G.I. Joe issue 16
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 Cobra Commander is watching you manipulate. | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 24, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | March 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Line-art by | S.L. Gallant and Robert Atkins | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Gary Erskine | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Andrew Crossley | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Chris Mowry | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Andy Schmidt | ||||||||||||
| Assistant editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
Cobra Commander's patience with the Baroness comes to an end.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
The Baroness is shaken by a call from the Commander of Cobra, who wants to see the results of all the money that has been poured into Destro's M.A.S.S. project... because he is not happy with the Baroness missing deadlines and repeatedly ignoring calls to end the costly experiments. Aware that her survival rests on the Commander's satisfaction, the Baroness hastens Dr. Orizama to get the device up and running despite his objections, before showing off their recent haul from tests of the device — priceless art, currency printing plates, top-secret military intel, and blackmail material. The Baroness is shocked, however, when Cobra Commander brings up her planned mission to Nevada to determine the location of G.I. Joe's secret base, as she had not reported it to her superiors.
As a pair of snipers set up on a ridge overlooking Section Zero, the Baroness's report is interrupted by Destro, creator of the M.A.S.S. device, who demands his due respect as a partner of Cobra. Though Cobra Commander orders the Baroness to restrain herself, he is unimpressed with Destro's dramatics, asking what need Cobra has of him with the device completed. The laird claims that M.A.S.S. cannot be improved or duplicated without him, but he is unexpectedly countered by Glynis MacDougall, who reveals that she knows as much about it as her master does, betraying him in revenge for his murder of her father. A squad of Vipers hauls Destro off to somewhere he will not be able to do Cobra harm, while the Baroness prepares to demonstrate M.A.S.S. in use.
Interrupting Orizama's stammered explanation of the teleporter's functionality, the Baroness orders him to ready the teleporter for "Mission Anaconda": an assassination. The device warps three Vipers to the ridge above Section Zero, where they execute the sniper team, before leaving the bodies to freeze and returning to the base. The Baroness turns to the Commander's transmission for approval, but his satisfaction is double-edged, as he orders the Baroness to prepare to redeploy to elsewhere; Orizama, he declares, will be the chief science supervisor on the second M.A.S.S. device, while MacDougall — now codenamed Copperback — will be granted command over Section Zero and the new site. Realising that MacDougall was the one who reported her plans to the consuls, the furious Baroness knocks her down and prepares to kill her, but is stymied by the Commander, who informs her that she will not get a third chance. Later, in Russia's Yakutia Republic, a Cobra helicopter deposits Destro in Section Ten, Cobra's gulag, under the iron-fisted control of its warden Major Bludd.
Three months later, Orizama and Copperback prepare to teleport a squad of six Cobra operatives to the newly-constructed Section Sabine. As they phase back into being, "Sabine Seventeen" begins their walk across the Sabine crater to Cobra's newly-constructed moonbase...
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Cobra |
|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"This location has been a gulag since the bolsheviks established it here following the October revolt. Many of the Czar's privileged mates ended their lives here. Cobra has given me Section Ten — a commission if not a title and a command if not a fiefdom. But make no mistake, Section Ten is mine to rule as a god might. And until the day you die you will know me as Major Bludd."
- —Major Bludd
"We have arrived at target destination and will proceed on foot to Sabine base."
"Acknowledged, S-17. They await your arrival. How's the weather up there?"
"Not a cloud in the sky, Zero."
- —Sabine Seventeen and Dr. Orizama
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- It's the big man himself, Cobra Commander! In keeping with how Cobra's leader has been kept enigmatic throughout the IDW continuity thus far, this issue chooses to keep him entirely off-panel, only letting us see his drone "representative" or through his eyes.
- Destro killed Rory MacDougall to save Glynis's life back in issue #12.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- Cobra Commander's readout on the Baroness lists her surname as "DeCobray/Cisarovna". In the Marvel comics series, "DeCobray" was an alias while "Cisarovna" was her real name, though Origins #19 had previously established "DeCobray" as her real name in IDW continuity.
- Major Bludd is, of course, a classic Cobra character; he's been grizzled up a bit here, sporting some nasty scars around his eyepatch.
- The black-and-yellow outfits of Sabine Seventeen mark them as redesigned versions of the Blackstars, Cobra astronauts from the Star Brigade line. Those ones were rumored to be aliens, which probably isn't true of the IDW versions...
Real life references[edit | edit source]
- The bulk of the Commander's readout on the Baroness is lorem ipsum text.
Other notes[edit | edit source]
- No, a "Copperback" isn't a type of snake (at least in the real world). A "copperhead" is, but that was already taken.
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: The Baroness in the coils of Cobra, by David Williams and Kelsey Shannon.
- Cover B: Smile, Baroness, you're on camera(s)!, by Robert Atkins and Andrew Crossley.
- Cover RI: Virgin version of Cover A.
