Snakes and Tigers, Part 3
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| "Snakes and Tigers, Part 3" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 19, 2013 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | June 2013 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mike Costa | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Antonio Fuso | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Emilio Lecce | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Arianna Florean | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Editorial consultant | John Barber | ||||||||||||
Flint hires the Night Creepers to break into G.I. Joe's Pentagon facility, but will the tiger team smell a rat?
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Clockspring sits in silence, miserably watching surveillance footage on his computer... and is startled when Tomax Paoli speaks up from behind him, joking about the "dirty movies" that he's watching. Embarrassed and ashamed, Clockspring switches off his computer screen, and Tomax decides to give him some "advice"; though Clockspring sees Chameleon as an injured woman in need of help, Paoli instead paints a picture of her as a selfish, cruel manipulator who appears however is needed to appeal to the person looking at her. Though he claims that Chameleon will allow others to be hurt so that she survives, he advises Clockspring to not let her hurt him any more...
Duke, G.I. Joe's commander, is unwilling to approve Flint's plan. The idea of hiring the Night Creepers to break into the G.I. Joe facility in the Pentagon to lure them out is so insanely dangerous that there's no way he can allow it to happen... which is a pity, because it already has happened. Flint hired the tiger team six weeks before, and they have already made their official break-in, getting in and out without a trace; Flint and Duke are scheduled to speak to them in three hours time. Shocked that they managed to get in and out and that he had no idea, Duke reluctantly attends the meeting, where a representative of Bezalel International outlines the strategy they used to breach, including replicating the clearance of a low-level technician and numbing pressure-sensitive plates using an aerosolized compound before breaking in through an underwater bulkhead. As he escorts the representative to his car, Flint asks if he could sit down with the men who executed the break-in, but — offering a friendly handshake — the other man explains that that would be against Bezalel policy. Flint takes the man's hand, only for his eyes to widen as he is stabbed with a poisoned spike on a ring, allowing the man to bundle him into the car.
Though Ronin is impatient (and, though she hides it, scared) over waiting for the Night Creepers to break into the Pentagon, Chameleon tells her to wait for Flint, unaware that their unit's leader is currently tied up in a dark room under the watchful eye of Aleph, the leader of the Night Creepers who met with him and Duke at the Pentagon. Though still woozy, Flint surmises that the Night Creepers are going to strike the very same day; and while Flint won't tell them anything, Aleph doesn't care if the Joes spring their trap, knowing that the Night Creepers have their own share of tricks. Hours later, the sun having set, Chameleon determines that something's wrong; radioing Flint, she finds that his communicator is turned off, and realises that the Night Creepers must be making their move. Having a reluctant Lady Jaye and Ronin move out to counter whatever the Night Creepers are planning, Chameleon sets up communications to coordinate the team, but has the nagging feeling that she's forgotten something... something like the Night Creepers' stolen nuclear weapon!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Night Creepers | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"It must have been a fascinating risk-analysis. Hire us through a cut-out and risk not presenting a tempting enough target... or hire us directly and gamble that we wouldn't smell a trap. A roll of the dice... and it came up snake-eyes."
"...Better hope it doesn't come up "Snake Eyes". That would be a serious problem for you guys..."
- —Aleph and Flint
"Ronin, you are the finest field agent I have ever seen, in either Cobra or the Joes. And Lady Jaye... I've never met a braver woman than you."
(Lady Jaye silently blows her bubblegum.)
""Bravery". I'll take it. Let's go."
- —Chameleon and Lady Jaye
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Tomax isn't entirely wrong with his analysis of Chameleon; though she obviously isn't trying to manipulate Flint or Clockspring, she did pick the codename "Chameleon" in Cobra Special #2 thanks to her skill in putting up fronts to be whatever she needs to be.
- Hey, it's Duke! The G.I. Joe commander, promoted to that position in G.I. Joe vol. 2 #12, was the one who tasked Flint with running the intelligence unit back in Cobra vol. 2 #13. It seems a little odd that he's here, though; since the start of G.I. Joe vol. 3, he's mostly been operating as the leader of the Joes' public field team, with General Joe Colton having more of an overview command role.
- Flint mentions Duke making G.I. Joe into media celebrities, referring to them "coming out of the shadows" in G.I. Joe vol. 3 #1, and to "having Blackhawk Down on the streets of Ohio", referring to the events of the first arc of that series.
- When Aleph notes that G.I. Joe's metaphorical roll of the dice came up snake eyes, Flint jokes that the Night Creepers had better hope they don't come up "Snake Eyes".
Errors[edit | edit source]
- As with the previous issue, the Night Creepers' nuke is marked with a biohazard symbol.
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: The women of The Cobra Files, by Michael Lark.
- Cover B: Flint vs the Night Creepers, by Antonio Fuso.
- Cover RI: What Cobra Industries can do for you, by Tom Whalen.
