G.I. Joe vol. 5 issue 1

From MediaWiki
Revision as of 00:39, 29 December 2016 by Sockie (talk | contribs) (→Synopsis)
Jump to navigationJump to search
« G.I. Joe vol. 5 #1
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published December 28, 2016
Cover date December 2016
Written by Aubrey Sitterson
Art by Giannis Milonogiannis
Colors by Lovern Kindzierski
Letters by Chris Mowry
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Current era

In the wake of Revolution, the world has got a whole lot weirder, and it's up to G.I. Joe—including new member Skywarp—to defend it!

Synopsis

In Tokyo, Roadblock, Rock 'n Roll, and Doc chase a member of the Red Shadows ninja clan through the city streets. When the ninja unveils the cybernetic enhancements he has been provided with by supervillain Doctor X, Rock 'n Roll winds up taking a shuriken in the arm, but the barrage of return fire he empties into the ninja has zero effect. Two more Red Shadows appear to join their fellow, prompting Agent Helix, observing and analyzing from afar, to send Snake Eyes in to back the Joes up. The ninjas seem to flee, and are pursued by the Joes into Yoyogi Park, only for it to turn out that they have been led into an ambush as more Red Shadows spring up all around them. Vastly outnumbered, the Joes call in their trump card: their new member, the ex-Decepticon Skywarp! Skywarp is not particularly interested in getting involved in the fight, but a few quick verbal threats from the giant robot are enough to convince the Red Shadows to stand down. While the other Joes make plans to go out for food before heading back to base, Rock 'n Roll tries to convince Skywarp to let him fly back with him, but Skywarp finds the whole idea of a human in his cockpit markedly distasteful and refuses.

Back at the Joes' new headquarters—the captured Decepticon space cruiser Nemesis, now rebuilt into a stationary base on the ocean floor, captained by Shipwreck and rechristened "Lemuria"—Cover Girl, Lady Jaye, and Gung-Ho gripe about the food available in Shipwreck's meat-free mess hall. Scarlett soon arrives with new mission orders: Jaye and Gung-Ho are headed for Athens, Greece to gather intel on a violent anarchist movement growing in the country. Just as Scarlett finishes briefing them, though, another situation arises when Dial-Tone appears and hands her a memo.

Elsewhere in the base, Doc calls in on the team's tech expert Grand Slam, who is working with her uncle, the original Doc, to develop a means of detecting Dire Wraiths. The machine successfully reads the bio-signature of the captive Wraith they have in stasis, but incorrectly claims that the two Docs are also Wraiths. The Docs excuse themselves when Rock 'n Roll enters to see about having his machine gun replaced with a more advanced Cybertronian weapon. Visibly angry, Grand Slam curtly provides him with a shotgun and ends their conversation before it can begin... because thanks to Rock shooting him when he mistook him for a Dire Wraith, Grand Slam is now in a wheelchair.

Scarlett gathers Roadblock and Quick Kick, the latter able to use his Mandarin language skills to confirm the accuracy of the hastily-translated memo. Roadblock is surprised to learn that their new mission comes at the request of the Chinese government, but as Scarlett points out, G.I. Joe is now a global force for good, not just an American one. Their objective: reclaim Inner Mongolia from native insurgents radicalized by Crystal Ball and the Dreadnoks!

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

G.I. Joe Others

Quotes

"Attention, vermin! I am Skywarp, of the G.I. Joe International Peacekeeping Force. Drop your weapons and surrender immediately! I don't want to have to clean what's left of you off my feet."

—Skywarp introduces himself to the Red Shadows


"Are you asking me... to open up my cockpit... and allow you to climb inside of me?"

—Skywarp does not respond well to Rock 'n Roll's request for a lift


"This is meat! It's a spirulina-enriched plankton patty! With a side of wakame!"

—Shipwreck describes his latest culinary concoction


"Backpacking across Europe? You think I can pass as a hipster?"
"Chest piece, ridiculous facial hair, silly hat? I think you'll manage."

—Gung-Ho and Scarlett

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Doctor X was previously established to be working with the Red Shadows (see "G.I. Joe references" below) in Action Man #4. The ninjas were not named in that issue, though, and the presence of Storm Shadow as their leader suggested they were, as Rock 'n Roll mistakenly believes this issue, the Joes' usual red-garbed ninja opponents, the Arashikage. The truth was implied, however, when Doctor X mentioned collaborating with the historical leader of the group, Baron Ironblood, on the issue's final page.
  • Rock 'n Roll rescued Skywarp from the Dire Wraith-held Earth Defense Command Bikini Atoll base in the G.I. Joe: Revolution one-shot. In the process, he shot Grand Slam, mistakenly believing he was a Wraith; it appeared at the time that Grand Slam had died, but we discover this issue that he is still alive, but paralyzed from the waist down.
  • Skywarp's been suffering from debilitating molecular instability since sustaining injuries way back in Robots in Disguise #16. It appears he has finally been repaired, but at the cost of his teleportation ability, which he's waiting to have restored by the Joes.
  • The Nemesis was previously used by Galvatron's Decepticons as a base of operations throughout the second "season" of Robots in Disguise. It was captured by Joe forces in The Transformers #57, following the defeat of Galvatron's forces by the Autobots.
  • Lady Jaye hasn't been part of the "main" Joe forces in IDW continuity prior to this issue; instead, she has only appeared as part of the now-defunct "intelligence" unit that was the focus of the latter issues of Cobra vol. 2 and the follow-up series The Cobra Files.
  • "Doc Senior"—Carl Greer, the original holder of the "Doc" codename—has appeared a scant few times in IDW continuity, and was last seen in G.I. Joe vol. 3, published in 2013, when he handed over his codename to his niece Carla. Over five years have passed in-universe since then, and middle-aged spread has obviously hit the guy!
  • Crystal Ball has been a recurring, manipulative figure in IDW Joe lore since its beginning, acting as enigmatic adviser to the various members of Cobra high command. The precise state of Cobra in the present-day Hasbro Universe is unclear, but it was implied that Crystal Ball was still affiliated with the organization the last time we heard about it, in the final issue published before the hiatus, Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra #5.
  • The Dreadnoks have had a surprisingly minimal presence in IDW continuity, having been the villains of a single story arc published in G.I. Joe: Special Missions in 2013, which concluded with them being betrayed and abandoned by their leader Zartan. Members Buzzer and Road Pig are easily recognizable; the identities of the other two members seen on this issue's final page are less obvious. One appears to be carrying a flamethrower, which logically ought to mark him as Torch, but if so, he's been redesigned as black, after appearing as Caucasian in his previous IDW appearance.

G.I. Joe references

  • The Red Shadows were the evil faction from G.I. Joe's British antecedent-slash-counterpart, Action Force, who were eliminated from the story and replaced with Cobra when Hasbro acquired the property and folded it into G.I. Joe mythology. Later media would revive the Red Shadows and incorporate them into the G.I. Joe storyline, but IDW is the first to depict them as ninjas.

Real-life references

Other trivia

  • Backmatter for this issue includes a letter from Sitterson welcoming readers to the book, and a Milonogiannis's character design art for Scarlett.

Covers (9)

Advertisements

Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.duckdns.org/index.php?title=G.I._Joe_vol._5_issue_1&oldid=1152707"