Goin' South
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 Look Megatron, there's Starscream, and he just made fun of your color scheme! | |||||||||||||
| "Goin' South" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | September 1993 | ||||||||||||
| Script | Larry Hama | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Chris Batista | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Chip Wallace | ||||||||||||
| Colors | Bob Sharen | ||||||||||||
| Letters | Rick Parker | ||||||||||||
| Editor | David Wohl | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Megatron and Cobra Commander fetch the Ark, and land it in Anytown, USA.
Synopsis
As per the deal made with Cobra, Megatron leads Cobra Commander and his retinue to the Ark in Canada. The Commander is initially unable to spot the ship, but Megatron soon reveals he hid it under a hillock so that its damage could be repaired in peace. Technology contained within the ship excites Doctor Biggles-Jones, who looks forward to messing with the magnetic drive, plasma impellers, photon accelerators, and anti-gravity. Slice and Dice take in the scene, musing about how Biggles-Jones must be unable to contain her excitement, but the still-injured Scarlett notes that Cobra Commander will have little need for her once Doctor Mindbender awakens...
In Trans-Carpathia, Destro, the Baroness, and Zartan infiltrate the Silent Castle with hang-gliders. Their presence is immediately detected by the occupying Cobra Vipers, who swarm the main hall. They are met with the visage of Cobra Commander, who claims to be doing a surprise inspection, berates the troopers for taking so long, and commands them to throw down their weapons. After they disarm, "Cobra Commander" reveals himself to be Zartan, and he welcomes Destro back to his home.
The Ark is brought to Milleville, which Cobra Commander reveals is controlled by Cobra when Megatron raises concern about revealing themselves to the public. The town's populace is made up of people brainwashed by Mindbender's Brain-Wave Scanner, and they are commanded by the Commander to unload the Cobra helicopters and the Ark. One man suddenly breaks free of his conditioning and the ensuing fight with the Alley-Vipers causes nearby Cobra Vipers to drop the tube containing Doctor Mindbender. It breaks and the body receives an electric shock. The man is finally knocked out by Road Pig, and Cobra Commander orders the man to be taken to receive an extra dose from the main Brain-Wave Scanner and Mindbender cleaned up. But before the latter can be done, Mindbender wakes up and Cobra Commander attempts to sway the doctor with cloying words. When Mindbender recognizes Megatron's presence, he decides to put grudges on hold to see how things play out.
Unbeknownst to Cobra and Megatron, their presence is observed by the eagle, Freedom, who brings news to his partner, Spirit. Mutt communicates the information to another G.I. Joe team in the area led by Hawk, who is glad that the tip given to G.I. Joe via the Department of Defense has paid off. They soon contact Road-Block, who leads other team into the sewer pipes. Another team, Ninja Force, is mobilized, and they leap from a Yo Joe Cola truck to an Arbco truck heading into Milleville. Road-Block's team heads towards the center, while Snake-Eyes, having received intelligence that Scarlett was in town, logically heads to the hospital where she would be treated. There, Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow peer into Scarlett's window while T'Jbang and Dojo spot Mindbender recuperating in another room. Biggles-Jones dismisses the other people in the room and reveals to Scarlett that she has known that she was a mole for G.I. Joe all along. Snake-Eyes unsheathes his sword in preparation...
After reaching the center of town where Megatron and Cobra Commander are, Tunnel Rat spots the Decepticon, which is communicated to Hawk, who then contacts Mainframe, who works in conjunction with Professor Mott in sending a signal out into space...
...to Cybertron. Bumblebee informs Optimus Prime that G.I. Joe have activated the trans-dimensional warp communicator to inform them of Megatron's presence on Earth. Optimus sends out an alert to all Autobots: Their work on Earth has yet to be finished.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | G.I. Joe | Cobra |
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Notes
- The cover title of the series for this issue is G.I. Joe Starring Snake-Eyes and Transformers: Generation 2. However, the title in the indicia (and hence the legal title) is G.I. Joe A Real American Hero.
- Our first exposure to Milleville is a sign reading, "WELCOME TO MILLEVILLE! ...A NICE PLACE TO LIVE..." This makes it the only town in America to put ellipses on its welcome signs.
- Cobra Commander asks Megatron to switch to tank mode so he'll be less conspicuous to passing aircraft. One assumes they found someplace to hide the aircraft carrier-sized Ark.
- Cobra Commander refers to Zarana as "steatopygous". This is a medical condition that can loosely be described as "fat-assed".
- He also refers to Milleville as "uliginous", meaning "marshy".
- When Doctor Biggles-Jones comments unfavorably on all the brainwashing, Cobra Commander tells her to spare him from her "cacophemisms", meaning "bad words". Most people only are familiar with "euphemisms", "good words", but Cobra Commander, he likes to show off his vocabulary, he does.
- Mindbender gives us a 3-line rundown on early 1990s culture, mentioning a Democrat in the White House, the cancellation of Cheers, and the hideous changes wrought upon the face of Michael Jackson.
Errors
- Naked Dr. Mindbender is drawn with an extra finger on his pointing hand.
- While the Joes refer to Cobra's "air armada", they never refer to the Ark specifically. They aren't concerned about the huge alien spaceship?!
- On the last page reveal, Optimus Prime is massively miscolored. He's got way too much red, and in all the wrong places.
Covers (1)
- Cover A: Megatron and Cobra Commander by Chris Batista
Advertisements
- None yet identified.
Reprints
- 2012 — Classic G.I. Joe Volume 14 (IDW Publishing, ISBN 978-1613771532
- 2012 — G.I. Joe/Transformers Volume 1 (IDW Publishing, ISBN 978-1613773529)
