Infestation 2: G.I. Joe issue 1
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 14, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mike Raicht | ||||||||||||
| Line-art by | Valentine De Landro | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | John Rauch | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Bobby Curnow | ||||||||||||
| Editorial consultant | John Barber | ||||||||||||
Interrogator once again finds himself trapped in a sub-surface facility and menaced by an all-powerful, supernatural threat. Funny how life works out, huh?
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Buried in an Antarctic ice sheet, a Cobra expeditionary party led by scientists Dr. Llund and Dr. Smith find stairs descending to a bizarre, underground temple. Smith is unnerved by the strange carvings and advocates turning back, but Llund, led there by the Lovecraft journal, is entranced, and hears what sounds like music saying her name. Smith is skeptical of the whole thing, and when Llund takes his pick-axe he assumes that she plans to dig through the ice below... but instead she uses the tool to murder her fellow scientist, his blood pooling out and filling in patterns carved into the floor. When the Cobra guards station above come down to investigate, they find Smith's body and Llund digging into the floor, ordering them to help her free the old ones.
One week later, Cobra's Interrogator listens, unimpressed, to the rantings of Dr. Jacob Mitchell, who is now calling himself "Raptor". Though he survived his trials under the sea thanks to his favorite bird, blood loss and oxygen deprivation drove him to madness, and he now believes that humanity is a plague and that the world should be ruled by the animal kingdom. Assessing Raptor as unfit for duty, Interrogator moves on to the other inmates of Cobra's Snake Pit: Gristle, a pyromaniac who believes he can control fire, and Razor Claw, a berserk warrior subjected to experimental surgeries by Cobra scientists, both of whom are equally unable to serve. His fourth and final subject for assessment is Cesspool, a brilliant chemist who promised the Crimson Twins a chemical weapon but failed to deliver; Interrogator is well aware that Cesspool is feigning insanity to hide from Tomax Paoli's wrath, but offers to make a deal with the inmate: in exchange for the money the scientist still has hidden in offshore bank accounts, Interrogator will declare him unfit for duty and prevent him from having to leave his cell.
In the chemical plant above, Interrogator runs down his findings to the Baroness; while he doesn't see the value in keeping the inmates of the Snake Pit, Cobra's R&D facility and their leader both believe that they can be of use to Cobra. Given their previous encounter with the weird, the Baroness has Interrogator listen in on her meeting with Dr. Llund, who presents her finding: a door of the Elder Ones, said to have whispered to H.P. Lovecraft and formed the genesis for his stories. The Baroness seems unimpressed with it and sees it as a useless trinket, as does Crystal Ball... but once the advisor is ushered out of the room, the Baroness's tune changes: she knows that Crystal Ball was lying about the artifact, and wants whatever power lies within it. Llund admits that she believes the door can help Cobra, but that she needs test subjects, which the Baroness freely offers her; but having had enough of the bizarre for a lifetime, the Baroness leaves before the doctor begins, having Crystal Ball go back to "wherever he came from" and Interrogator stay behind to observe Llund's tests.
24 hours later, Interrogator watches in irritation from the back of a theater filled with Viper recruits, Llund standing robed on a stage before them and speaking in a strange tongue. One of the Vipers stands to make fun of the ceremony, and Llund calls him forwards; and while Interrogator silently laments the ridiculousness of the situation, Llund slits the man's throat, and strange music fills the room. Entranced by the song, the Vipers — including Interrogator's guards — start to speak in a strange voice; and before his eyes they change, their bodies becoming twisted and their mouths filled with pointed teeth. Now possessed by the Elder Gods, Llund has the Vipers pursue Interrogator to find what it is that he "lacks" that allowed him to resist possession; the possessed Cobra troops catch up with him, but he is saved thanks to last-minute intervention from Storm Shadow! While the ninja holds the monstrous Vipers off, Interrogator crawls to the base's elevator, where he is met by Crystal Ball; the mystic explains that Llund has opened the doorway and allowed the Old Ones' song through, allowing the gods to possess those of sound mind who hear it... leading Crystal Ball to bring Interrogator's own sanity into question. With Storm Shadow — whom Crystal Ball has recruited, calling on an old debt — protecting them, the three head to the base's communications array; not to call for help, but to destroy it, preventing the song from reaching the outside world. With the exit tunnels destroyed, Interrogator and the others are thus the only ones who have hope of stopping the Elder Gods... though a few others in the facility remain untransformed. But Interrogator is horrified when he realises who Crystal Ball has selected as reinforcements: the inmates of the base's insane asylum!
The chemical plant above the Snake Pit is devastated by the explosions caused by Crystal Ball to destroy the exit tunnels, leading to an evacuation of the nearby town... something which catches the eye of G.I. Joe's watchdog center, who spot the symbols of Cobra among the wreckage! With the terrorists sighted, Duke arranges a team to head to the plant and investigate... and who should be available but Scarlett and Snake Eyes, ready to deploy?
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Others |
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"It is good to see you again, mother... how is father? Does he know I want to eat his flesh and-"
"Stop it."
- —Cesspool (badly) feigns insanity for Interrogator
"Dr. Llund, I've seen Crystal Ball do some disturbing things. Things I can't describe. Nothing quite as disturbing as him feigning to care for your well-being."
- —The Baroness
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- This issue's placement in continuity is difficult to determine, but it apparently takes place during the "Cobra Civil War" arc — the reading order supplied by G.I. Joe: The IDW Collection doesn't place it before Cobra Civil War, and at the end of "Cobra Command", Snake Eyes goes rogue from the Joes. This does, however, make it very confusing that the Baroness and Dr. Llund both refer to Cobra Commander in the present tense; maybe it's instead set after M.A.S.S. Destruction Part 5 but before Cobra Commander's death?
- Interrogator, the Baroness, and Dr. Mitchell — now "Raptor" — return from the previous Infestation miniseries and refer to its events, Raptor having been driven mad by them.
- Crystal Ball has made several appearances in IDW, primarily in the G.I. Joe: Cobra II miniseries, and the Cobra elements of Cobra Civil War.
- You won't be aware if you're only reading G.I. Joe, but the idea of Lovecraft's writings letting the elder gods get their claws into the multiverse comes from the framing story of Infestation 2... which otherwise has nothing to do with either the Transformers or G.I. Joe tie-ins. Hmm.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- The Cobra troops standing guard at the beginning of the issue are Snow Serpents, using their classic design rather than the redesign they sported when they appeared in the first arc of G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes. Also present are W.O.L.F. snow vehicles.
- The Snake Pit's inmates all originated as toys:
- Chemical plant owner Cesspool comes from the 1991 "Eco-Warriors" range.
- Gristle, though released as part of the "Battle Corps" subline, was originally intended as a "Drug Elimination Force" villain; hence his drug addiction which evidently "fried his mind".
- Razor Claw (well, "Razorclaw") originates in the 2003/2004 "Valor vs Venom" lineup.
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Crystal Ball, the Baroness, Storm Shadow, and a door of the Elder Gods, by Valentine De Landro.
- Cover B: Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, and a lotta tentacles, by Livio Ramondelli.
- Cover RI: Storm Shadow menaced by more tentacles, by Valentine De Landro and Livio Ramondelli.
