Origins issue 2
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 25, 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | March 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Larry Hama | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Mike Hawthorne | ||||||||||||
| Color assist by | Erik Swanson | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Chris Mowry | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Andy Schmidt | ||||||||||||
The Chimera and the fledgling G.I. Joe team both prepare for the battles to come.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
In a motel north of Las Vegas, an army doctor has been flown in to attend to Snake Eyes, and remarks upon the Ranger's curious tattoo. He goes on to explain to Scarlett that the wounded soldier must be kept immobile for the time being or the damage to his face will become irreparable, even as Snake Eyes flashes back to the Chimera blowing up the plastic surgery clinic. The doctor is sent on his way, whilst elsewhere Hawk explains to Duke that the FBI suspect Chimera of obtaining a watch-list of anti-government groups across the country. The general must now go supervise an operation elsewhere, and hands his subordinate a laptop so they can keep in touch via satellite link.
At Arlington, Stalker attends Snake Eyes' burial, the only person there aware that the coffin really holds Connie's body. The only guest for the event is the Ranger's former commanding officer, who is sombre and withholding, but does speak of the skill with a knife that "the snake-man" possessed. In Montana, meanwhile, the Chimera lies in wait at a diner, and when one of the anti-government rebels from the FBI list enters, he takes the man hostage at gunpoint.
Back at the motel, Duke arrives with Snake Eyes' posthumously awarded Silver Star, before he and Scarlett head off again to get dinner for the three of them. On the road in Connie's van, conversation turns to the consequences accepted when signing on the military, and Duke asks Scarlett whether her commitment had been shaken by an incident in Bosnia, where she narrowly escaped capture during an intel-gathering operation.
In a town near the Nevada/Utah border, Hawk briefs another new recruit, Heavy Duty on his mission: dealing with a bank being held hostage by four outlaw tax-resistors. The general orders no shooting, and the giant soldier complies, taking down three of the armed hostiles without firing a single shot. The fourth, however, flees the scene, and Hawk is forced to interrupt a satellite call with Duke and Scarlett to drive himself and Heavy Duty in pursuit.
At a wood cabin in the wilderness, the Chimera confronts Wilson's group of rebels. When the group's ring-leader invites the Chimera to go ahead and shoot Winston, the terrorist instead gets his attention by revealing twenty pounds of C-4 strapped underneath his jacket. With the floor his, the Chimera proceeds to invite the rebels to join him in doing some real damage to Uncle Sam, but is interrupted again by the rebel leader. For that, the man receives a bullet to the skull, and the remaining rebels quickly fall in line.
At the motel, two crooks break into Snake Eyes' room, intending to rob him. One of the men, however, is an ex-Ranger, and on noticing the Silver Star on the bedside table, insists that they leave the wounded soldier be. The two men leave, unaware that Snake Eyes had a knife in his hand, ready to throw. A short while later, Scarlett and Duke arrive back at the room. They find the signs of forced entry, but soon realize that there's little point in questioning the sole witness...
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Others |
|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"Waitaminute! I'm in charge here—"
[BLAM]
"Shall we correct that statement to the past tense...?"
- —The rebel leader falls foul of the Chimera's short temperament and sick burns
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Heavy Duty sure looks a lot like Roadblock, and that's because when this issue was produced, he was intended to be Roadblock, using an alternate name borrowed from another G.I. Joe character at Hasbro's request, for trademark reasons. Later, during G.I. Joe vol. 2, he would get his original name back, without comment being passed on it in-universe. However, even later, in G.I. Joe vol. 3, Heavy Duty was established as a separate character (Lamont Morris, the traditional owner of the codename), who was an early Joe who later helped recruit his cousin Roadblock. This essentially retconned all of Roadblock's appearances under the "Heavy Duty" name into being this separate individual.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- Snake Eyes' tattoo is the traditional symbol of the Arashikage, the ninja clan with which he trained.
Real-life references[edit | edit source]
- Scarlett and the doctor mention the I Ching and Jungian synchronicity.
- The doctor has been flown from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and suggests Scarlett is going to Nellis Air Force Base.
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: The bandaged Snake Eyes, by Andrea DiVito and Chris Sotomayor.
- Cover B: Scarlett in front of the letter I, by Tom Feister. Part of a series of covers spelling "GI JOE".
- Cover RI: Virgin version of Cover A.
