Destro Must Die, Part 1

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G.I. Joe: Special Missions #10
SpecialMissions10-CvrB.jpg
"Destro Must Die, Part 1"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published December 11, 2013
Cover date December 2013
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Paul Gulacy
Colors by Aburtov & Grafikslava
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Editor Carlos Guzman
Chronology Before "Threat Matrix"

When Destro and his B.A.T.s reemerge as a threat, Scarlett recruits someone from the metal man's past to help G.I. Joe take him down for good.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Aboard the USS Manatee, Mainframe and Dial-Tone review footage of a police operation carried out in Rio de Janeiro. Three helicopters were dispatched after multiple shots were reported coming from the sixty-third floor of the Diamond Tower, where a local law firm was based out of. Once they arrived, the entire floor was aflame and the outermost wall was missing with a single gunman standing there. As the police opened fire on him, the gunman didn't even flinch and took out two of the choppers with a grenade launcher. As the second chopper went down though, it captured video of the one remaining helicopter scoring a headshot on the assailant, blowing his mask away... and revealing a metallic skull underneath! Recognizing the look of the head as being similar to Cobra's B.A.T.s, Mainframe did some digging and discovered the law firm that was attacked was a major influencer in the area and had been doing a lot of work for local cartels. With Cobra making moves in that region, it would seem that the B.A.T. program isn't as dead as G.I. Joe believed it to be, and that can only mean Destro is back too!

At Arizona State Prison Complex – Eyman's supermax block, Glynnis "Copperback" MacDougall is released from her cell to meet with a visitor and immediately begins beating up her guards, easily overwhelming them. However, when her visitor Scarlett arrives, she immediately lays Glynnis out and drags her out to a waiting helicopter. Aboard the chopper, Scarlett explains to Glynnis that Destro has resurfaced while she's been incarcerated and that G.I. Joe wants her help finding and killing him. Though she isn't promised her freedom, Scarlett's offer of allowing Glynnis to kill the man who killed her father is good enough to get her to agree to help.

Heading to the last known location of Castle Destro in Patagonia with a trio of ex-Marine Joes in tow, Scarlett and her team are surprised to find... nothing! The whole of Castle Destro has been completely removed from the area, only a few bits and pieces of foundation left to indicate anything was there at all. While Scarlett chews out her prisoner for leading them astray, Copperback claims she did no such thing. She only said that Patagonia would be a good place to start, not that it would be their final destination. Ordering to Gung-Ho to take point while they investigate what remains of the castle, the Joes eventually end up triggering an automated defense turret that was hidden beneath a rock. Though they all immediately take cover, they soon realize the gun isn't actually firing anything, having been disarmed when Destro packed up and left. Though Copperback finds this hilarious, Scarlett is less entertained by her not warning them about the perimeter defenses, whether they were armed or not. Put on point to incentivize her to not lead the Joes into anymore traps, Copperback reveals to them a secret chamber that was left behind that she claims may help them figure out where Destro ran off to. However, as they descend the stairs, Copperback kicks Scarlett in the stomach and takes off on her own, locking a steel barred door behind her as she does so. Realizing that they've been had, Scarlett orders her men back up the stairs to try and cut off Copperback topside but find another steel bar gate blocking them off. Though a C4 charge allows them to blow through the gate, Scarlett first radios in to tell Mainframe that Copperback gave them the slip. Fortunately, this was an eventuality that the Joes were prepared for. That morning, they snuck a GPS transmitter into Copperback's breakfast, meaning they're able to track her as she heads to Norway to confront a trio of former associates of herself and Destro.

Meanwhile, in the "Oasis of Troubles" district of St. Petersburg, a group of gangsters spot a little girl strolling through their turf and attempt to kidnap her. However, as one of the thugs puts a hand on her, she suddenly breaks his arm! When another smacks her in the face with a pipe, he tears away her skin, revealing that she's a B.A.T.! The men plead for their lives and apologize to the girl, but it's too late. Turning her hands into a pair of vicious claws, the "girl" eviscerates the gangsters, tearing them limb from limb. As he watches this presentation, Cobra Commander admits to Destro that he underestimated the potential of the B.A.T. program, these new machines that can disguise themselves as humans opening up a whole new world of possibilities. However, he does feel that there's still something "off" about the B.A.T.s' behavior, a flaw Destro owns up to. He admits that there is a certain "human element" that he can't quite get the B.A.T.s to emulate. However, if the Commander was gracious enough to grant him additional funding, he's sure that his experiments with organic interfacing will be the key to making machines who are indistinguishable from humans...

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

Characters in italic text only appear in flashback. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

G.I. Joe Cobra Others

Quotes[edit | edit source]

"So what's in it for me?"
"Nothing. Except you get to kill the man who murdered your father."
"Aye right. So, do I have to sign something?"

-Copperback is easily persuaded by Scarlett.


"What kind of guy takes his whole house every time he moves?"
"A guy with a buttload of money, Gung Ho."

-Gung-Ho asks a question, Leatherneck answers a question.


"That's one... two... three science geeks. I count four coffees."
"Um... I like coffee? A lot?"

-Copperback learns that Coffee goth loves coffee!

Notes[edit | edit source]

Continuity notes[edit | edit source]

  • Glynnis "Copperback" MacDougall and her phonetically written accent are back, baby! Once an employee of Destro's, she formed a grudge against him after he killed her father to prove his loyalty to Cobra in G.I. Joe vol. 1 #12, eventually betraying him in G.I. Joe vol. 1 #16. She'd last been seen in G.I. Joe vol. 2 #16, where she was taken into custody.
  • Cobra's B.A.T. program has been a bit of a recurring thing throughout IDW's Joe comics. The Battle Android Troopers first appeared during the conclusion of the first Cobra miniseries, where undercover Joe operative Chuckles had been placed in charge of their development and achieved less than promising results. After more inauspicious developments during the Infestation crossover, Destro got the program on track, developing functioning and deadly B.A.T.s that were seen in the "Cobra Civil War" and "Cobra Command" arcs.
    • Strangely, these B.A.T.s that masquerade as humans are different from the classic style B.A.T.s that debuted in IDW in G.I. Joe vol. 3's seventh issue. With that issue releasing before this one, you may assume this just means the B.A.T. program advanced in-universe between Joe vol. 3 #7 and Special Missions #10, but future issues of Special Missions will make clear that the "Destro Must Die" can only logically take place before Joe vol. 3's "Threat Matrix" arc.
  • Castle Destro was placed in Patagonia in G.I. Joe vol. 1, having last been seen there in the tenth issue of that series. In the eighth issue, G.I. Joe mounted an operation to the castle (one that Gung-Ho claims he was part of) where they were attacked by giant mechanical spiders that acted as security drones. As Flint learned in issue 5 though, Destro has moved the castle between countries before.

G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]

Errors[edit | edit source]

  • The real Arizona State Prison Complex at Eyman only houses male inmates, so it doesn't make much sense for Copperback to be held there.
  • The helicopter that Scarlett and Glynnis take out of prison is drawn as an Apache style helicopter, which is an attack copter that only holds a pilot and a gunner and wouldn't have room for the multiple passengers that are shown being inside.

Covers (3)[edit | edit source]