Island Revolution!
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| "Island Revolution!" | ||||||
| Original presentation | 4pm on June 18, 2016 (GIJoeCon 2016) | |||||
| Written by | Jesse Wittenrich and Jim Sorenson | |||||
| Story by | Pete Sinclair and Jesse Wittenrich | |||||
When Air Raid and Rip Cord are sent to investigate Cobra Island. they find more than they bargained for, as Dr. Biggles-Jones and Firefly team up with an unexpected guest...
Synopsis
When G.I. Joe receives reports of an attack on Cobra Island by S.K.A.R., Joes Air Raid and Rip Cord are sent to investigate in a older model Sky Sweeper, as the Sky Patrol's newer stealth test vehicles were recently destroyed. Air Raid explains to Rip Cord that he'll be ejected from the Sky Sweeper in a "malfunction" once their close enough, and they prepare to enter Cobra air space. Unfortunately for them, Cobra's radar has picked them up. In her lab, Dr. Biggles-Jones is unable to concentrate as alarm klaxons blare, and Firefly, always eager for a big explosion, aims his plasma beam. Reaching the drop point, Rip Cord ejects himself from his seat, and releases his parachute. Bored, he begins to sing to himself...when Firefly's plasma beam shoots right past him, disabling Air Raid's Sky Sweeper. An exasperated Dr. Biggles-Jones yells at Firefly for causing a massive explosion over their mechanical/temporal experiments, noting that their "guest" will be all to attracted to it, but Firefly simply stares in appreciation of his big kaboom. On the island, Air Raid crawls from the wreckage of the Sky Sweeper, and begins exploring the island. It isn't long, however, until he's confronted by Dr. Biggles-Jones, who tells him that he's ruined her mechanical migrating birds, and her other "project" won't appreciate that. Her attempts to tell Air Raid to leave are unsuccessful at first, but when she pulls out her hand-held rail gun, the Sky Patrol pilot quickly dodges into the time-space anomaly at the center of "Cobra Island"...and is reverted to adolescence! Firefly comes to aid the doctor, and while Air Raid is still ready to fight Cobra, the anomaly has regressed his mind to an immature level as well. Dr. Biggles-Jones is unwilling to harm Air Raid now that he's both physically and mentally a child, and so, Firefly gives the young Joe some sparklers to play with.
Elsewhere, Rip Cord has managed to get plenty of shots of Cobra Island for the Joes back home. Heading off to retrieve his superior officer, Rip Cord is shocked to find the teenage Air Raid playing with sparklers. Firefly and Dr. Biggles-Jones have no qualms about attacking an adult Joe, but Rip Cord reveals that while they were babysitting his superior officer, he managed to complete his recon mission AND set up charges around Biggles-Jones' laboratory. Firefly is briefly drawn in by the mention of explosives, and begins talking shop with Rip Cord on the materials he used, before Dr. Biggles-Jones shuts him up. Rip Cord threatens to use the detonator if they don't let him and Air Raid go, but Sidney Biggles-Jones' second "project" reveals itself-as the Transformer Grimlock steps out, revealing Cobra Island to be Dinobot Island! Rip Cord wonders what the Autobot is doing there, as this is a "G.I. Joe thing," but Biggles-Jones claims that her experiments have no bounds, and that she will have a global revolution! She orders Grimlock to attack the Joes, but Rip Cord, annoyed at the presence of the Transformer, asks why he's working for Cobra if he's a good guy. Grimlock tells them that he has to, since Dr. Biggles-Jones fixed his transformation, but Air Raid points out that now that it is fixed, he doesn't have to follow her orders anymore. Grimlock turns on his "master," and Firefly, fed up with the sci-fi, leaves Dr. Biggles-Jones behind. Dr. Biggles-Jones steals the detonator from Rip Cord, believing that the situation is too outlandish and stupid, even for her, and presses the button. As Dr. Biggles-Jones laboratory goes up in flames, Grimlock happily tromps off into the sea, telling everyone goodbye. Dr. Biggles-Jones inquires how the Joes plan to get off the island, but their getaway ride quickly reveals itself. The Chevrolet Camaro driven by "Cobra Trooper Sorenson" transforms into the Thunderhawk, and "Sorenson" reveals his true identity: Action Force member Skymate, who has borrowed the Thunderhawk from Matt Trakker to save his friends! As they fly away, the young Air Raid feels bad for leaving Dr. Biggles-Jones behind, but G.I. Joe brand manager Mark Weber steps in, telling the young Joe that Biggles-Jones was saved by ROM the Space Knight, who then used his powers to return Air Raid to his normal age. Everyone lets out a heart "Yo Joe!", as Mark Weber tells everyone goodnight.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Joes | Cobras | Other |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Rip Cord: "Seriously, what’s Big Grim doing here? This is a G.I. Joe thing!"
Air Raid: "Yeah, I thought crossovers were for San Diego."
Dr. Biggles-Jones: "My research knows no bounds. It is a global… Revolution!"
Air Raid: "Should we really end this skit on a Specialist Trakker joke?"
Rip Cord: "No, we shouldn’t, that would be terrible, but since Inhumanoids hasn’t cleared legal yet, M.A.S.K. is the best we’ve got."
"Me Grimlock say dare to be stupid!"
- —Grimlock panders to the 5 Transformers fans in the audience
Notes
- The cast:
- Gregg Berger: Rip Cord, Firefly, Grimlock.
- Erik Neal: Air Raid, Skymate
- CeCe Nigra: Dr. Biggles-Jones
- Malachai Reiser: young Air Raid
- Mark Weber: himself
- Aside from reprising his role as Grimlock, JoeCon 2016 convention guest Gregg Berger also returns to voice G.I. Joe characters Firefly and Rip Cord. Additionally, three convention attendees who won a contest got to star alongside Berger: Erik Neal, CeCe Nigra, and Malachai Reiser.
- Characters mentioned but not seen include: S.K.A.R., the Sky Patrol, Skydive, Snow Serpents, Headman, the Cobra Youth, Shia LaBeouf, Bio-Vipers, Cobra Commander, Tele-Viper Williams, the Dreadnoks, Destro, Matt Trakker, the Inhumanoids, and M.A.S.K..
Continuity notes
- Rip Cord and Air Raid were sent out to investigate Cobra Island after reports of an attack by S.K.A.R. on the terrorist base, which was seen in the "G.I. Joe vs Cobra" comic published in the May 2016 issue of the G.I. Joe Collectors' Club, "Not My Time to Go!"
Transformers references
- The title of the story, along with Dr. Biggles-Jones' declaration of a "global revolution" and Grimlock's, Trakker's, Rom's, and other Hasbro properties' involvement in the story, was inspired by the then up-coming Revolution crossover event from IDW, which, alongside their current Transformers comics, would place G.I. Joe, Rom, Micronauts, M.A.S.K., and Action Man in a shared "Hasbro Universe".
- Grimlock conflates Cobra Island with Dinobot Island. Given the time anomaly at the center of the island, they may indeed be the same island.
- Grimlock being unable to transform is a nod to his time as an Action Master.
- Biggles-Jones paraphrases Starscream's line in The Transformers: The Movie about Grimlock's, how shall we say, departure from the island.
- Ripcord compares himself to Shia LaBeouf's paparazzi.
G.I. Joe references
- Air Raid is an all-new Joe created for the JoeCon 2016 "Sky Patrol" theme as the convention's freebie.
- Cobra Island was the headquarters of Cobra in both the Sunbow G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon, and the Marvel G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic. Air Raid notes that it's mountainous and covered with trees, somewhat unusually for an island, especially in the Marvel comic, where it was a chunk of the ocean floor that rose up to the surface through Cobra' machinations.
- S.K.A.R. was a terrorist organization from G.I. Joe Extreme that served as the main antagonists of the series, lead by Iron Klaw.
- Air Raid and Rip Cord get to the island on a Sky Sweeper, a G.I. Joe vehicle. They are specifically flying in the 2003 G.I. Joe vs Cobra Sky Sweeper, which came with a smaller spy plane that Rip Cord mentions, rather than the JoeCon 2016 Sky Sweeper, which, as the script reading notes, was already sold out by the start of the convention. Air Raid mentions how the design was stolen by Cobra for their Crimsom Hydras (from the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra toyline), and regular Hydras (released at JoeCon 2016), which were redecoes of the 2003 Sky Sweeper.
- Rip Cord had previously been ejected over Cobra island in issue #45 of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, where he ejected himself over the island to save his girlfriend, Candy, who had been abducted by Cobra.
- The Sky Patrol was one of the 1990 sublines of the G.I. Joe toyline. Air Raid mentions the teams leader, Skydive, several times.
- Calling Matt Trakker a "specialist" is a nod to his release as a G.I. Joe figure in 2008, which carried the name "Specialist Trakker" for trademark reasons.
- Sky Mate disguising himself as "Cobra trooper Sorenson" is a nod to the GIJoeCon 2016 Sky Mate action figure, which was — in grand G.I. Joe tradition — sculpted in Jim Sorenson's likeness.
- Skydive, Destro, the Dreadnoks, Tele-Viper Williams, the Sky Patrol, the Brainwave Scanner, the M.A.S.S. Device, the Hydra and Crimson Hydra, and Dr. Biggles-Jones' rail gun are all mentioned.
- Probably a lot more.
Other franchise references
- Inhumanoids not clearing legal is a reference to its absence from the Revolutions storyline.
- M.A.S.K.
Real-world references
- Air Raid claims that the Sky Sweepers' cut corners and theft by Cobra was due to "the Pentagon and the Administration's rush" during the early 2000s, referring to the 2003 invasion of Iraq under then United States President George W. Bush.
- Grimlock walking off into the sea is a deliberate nod to the Godzilla franchise.
- Dr. Biggles-Jones has developed a killer rabbit with sharp, pointy teeth.
