G.I. Joe Special Missions #26

Special Missions #26: “Passing of the Guard””

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Herb Trimpe

Summary

In Sierra Gordo, the OKtober Guard breaks into a Cobra/MARS compound and makes off with El Jefe. Recondo, Shockwave and Lt. Falcon are undercover as natives and watch the whole thing unfold. The Guard escapes into the countryside and meets with a train of “revolutionaries”. In a an effort to save El Jefe, Col. Brekhov orders Dragonsky and Daina to guard him and get him to the capital of Rio Lindo. Brekhov, Horroshow, Stormavik and Schrage all sacrifice themselves to stop the Cobra/MARS troops.

After the threat is over, the “revolutionaries” reveal themselves to be the disguised private army of the NABM. El Jefe agrees to shack up with them…switching sides again. Instead of a republic “for the people”, another group of slick bureaucrats have swindled themselves into power. The Oktober Guard members died in vain.

Notes:

• The surviving Guard members and the 3 Joes are taken into captivity by the NABM. This story will be continued in GI Joe #92.
• The deaths of Brekhov, Horrorshow, Stormavik and Schrage have always puzzled me, since they were fairly popular characters among Joe comic readers. They die in random combat scenes while fighting on the railroad. Nothing special or touching about their deaths. Hama has a bunch of interviews with rabid Joe fanboys around the Internets, but I’ve always been curious WHY he killed off the Guard. Maybe the impending fall of Communist Russia rendered them obsolete? This comic has an October 1989 cover date, meaning it probably hit the racks around August. The big Berlin Wall demolition occurred in November 1989.
• -Beach-head and Muskrat are pictured on the cover, despite not being in this issue.
• It’s possible that the railroad line used in this story is the same one from issue 54.
• Another recurring Hama theme: the slimy deal makers trump all efforts made by the grunts fighting the conflicts. It’s getting a little tired at this point, as SEVERAL battles have ended this way. Hama has an interview where he talks about despising the “suits and haircuts” he was often forced to work with….so that may be why this theme kept popping up.
• Voltar appears in the Cobra/MARS camp in his jammies, without his helmet. He has two eyes and is not missing one, as his action figure seemed to suggest. Presumably the eyepiece on his helmet is a targeting device or some sort of vision enhancer.

Appearances:

Characters (figures): Lt. Falcon, Shockwave, Recondo, Voltar

Characters (“comic-only”): Col. Brekhov (croaks), Stormavik (croaks), Horrorshow (coraks), Schrage (croaks), Daina, Dragonsky, Delbert Swinson (NABM), El Jefe

Vehicles and stuff (toys): Cobra Jet Packs, Iron Grenadiers Razorback, Iron Grenadiers DEMON, Cobra FANG II

Vehicles and stuff (not toys): none to speak of

Firsties:
Characters: Wild Boar (Razorback driver), Alley Vipers (as FANG II pilots)

Vehicles: Iron Grenadiers Razorback, Cobra FANG II

Rating: Rating: 3 Flag Points