Destro Must Die, Part 3
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| "Destro Must Die, Part 3" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 19, 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | February 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Paul Gulacy | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Aburtov & Grafikslava | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Neil Uyetake | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Before "Threat Matrix" | ||||||||||||
The Joes come face to face with Destro's next generation B.A.T.s as they track him down to Russia.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Within the walls of Castle Destro, or Cobra Section X as it has come to be known, the B.A.T. enhanced Urso has been unleashed on a H.I.S.S. tank and tears the vehicle’s drivers from their seats. Though Destro orders Urso to put the men down, he refuses to listen and then threatens Destro, wanting to make the buzzing pain in his head stop. In response to these threats, Destro increases the buzzing, knocking Urso unconscious. This demonstration fails to impress Cobra Commander or either of his guests from the Russian military, feeling that Urso is far from the easily deployed and controlled combat drone they were promised. Frustrated at losing face, Destro orders his aides to prep Urso for another demonstration.
On the move in a truck they stole from their traitorous Russian contacts, the G.I. Joe Special Missions unit is heading towards Beaver Falls, an abandoned training grounds modeled on the small towns of the American Pacific Northwest that was built by the Soviets during the 1970s. Due to it’s close proximity to Castle Destro, the Joes figure Copperback will be hiding in Beaver Falls as she prepares to kill Destro. Staying on overwatch while her teammates search the ghostly empty town, Agent Helix is caught off guard when a young girl approaches her from behind... A young girl with sharp, clawed fingers and half her face missing, a robotic skull underneath! Having never faced a B.A.T. before, Helix’s total battlefield awareness is overwhelmed, meaning she’s unable to predict the girl’s next move. As she panics to overcome her sensory overload and her teammates try to figure out what’s going on, Copperback watches the Joes from afar, happy that it seems little Katrina is going to take care of them for her. However, Copperback soon discovers she has B.A.T. problems of her own when Urso bursts into her hideout! Seeing through the eyes of his creations from his castle, Destro is surprised to see Copperback with the Joes but is nonetheless happy to have targets he can demonstrate the full abilities of his B.A.T.s on.
With her handgun having no effect on him, Copperback takes off running towards the Joes with Urso close behind, hoping their heavier weapons might do the trick. Though they hurry her along to safety, Copperback is angered when they restrain her as well. Meanwhile, Scarlett and Mainframe rush to Helix’s aid, finding her being choked and interrogated by Katrina. Catching an EMP spike from Scarlett, Helix shoves the device through Katrina’s eye, shutting her down for good. Not letting her injuries slow her down, Helix rushes to her help the others with Urso and arrives to find him still alive but downed by an EMP. Investigating him, Mainframe is horrified to discover Urso’s a modified human and not just a machine disguised as one like Katrina. Though he expresses trepidation over doing so, Mainframe follows Scarlett’s order to break Destro’s control over Urso, starting by disabling the camera Destro had been using to look through Urso’s eyes.
With his second attempt at a demonstration proving a disaster, Destro promises the Russian generals that he’ll clean up the situation with the Joes. They, however, tell Destro that Cobra has no right to take military action within Russian borders. When Destro refuses to listen and sends a Buzzard full of Vipers towards Beaver Falls, the generals secretly put in a call to Spetsnaz. Shortly after the Vipers arrive, something goes wrong with the video feed Destro was using to watch their mission unfold. Though this and Cobra Commander hounding him about the money Cobra has sunk into the B.A.T.s seemingly going down the drain puts Destro on edge, he soon gets good news when an aide reports the Vipers' Buzzard is returning. What he can't see though is that the helicopter has been commandeered by the Joes, who are using it to drop an unchained Urso directly onto Castle Destro!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italic text only appear in flashback. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Others |
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"You're going to need medical attention, Helix"
"Am I the only one who hears gunfire?"
"You're hurt!"
"I'm not dead."
- -Mainframe and Helix
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Beaver Falls is compared to Springfield, a similarly artificial "company town" of Cobra's that first appeared in G.I. Joe vol. 1 #9. The Joes previously had a showdown with a B.A.T. in Springfield back in the seventh issue of G.I. Joe vol. 2
Real-world references[edit | edit source]
- Beaver Falls is noted to have been a project created by the Soviet NKVD... though see "Errors" for a note regarding that.
- The Beaver Falls movie theater advertises "Smo_ey & Th_ B_ndit" and ""Spy Who Lov_d Me""
- Mainframe compares his freeing of Urso from Destro's control to the tale of Androcles and the Lion, where a man befriends a wild lion after removing a thorn stuck in its paw.
Errors[edit | edit source]
- How was the Soviet NKVD responsible for building Beaver Falls in the late 70s when they were shut down in 1946 and replaced with the MVD?
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Helix poses in front of Katrina's eyes, by Paul Gulacy and Joana Lafuente
- Cover B: Helix, Beachhead, and Tripwire on the ground in Russia, by Will Rosado and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
- Retailer incentive cover: The Joes and Cobra do Sgt. Slaughter proud, by S.L. Gallant and J. Brown
