G.I. Joe issue 1
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Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
First published | January 14, 2009 | ||||||||||||
Cover date | January 2009 | ||||||||||||
Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
Pencils by | Robert Atkins | ||||||||||||
Inks by | Clayton Brown | ||||||||||||
Colors by | Andrew Crossley | ||||||||||||
Letters by | Chris Mowry | ||||||||||||
Editor | Andy Schmidt |
G.I. Joe unearths a mysterious object, bringing danger into their midst.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
In the Gulf of Mexico, the container ship Badeaux Strait is en route to Panama, and some of its crew have designs on the cargo, planning to help themselves and then place their ill-gotten gains on the list of items damaged in transit. Rooting around for the "good stuff", they uncover a strange, humming metal object, and lean in to investigate. Suddenly, the men are torn apart by gunfire, and very quickly the ship's entire crew is mowed down, followed by an explosion that sends the craft sinking to the ocean floor – but not before a radio distress beacon was activated...
One week later, Beachhead and Duke are jogging in the Nevada desert. As Beach tries to make conversation, they make their way into a tiny fenced military installation, comprising just two buildings. But the guard they pass on their way in is holographic, and inside one of the buildings, the floor begins lowering under the two men's feet, revealing the little base for the sham it is – the camouflaged entrance to the Pit, G.I. Joe's top secret underground headquarters! As Beach is grumbling about the minor threats they've been sent up against recently, they are met by Dial Tone, who informs them that Duke is wanted by Scarlett and Hawk.
At that moment, the high-ranking Joes are remotely directing Shipwreck as he leads a team to investigate the sunken Badeaux Strait. As he, Torpedo, and Deep Six explore the underwater wreckage, they spot evidence of weaponsfire, before eventually finding the same strange metal object as the thieving crew members. Giving orders to salvage the mysterious object, Hawk greets Duke, and give orders for him and Scarlett to work together investigating the mysterious name "Cobra" that came up in the Istanbul mission. Duke remarks that this task would have been right up Snake Eyes's street...
In the Crimean Riviera, an arms dealer named Nico Mandirobilis is arguing over the phone, insisting to unknown parties that he is not to blame for the loss of the Benin Pearl or the Badeaux Strait. The person on the phone suddenly asks if Nico is at home, and when he replies that he is, a masked man appears in his house in a flash of light! The assailant quickly shoots down Nico's bodyguards using strange, gas-powered firearms, but as he approaches the arms dealer himself, he suddenly dissolves into a pile of dust. Nico flees his house in terror, as and he goes, none other than Snake Eyes sneaks into the building! Briefly threatened by one of the dying bodyguards, the rogue G.I. Joe retrieves the attacker's odd weapon from his remains...
Three days later, that weapon arrives at the Pit in an envelope addressed to Scarlett, as well as a sample of the assailant's dusty remains, labelled with a cryptic note. Scarlett sends the gun for analysis, noting that it is made of some brittle material like ceramic, before being called to the Pit's workshop by Dusty. There, he, Airtight, and Frostbite have been investigating the metal object from the wreck, and having hit a dead end in analyzing it, they need Scarlett's permission to try and crack the dense piece of machinery open. As Scarlett and Duke, who has tagged along, leave the workshop, the technical Joes remark on the odd humming sound that the machine is emitting... whilst elsewhere, someone observes their every move via cameras built into it!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
G.I. Joe | Cobra | Others |
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- The Pit's "origin story" is told in the opening arc of the G.I. Joe: Origins series, which ran concurrently with this story.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- The establishing shot of the Pit's interior is awash with existing G.I. Joe vehicles, including:
- A.W.E. Strikers and a H.A.V.O.C. inside the left-hand building, and a M.O.B.A.T. and R.A.M. on the deck in front.
- Tomahawks on the building's roof.
- A Skyhawk being transported at ground level.
- A Wolverine on a cargo lift.
- A Desert Fox driven by Dial Tone.
- The workshop also contains a R.A.M., Wolverine, and a V.A.M.P..
Other notes[edit | edit source]
- Dial Tone was originally intended to be an original character named "Megabyte" ("Megs" for short), but Hasbro suggested there were already too many communications expert Joes in existence. Consequently, the script was altered to make her a female version of the existing Dial Tone character.[1] The change was apparently late enough that several issues had already been lettered with the original name – the digital releases of the individual issues #1 and #3 mistakenly still feature it.
Covers (8)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: G.I. Joe versus Cobra, by Dave Johnson.
- Cover B: G.I. Joe, by Robert Atkins and Bob Perdoza.
- Cover C: Wraparound painting of G.I. Joe and Cobra, by Gabriele Dell'Otto.
- Cover RI-A: Virgin version of Cover A.
- Cover RI-B: Wraparound initial pencil sketch of Cover C.
- Dynamic Forces exclusive cover: Scarlett and Snake Eyes, by Mel Rubi and Inlight Studio.
- Graham Crackers exclusive cover: Cobra, by Robert Atkins and Andrew Crossley.
- New Dimension Comics exclusive cover: Snake Eyes in an homage to the cover of "Silent Interlude", by Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema, and Rich Yanizeski.