 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here and I am so glad to be back reviewing the G.I. Joe comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The previous issue was focused on Snake Eyes, Quinn and Dr. Venom escaping from Sierra Gordo. In this issue we return to G.I. Joe vs. Cobra. We are up to issue number 16, so let's start by looking at the cover. The cover shows Hawk and Destro battling on the back of a his tank with Cobra Commander aiming a gun at Hawk's back. In the background we have a cityscape and some jets flying over. This is a pretty good cover, lots of action on this cover, but it does also have a few oddities. This tank doesn't look very much like a his tank. It has a lot of space behind the turret, enough space for two people to stand and as we know the his tank did not have that. You'll notice in the interior artwork the his tank also has a different design. These may have been based on the prototype his tank. We know that the his tank changed quite a bit in pre-production before it was released as a toy. The his tanks as they're seen in this issue look more like the his mark 2, which was released years later. On the splash page we have the title Night Attack, scripted by Larry Hama and pencils by Mike Vosberg. The opening page is also pretty nicely done and action packed with 4 G.I. Joe vehicles charging into battle. We have the ram motorcycle, the MOBAT tank, the vamp and the dragonfly helicopter. On page 2 it's revealed that it's only a training exercise and they're just shooting at targets. Way to get our hopes up comic. Hawk wants to upgrade G.I. Joe's armor defeating capability so he has 10 remotely controlled his tanks attack the team. Then he unleashes the Wolverine. This is the first appearance of the Wolverine. It makes quick work of the his tanks and as it drives through the smoke the Joe's are duly impressed. On the next page it's revealed that the driver is a girl. What? This is the first appearance of Covergirl. I'm a big fan of the Wolverine and Covergirl. But as she appears in this story she doesn't seem to have the personality that I would expect her to have. She gets Catty with Scarlet and that seems a little out of character. I imagine Covergirl as being highly competent and focused and I have a hard time imagining her being threatened by anyone. We also get the first appearance of Tripwire who immediately trips over his own equipment. Most of the 1983 crew was introduced in issue number 11 but we haven't met all of them yet there are still some introductions to make. Tripwire has kind of a funny exchange with Rock and Roll who catches his backpack full of mines. What is this? A carrying case for oversized hockey pucks? These mines. I know they're yours. Breaker breaks in to let everyone know that headquarters has figured out where Cobra is going to strike next. Elsewhere Cobra Commander is hosting a dinner party with the members of Cobra Command and we are introduced to Major Blood who recites a terrible poem. We also get a really nice moment where we hear the inner thoughts of each member of Cobra and we find out that Cobra Commander has called in Major Blood to kill Destro. Each one of them including Major Blood, Scarface, Destro, Dr. Venom and the Baroness is plotting to advance their own personal interests or to gain an advantage over the others. Back at GI Joe headquarters Hawk tells General Flag they believe Cobra is going to spread the deadly toxin in the printing ink for US currency. General Flag says Cobra has threatened to blow up the Capitol building so all troops are earmarked for that purpose. Back at the Cobra dinner party all of the Cobras are still plotting against each other and it's revealed that this dinner party is taking place inside a trailer being hauled by a truck and that truck is in a convoy headed toward Washington DC. Meanwhile in Washington it is raining and there are troops and tanks surrounding the Capitol building. Hawk asks General Flag for just a few troops to assist the Joes in guarding the Treasury but General Flag declines. Then they see planes in the sky it looks like the Capitol building was the real target after all. At the same time the Cobra trucks marked Arbco on the side that's an anagram for Cobra drive up to the Treasury. Cobra troops with Dr. Venom infiltrate the Treasury building and set about their plan of infecting the ink with their deadly plague toxin. At the Capitol building paratroopers deploy from the aircraft above. We're jumping around quite a bit but the story will gain focus in a few moments. Inside the Treasury building Torpedo, Gung Ho and Tripwire confront the Cobra troops and it's worth noting here Torpedo is in his full scuba gear complete with mask and flippers totally inappropriate for this setting. Dr. Venom decides he's going to carry out the mission himself and shoots a Cobra trooper in the back and knocks out Scarface. At the Capitol building it's revealed that attack is a distraction. The airplanes were only miniatures used as decoys and the paratroopers are toys. It's kind of funny to see GI Joe scale toys in a GI Joe comic book. Hawk jumps in the vamp and races toward the Treasury. The U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. is just under a mile and a half away from the Treasury building. In normal traffic Hawk ought to be able to make that trip in about 10 minutes assuming traffic has been cleared away because of the threat to the Capitol building he should be able to make it faster. At the Treasury building Zapp takes out the Cobra command truck with his bazooka but the Cobra's quickly deploy his tanks. Inside the building Scarface escapes just as Cobra's his tanks bust through the wall. The Joes throw down their weapons and surrender to the his tanks they are far outgunned. Major blood picks up the plague toxin and the his tanks march the Joes outside into the range. Destro suggests the Joes be terminated with extreme prejudice and Torpedo asks what's that mean? And you know what me too I've heard that expression before where does it come from? Terminate with extreme prejudice is a term from U.S. intelligence services. To terminate with prejudice means that an agent was fired not to be rehired. Terminate with extreme prejudice meant they did not want the information that agent had to be exposed at public trial. So terminate with extreme prejudice became a euphemism for execution. That's when it's revealed that a garbage truck that had been sitting outside the building was concealing the Wolverine which bursts out and starts taking out his tanks with the missiles. There's a pretty exciting battle here with multiple vehicles and characters and this is great it feels like GI Joe to me but I do have one nitpick. As the Wolverine fires its missiles the Joes continually reload new missiles into the launcher and this is something I always wanted on the toy. The toy was a 12 shot once its 12 missiles were fired it was done. But in the comic book apparently the Wolverine is able to store additional missiles somewhere and I always wanted that on a toy. We come to a scene that would have ramifications for the GI Joe comic book series for years to come. Cobra Commander is driving one his tank with Destro in the turret. The Baroness is driving the other his tank with Major Blood in the turret. Cobra Commander gives Major Blood the signal to kill Destro. When the Baroness sees that Major Blood is targeting Destro in desperation she cranks the wheel of the his tank causing it to roll and crash into a parked van. Major Blood escapes but the Baroness is trapped in the wrecked his tank and the leaking fuel from the van explodes. The Baroness is presumed dead. The remaining his tank takes out the Wolverine and that's too bad I like the Wolverine. Dr. Venom says something chauvinistic and speaking of chauvinistic here comes Clutch in the vamp. Hawk, Clutch and Scarlet give chase in the vamp. As Cobra Commander Dr. Venom and Destro flee in the his tank Destro is overcome with grief at the presumed death of the Baroness. The vamp is in hot pursuit on the streets of Washington DC and as it catches up Hawk jumps onto the his tank and starts wailing on Cobra Commander. Yes this is the battle we wanted to see. The GI Joe leader versus the Cobra leader but then Destro comes to his senses and goes mono a mono with Hawk. There's a panel here where the action is a little bit hard to understand. Hawk and Destro are both swinging at each other and there's a burst between them where it seems to indicate that they hit each other but how did they hit each other? Did they hit shoulders or what? Cobra Commander regains his footing and draws his pistol and for a moment he pauses to consider which one should he kill Hawk or Destro? Cobra Commander shoots Hawk in the back and Hawk tumbles off the back of the his tank into the street. We get a little epilogue here where we see Scarface disguised in a trench coat escaping on a city bus. This was a fantastic issue. There was plenty of action. We get to see lots of vehicles and characters fighting just as we used to play with them as toys. We get the introduction of some new characters like Cover Girl and Tripwire and the first appearance of the Wolverine tank. Those are some of my faves. In this issue we have the possible death of two major characters, the Baroness and Hawk. We'll have to wait till next issue to find out if they are alive. There are some oddities in this issue like the ploy at the Capitol building. I have a hard time believing those tiny planes would fool anyone for more than a few seconds. Torpedo appearing in the Treasury building in his wet suit, oxygen mask and flippers. That's just really weird guys. You really gotta go off the character model if it makes sense in the story. Even so this is still one of my favorite issues from the early part of the G.I. Joe series. There's plenty of action. It's the culmination of a story that had been building for several issues. I highly recommend it. That was my review of G.I. Joe issue number 16. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to have a review of issue number 17 for you soon. I'm still getting used to doing these comic book reviews and I hope to refine my style and format as I go. 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