblock lowers the C-130’s ramp and blasts it out of mid-air with his Browning .50 cal.
- No Cobra, but things tie up well and there’s a happy ending for once.
Appearances:
Characters (figures): Roadblock, Chuckles, Wild Bill, Slipstream, Lift-ticket
Characters (“comic-only”): Prince Ngoto, un-named Russian and US ambassadors.
Vehicles and stuff (toys): AWE Striker
Vehicles and stuff (not toys): GI Joe C-130, Russian MIG
Firsties:
Characters: Prince Ngoto
Vehicles: none
Rating: Rating: 2 Flag Points
