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The Joes and the October Guard team up against Cobra.


Detailed summary

Somewhere in Afghanistan, Cobra has both the G.I. Joe Team and October Guard prisoners. Cobra Commander let the Joes extract the spy plane out of hostile territory and then let two groups fight it out while his Cobra troops completely surround them. The Commander orders two of his troopers to stay behind and execute the prisoners while he and the rest take the RTV and head back to their stronghold.

Issue7

The two troopers think of vile ways to make the prisoners suffer before killing them. The time is all Clutch needs to program his remote control to aim the VAMP's machine gun turrets and fire at the two clueless troopers. Now out of the gauntlet, Breaker reveals he was smart enough to leave a tracker on the RTV and they can track it as far as need be.

Initially, it seems the two groups are about to continue their fight. Stalker convinces both that the point of the fight is lost when Cobra took the plane out of their hands. Brekhov continues Stalker's conviction that it is more dangerous if Cobra is able to pry the plane's secrets than who wins in their fight. Stalker makes the suggestion that they join forces only to face opposition from his teammates. As field commander, he states he has prerogative to make the decisions for the group. Brekhov acquiesces to the alliance though it is clear that if they are successful in taking the plane out of Cobra's hands, they will be back to the same dilemma as before: who will get to keep the plane.

The Joes and the Guard track the signal deep into Iran. After a brief firefight with the Iranian Border Patrol, they soon locate Cobra's stronghold in the Iranian desert. Steeler examines the building with his visor and finds it seemingly featureless without any windows, doors or entrance of some sort. Stalker puts on the JUMP jet pack and perform a reconnaissance. Their presence has not gone unnoticed by Cobra.

Stalker finds the top of the building having a concentric maze-like pattern, suggesting some sort of alarm system. A plan is agreed upon. Steeler, Breaker and Flash will scour the roof; Stalker, Scarlett and Flash will penetrate from the north wall with Clutch guarding outside; Brekhov, Daina and Horrorshow go in through the south while Stormavik watches.

Issue7

The team on the roof examines the pattern. Schrage comments it resembles a hot plate before an electrical field knocks them unconscious. Below, Clutch is maintaining radio contact with them but behind him, a Cobra Trooper approaches. At the north wall, Stalker's team encounter an entrance open for them. Knowing it's a trap, they continue anyway. They also realize they have lost contact with the rest of their team and are on their own. During the course of their penetration, they encounter several booby traps - Shafts that come out of the wall, a trip that releases a slab of concrete, a rage of water that almost led them to a sink hole and a den of King Cobras that Flash burns with his laser. They encounter resistance from a squad of Cobra Troopers which Stalker easily takes care of with a grenade.

Issue7

They ultimately reach the prize: the RTV with the remnants of the spy plane. But the October Guard team of Brekhov, Daina and Horrorshow beat them to the location. Brekhov tells the Joes to surrender their weapons. At the same time, Cobra Commander and a squad of Troopers appear. He used the same tactic of letting the Joes and Guard's differences set them into a confrontation. This time, he orders to have them executed which he will personally oversee this time.

As it turns out, one of the Troopers is actually Clutch in disguise and holds the Commander hostage. He gets the rest of the team together and they repossess the RTV and start to move out. With the Commander as the Joes' hostage, Brekhov is dismayed as this will leave the Americans victorious, a fact that he cannot accept. Clutch hardly cares, to which Brekhov responds by gunning down the Commander. In a twist, it wasn't the Commander but a robotic doppelganger. Having had enough with betrayals, the Joes escape and leave the Guard to deal with Cobra. As they escape, Clutch reveals that at the time they lost contact with each other, he was fortunate to spot a Trooper sneaking behind him via the VAMP's rear-view mirror.

The Joes make it back and Stalker declares a mission accomplished. Hawk congratulates them but tells them the truth that the real spy plane had already been airlifted out of Afghanistan. They were merely hauling literally scrap and acted as decoy. Hawk leaves the Joes with a shocked look on their faces.

Appearances

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

G.I. Joe Cobra Oktober Guard Misc
  • Iranian border patrol (16)


Featured Vehicles & Equipment

G.I. Joe Oktober Guard
  • A.T.V.






Featured Locations

Civilian
  • Afghanistan
  • Iran
  • Karachi, Pakistan



Memorable quotes

"Dag!"

--Stalker, working that catchphrase.


"We can give you fellas a hand with changing the tire on your Kremlin Kiddie Kart..."

--Clutch apparently doesn't realize he lives in a glass house.


"Wait! Take us with you!"
"Shove off, sister! This bus is full!"

--Stalker slaps Daina in the face as she pleads for help.

Other Notes

Errors

  • On the splash page, Cobra Commander is wearing gloves. When we see his hands in a close-up on page 2, they're bare.

Items of note

  • This story was reprinted in G.I. Joe Digest #3, Tales of G.I. Joe #7 and G.I. Joe vol. 1 trade paperback.
  • Oktober Guard is spelled as "October Guard."
  • We don't see the Oktober Guard again until G.I. Joe Yearbook #2.
  • The dialogue at the end of page 3 and beginning of page 4 goes to groan-worthy lengths to work in references to two popular songs, "Georgia On My Mind" and the Beatles' "Back in the USSR".
  • The snake swirling around the globe on page 10 isn't just a prop, but is actually alive.
  • Cobra Commander once again explains the difference between his ceremonial hood and his battle helmet. He also mentioned it in issue #1.
  • We see the first example of Cobra characters with Joe-style codenames - the two commandos left behind to execute the Joes and Oktober Guard refer to each other as Rattler and Copperhead, both names that would be reused later (the former for a vehicle, not a person).

Real-world references

  • When Stalker sees the hallway full of King Cobras, he says Cobra must have stolen the idea from Stephen Spielberg, referring to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Footnotes and References





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