Target: Snake Eyes Part 1
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| "Target: Snake Eyes Part 1" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | October 10, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | October 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Chuck Dixon | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Will Rosado | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Romulo Fajardo, Jr. | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Neil Uyetake | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber and Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
While G.I. Joe aim to track down Snake Eyes, the Arashikage take the treasures of Cobra for themselves.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Snake Eyes and the Arashikage make a daring daylight raid on the corporate headquarters of Vendri, in Kuala Lumpur, killing every one of the corrupt executives responsible for laundering money for Cobra — but, unusually for the Arashikage clan, causing no collateral damage and leaving witnesses alive. As the ninja leave, Snake Eyes takes a flash drive from around the neck of one of the executives; but G.I. Joe are unaware of this, and are left unsure of the Arashikage's mission objective. As Scarlett runs down for the Joes, the attack on Vendri is just the latest battle in the war between Cobra and their former Arashikage allies, but Snake Eyes adds a new angle to the war, and is a serious problem for the Joes; even though the Arashikage and Cobra are now focusing on each other rather than on G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes knows more of the team's secrets than anyone else alive, and if he changes focus he could bring the Joes down with ease. Mainframe is wary about the idea of declaring war on Snake Eyes, pointing out that the ninja has gone AWOL from G.I. Joe before, but always for good reasons — in fact, he's already staked his life on Snake Eyes' loyalty. Instead, he proposes, they find him and bring him in without killing him... but the others only laugh at the idea that Snake Eyes could ever be captured. Later, Scarlett admits to being surprised that Mainframe is the one going to bat for Snake Eyes, but thinks that it shows something about Mainframe that she could love.
Cobra Commander is furious with Serpentor, who has failed to bring down the Arashikage. The Coil's leader makes excuses, explaining that the multifaceted nature of the clan makes it hard to purge them all, but promises to bring the Commander a "pile of heads" with the help of his cult's prisoner, the Soft Master. As the Commander hangs up the call, branding Serpentor a "fool", the Baroness makes a suggestion to him: Cobra has no permanent base of operations, and is limited to being guests of friendly nations, a situation that will cause them to be vulnerable. Cobra Commander assumes that she is suggesting they conquer a new homeland for Cobra, but in actuality, she is suggesting that they buy one! Serpentor, meanwhile, continues to try to interrogate the Soft Master, but the old man tells him nothing, only claiming that it serves him to remain as the Soft Master's captive, before going to sleep where he sits. And outside, Tomo climbs through the mountains towards the Coil's sanctuary...
Bildocker, through a long chain of deals, has secured the plans for the Arashikage's headquarters, Kogo Tower, from when it was built in 1985. Going over the plans, Tripwire details a hypothetical attack plan using an electromagnetic pulse to take out their power, followed by ground and rooftop attack teams in a pincer manouver... unaware that, at that moment, the Coil's soldiers are carrying out that exact plan. But it doesn't go as expected, as when the ground assault team closes in on the Arashikage command center, all they find is a pile of explosives — one that levels the building and kills every Coil soldier within! Elsewhere, Storm Shadow laments the loss of the tower — helpfully insured against acts of terrorism — but looks forward to exploiting Cobra's weaknesses and sealing their treasures; the Vendri flash drive, stolen by Snake Eyes, is full of encryption keys that will lead the clan to the vaults where Cobra has hidden away their riches.
The furious Serpentor brands the Soft Master a liar and deciever for telling him of the Arashikage's secret lair, which turned out to be a trap in which many of the Coil's best soldiers were lost; the old man had told Serpentor that he held no loyalty to the clan and only wanted revenge on Snake Eyes, but his information has only brought ruin to the Coil. The Soft Master has little concern for Serpentor's anger, though, as his time as a prisoner grows short... for Tomo waits on the roof above them, ready to rescue his master.
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italics appear only as video or images. (Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| G.I. Joe | Cobra | Arashikage | Others |
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Quotes[edit | edit source]
"Remember what Napoleon said, Scarlett. Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake."
"Thanks for that, Duke. But he had another maxim. You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. Snake Eyes knows our art of war. He probably knows more of the Joes' secrets than anyone else alive."
- —Duke and Scarlett
Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- Mainframe has risked his life on Snake Eyes being a good guy before; after Mainframe went AWOL to track down Cobra, Snake Eyes — who had also struck out on his own — tracked him down for his help.
Covers (2)[edit | edit source]
- Cover A: Scarlett, Duke, Stalker and Beach Head take aim at Snake Eyes, by Kenneth Loh and Joana Lafuente.
- Cover RI: "Version 1" Snake Eyes, by Robert Atkins and Simon Gough.
