 Hello everybody, hooded Cobra Commander 7A. Here is time for another G.I. Joe comic book review. We're following up from the last month's review of issue number 21, the famous Silent Issue, perhaps the most famous issue in the entire G.I. Joe Marvel comic series. Issue number 22 has a lot to live up to. Is it possible for issue number 22 to reach the heights of issue number 21? Well, no, it's not possible. Issue number 22 is not as famous and iconic as issue number 21, but it could still be good. Going back to issue number 19 for the recap, Cobra attacked G.I. Joe's headquarters, the pit, but G.I. Joe managed to trick Cobra into thinking they had destroyed the headquarters when in fact most of the headquarters was underground. Four supporting characters died. General Flag, Quinn, Dr. Venom, and Scarface. Major Blood escaped with the injured Baroness. That was followed up with issue number 20, which was a standalone story and didn't really have anything to do with the broader storyline, so we skipped that one. Issue number 21 saw the introduction of a new character, the ninja, Storm Shadow. He kidnapped Scarlet and took her to the Silent Castle. Snake Eyes infiltrated the castle to rescue Scarlet, but Scarlet, being as resourceful as she is, made good her own escape. She protected Snake Eyes from Storm Shadow's sword and they flew away together. After a two-issue break, we finally get back to the main G.I. Joe storyline as we left it in issue number 19. On the cover of issue number 22, we see Destro holding a model of the Cobra Rattler jet and he is knocking over chess pieces. The chess pieces are G.I. Joe characters and there is a flag-draped coffin. Destro's chess board featuring G.I. Joe and Cobra pieces was introduced in issue number 21. The cover is symbolic. It does sort of represent what happens in the issue. I have to point out the Cobra Rattler on the cover looks a lot more like the toy than it does in the interior pages. On the opening splash page, we see G.I. Joe's vamp driving alongside a bus filled with Chaplin's assistance. They are entering the U.S. Army base Fort Wadsworth. Fort Wadsworth is the site of G.I. Joe's secret headquarters and it was the site of the big battle in issue number 19. We have a title like Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust. The title is a paraphrase of a line from Symboline, a play by Shakespeare. It's from a song in the play that is about death and that is appropriate for this issue. Fear no more the heat of the sun nor the furious winter's rages. Thou thy worldly task has done, home art gone and taken thy wages. Golden lads and girls all must, as Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust. The creative team is Larry Hama Script, Mike Vosberg Breakdowns and John Dagestino finishes. The Chaplin's assistance notice the motor pool is gone and there's nothing left but a hole in the ground. Clutch makes the excuse that the boiler exploded. Clutch and Breaker drive up to the ruins of the pit where Hawk and Scarlet are going over blueprints. Clutch and Scarlet exchange some banter which I guess is a bit of a character moment for them. They do reference Scarlet disappearing for a while and then coming back. That's a reference to the events in the previous issue. Hawk says they're not just going to restore the pit, they are going to build it better, stronger, faster. I have a couple problems with this. If you recall the events of issue number 19, the pit was not destroyed. The whole idea was to allow Cobra to destroy the prefab base on the surface and they would think that they destroyed the pit but the pit would be intact and that's exactly what they did. Cobra destroyed the headquarters command center on the surface and the rest of the pit was fine. Now it looks like there is major damage to the entire structure all the way down. That's a bit of a retcon, but it serves a purpose in the story because they're going to get a new, better base out of it. The Joes are working on the lower levels to shore up the beams. They nearly have a collapse. It seems part of the pit's superstructure is wood. That would not have been my choice. Gung Ho hammers a beam into place with his bare hand because he don't need no stinking hammer but now his hand's probably broken, let's be honest. In the lower levels of the base, in the kitchen, we have Snowjob talking with Covergirl and he's mentioning to her that he doesn't mind doing ladies work because he's super progressive in everything. Snowjob's beard is miscolored white which just looks very strange. If they didn't say his name, I would not have guessed this was Snowjob. I don't know why Snowjob thinks cleaning up the kitchen is women's work. Two thirds of the kitchen cleanup crew is male. Covergirl, of course, is having none of it. This is just not cool, horny Santa, not cool at all. In the computer bay, flash and short fuse are working on the electrical system. Flash makes a comment that they could have a short in every circuit. Short fuse makes a joke that right now they have a short fuse. Ha ha, get it? I suggest an alternate title for this issue, Dad Jokes. Meanwhile, in the APC, Grunt is driving Snake Eyes to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. For those keeping track, McGuire Air Force Base is where G.I. Joe keeps its aircraft. Grunt talks about some of the events in previous issues and I won't go over all of that right now. We've reviewed all those issues before. This is something the older comics did. They recapped some recent events to give new readers a chance to catch up. These comic books were not written for trade paperbacks. They were written to be read month to month and any issue could be a reader's first issue. So you would have to catch the new readers up. The APC approaches the Dragonfly Helicopter, was wildbill in the pilot's seat and airborne standing nearby. Strapped to one of these kids, we see a body bag containing the body of Quinn, the mercenary and friend of Snake Eyes who died in issue number 19. Strapped to the other skid is a kayak. Snake Eyes climbs into the helicopter and they take off. Back at the pit, Scarlett and Hawke are still looking over the blueprints and Scarlett lays out the challenge of what they're doing. It's like building a six-story office building underground and in secret. Hawke says they will use the manpower from General Flag's Pentagon staff and they're gonna do it in six months. They give us a full page with a detailed layout of the new G.I. Joe base, which holy crap, includes an ICBM. I do love this kind of thing. I like seeing the hero's secret base. Some of the details we see in the plans are seen later, like the Earth Boring Machine. Don't forget that. If they're going to rebuild the base, basically just gut the structure and rebuild it, more or less from scratch, why would they do it at this location? Cobra knows this location. Cobra attacked this location. Yes, they thought they destroyed the base there, but Cobra would still keep an eye on this location. Yes, if you did it somewhere else, you would have to dig another hole, but you would be doing it in a place that is unknown to Cobra. Gung Ho apparently likes the mess hall fruit punch. Apparently he likes it a lot and the way his eyes are rolling back in his head, I think he put something in that punch. The punch tastes a lot better when it is 90% bourbon. Rock and Roll says Gung Ho even likes the C-Ration, Ham, and Lima bean. The infamous Ham and Lima bean C-Rations. I don't recall if this is the first mention of the Ham and Lima beans in the G.I. Joe comic book series, but it will not be the last. Hawke says the next day they will be going to Washington for General Flags Funeral. Deep in Cobra headquarters, Destro brings some plans to Cobra Commander. Cobra Commander is practice shooting at G.I. Joe targets. Is this a commentary about the difference between Destro and Cobra Commander? Destro plays chess with G.I. Joe and Cobra. Cobra Commander practices shooting at G.I. Joe. Destro has the plans for the new Cobra tank smasher jet, the Rattler. Well, it's not really plans, it's more of a poster. Destro does say it's unfinished and we do see some major differences from the toy. Cobra Commander doesn't care if the Rattler is ready or not, he wants it deployed to attack the Joes at General Flags Funeral. In Switzerland, Major Blood wheels the Baroness up to the front door of the Bern Institute of Reconstructive Surgery. Here we meet Dr. Hundkinder, a character we will see again in the future. Major Blood is arranging for Reconstructive Surgery for the Baroness who was badly burned in issue number 16. Major Blood introduces the Baroness with a fake name, the Baroness de Cobre, which is obviously a play on the word Cobra. Unfortunately, at some point, someone forgot it was just a fake name and that became the real official cannon name for the Baroness. So if your last name is de Cobre, are you destined to join Cobra? Wild Bill sets the Dragonfly helicopter down near a lighthouse at Montauk Point. Since Snake Eyes does not talk, Wild Bill helpfully narrates for us. Snake Eyes places the Weasel Skull Necklace on Quinn's body along with Quinn's weapon and the weapon of his enemy, Dr. Venom. Wild Bill and Snake Eyes push the kayak with Quinn out to sea and that is the last we see of Quinn, a beloved character. In my opinion, this is how you treat death with dignity and respect and maturity in a comic book. Death is permanent, death has meaning and it has a lasting impact on those still living. The next day at Arlington National Cemetery, we see another funeral ritual, this one for General Flag. A cavalcade pulls General Flag's coffin and the Joes march in formation behind. We get panels that focus on each element of the procession, the horses, the flag draped casket and the pallbearers, the Joes marching in formation. At the very back is a riderless horse carrying a sword and with empty boots reversed in the stirrups. This is all very authentic except for one thing. As noted by Timmer from Half the Battle when he reviewed this issue, the horse should be at the front of the procession not at the back. The reverse boots symbolize the leader looking back one last time at his men. The procession moves up the hill and finally the pallbearers remove the casket from the carriage. The last two and two thirds pages have been without dialogue. Another powerful use of silence. These pages show some boldness and confidence on the part of the rider. It would be very tempting to fill these pages up with descriptions of what's happening and why we should find it meaningful. Instead, Larry allows the images to speak for themselves. He lets us absorb the moment. This is a lot of space in a comic book allegedly only published to sell toys and keep in mind, General Flag was not a major character. He was a secondary character. He did not have an action figure. That's the only reason he was allowed to die. There's no way Hasbro would have allowed Larry Hama to write the death of a character that had an action figure for sale at the time. But General Flag was in the story and these characters knew him. They served under him and his death has meaning to them. Why make such a big deal about the death of a secondary character? In my opinion, in a comic book about war that is intended to be consumed by children, you have to do this. You have to show the consequences of war. You have to show death and you have to show that death has impact. Otherwise, you give children the very wrong impression that war is just fun, games, and adventure. You could create something that would influence children in a very negative way. So if you're going to show war, you at least have to try to be honest about it. The silence is broken when Cover Girl sees an approaching airplane. It's the Rattler and it's bearing down on the Joes. The pilot is not Wild Weasel. It's just a generic Cobra pilot and a uniform we've never seen before. It's not a bad uniform. The pilot's plan is to blow up all the Joes at the funeral, which is pretty low, even for Cobra. One of the Joes tries to save the flag from the casket. I'm not sure exactly who that is. I think it's Stalker, but he's miscolored as Caucasian. At the last second, the Rattler is shot full of holes. Roadblock and Duke, brand new characters, are firing at the airplane and they continue to fire as it crashes down in flames. We get a big panel with Roadblock and Duke standing triumphantly. It's not a bad way to introduce the new guys. The coloring on Roadblock's uniform is a little funny. It's very yellow. Rock and Roll runs up to Roadblock, like a fanboy. He admires Roadblock's ability to handhold a 50 caliber browning. Rock and Roll thinks Roadblock must be the baddest dude on the block, but no, Roadblock would rather make crepes and bake souffles. The real bad dude is the other guy, Duke. Duke stands like a John Wayne statue and glares at everyone and promises a new era of toughness and meanness. As he's introduced, it looks like Duke is going to be a really tough guy. He's gonna be really hard on these Joes. He's going to be very strict on the discipline and probably not gonna be anybody's friend. And I think that's how this character should be. He is the first sergeant and to do that job he needs to be pretty mean. That's not exactly how Duke turned out to be and we will get to that in future issues. We cut to City Island, New York, Potter's Field, where prisoners are unloading caskets from a truck and placing them in the ground. A Potter's Field is basically a public cemetery. I did some checking and there is a City Island in the Bronx, but the Potter's Field is actually on Heart Island, which is east of City Island if I'm reading the map correctly. One of those caskets is labeled Dr. Venom who also died in issue number 19. What happened to Scarface? He is perhaps in one of the John Doe caskets. In this issue, we're presented with three contrasting death rituals. Quinn's burial at sea is steeped in religious ritual. Although I have not been able to verify that this is a real Inuit or a native burial practice, it is still intended to convey that. Although Snake Eyes is not part of Quinn's culture, he still tries to honor his friend in the way Quinn probably would have desired. In Arlington, we see a secular ritual based on military tradition as the Joes honor their fallen leader. And finally, we see the dishonorable enemy whose passing is mourned by no one. Each of these vignettes adds punctuation to the death of these characters and a reflection on how they lived. We have a preview of the next issue, Cobra Commander captured. Hey, spoilers. I think this is a great issue. Is it as good as issue number 21? No, but I still love it. There's almost no action in this issue. Really the only action comes toward the end when the rattler tries to attack the funeral and gets shot down. As much as I love high action in G.I. Joe comic books, I love the fact that this comic book series can slow down and take the time to show us the funerals of the people we lost. This makes me love the series and I believe elevates the series above simply an advertisement for toys. Despite this issue taking several pages to show a funeral procession, we still get a new vehicle and two new characters. And it does not feel rushed. This is efficient writing. Even though I have criticized Mike Vossberg's art in the past, I think the art in this issue is good. We see an early prototype of the Cobra Rattler, which is kind of a hybrid between the A10 Thunderbolt 2 and the Cobra Rattler toy. Storm Shadow is first named in this issue. Remember, he was introduced in the previous issue, but there was no dialogue. So this is the first time we actually learn Storm Shadow's name. Can I recommend this issue? Well, if you just want wall-to-wall action, then no. But if you're like me and you enjoy a comic book that can make you think and feel things, then absolutely yes. That was my review of G.I. Joe issue number 22. It came a little later in the month this time than I intended, but it has been quite a busy month. My oldest daughter just graduated high school. Congratulations, Victoria. That did keep me a little busy for a while. I've also been working on my regular vintage G.I. Joe toy reviews, so make sure you tune in every Sunday for those. If you like these videos, please give the video a thumbs up on YouTube, and please consider subscribing and hitting the notification bell so you can see future videos. I am on social media, on Facebook and Twitter, and I have a website, hcc788.com. Thank you to my patrons for making these videos possible. If you like these videos and you'd like to support the channel in that way, please consider looking at my Patreon. I'm trying to do these comic book reviews once a month, so sometime in June, we should be getting to issue number 23. I hope to see you then. Until then, always remember only G.I. Joe is G.I. Joe.