G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #181

Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • Herb Trimpe, Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema (c)

G.I. Joe’s mission at a Comic Convention comes to a close, only to reveal a new, intriguing enemy that may share a history with the Arashikage clan. Meanwhile, Darklon remains a prisoner of the Joes… until an attempt to transfer him from the Pit goes horribly awry! What is the Machiavellian arms-dealer’s nefarious plot and how is Destro involved in it? Secrets are unveiled in this pulse-pounding issue of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:
Larry Hama variant sketch cover!

Ooh, that's a dandy Frenz/Buscema cover.

Yes, it is! I must also add that I am very much enjoying ARAH...hope the good stories keep up!

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TheDoctor: "Restricted access, no unauthorized personnel." Hmmm... [opens lock with sonic screwdriver]
Amy: That's breaking and entering!
TheDoctor: What did I break? Sonic-ing and entering,totally different
DoctorWho-The Hungry Earth

I like, too, that SL Gallant has gone on quite a long time (historically so) as the regular ARAH artist.

He's gotta be ranking up there with guys like Herb Trimpe, Rod Whigham and Ron Wagner who've all had lengthy runs (over issues & years) on JOE.

Kudos, SL, and let this run continue!

out August 8

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䷾ scryptic
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"The only way to bear the snakes is to become one." - Cobra Commander, Cobra Reborn

Now that Destro is no longer with Cobra, I think Darklon could be the Cobra Weapon Supplier. What do you think?

Preview:

http://issuu.com/idwpublishing/docs/gij ... 81-preview

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䷾ scryptic
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"The only way to bear the snakes is to become one." - Cobra Commander, Cobra Reborn

I'm sorry, but I STILL just love it when Larry manages to get the "obscure" Joes in on the action when he can. (Muskrat and Ambush! And Tollbooth!)

For over 20 years, it's been one of my favorite parts of JOE comics.



Considering the last page revelation regarding this possibility, I'd say............either "no" or "CC will find a way to weasel himself into the deal."

Tollbooth?!? Really? That's like - what? - his second appearance in the entire series???
Definitely glad to see him, though. He's like the Joes' original engineer, and you know he's the fellah putting everything together in the background...

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"The first rule about Punisher Club:
nobody talks about Punisher Club..."

Liked the issue, not just because of the downplay of the Blue Ninjas into a more ancillary element. But it had a lot going for it.

For instance; I was pretty sure the character Larry was going to import was Storm Shadow's aunt, the Goblin Granny. Nope! Pleasantly surprised that it was Pale Peony instead. Cool, cool. A mercenary who has later links to some of my favorite characters in the sort of middle-ground of covert operations ... Zartan, the Night Creepers, Crystal Ball.

I was pleased to see Outback, Ambush and Muskrat because it looks like we'll get more of them next issue, and they represent great additions to some of the classic line-ups from Larry's previous "eras". Outback factored in tons during the Gulag era, of course ... Muskrat featured heavily after he debuted in I think "Rolling Thunder" as a new post-Cobra Civil War recruit, eventually being in Special Missions a ton (so basically, ran parallel to Outback's appearances) and of course Ambush cropped up during Benzheen and had quite a few appearances alongside Hawk in Borovia/Silent Castle skirmishes. So they're a cool team, and I'll be excited to have them get a two-part with as exciting a character as Darklon.

Darklon's reputation isn't quite as cool as Voltar, because Voltar before being unceremoniously executed actually killed the Oktober Guard, but Darklon has been a curiosity since Destro took over Cobra, and it's lovely to finally have him fleshed out in a major way. Cybernetic implants?! Double-dealing? Clearly a major relationship to the Blue Ninjas as well as recruiting people that Cobra Commander has recently burnt bridges with (Zarana and Road Pig).

Oh and Zarana's back! Last seen being fired as Cobra Commander's Intelligence Officer after the Millville fiasco.

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2013, NEW SPRITES!

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"The first rule about Punisher Club:
nobody talks about Punisher Club..."

Wow, I don't remember "zombified" Zartan at all. Details?

As for their last appearance in the Marvel run, I figured the Dreadnoks were just sent off into the sunset without any real leadership........they just drove off together, with Zarana cheering on, to resume the chaos they'd always been known for.

You know: Destro, Zartan, Baroness, Storm Shadow and Billy were all forced to rejoin Cobra after they were hypnotized / placed into the Brainwave Scanner at the very end of the Marvel run. This plot was left hanging after the cancellation and wasn't resolved until DDP picked the title back up in 2001 and also Hama had to address it when he rebooted the current series.

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"The first rule about Punisher Club:
nobody talks about Punisher Club..."

Oh, hypnotized Zartan......gotcha.

For some reason I thought he was half-dead or something (although when the DDP run began, he was not well -- wait, what was the explanation for that?)

Finally read it... and - yes! - finally received an answer as to why Darklon was allowed to retain his helmet. It's something I suspected, the European Missions pretty much ran the same explanation with Destro after Flint captured him (and DDP did the same with "Destro Jr.", i.e., Alexander). Still, it's nice to have confirmation. Now, if Hama can just explain why Storm Shadow was allowed to keep his ninja mask on, when he was first captured way back in #25! Heck, he was a former U.S. soldier, for Pete's sake! If the Joes had removed his mask, they could have i.d.ed him right quick! ('Course, that was back in the medieval '80s!)

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"The first rule about Punisher Club:
nobody talks about Punisher Club..."