Rattler (issue)
| This article is about the G.I. Joe: Cobra issue. For the Cobra Ground Attack Jet, see Rattler (vehicle). |
| |||||||||||||
 It's probably one of the two people who aren't actually in this comic. | |||||||||||||
| "Rattler" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | January 19, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | January 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mike Costa & Christos Gage | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Antonio Fuso | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Peter Dawes | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Andy Schmidt | ||||||||||||
Xamot's power play ends with a bang.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
As they head towards a meeting of Cobra High Command, Xamot urges his brother to relax. Tomax, however, feels very little reason to, especially since Xamot's erratic behavior seems to be showing no signs of stopping. Xamot thinks Tomax could learn a thing or two from his new attitude, though he obviously finds this to be laughable as well. Xamot's behavior has destroyed any trust he may have built up with his fellow Cobras. To that point, when the Paolis finally arrive at the meeting, neither Xamot's fingerprints or ID card will let him in the door. As he gets in without a problem, Tomax warns Xamot to get himself together before he can no longer protect him.
Since he's apparently been uninvited to the meeting, Xamot wanders the halls of Section Twenty and eventually comes across Big Boa's dojo, where he's demonstrating some of his moves on a hapless trainee in front of Chuckles. Xamot comments on his fellow High Command member apparently being uninvited as well, though Chuckles tells Xamot he's only skipping the meeting because he didn't want to see him. Xamot then makes a crack about how he must be disliked because he forced all the other members of High Command to shoot their beloveds, but then remembers he only did so to Chuckles. As he continues to poke and prod by saying he didn't even actually force Chuckles to shoot Jinx, Chuckles gives in and attacks Xamot, though the two are quickly broken up by Big Boa. After kicking Xamot out, Big Boa chastises Chuckles and tells him he needs to be more patient and trust that Cobra Commander is going to give him the chance to take the Paolis out when the time is right. Unbeknownst to either men, Xamot managed to swipe Chuckles' ID card off him during their fight. Meanwhile, a Viper interrupts the meeting of High Command to inform the Commander of the altercation between Xamot and Chuckles. As he and Tomax exchange glances, the Commander orders that Chuckles be brought to him while Xamot remains confined to his quarters.
After the meeting concludes, Tomax pays his brother a visit and warns the Viper guarding him to let the two of them have some privacy. As Tomax begins yelling at Xamot, not even sure where he is yet, he spots a dummy head sitting on a table. A dummy head wearing a wig of a hairstyle that looks similar to his... As he inspects the head, Xamot comes up from behind wearing the same kind of white suit his brother is wearing and clubs Tomax in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. As he chains Tomax up and apologizes to him for making things be this way, Xamot dons the wig and uses some makeup to cover up his scar before strolling out of his bedroom. He then gets in contact with the Cobra chef he's been seeing and tells her to put the plan they've been discussing into action. After ordering a Crimson Guard lieutenant to mobilize his men and disable the surveillance camera in the armory on level three, Xamot heads for said armory and uses Chuckles' ID card to get in before gunning down all the Vipers inside. "Tomax" then runs out of the armory in a panic and informs a Viper that Chuckles has betrayed them and is going on a rampage throughout the facility. He then orders every Viper, including those guarding the Commander, to sweep the facility looking for Chuckles.
Shedding his disguise, Xamot gets back in touch with his Crimson Guard lieutenant and orders him to start several fires throughout the facility before starting to evacuate people from the base with as few Guardsmen as possible in effort to create maximum confusion and chaos. Since his chef has poisoned Cobra High Command, he orders Guards to get them treatment while also keeping everybody away from his quarters. Again using Chuckles' card to get in, Xamot pays a visit to Cobra Commander's office and finds him sitting there calmly, flanked by two Crimson Guards. Xamot begins going off about how Chuckles has betrayed them, having poisoned High Command, killed an entire Viper unit, and now rampaging throughout the base. Cobra Commander, however, finds this hard to believe. When all is said and done though, Xamot believes High Command will see things differently. After all, Cobra Commander was killed by Chuckles before Xamot managed to kill him in revenge. Then, acting under orders from Xamot, the Crimson Guard restored order to Section Twenty.
Though one of the Guards takes aim at him, Cobra Commander remains calm and dismisses Xamot's ridiculous plan. It hinged on all of High Command, including Chuckles, being incapacitated by poison in their lunch. However, Xamot missed one important detail. Chuckles doesn't eat lunch with the rest of High Command! Chuckles then reveals himself as one of the two Crimson Guards and takes the rifle away from the other. Ridiculing Xamot, Cobra Commander informs Chuckles the moment he's been waiting for is here at last. He has a gun in his hand and his enemy is right there in front of him. As Cobra Commander gives the order, Chuckles takes aim...
...and plainly states "Yo Joe." before shooting Cobra Commander in the head.
As the Commander's corpse hits the ground, Chuckles takes aim at Xamot but discovers his rifle only had one bullet inside. He's then tackled by the other Guard while Xamot takes off running. As he struggles against the Guard, eventually snapping his neck, Chuckles can only think about how it probably would've been smarter to start with Xamot and vows to not make anymore mistakes like that. So far the only casualties are Cobra Commander and that Guard, but by the time Chuckles is done, every single soul in Section Twenty is going to be dead...
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italic text appear only in flashback or in photos.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Cobra |
|---|
|
Quotes[edit | edit source]
"Listen. The Commander has his eye on you. If he says you're going to get a shot, you will."
- -Big Boa doesn't know how right he is.
"Chuckles. As promised, your enemy is before you. Kill him."
"Sure thing. (He raises his rifle) Yo Joe."
"What?"
- -Cobra Commander's famous last words.
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Xamot provokes Chuckles by bringing up how he manipulated him into killing his lover Jinx, which, of course, happened in issue #3 of the original Cobra miniseries.
Real-world references[edit | edit source]
- As he roams the halls of Section Twenty, Xamot hums to himself The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo.
Covers (2)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: One shall surely die in an homage to John Byrne's cover for Alpha Flight #12, by Antonio Fuso.
- Cover RI: Chuckles and Xamot face off, by Zach Howard and Nelson Daniel
