G.I. Joe vol. 5 issue 1

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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 father, 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.
  • Having spent the last five years of comics in his War for Cybertron design, Skywarp is now sporting a more classic Generation 1 look. It is implied that this change in appearance is the result of G.I. Joe deconstructing and rebuilding him, "plundering his body for weapons" and repairing the debilitating molecular instability he has been suffering from since sustaining injuries way back in Robots in Disguise #16. This repair job has resulted in the loss 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 the Joes in The Transformers #57, following the defeat of Galvatron's forces by the Autobots.
  • Lady Jaye hasn't been part of the "main" Joe team 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 daughter 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. It was implied that Crystal Ball was still affiliated with Cobra the last time we heard about it, in the final issue published before the hiatus, Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra #5, but Revolutionaries #1 establishes that since then, Cobra has collapsed and dissolved.
  • 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, and appeared in that earlier story; the others are Burn Out (based directly on his 2011 "Dreadnok Battle Set" action figure) and a big shirtless fella who looks like Gnawgahyde, but would be identified in issue #3 as the Fun Publications-original Dreadnok Crusher, who also appeared in the Special Missions story with an appearance closer to his toy. His and Road Pig's shirtlessness seems to have resulted from the artist referencing G.I. Joe fansite YoJoe.com's images of Gnawgahyde and Road Pig's "Dreadnok Battle Set" toys, which show them without their many accessories—including various pieces of torso clothing they normally wear.

Transformers references

  • The rebuilt Nemesis (or Lemuria) looks very much like its classic G1 look from the cartoon and Beast Wars.

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

  • This is not the first time G.I. Joe has seized control of the Decepticon starship Nemesis, having also done so more temporarily in the Transformers vs. G.I. Joe finale.
  • 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)

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