The Lost Boy
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 A Snake Eyes comic where Snake Eyes only appears on one page. | |||||||||||||
| "Snake Eyes, Agent of Cobra Part Three: The Lost Boy" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 25, 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | March 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mike Costa | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Paolo Villanelli | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Joana Lafuente | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Neil Uyetake | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
Billy Kessler-Latta's life in hiding is ended when an act of heroism draws unwanted attention.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
For Billy Kessler-Latta, life in Thailand hasn't been too bad. The food is good, the people are friendly, and it feels good to be able to help people. The only problem is that he is being hunted by the most dangerous people on Earth... and because of that, his protector Ronin doesn't want him speaking to anyone. Billy is bored out of his skull, unable to leave their treetop dwelling, but Ronin's job is to keep him safe, not entertained — and as long as he isn't reckless, he's safe where he is.
Years ago, in Vienna, the young Billy returns home after searching for his father at the city's Rathaus, but his mother explains that his father doesn't work there; he does different important work — with the government, of course. After the boy and his mother enter their home, a band of armed Vipers bursts from the back of a nearby van and blows their way into the house; wielding a shotgun, Billy's angry mother does her best to fend them off, but is shot down while shouting a warning to her son. The Vipers intend to kill Billy, too, but are stymied when a flashbang detonates; and moments later, a group of Crimson Guard burst into the room, taking down the attackers! The last Viper is silenced by the Guard's leader... a man who, despite the mask of Cobra Commander that he wears, Billy recognises as his father. Comforting the boy, the Commander promises to send him somewhere safe, where he will not be touched by Cobra again.
As Ronin changes after a waterfall shower, Billy admits to himself that he is in love with Ronin... not that she acknowledges it, though he's sure he knows. His rest is interrupted when a Thai boy comes up, shouting for his help; Billy assumes he's after more chocolate, but the boy drags him to the river, where a pair of tourists have been thrown out of their raft by the violent waters. Cursing his own stupidity, Billy ties a line around a tree and swims out to the tourists with it — but though he manages to get hold of them, a wall of water with a fallen tree floating inside comes rushing towards him...
Erika Le Tene's facial recognition algorithms have found something: a viral video uploaded by Thai tourists, which has an eighty-nine percent match to the man that Snake Eyes is looking for. As Erika wonders aloud how they are going to make their way to Thailand, she laments the fact that she is working for "these freaks" again.
Billy awakens in a hospital bed, where a doctor informs him that the tourists were saved, but that he has suffered a broken leg, noting that there is some foreign matter — likely a pin — in there from a previous break. Waving off Ronin's concern, Billy has her go and get him snacks from a vending machine, but as she does so, she notices a janitor entering Billy's room... and brandishing a syringe! Though she stops him from making his attack, the man fights back until she manages to kill him with Billy's IV needle; and as Ronin and Billy escape, having been found out, Arashikage ninja descend on the hospital...
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italics appear only in flashback. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Cobra | Arashikage | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"You know, the whole reason we came here is because you said Thailand would be a safe place to actually set down roots after years of moving around. "Largely Buddhist country where people keep to themselves and aren't interested in asking questions." Remember that?"
"You're saying you're bored. So I hacked into the live nanny-cam of that puppy daycare place for nothing?"
"First of all, I told you I'd spend the five dollars for the subscription."
- —Billy Kessler-Latta and Ronin
"Who are all these men?"
"These men are with me now, son. But you'll never have to see them again. You'll never be touched by any of this again, don't worry. I'm sending you away, Billy. I'm sending you somewhere safe."
- —The young Billy and Cobra Commander
"Hey, how do you get arond, anyway? No name. No passport. No face. How do you even communicate? Do you text? I'm always getting in touch with you. I have no idea if you're even there right now."
- —Erika Le Tene asks questions
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Billy is revealed to have grown up in Vienna. He was established to not be an American citizen back in The Cobra Files #2.
- Though it isn't made explicit, it appears that Billy's father has only just become Cobra Commander in the flashback, and that the Vipers are protesting his appointment; the last remaining Viper says "High Command will never —" before being cut off, and the Commander says that the Crimson Guard are "with me now". That doesn't really jibe with Cobra vol. 2 #12, though; that issue claimed that the late Commander had been re-elected five times in a ceremony once every seven years, which would make Billy around 50 years old at the youngest!
Real life references[edit | edit source]
- Billy apparently spends most of his time watching "that horrible British sci-fi crap" Blake's 7.
Covers (2)[edit | edit source]
- Regular cover: Snake Eyes caught in a flood, by Paolo Villainelli and Joana Lafuente.
- Subscription cover: Snake Eyes swims with the Eels, by Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajardo Jr..
