Snake Eyes issue 4
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | August 24, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | August 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Line-art by | Robert Atkins | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Juan Castro | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Simon Gough | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Tom Waltz | ||||||||||||
| Assistant editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
It's a battle for survival as Snake Eyes takes on Slice and Dice!
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
In a frozen arena in the mountain bunker of Rajahistan, the G.I. Joe ninja Snake Eyes fights for his life against the Cobra warriors Slice and Dice, with aspiring Cobra Commander Vikrim Khallikhan watching all the while. The "Raja" does not believe that Snake Eyes has any chance of surviving, the fight, and as it goes on, he waxes lyrical over Snake Eyes' skill in combat, his regret in not having Snake Eyes as an ally, and the ninja's worthiness as an opponent. He also takes delight in the fact that, once Snake Eyes is dead, he will send Slice and Dice to kill Snake Eyes' beloved Scarlett; however, he has underestimated the ninja, who — taking advantage of the most defensible position in the room — uses Dice's own chain sickle to pull him off his feet and into the freezing water that runs through the arena!
Over Alpine's weak protests, Iceberg has come up with a plan to escape the pursuing Cobra troopers: strapping his injured fellow Joe to his back, he's going to ski down Xixabangma! Despite his efforts, though, the Cobras and their Flight Pods are close behind; but fortunately, the two Joes have a grenade launcher with them, which Alpine uses to attack and dissuade their pursuers. While he is unable to hit many of the Pods directly, his use of the grenade launcher triggers an avalanche which takes them out, Iceberg's skiing skills allowing them to escape at the last minute... but while Iceberg celebrates their victory, Alpine isn't answering...
Horrified at his brother-in-arms' fall into the water, Slice grabs Dice's chain sickle as soon as it emerges from the river, hauling it back out... but instead of Dice, all that remains on the end of it is a severed forearm. In shock, Slice does not have time to react before he is cut down by the surviving Snake Eyes. Khallikhan is driven into a rage by the ninja's killing of his two greatest warriors, promising to bring the full might of Rajahistan down on him, but he himself is interrupted by Agent Helix, who has returned to rescue Snake Eyes. Cutting the wannabe Commander down with an assault rifle, Helix tells Snake Eyes to meet her back at the base's entrance hangar. Five minutes later, the Black Sky One helicopter arrives at Rajahistan, requesting clearance for landing, but is quickly confused by how the base is not following protocol in giving call signs and counter signs... which is because Snake Eyes and Helix have taken control of the facility, and are now hijacking the helicopter as their ride out of there!
On the mountainside, a desperate Iceberg does his best to revive Alpine... and succeeds! Though injured, Alpine isn't dead yet, and moments later the two are given a route off the mountain by Helix and Snake Eyes, who land the helicopter to pick them up. Some time later, Scarlett — now situated at Fort Baxter — is put in touch with Snake Eyes' team, who have landed on the "Stennis", by Mainframe. After telling him how glad that she is he's okay, she gives him a new mission: she needs him to go to Ramstein to get leads on the bio-weapon that Duke has been infected with, before trying to find a cure... or at least make sure they can't hurt anyone else. As Snake Eyes signs off, though, Scarlett covers her face in regret and awareness of how he could have died.
And deep within Xixabangma, Dice — having survived having his arm cut off by Snake Eyes — surfaces from beneath the water. Falling from a waterfall, he crawls from the pool he has fallen into to discover an elaborately-dressed skeleton. Examining the body's sword, he discovers that it belongs to Emperor Fatian Qiyun Shengwu — better known as Genghis Khan!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italics are shown only in flashbacks. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra |
|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"You have won, but it is a fleeting victory, ninja! I will have the entire force of Rajahistan down on you! You will die in a storm of bullets! And die knowing that your beloved will share your fate within days!"
"Anyone ever tell you..."
"Eh?"
"...You talk too much?"
- -Khallikhan is interrupted by Helix
"Well, you guys were easy to find. Left a trail of dead Vipers behind you."
- -Helix comments on Iceberg and Alpine's trail-marking skills
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- The Joes have moved into Fort Baxter following the destruction of the Pit in G.I. Joe vol. 2 #3. Mainframe's crush on Scarlett, alluded to when he glances back at her, is an ongoing subplot dating back to issue 1 of that series.
- Duke was infected by the bio-engineered Cobra virus in G.I. Joe vol. 2 #4.
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- The profile of Scarlett that Khallikhan looks at is taken entirely from her original toy's filecard, from the biography to the serial number.
Real life references[edit | edit source]
- The "Stennis" that Snake Eyes' team ends up on is the USS John C. Stennis, a real-world aircraft carrier. However, see "Errors", below.
- Snake Eyes refers to Khallikhan as being 86'd.
Errors[edit | edit source]
- The John C. Stennis is shown marked with a 99, when it should have a 74 (from its alphanumeric designation, CVN-74).
Covers (2)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Snake Eyes just shot you 'cuz he's a badass, by Robert Atkins and Simon Gough.
- Cover B: Snake Eyes deflects Slice's guan dao and Dice's kusarigama, by Augustin Padilla and Simon Gough.
