Snake Eyes issue 7
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | November 16, 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | November 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Line-art by | Casey Maloney | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Juan Castro | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Simon Gough and Romulo Fajardo, Jr. | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber and Tom Waltz | ||||||||||||
| Assistant editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
Snake Eyes' team reaches the pharmaceutical facility in Albania, but their pursuit of a cure encounters difficult complications..
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Northwest of Kukes on the Albanian frontier, Snake Eyes and Duke sneak through the forest and across the border. Taking a moment to get his bearings after the two are startled by a wild boar, Duke feels the virus he's infected with taking its toll on him, and as Snake Eyes administers another shot of Doc's medicinal cocktail to him, Duke asks his fellow G.I. Joe to promise to shut him down if he goes rogue — but as ever, the ninja silently continues on into the forest, something Duke can only hope is an affirmative response. Meanwhile, their teammates Kwinn and Lighthorse take their van through the customs check at the border, but by claiming to be taking their dead uncle to Pogradec (with the help of a useful Albanian phrase pre-taught to Lighthorse), the two make it through with their "uncle" — actually the captive Rodrigo Vargas, whose unconscious, environmentally-bagged body is being transported in a coffin — to the other side, where they reunite with Snake Eyes and Duke.
Watching the world's response to the crisis and spread of Orphiophagus retrovirus Z in Zimbabwe, the Prime Consul of the Cobra Council observes that the widespread situation that Vargas has created moves him forward in the competition to become the next Cobra Commander. One of his fellow members advises caution, however; though the impression he has caused is "intriguing", they do not yet know what his next move will be. Indeed, Vargas is in little position to make further moves in the contest, as at that moment he is being forced to demand access to his laboratory over the protests of a security guard, who cites Cobra protocols. Vargas's forcefulness gets them through, however, and the limousine carrying the doctor and the Joe team escorting him makes its way into the Ray-Pharm laboratory. While the Joes head up in the facility's elevator, Kwinn takes his leave, only having taken the three this far because he owned Snake Eyes for saving his life; with that done, the team and their prisoner make their way to the main lab on level six of the building. They are spotted and overheard by the security team, however, who send troops to pursue them, but some clever trickery from Snake Eyes leads allows him to get the drop on them with a pair of grenades. With the Joes sealed into the lab, the guards declare it a priority Cobra breach, and call for backup...
Outside, Kwinn tries to weasel his way out of the facility, now on lockdown, but ends up in direct conflict with a team of Vipers. In the lab, Duke demands the cure from Dr. Vargas, who reveals the truth: there never was a cure, and the entire mission to Algeria has been a snipe hunt intended to delay the Joes killing him. A furious Duke goes to shoot the doctor, but Snake Eyes stops him, as Lighthorse has an alternative idea: if the Madness Bug was designed in this lab, can't they create a cure for it? The head scientist thinks it's possible, but they'd need samples from a victim in the early stages... something that Duke points out that they have, in the form of Vargas. As the struggling doctor is pulled into a testing chamber to be experimented on, Lighthorse runs security, having the scientists unleash the acid bath that forms part of their quarantine measures on the Cobra troops outside. The attackers retreat, and one of them reports to the Prime Consul, who gives them their orders: form a perimeter and wait for the Toxo-Vipers to arrive. Inside, a miserable Duke gets sick of waiting around, and takes Snake Eyes out of the lab to take the fight to their attackers — but unknown to him, the hazard-suited Toxo-Vipers have arrived, and are marching on the facility...
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"[Why is your cousin so nervous?]"
"[I will ask him, my friend. Tell them why you are nervous, Jetmir.]"
"[I am frightened of ghosts. I am like a little girl.]"
- —The Albanian border guard, Kwinn and Lighthorse, during the border crossing
"What did you ask me, Kwinn?"
"I asked why you were nervous."
"And what did I answer?"
"You told them to go to hell."
"Cool."
- —Lighthorse and Kwinn, after the border crossing
"Remember your promise, Snake Eyes. When it hits the fan..."
"..."
"That's what I thought you'd say."
- —Duke and Snake Eyes
"I appreciate the company. But one of us has to make it out of here. We both die and Scarlett will never forgive us."
- —Duke
Notes[edit | edit source]
G.I. Joe references[edit | edit source]
- Among the Vipers and other soldiers caught in the acid bath is an Imp, a Cobra missile transport from the ARAH toyline.
- The neon-colored Cobra troopers attacking the lab at the issue's end are Toxo-Vipers, taken directly from their 1988 toyline design.
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Snake Eyes is cornered amongst Cobra emblem-shaped shadows, by Robert Atkins and Simon Gough.
- Cover B: Snake Eyes stands with a Cobra emblem-shaped pool of blood dripping from his sword, by Agustin Padilla and Simon Gough.
- Cover RI: Snake Eyes stands before an office building lit up like the Arashikage emblem, by Trevor Hutchinson; part of a month of Hutchinson RI covers, along with G.I. Joe #7 and Cobra #7.
