 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here. It's time for a comic book review. I've gotten a little behind on these but we are getting back on track and we are looking at issue number 24 of the GI Joe series published by Marvel Comics and this is one of my favorite issues. In the last issue the Baroness got reconstructive surgery and a new leather outfit. Major blood tried to extort money from Cobra Commander. All of this led to the capture of Cobra Commander by GI Joe while Major Blood, the Baroness, and Storm Shadow escaped. On the cover we see Roadblock tackling Storm Shadow while Cobra Commander flies overhead on a Cobra Claw powered glider. In the background is a GI Joe base with a gun turret manned by an unidentified Joe. Duke is running out of the base and toward the action. On the opening splash page we have a title, The Commander Escapes and this is another instance where the title of the issue gives away the ending. The setting is in the mountains. We are told it's the American Rockies. Some Joe's and Cobra Commander have just parachuted onto a mountain plateau. A C-130 cargo plane is flying overhead. I like this splash page even though it doesn't have action but having the small figures in front of the mountain background with the plane overhead gives a sense of scale. We have a creative team of Larry Hama script and Russ Heath Art. I have to say something about Russ Heath here. I love Russ Heath's artwork. I love his artwork in this issue. Russ was a bit of a comic book legend. He began his career in comic books in the 1940s working for timely comics which would eventually become Marvel Comics. He made a name for himself penciling western and war comics in the 1950s and 60s. Russ Heath passed away in 2018 leaving behind an enormous body of work. Unfortunately not all of his work necessarily bore his name. His work, among others, was stolen by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, an artist that often liberally ripped off comic book pages and changed the imagery just enough so his admirers could dismiss any criticism of his plagiarism. Lichtenstein died in 1997 in relative comfort and wealth. Issue number 24 of the comic book isn't the only time Russ was connected with G.I. Joe. He also drew a lot of the character model sheets for the G.I. Joe animated series by Sunbow. Getting back to the story we see Roadblock, Grunt and Rock and Roll running a line between a pair of stakes and we have a series of silent panels here showing Grunt unrolling the line and Rock and Roll and Roadblock driving the stake and then we have a close-up of Cobra Commander's faceplate with the reflection of the cargo plane in it. The cargo plane seems to be dragging a line with a hook on it. We get another silent panel with Grunt and Gung Ho driving the final stake and this is something we get a few times in this issue. These panels without dialogue. This is not a silent issue. There is plenty of dialogue within this issue but these panels just show us what's happening and the figures are drawn within the panel small enough that it looks like the artist was expecting there to be some dialogue in those panels but there is none. It may be that the writer expected to put some dialogue in those panels but after seeing the artwork turned in by Russ he just decided he didn't need it. I don't really have a problem with that because when the art is this good you should not cover it up any more than necessary. Apparently the Joes chose this locale to imprison Cobra Commander because it's impossible to sneak up on but there's no fortification here and Cobra Commander points out to Duke that there's no runway so it's impossible to unload equipment and supplies. That's when we find out what the Joes have been working on. They used this line and hook method to pull cargo crates directly out of the back of the cargo plane. One of the crates is marked prefab fortress so yes we will get to see the 1983 headquarters command center again. Back at Cobra headquarters Major Blood confronts Destro and Destro pulls his gun on Major Blood. Destro would be pretty upset. Major Blood tried to assassinate Destro back in issue number 16 which led to what everyone thought was the death of the Baroness. The Baroness steps out of the shadows in her kinky new leather outfit. This is the first time Destro has seen the Baroness alive for quite some time and he is duly shocked. The Baroness informs Destro of Cobra Commander's capture and the two of them plot to take over Cobra um that's three including Major Blood that's three of them. There is one player that actually wants to find Cobra Commander that is Storm Shadow Cobra Commander's bodyguard who feels somewhat responsible for his capture. A Cobra spy disguised as a biker observes the GI Joe cargo plane landing at Maguire Field in New Jersey. This guy looks like a dreadknock but apparently isn't one. The dreadknocks have not been introduced yet. Storm Shadow who is in a Cobra cargo plane uses the intel from the spy to narrow down Cobra Commander's possible locations. Back on the mountain plateau the prefab fortress has been constructed and yes it is the headquarters command center. Not all the details are the same as the toy this is an enclosed structure instead of an open structure like the toy but still it's just awesome. Duke shows Cobra Commander the fortress's defenses probably to give him the idea that rescue is hopeless and maybe encourage cooperation. There is an unopened crate and we don't know what that is yet. We will find out later. Again at Cobra headquarters the Baroness is slinking on the sofa in her leather Dominatrix gear. Yes she is totally sexualized here you know for kids. We are introduced to two new characters Wild Weasel and Firefly or the Firefly as he's called here. This is their first appearance. Wild Weasel is colored differently here than the toy with some dark blue on top of the red and I have to say I like that coloring a lot. Major Blood placed a tracking device on Storm Shadow, Wild Weasel and the Firefly are going to use it to track him down. Back at the mountain fortress Duke and Gung Ho are enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee and apparently Cobra Commander has a slot in his face plate where he can drink through a straw. Cobra Commander tells them his helmet is lined with plastic explosives and if they attempt to take it off without unlocking it it will explode. What he doesn't tell them is he also has a short-range radio receiver built in. In the Cobra cargo plane Storm Shadow uses satellite photos to positively identify Cobra Commander's location and when he does he vanishes like Batman. In the fortress Cobra Commander receives a transmission from Storm Shadow telling him to find a way to get outside. Cobra Commander tells the Joes he wants to go outside to write his name in the snow and the Joes are like yeah fine whatever we're playing cards leave us alone. So yeah under guard Cobra Commander is allowed to stroll outside. This is not a wise decision at this point but I think it demonstrates that the Joes are so confident in their fortification that they've become complacent and careless. Cobra Commander is guarded by grunt and rock and roll and I love seeing the 82 characters even in minor roles like this but of course once they're outside Storm Shadow swoops down in a Cobra Claw and rescues the commander. Roadblock opens up with his 50 cal and tags the glider. There is a bit of sloppiness with the panel layout here and this is a very rare legitimate criticism of this artwork. The panel layout is not obvious so they had to add arrows to show the reader in which order the panels are supposed to be read. Duke starts popping open that secret crate. Inside the crate is the GI Joe Skyhawk a 1984 vehicle that is seen here for the first time. The toy skyhawk is green but the skyhawk here is white and I'm not sure if it was accidentally miscolored or intentionally left uncolored because they weren't sure what the color of the final product would be or if it was intentionally colored differently because it is in a snowy environment. Storm Shadow and Cobra Commander are flying over a mountain forest and the Cobra Claw is losing fuel. Cobra Commander convinces Storm Shadow to stay behind because the Claw only has enough fuel to get one of them out. Storm Shadow doesn't seem to thrilled by this. Duke gives pursuit in the skyhawk. Cobra Commander is under fire and Storm Shadow needs to rescue him again. We get another series of silent panels where Storm Shadow is assembling a sniper rifle and then climbing up a tree to get a good vantage point. Gung Ho and Roadblock see this transpiring. Great job of being invisible Storm Shadow. Gung Ho fires a grenade at the base of the tree which brings it down and Storm Shadow along with it. Inside the Cobra Cargo plane some Cobra Troopers decide to do something about this situation. We see a Cobra Trooper in a faying helicopter. There's another faying helicopter behind it and it's in front of an open cargo bay door and it looks like one of the Cobra Troopers is going to shove the faying out the door and that doesn't seem like a good idea. It's not ready to fly. Gung Ho and Roadblock search for Storm Shadow in the woods. Storm Shadow gives up on all this sneaking around business. He leaps from a tree and slashes Gung Ho in the back. Roadblock takes a direct approach to the situation and tackles Storm Shadow. Good solid tackle there. Back to the aerial battle Duke is lining up Cobra Commander in his sights when his Skyhawk is hit by enemy fire and it's the two faying gliders that were in the cargo plane. It is not at all clear how they got airborne but there they are. Duke spins the Skyhawk around and takes them both out with missiles. The Cobra Claw has nearly reached the cargo plane with Duke in hot pursuit and in a few of these panels there is a lot of negative space and very little dialogue. The aircraft are drawn relatively small. It does appear the artist was expecting more dialogue on these panels but I say leave them as they are. With all this negative space it gives the reader a sense of scale and distance. Even though Duke takes a few pot shots at the cargo plane he can't really take it down with the Skyhawk so Cobra Commander gets away. Storm Shadow does not escape. Roadblock is dragging an unconscious Storm Shadow behind him and carrying an injured Gung Ho on his back as he walks back toward the fortress. I like this. Sometimes in these comic books ninjas are treated like they are invincible and they should be able to beat most people but sometimes muscle and brute force win. They search Storm Shadow and find a mailing slip with an address in Chakaloski, Florida. What could a ninja be mailing to Chakaloski, Florida? Wild Weasel and Firefly tracked the homing device to a post office in Chakaloski, Florida so apparently Storm Shadow discovered he was being tracked and shipped the homing device to that address. They investigate the address which is a shack in the middle of the Florida Everglades and they seem to be in a Cobra water moccasin but it is miscolored red white and blue. Destro, the Baroness and Major Blood are watching this on a computer monitor but Cobra Commander enters. He knows who lives in the shack and it is none other than Zartan. This is Zartan's first appearance. That's the end of this issue. Next issue the strangest deadliest foe the Joes have ever faced, the incredible Zartan. I love this issue. This is one of my top three issues so far. I love the artwork. I think Russ Heath did a great job here. All of the figure drawing looks very natural and realistic. We get to see some recently introduced characters in their normal uniforms. Don't forget last issue the Joes were on an undercover mission. We get to see Duke looking like Duke. We get to see Roadblock looking like Roadblock and we even get to see some of our 82 characters. They are not forgotten. The artwork on the military equipment makes them feel real and solid especially the aircraft. You can tell Russ Heath was very comfortable drawing military aircraft. As for the plot, well we knew Cobra Commander was going to escape. They showed us on the cover and they told us that with the title but how we got there was kind of cool with some good action. Some readers may think a few of the pages feel a little sparse with all the negative space but I don't mind this because I think it is so well drawn and if I were the writer and I saw these pages turned in by Russ I would have thought yeah I'm not going to cover that up with a lot of dialogue. I absolutely do recommend this issue. It introduces a couple new vehicles and some new characters and it sets up some important events soon to come. That was my review of GI Joe issue number 24. I hope you enjoyed it. I really am trying to get these comic book reviews out once a month but sometimes it just doesn't work. But I will keep doing them even if I don't get them out on a regular schedule. This channel does GI Joe toy reviews every Sunday and I do get those out on a regular schedule so check back every Sunday afternoon for a new vintage GI Joe toy review. Thank you for watching. Thank you for supporting the channel. I'll see you this Sunday for a GI Joe toy review and until then always remember only GI Joe is GI Joe.