Cobra vol. 2 issue 2
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 22, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | June 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mike Costa | ||||||||||||
| Line-art by | Antonio Fuso | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Arianna Florean | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Romulo Fajardo, Jr. | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Chris Mowry | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Andy Schmidt | ||||||||||||
| Assistant editor | Carlos Guzman and Tom Waltz | ||||||||||||
Serpentor offers guidance as only a priest can, while Steeler grows unhappy with the orders he's given.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Sitting alone, Serpentor thinks to himself: he's never going to be Cobra Commander. He's not even in the running, of course, and he's thankful for that — looking at the candidates, he sees that they are angry, scared, lost... in need of guidance, much like that that Serpentor provides in his public guise as Dr. Steven Menasian, and as the leader of the Coil. And just so, he gives them that guidance; showing Tomax Paoli how to serve both his grief and Cobra's goals by killing the man who had his brother killed, and offering Major Bludd the keys to success in their contest.
On the basis of the evidence found by Breaker, Firewall assembles a G.I. Joe team led by Sawed-Off to investigate potential Cobra activity in Ecuador. Steeler protests, pointing to the dead Joes in Panama as a higher priority, but Firewall believes the situation there to be in hand, and orders the team to get ready.
Still in Panama, Blacklight sends out his fifth request for extraction in 30 hours, but with a lack of response he finally accepts that Cobra won't be coming for him. Destroying his communication earpiece and burning the shack he had gone to ground in, Blacklight sets out, murdering two Panamanian men and taking their Jeep.
Arriving at the site in Ecuador, Sawed-Off dismisses Steeler's grumbling and has his team secure the area; but despite an initial assessment showing no Cobra troops, the Joes are quickly ambushed by a group of amphibious Lampreys, pushing them towards the water. Leadfoot and Slammer are shot by the Lampreys, and while Sawed-Off and Knuckles escape into the water, they're attacked and killed by the Croc Master's alligators! His gun out of ammunition, Steeler manages to fend off the alligators with a found flamethrower and escapes into the jungle, where he radios for extraction.
Back at the Cobra base, on recieving a transmission from Croc Master on their success in Ecuador, the Baroness congratulates Serpentor on the usefulness of the information he provided, and arranges for him to be assigned to better quarters. While Serpentor feigns humble servitude, though, he muses that none of the candidates see the true purpose to his actions — by taking him as an advisor, they begin to rely on and need him. Money and power, he thinks, are transient, not goals to strive for; in fact, he sometimes thinks that he's the only one to understand the purpose of the organisation. To be worshipped — THAT is what Cobra is.
Calling Pythona from his new, luxury quarters, Serpentor directs her to stick to the script when Breaker inevitably checks in, believing that there won't be any wrinkles in the plan. And in a G.I. Joe extraction plane, an angry, injured Steeler is assured by a medic that he can get "payback" for the disastrous "honeypot" of Ecuador the next day... something that he grimly agrees that he will.
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"All right, Menasian. Let's get back to this business then. How much?"
"How much what? Money? Bludd, please. Don't make me regret helping you. Our future commander needs to be a man of imagination. I just want you to make me proud."
- –Major Bludd misunderstands Serpentor's intentions.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- This issue, like the previous one and the following two, is structured with a narration from a member of Cobra that starts with why they believe they'll never be Cobra Commander and concluding with their summation of what they believe Cobra to be; in this case, Serpentor.
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Serpentor's conversation with Bludd continues from the one shown in the previous issue.
- Croc Master is revealed to have survived being shot by Erika le Tene back in Cobra II #3.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- Sawed-Off mentions Charbroil, an existing Joe character, though he describes him as a techie rather than a flamethrower specialist.
Real-life references[edit | edit source]
- "CNM News" is a lawyer-friendly version of CNN News.
- Menasian meets with a politician, presumably intended to be the governor of California or similar, in front of the real-life Seal of California.
Errors[edit | edit source]
- On page 6, panel 3, Steeler's blond hair is miscolored Breaker brown.
- On page 19, panel 4, Steeler refers to himself as "Breaker".
- On page 20, "counsel" is misspelled "council".
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Croc Master and one of his pets, by David Williams and Kelsey Shannon.
- Cover B: Steeler surrounded by monstrous jaws, by Antonio Fuso.
- Cover RI: An uncolored version of cover A, by David Williams.
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